Need help with broken PS3

My best friend's PS3 just died and he tells me he believes it to be the "yellow light of death." Is there any way to recover his saved game data? I don't know anything about PS3 (I don't own any current consoles) and am just asking this question on his behalf to a community I trust with this kind of stuff.

If your friend is getting a new PS3 just take the hard drive from the broken PS3. I'm sure there is some transfer utility but the hard drives are swap-able (even though it might be a downgrade in capacity).

I don't know if they have changed it, but I got the YLOD and was told that I wouldn't be able to retrieve any of the saves. I think if you put the drive into a new console it prompts a format. (I might be wrong about that)

I've never dealt with the YLOD, but you could point your friend to http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Yellow+Light+of+Death+Repair/3654/1 if they want to try to repair the thing.

As for getting saves, your friend might be SOL unless they can get the PS3 to boot up. If, by chance, it does come back up, they should stick a USB drive into it and backup as many saves as possible.

@Ubersmake said:

I've never dealt with the YLOD, but you could point your friend to http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Yellow+Light+of+Death+Repair/3654/1 if they want to try to repair the thing.

As for getting saves, your friend might be SOL unless they can get the PS3 to boot up. If, by chance, it does come back up, they should stick a USB drive into it and backup as many saves as possible.

This is basically his only option. The data is encrypted and tied to that specific PS3, and the only way to get it back is to fix that PS3. He might as well give it a shot, not like he can break it anymore.

I'm pretty sure like they said you would have to format the drive once you put it in a new PS3 and that shit's encrypted. Sorry bro. :(

Yep, the only way to get the stuff on that PS3 back is if he can get it to boot up somehow by using one of the voodoo techniques (with flux and heatguns etc) outlined on that there Interweb.

Putting the drive into another PS3 will immediately prompt a reformat of the drive, so DON'T.

Much like people having their heads/bodies frozen, I have kept my old PS3 just in case they develop a cure in the future and I can get back my 600+ hr Skyrim save (sniff!)

Thanks a ton guys, I'll report the news