How To Fix The PS4 White Light of Death
Are you a gamer who owns a PlayStation 4, or someone who loves fixing consoles? In either case, you may have come across a dreaded problem called the White Light of Death, or WLOD. The bad news is that if you are having this problem, something is most likely wrong with your PS4. The great news is that it can be fixed! And we’re here to help you diagnose and fix this problem so you can get your PS4 working again like before.
What Is The PS4 WLOD?
The WLOD (white light of death) is a problem with the PS4 console where it will turn on, show a white light as if it’s working properly, but then it won’t show anything on the screen or have any sound coming out of the TV. This can be incredibly frustrating because it may seem like everything is plugged in correctly but it’s just not working like it was before. Thankfully, there are many things you can easily do at home to try to fix this problem yourself.
DIY Fixes You Can Try
Let's look at a couple of things that you can try to fix this problem yourself before deciding to send it off to a repair shop:
Power Cycle: The first and easiest thing you can do is to power cycle your PS4. You can do this by turning off the console completely and unplugging it from the wall or whatever power source it’s connected to, and then letting it sit powered off for a few minutes. Sometimes simply letting it sit powered off can fix temporary software glitches.
HDMI Connection: If the HDMI connection is bad then you won’t be able to get an image on the screen or audio coming out, and it may look like your PS4 has the WLOD.
You can check if the HDMI connection is causing problems by unplugging your HDMI cable on both ends (where it connects to the PS4 and where it connects to the TV), and then plugging the cable back in. If there is still no image showing on the screen, inspect the HDMI ports as well as the cable to see if there is any damage. If there is debris inside the HDMI ports, or if they look broken, then they won’t be able to work properly. Similarly, if the cable is damaged, you might want to try using a different cable or replace it with a new one. You can also try plugging the cable into a different HDMI port on the TV to see if a different one will work.
TV Connection: Another quick thing to check is whether the TV is plugged in and working properly. It is possible that the TV is causing issues, not the PS4. Make sure that the power cord is plugged in all the way, that nothing is able to knock it out of place, and that the cord doesn’t have any damage.
Update Software: Keeping your console’s software up to date is important so that it can function the best it can. If you are able to get a picture on the TV, or if one of the previous steps worked in fixing the problem, make sure to go into the PS4 settings and check for updates. This can help avoid future problems.
What If Those Don’t Work?
If you've tried everything above and it's still not working, then one of these might be the case:
Bad HDMI Port: This is very common. The HDMI ports on the original PS4 consoles have a bad design by default and will fail at some point or another. We know this because back when we ran our repair business, PS4 HDMI ports were one of the most common things we had to repair.
Usually it's pretty easy to tell if your PS4 HDMI port is bad, because you can see that the small copper pins inside are bent, out of place, or missing altogether. Also, many times the metal outer portion of the port will be bent as well. This will cause the cable to not fit into the port snugly. While the ports on the PS4 Slim and Pro are much better, even those consoles sometimes need HDMI port repairs.
If you have a lot of microsoldering experience and high quality tools and feel comfortable trying to fix your PS4 yourself, we have a video on YouTube showing how to an HDMI repair on an PS4.
Faulty HDMI IC Chip: The HDMI IC chip is a chip on the motherboard that processes the HDMI signal. When this chip burns out it will often cause the white light of death. It's difficult to know if the IC chip is the problem but if the port looks good but you still get no signal, it is possible that the chip is causing the problem. The only way to know for sure is to have it professionally tested, or to buy a working IC chip and replace the one on your PS4 yourself to see if that gets it working again.
Electrical Storm or Lightning Storm: If you've recently experienced any large electrical storms or lightning storms it’s possible that they could have caused the WLOD on your PS4. The reason why this happens is because the electrical surge can go straight from your TV into the PS4 via the HDMI cable and will usually fry the IC chip. It can also cause problems with the port itself and/or the resistors and diodes around the port that send signals through to the TV. If any of these things are damaged it can cause the WLOD.
Additional Help
If you don’t feel comfortable with opening up your PS4 console or don't have access to the tools and parts required, it might be better to let an expert do it for you. This will be less risky and can get your console fixed faster.
We greatly recommend a repair company called ShaneFix to help you with your PS4 issues. ShaneFix is run by one of the repair technicians who we trained and who worked with us for over a year. You can also check out our TronicsFix Forum to see hundreds of posts made by people in this community who care about consoles and fixing them.
About the Author
Kirstyn Bahnmiller is a writer, graphic designer, and video editor for TronicsFix who loves to share her ideas and creativity with the world. In her off time you will find her working on various crafts, making digital art, taking photos, and cooking delicious recipes she found online.