found a Playstation 3 (model CECHH04) by the dumpster. cleaned it up and inspected - it’s missing the BD and the HD and its cage; I jammed a normal 2.5" HDD in there and stuck some cardboard around. the light turned green, the HD spins up, the fans are spinning and the TV shows it’s alive - no OS though.
I’ve downloaded Sony’s official firmware and also some evilnat CFW jailbreak; tried both but the prompt on the TV is to attach a controller to the USB and press the PS button, which I haven’t got. can I do something without it? tried a noname PC gamepad and keyboard but no go…
If you’re like me and you insist you getting a real controller, be careful. it’s a minefield of very convincing fakes. They will work, including on recovery mode, but usually have shoddy SIXAXIS and drift.
Even looking at comparison pics, the only way I could be sure was by looking at the PCB and cross referencing with this