I just got Uncharted 3 on release day from a local Kmart store. Having played the first two games and loved them, I was excited about the third game in the series. When I got home and put the disc in, my PS3 tried to read the disc for a few seconds. I saw the clock on the upper right corner change to a spinning disc. After a while, the spinning disc changed to a clock again and nothing happened. There was no game icon under the XMB bar. I tried to eject the disc and put it back in several times. My PS3 just did not recognize the Uncharted 3 disc. At first, I thought my PS3 was broken. I then tried different game and Blu-ray discs, and I did not have problems with them. It was only the Uncharted 3 disc that I was having problems with.
Afterwards, I researched the problem online and found a lot of reports about it. The problems are most likely due to the dual-layer Blu-ray disc used by some games. I have seen reports about God of War 3, Killzone 3 and Uncharted 3. I got a replacement from Kmart the next day, but the replacement did not work either. I contacted Playstation Support, and they suggested I send my PS3 in for service. Since my PS3 was out of warranty, the repair cost could have been costly. Besides, I could still play other games. I did not want to spend that much money for a system that was not really broken.
There are some solutions that I found on the net. I have not tried them all yet. As of now, I still cannot play the game. If you have found a better solution, please share it in the comments section. I’ll update this post with all the possible solutions. There is a possibility that it’s related to the firmware of PS3. The solution could simply be an updated firmware from Sony. However, it does not seem like Sony has acknowledged this issue, and no one knows for sure if there will be a firmware fix for it. Here are the things you can try:
Solution 1:
Place the PS3 right side up in a vertical position.
Solution 2:
Tilt the PS3 at an angle.
Solution 3:
Use a optical drive lens cleaner to clean the lens of Blu-ray drive.
Solution 4:
Enter safe mode and try all the options. Before you try safe mode, plug in an external hard drive and backup your system first. Here is a link about how to enter safe mode and the explanation of all the options.
Solution 5:
Replace the lens of the Blu-ray drive. This is quite complicated and not for the faint of heart. I do not recommend this solution if you have no prior experience dealing with electronics equipment repair. There are a lot of different models of PS3. The instructions you find online are specific to a certain model. Before you try this approach, get the model number of PS3 and use that as a keyword in your Google search. I have tried all the solutions except this one. I am going to wait for a few days, and if there is still no firmware fix from Sony, I am going to try this out. Stay tuned.
[Update: 11/4/2011]
Solution 6:
Open up the PS3 and clean the lens of the Blu-ray drive. This is what worked for me. I was ready to order a replacement lens this morning. To make sure I ordered the right part, I opened up my PS3 and took out the Blu-ray drive. I found that a strand of hair was tangled in the motor and covered part of the lens. I took out the strand of hair and cleaned the lens with optical drive head cleaner. It did not work right after I put the drive back in. I repeated the process several times and watched several YouTube videos to make sure I put everything together correctly. Finally, I got the disc to be recognized by my PS3!
On March 10, Sony officially announced the PlayStation Move controller, which is the finished version of its PS3 motion controller. Similar to that of the Nintendo Wii controller, a camera is used to detect its movement from the position of an orb located at the top of the controller. Also, it has a sub-controller with a directional pad that can be used for menus or games that need that, along with motion, at the same time. However, the system is claimed to be much more accurate than Nintendo’s game system; Move can recognize the exact angle, position, and speed of the controller’s movements.
Both multi-player and single-player games compatible with these controllers are currently under development.
For the avid PS3 hardcore gamers out there, Sony is expected to ship the Move out this fall, along with multiple packages for different types of gamers. Among these is a Starter Kit that bundles the camera and a game, which is expected to cost below $100.
This new form of gaming is sure to be one awaited by game-aficionados with bated breath; with this new Wii-like addition, the PS3 experience is likely to be better than ever.
If you have a Playstation 3 or other DivX certified device, you can get one free movie download when you register. You will need the DivX VOD Registration Code from your PS3 to register. Here is a video showing you how to get the registration code.
Just got my Netflix instant streaming disc for PS3 last week. The interface is intuitive, but there is not a manual or help about what the buttons on your pad are for. I am compiling this cheat sheet for reference. Hope this is useful. I’ll also update the post once I learn more about Netflix for PS3.
Browing Mode:
D-Pad or Left Analog Stick: Navigation
X: Confirm
Circle: Exit Netflix for PS3
R2: Page right
L2: Page Left
Playing Mode:
Up on D-pad or Square: Go back to Browsing Mode.
Right on D-pad: Next frame
Left on D-pad: Previous frame
R2: Fast forward (3 speed)
L2: Fast rewind (3 speed)
Select: Media info
Start: Pause/Resume
Circle: Exit Netflix for PS3
Triangle: On screen menu
Here are some notes:
The Left Analog Stick’s function is the same as the D-Pad. The Right Analog Stick is not used.
If you want Netflix to remember your viewing progress, remember to press Up or Square button to exit out the playback. Wait until the updating message disappears before you turn off the machine.
When the network is slow, the picture quality is bad. You can pause the playback for a few seconds and resume it. The picture quality would be improved for a short while.
Windows 7 has made sharing media easy. You can streaming your music and videos to other computers or devices on the network. Here are the steps.
Click on Start and type Media Streaming.
Click on Media Streaming Options under Control Panel.
Click on Turn on media streaming.
The media server is ready. You can fine tune the settings here.
Once you have it turned on, all the DLNA compatible devices like PS3 and XBox 360 on your local network can access the media on your Windows 7 computer.
Playstation Network is now offering Rag Doll Kung Fu for free until May 21. To get this game, go to Playstation Store through your PS3. Click on New Releases and Sprint.
I have not played this game yet but it seems like a decent party game.
Amazon.com is running a Blu-Ray Sale now through March 22, 2009. If you are like me who just started out to build a Blu-Ray collection, now it’s a good time to pick your favorite shows at discounted prices.
I have been eying PS3 for quite some time. However, $399 is kinda steep for me. Over the holiday season, I saw a deal that’s just too good to miss. Actually, it’s not just one deal, there are two deals combined to bring the total cost down.
The first one is the credit card deal from Sony Rewards. The card is a Playstation Card. At that time, there several offers. One offer gives you $150 credit instantly when you purchase a PS3 directly from Sony. I didn’t take that offer, because Sony sells PS3 for $399 and they also charge shipping. Therefore, the final cost for a PS3 is about $290. It’s a good deal without much hassles, but it’s not good for me.
The offer I got is a $150 rebate, and you can buy the PS3 from any authorized dealers even at discounted price. This offer requires you to fill out a rebate form and wait for a few weeks. There are more works involved, but you get a much better deal in the end.
So, can you still get that kind of deals now? Maybe, if you are patient. Sony Rewards do not have the $150 credit right now, but they had the same deals several times before. The other place to look for the $150 credit is Sony Style. I monitored those two sites for a few weeks before I saw the deal again.
As for the Playstation 3, Amazon doesn’t seem to have a good deal recently. However, Dell Home and Home Office does have it on sale quite often. If you are interested in the deal, click on the link . At the check out, enter the following code: Z0WPL1J0CC3W47 to save 20%. The offer ends on 3/26/2009.
Playstation 3 supports a lot of media types, but it’s not clear about what are the media types that support subtitles. I tried several different formats and found that DivX format supports subtitles on PS3. I wrote a post about how to convert .mkv file to .avi (DivX) earlier. Even though I can finally watch the video with soft subtitles, the process is long and the video gets degraded because the encoding process. The conversion is also sometimes buggy.
Later, I found AVCHD on PS3 can also show subtitles. There is an excellent program multiAVCHD which can convert .mkv file coded with H.264/AC3 to AVCHD without re-encoding the video.
(Optional) If your .mkv file uses AAC as the audio codec, follow this post to convert it.
Run multiAVCHD.
Click on MKV/*TS/MPEG/MOV files to select the .mkv file you want to convert.
Click on Menu tab and select the correct TV System. Use NTSC in North America.
Click on the Audio/Subtitles tab and check Use embeded ASS subtitles if your .mkv file uses ASS subtitles.
Click on create multiAVCHD to start the process. By default, a subfolder called AVCHD will be created under the multiAVCHD folder.
When it’s done processing, copy the AVCHD folder to the root of your USB flash drive.
Safely remove the USB flash drive from your computer, insert it to PS3 and enjoy!
Note that AVCHD is kinda picky about the resolutions and the H.264 level of the video source. If the generated AVCHD folder is not viewable on PS3, you might still need to convert .mkv file to a different format.
While I was looking for a better way to convert mkv file with soft subtitles to be played on my Playstation 3, I found there are some tools that allow me to to the conversion. Most of the conversion tools assume the mkv file uses H.264 as the video codec and AC3 as the audio codec. Even though most mkv files stick to H.264 for video, a lot of them use AAC as the audio codec.
Without re-inventing the wheel, I came up a way to convert the AAC sound track in mkv file to AC3 without re-encode the video. Here are the tools needed. Download and install them. Note that MKVToolnix doesn’t require installation, just extract it to a folder.
Run MKVE Wizard to extract the audio. Specify the file location and click on Next.
Select the AAC audio track and click on Next to continue. Note that if the Wizard cannot find where you install MKVToolnix, you have to click on Settings to specify it manually. After a few moments, the AAC audio track is saved. It’s save as test_Track2.aac in this example.
Run VLC player to convert the AAC sound track to AC3. Click on Media and select Convert/ Save.
Change the Filter in the dialog window to All Files (*.*) , so you can select the AAC file extracted by step 2.
In the Stream Output Windows, check File box and enter the file name. I named it test_Track2.ac3. In the Encapsulation tab, select RAW.
Click on the Audio codec tab, select Audio check box and change the Codec to A52/AC-3. Specify the Bitrate and Channels if needed. Click on Save to convert the audio.
Run mkvmerge GUI(mmg.exe) from the MKVToolnix folder.
Drag and drop the original mkv file (test.mkv) and the converted audio track (test_Track2.ac3) to the Input files box. Uncheck the A_AAC track and move the AC3 track up before the subtitles tracks. Enter an output file name. Click on Start muxing to create the new mkv file.
There are quite a few steps, but the whole process doesn’t take long because the video is not re-encoded.
If you have a Playstation 3 or other DivX certified device, you can get one free movie download when you register. You will need the DivX VOD Registration Code from your PS3 to register. Here is a video showing you how to get the registration code.
Just got my Netflix instant streaming disc for PS3 last week. The interface is intuitive, but there is not a manual or help about what the buttons on your pad are for. I am compiling this cheat sheet for reference. Hope this is useful. I’ll also update the post once I learn more about Netflix for PS3.
I saw this on 
now through March 22, 2009. If you are like me who just started out to build a Blu-Ray collection, now it’s a good time to pick your favorite shows at discounted prices.
Save to convert the audio.
