The E3 NOR Flasher is a very easy tool to downgrade almost any PS3, however, it still requires a lot of work, not as much work and risk of soldering over 60 wires directly onto your PS3’s data lines and NOR chip which can only be done by professionals. In this guide, I will show you how to install the Flasher in your PS3.
This guide will show you how to Temporary install the Flasher to downgrade your PS3, after the downgrade, the Flasher will be removed.
- E3 NOR Flasher (Standard or Limited edition)
- Tape
- Phillips Screwdriver
– T8 Torx Screwdriver(With hollow middle)
Not all PS3’s can be downgraded with the E3 Flasher, to make sure your PS3 can check the production code on the underside of your PS3 :
if your code is on the following lists, your PS3 is downgradable:
If your PS3 model and Date code are in the list above, your PS3 is compatible and you can continue to the next step. If your PS3 is not in the list or is colored Red, your PS3 can’t be downgraded with this chip. PS3 Superslim cannot run CFW yet.
First, remove the Harddrive, the hard drive bay is on the front of the PS3 on the right side. You will see a clip covering the drive. Slide this clip to the right, then lift it up towards you.
This will reveal the hard drive bay, now put your PS3 on its back and open the clip you see in the next picture, unscrew the blue screw.
Now your HDD should be loose and you can pull it out.
Now remove all caps and unscrew all screws and make sure you know what screw is from what hole…
Now turn your PS3 on its back again, you will see a warranty sticker on the front and a bunch of screw covers… pry the warranty sticker off there is another cap under there.
Now take your Torx T8 screwdriver and unscrew the 3 or 4 screws in the front on the underside:
Put the PS3 with the front facing you and lift the top cover up from the back where the cables are and remove the top cover.
Now on the top left and right, you will see 2 cables connected, disconnect these. There will be a screw under each cable holding the power supply in place. Unscrew these and lift the power supply up.
It may take some force but eventually, after some wiggling, the power brick should come out.
Now to remove the Blu-ray Player, There will be a black screw behind the drive, unscrew this, disconnect all the ribbon cables… then gently lift the blue ray player up.
Be careful when pulling out the Blue-ray player, there still is a ribbon on the underside of the player!
Lifting up the Blue-ray player will also make the button panel pop out, disconnect the small ribbon cable for the button panel from the motherboard.
Disconnect the two wifi and Bluetooth antenna’s and detach them from the meta casing:
Now unscrew the black screws :
– top left on the right side of the power connection
– right middle to the right of the large blue ray player connector or the battery, right above the hard drive enclosure
-2 screws holding the Hard-drive enclosure in place, right bottom side where the power button board was(just above there)
-1 screw in the center of the console
Now gently lift up the PS3 wiggling it out of the bottom plastic case. do this very gently and scan around your PlayStation for anything blocking the board from coming out!
Now put the plastic case aside and put the board with the fan down in front of you, you will see 2 large clips mounted by large screws. unscrew these,
now on the same side, unscrew all screws left. Then gently lift up the top protection layer:
To remove the board from the other metal case, remove all cables still on your board. then turn your PS3 with the HDMI connections away from you and lift the board up at the front, then gently wiggle the board up to about 10 cm and then pull the board towards you.
Now the board is out…
Find this chip :
Take your Flasher’s ribbon cable and click it on the NOR chip. Also, tape the ribbon like I did since we need the other connector where the Hard-drive was:
Make sure the clip is on! It may take some pressure and you may hear a clip on. To be sure you may need to tape it down. Then take the aluminum part with the fan on and reattached this to the board with the large 2 plates, the first slide in the HDMI port at the back, then lower the front, make sure the cable isn’t forced or crushed between the board and the metal casing.
Take the top part of the aluminum enclosure and fit it on top of the board. Then screw the 2 metal plates back on. Make sure you screw both screws evenly in… make sure the Flasher connector is not between the board and the aluminum plate.
Also, make sure you put the clips back on:
Now take the E3 Flasher Board(s) and connect the front panel to the larger board:
Turn around your PS3 and click your E3 Flasher Board on to the ribbon:
Also, slide the rear SATA connector of the board in the PS3’s SATA connector.
Now reconnect the button panel and the power supply to your PS3 (Reverse steps above) and connect the power and HDMI cable. Your E3 Flasher is now Installed.
I can only use my PS3 controller via USB
Since we disconnected the Bluetooth antenna, your controller will only work via USB or very close to your PS3. This will work again when reconnecting the antenna.
I turn on my PS3 and after a while, the fans are spinning at very high speed
Your CPU/GPU is not properly connected to your heat sink. TURN OF YOUR PS3 ASAP, adjust tension on the 2 large metal plates that keeps the heat sink on your CPU/GPU. Keeping your PS3 on will burn your PS3!!!
14 Responses
Hello Steven
I have tried installing the clip without extra pressure but it failed to read bios even though it was a new clip. I see people using a Glue Clamp. Do you think this will give better results?
i had to press it down while reading the NOR, pressure is important as the clip will not stay on the NOR chip itself.
i dont get the power cord to the hdd???? wont plug into wall.
you could try moving your HDD closer to the wall socket, this may fix your problem. sorry i don’t understand your problem
Has anyone came across a problem with the bluray drive after this procedure my bluray stopped working need a fix
Will I ever remove the flasher or it stays permanently?
I removed the flasher from my ps3 as i needed it for downgrading other ps3’s but you can leave it in if you don’t need it anymore. leaving the flasher in your ps3 has many advantages: you can switch between official firmwware(online) and cfw..
Can I install flasher update on me e3 downgraded after I used it ones all ready ?
I assume you can
yes you can. just make switches 1 and 2 are down, the rest have to be up. once you turn on ps3 you should see all blue leds light up. leave switch 3 up and the rest down and press the reset button on the flasher (right under blue leds) and within a few seconds you should see blue leds flashing back and forth confirming the system accepted your update
I have ps3 cech 3004 B.Is it possible to do it ?
I’m sorry but your model is not compatible with this particular guide, there are probably other options for your model though.
Can a ps3 super slim be flashed with e3 flasher after brick to unbrick it
I don’t think the E3 flasher is compatible with the super slim. also you probably need to have a non bricked version so you can read the working nand/nor and modify it.