My 2016 PS4 Pro Died

I Decided to Repair It Myself.
Back in 2023, I bought a second-hand 2016 PlayStation 4 Pro 500GB from a friend. The deal was quite attractive. It included:

  • PS4 Pro console
  • 4 PS4 controllers
  • 13 PS4 games

At that time, the PS5 had already been released for about three years, while this PS4 Pro was already around seven years old. Some people might have suggested that I should just buy a PS5 instead.

But after considering it, I decided to go with the PS4 Pro. Why not? It came with four controllers and 13 games, and most importantly, my kids could enjoy playing together.

The Kids Were Very Happy
During the year-end school holiday, the kids happily played the PS4.
It was great to see them enjoying the games together.
But after only a few days…

The PS4 suddenly wouldn’t turn on anymore.
Haha! 😅
At first, I thought:

“Maybe this is the end of its life.”

After all, this was already a seven-year-old console. And maybe this was also a good opportunity to stop the kids from playing too much!

So I didn’t immediately send it to a game shop for repair.
Instead, I put the PS4 in a drawer and left it there for a few months.

The Kids Asked Me to Fix It

After some time, the kids started asking me again:

“Dad, can you fix the PS4?”

They really wanted to play it again.
Eventually, I decided to bring it to a game shop and ask about the repair cost. I suspected that the problem might be the power supply, because my friend had previously replaced the power supply in this PS4.

The same game shop had also checked the console for my friend before. When my friend asked previously, he was told that the repair would cost around RM220.
But when I asked this time, the shop quoted me around:

RM280

I started thinking…
RM280 for repairing an old PS4 Pro?Maybe I should try fixing it myself.

I Decided to Buy the Power Supply

Instead of paying the game shop RM280, I decided to buy a replacement power supply from Shopee and try to repair the PS4 myself. The replacement part I bought was:

ADP-200ER PS4 Power Supply

Price:

RM116.95 — including delivery
That was considerably cheaper than the RM280 repair quote.
Of course, there was still one problem…

Would I actually be able to fix it? 😅
I had never repaired a PS4 power supply before. But since the PS4 was already sitting unused in the drawer, I thought:

“If I break it, it can’t get much worse!” 😂

So I decided to give it a try.
This is where my PS4 repair adventure began…


That’s great! 😄 It sounds like the PS4 diagnosis turned out to be correct: the original power supply had failed, and replacing it with an aftermarket PSU brought the console back to life.

And honestly, this was a very worthwhile experiment:
You also gained some useful hands-on repair experience. Sometimes an old electronic device looks “dead”, but one failed component can be the whole problem.

Definitely a successful repair + money-saving experiment.

This is actually a good philosophy for your hardware projects: don’t be afraid of old machines—use them as your training ground.

iMac 27-inch (2009) Update Journey

I hadn’t turned on my iMac for a long time. It was once my backup computer, running OSX Snow Leopard, The operating system had become very outdated, with many limitations. I mainly used it for watching movies, editing photos, and creating videos with iMovie.

Recently, I decided to give it a second life by updating it to the latest macOS it officially supports.

OS X El Capitan USB installer to perform a clean installation, and it was successful. After that, I copied VLC Media Player from my Mac Pro, and it was able to play most of my MKV movie files without any issues.

Once El Capitan was installed, I started researching the newest macOS that this iMac could officially run. I then upgraded through each supported version:

Snow Leopard 2009 >> El Capitan 2015 >> Sierra 2016 >> High Sierra 2017

The entire upgrade process took around 1–2 days to complete. The original hard drive was probably the biggest bottleneck, making the installation and updates extremely slow.

Should update HDD >> SSD to get better performance.
* Next target update
1). HDD >> SSD 1TB
2). 4 x 2gb = 8gb >> 4 x 4gb = 16gb

The second thing I did was install OpenEmu, transforming this old iMac into an excellent retro gaming and media system, With a PS4 DualShock controller, it becomes a perfect setup for classic console games while still serving as a great machine for watching movies and everyday use.

After 17 years, this iMac has a new lease on life.
( very enjoying the upgrade process)

For a computer released in 2009, I’m impressed by how capable it still is. With an SSD, 16GB of RAM, and High Sierra, it remains a useful machine for media playback, light creative work, retro gaming, and running many classic applications.

Next, will try install some software and try the old beast limit.

再一次拾起 3D 的世界


暂停已久的 3D 旅程,如今又重新启程。
久违的软件再次出现在屏幕上,却已不再是当初熟悉的模样。
版本更新了许多,界面焕然一新,工具与功能层出不穷。
对我来说,它几乎成了一款全新的软件。

记得当年热血的自己,
为了一个完美的模型、一次理想的渲染,
无数个夜晚在屏幕前与它为伴。
那段时光,有疲惫,也有激情;
有挫折,也有成就。

如今再次打开它,不是为了追赶潮流,
也不是为了证明什么。
只是想不忘那份初心,
那份对创作的热爱,对立体世界的着迷。

也许我已不再是当年的我,
但只要还能静下心来,
在光影之间塑造形体、在空间里描绘梦想,
就已经足够。

至少,我还可以在这熟悉又陌生的世界里,
乐在其中,
继续做一些模型,继续进行三维渲染,
继续与那份旧日的热情重逢。

Kundasang – The Clover

The Clover
这一次的昆达善之旅,我们住在“The Clover”。一个满新的地方,位于在Mesilau满里面的高处的一个地方。还没出发前个晚上就一直下雨,天气报告沙巴会受热带气候风,会有狂风暴雨,满担心路程会很塞很缓慢,因为有老人和小孩。

大概12点多我们就到“August Kitchen”享用我们的午餐,很庆幸到达时雨停了。午餐后计划是去看草泥马(羊驼),才上车又下起毛毛雨,雨下一会儿又停了。到我们住宿的地方前会经过(羊驼)一路上山的路程风很强和很少车,看见(羊驼)的路牌转进去,开开心心的要带孩子去看(羊驼),在购买门票处才知因为气候的问题(风很大),没有开放观光。

只好继续我们的路程,很喜欢The Clover的地理位置,很靠近神山。天气真的很好(很冷),
原来这里的住宿是用货柜来建设的,在屋子里看电视和休息。傍晚时,又下起雨,还越下越大,风越来越强,镜子隙缝转来轰轰和颤抖的敲打声。我们故作冷静,准备火锅晚餐,一边晚餐一边享受冷冷的气候。

晚上,雨越下越大,外面的风强到把外面的水都给吹进屋里。整个住宿在晃动,大家都不知该如何,只能静静呆在屋里。哈哈吓到妈妈想要离开这里,离开又怕路程有倒树或土崩。我和我老婆只能安抚老人和小孩。和孩子一起祷告后,大家也各自回到房间休息,我和大儿子在客厅睡。住宿的设计用了很多玻璃,也提醒在房间休息的不能靠/远离玻璃的地方。

大概下到3点多雨才小,才安心的睡觉去。

暴风后的一个早晨,超级冷天气超级好,不忘照相留念。