Okey, so i've seen quite a lot of people on this site and on other sites not being able to launch Homebrew from their Jailbroken PS3 because the blu ray drive has become knackered at some stage.
There are other methods, such as installing PKG's , but they dont allow much homebrew to run on the console.
So here is my tut on how to run Homebrew with a broken blu ray.
This thread assumes you have several tools in which you need to perform this task;
A Torque Screwdriver
A Screwdriver
A 3.41 Ps3
A Jailbrake device
A Blu Ray logic board
Sticky Pads (optional)
Hermes V3 payload (boot without disc) ????
First Things first, your going to want to unscrew your PS3, heres a small tut on how to do that (Credits to OP of this)
On the left side of the console you will see a few rubber feet. The first screw to be removed is underneath the rubber foot circled in red in the pic below. The foot can be pried out with a small screw driver. Then underneath is a Torx security screw. You will either need a Torx screwdriver, or a flat head screwdriver that will fit in the screw.
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Once the screw is removed, slide the top of the case to the left. It may require a bit of force to slide if your opening the console for the first time. After the top slides as far as it will go, lift the top and it should come off as seen in the pic below:
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After the 7 screws are removed, gently lift up the back corners of the top half of the console. There are 2 small clips near the back you may need to undo with a small screw driver. Now the top of the console should just lift off (with a bit of gentle force) and you will see the guts of the PS3.
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With this done, your going to want to detach your blu ray, This is relatively easy. Lift the drive up about 2” and you will see a really wide ribbon cable connecting the drive to the motherboard. Unplug it from the drive, but not the board. There will also be a plug near the front of the Blu-ray drive. Unplug it aswell. The drive will then just lift out.
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Now with the drive detached, your going to want to want the remove your Logic board from your blu ray drive (Logic board is seen in pic below)
You will also want to disconnect all of the ribbons, and a small plug at the side.
Be careful not to strip the heads.
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With this done, your going to want to reattach the logic board, and the logic board only, back onto your motherboard, this is very easy process, as there are only two cables to plug in (The power and the Ribbon)
Your PS3 will look something like this:
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(Sorry for flash glare)
Now with this done, you can either stick the board down at the sides, with electrical tape, or leave your Ps3 open, I choose to leave mine open.
Now to test your Ps3, turn it on, and check to make sure that it Jailbreaks fine and can run FTP, if yes, then you can proceed to the next step.
People will now be wondering "How do i get my patches onto the PS3?"
The answer is pretty simple, PS3 Brew Manager!
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Ps3 brew manager lets you connect your ps3 via FTP into their Java App, the app lets you install Retail patches onto your PS3.
Its pretty simple, You jailbreak, Install via Brewology restart the console, and install the patch, this will now let you mod your patches to oblivion without a Blu Ray Drive