CECHL04 stuck searching for update after HDD/SSD replacement - tried everything
Hey guys,
I recently bought a CECHL04 PS3 from Facebook Marketplace for a very low price. It came without any HDD/SSD. The seller told me it had been jailbroken before, but he wasn’t completely sure and didn’t know which firmware it had.
When I first powered it on without a drive installed, it displayed the message:
“No applicable storage was found.”
I then installed a 160 GB SATA SSD that had previously been used in a PC. After that, the PS3 correctly detected the drive and asked me to install the system software from a USB flash drive.
I also tried entering Safe Mode (Recovery Menu). The console enters Safe Mode successfully, but selecting the system update option leads to exactly the same result—it just keeps searching for the update forever and never finds it.
Here’s everything I’ve tried so far:
-Downloaded the latest official PS3 firmware (4.93) directly from Sony.
-Also tried HFW 4.93 and even an older firmware (2.40) just to test.
-Used multiple USB flash drives:
SanDisk USB 2.0 (32 GB)
USB 3.0 drives
-Formatted the USB drives to FAT32 using both DiskPart and Rufus.
-Converted the USB drives to MBR.
-Made sure they were not bootable.
-Created the correct folder structure:
PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP
-Verified that the filename is exactly PS3UPDAT.PUP (all uppercase).
-Tried both front USB ports.
-Reformatted everything multiple times.
The strange thing is that the PS3 never gives an error. It just keeps saying it’s searching for the update indefinitely and never finds it.
The SSD itself seems to be detected because otherwise it would still show “No applicable storage was found.”
At this point I’m wondering:
Could this be because the console previously had CFW installed?
Could the NOR flash be corrupted?
Could the USB controller or Southbridge be faulty?
Is there anything else I should try before assuming the console is dead?
Has anyone experienced something similar with a CECHL04?
I’d really appreciate any advice because I’d love to get this console working instead of giving up on it.
Thanks in advance!