Activating Safe Mode
Step 1: Turn off the PLAYSTATION 3 by holding the Power button on the front of the unit till the Power light is red.
Step 2:
Touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the first beep, meaning the PLAYSTATION 3 is powering on.
Continue to hold the Power button and after about 5 seconds, you will hear a second beep, indicating the video reset.
Continue to hold the Power button and after about another 5 seconds you will hear a third beep and the system will power off (Power light is red).
Step 3:
Touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the first beep, again for the PLAYSTATION 3 to power on.
Continue to hold the Power button and after about 5 seconds, you will hear a second beep for video reset.
Continue to hold the Power button and after about another 5 seconds you will hear a quick double beep. At that point release the Power button. If you succeeded in activating Safe Mode, you will see a message on the screen saying, "Connect the controller using a USB cable and then press the PS button."
Safe Mode Options
In Safe Mode, you will have the following options:
Restart System - Ends safe mode and starts up the PLAYSTATION 3 normally.
Restore Default Settings - Performs the same operations as [Restore Default Settings] on the XMB™, and also deletes PlayStation®Network account information from the system.
Restore File System - Attempts to repair all areas on the hard disk drive where files can be saved. Corrupted data may be erased if it cannot be recovered.
Rebuild Database - Deletes messages, playlists, changes made on [Information] screens, trimming information for pictures in [Photo], video thumbnails, video playback history and video resume information.
This operation may take a long time depending on the type and number of data items.
Restore PS3 System - IMPORTANT: All data will be lost by performing this step.
This will reformat the hard drive on the PLAYSTATION 3, deleting all data and restoring it to as if it just came out of the box. This is the same as [Restore PS3 system] on the XMB.
System Update - Updates the PS3 system software. This can only be done with an update file already saved on an external storage media.