PS4 (Original) Flashing Blue Light Repair
PS4 Flashing Blue Light Repair Guide
Difficulty Level - Fairly Easy
The PS4 Flashing Blue Light is your consoles way of telling you there is a start up problem.
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It can possibly be a hard drive issue, but more often than not, it's a motherboard fault. Fortunately, it is be easy to repair, especially in the earliest models. It will only take you about 15 minutes to fix, so give it a go.
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You will need some "washers" and some basic tools, we show you how to repair in our video, and have links to the bits that you will need below.
Estimated repair time 15 mins
Estimated cost £5 ($8)
Tools Needed
A flashing blue light on your original PS4 console is an all too common a fault. You switch your console on, you get the blue flashing light, but not much else going on. Apart from a lot of swearing.
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No picture on the screen, and no way to proceed. Safe mode doesn't work either. (See How To Access Safe Mode)
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A lot of people have thrown their consoles out at this point, thinking it's bitten the dust.
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But fear not, it is a motherboard related issue, and surprisingly it's fairly easy to repair. You will need some M5 metal flat washers, and if you can't get any, you can buy them by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page. We also provide links to a complete screwdriver kit and thermal paste.
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We are going to show you how to take the top cover of the console off, and make the heatsink clamp more secure, in effect what you are doing it tightening the connection between the motherboard and the heatsink. See the video below, and there's a detailed explanation underneath.
PS4 (original) Flashing Blue Light Repair
Step By Step
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You will need 4 flat washers to be able to complete this repair.
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1. Remove the hard drive cover, on the top left portion of your PS4 original console.
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2. With a Torx 8 screwdriver, remove the 3 torx screws which attach the black plastic top cover.
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3. Turn the console over and at the back of the console, remove the 1 torx T8 screw in the top middle of the top black cover.
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4. Remove the black top cover. Start by pulling a little at the front edge, and pulling a little at the back edge. Then, turn the console on to its side, get a large flat head screwdriver, and wedge it between the top cover and the chassis, on the right hand edge of the console. (see video) This should snap the cover out of its position, and make it easy to remove.
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5. Remove the 2 cross head screws that hold the motherboard clamp.
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6. Put 2 of your washers on each of the screws from the motherboard clamp, and then put the clamp back into place by screwing down. Make sure the washers are underneath the clamp, directly touching the motherboard metal springs.
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Make sure the clamp is in the correct orientation. You should feel a bit of tension when screwing down. if you don't, then the clamp may be upside down.
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7. Ensure that the metal "fins" on the metal motherboard cover are underneath the clamp. Screw down firmly, and as tight as you can get the screws but without over-tightening.
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8. You can now go and test the console, before putting the top cover on.
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9. If the console still doesn't work after this repair -
REMOVE 1 washer from each screw, and try again.
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If it still doesn't work after this, then you want to try 2 washers again, EXCEPT - when you've tightened the screws up fully, slightly undo each screw by one-quarter of a revolution on both screws.
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If that doesn't work, then loosen again by another quarter of a turn, and try again. keep adjusting until it works.
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Normally it should work by now, but if not, you need to find the exact required amount of tension, by experimentation.
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This is rare though. You should find that the initial 4 washer fix is enough to resolve your fault.
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If you have no luck whatsoever, then it may be worth stripping the board down, cleaning the GPU, and replacing the thermal paste, and trying again. See our Motherboard Repair Section for stripping the board down.