I've managed to fix my PS3/SACD-ripper problem, though I'm not sure just which step was the 'vital' one in the fixing process!
Ted_b, thanks very much for steering me to the latest SACD-ripper version - much appreciated! But just because I'm a raw beginner with the PS3 and SACD ripoping doesn't mean I'm stupid - just ignorant. I think you were a little dismissive with your earlier posts. I didn't for a moment believe my PS3 was 'broken' (hardware-wise) - as a software engineer I know it's pretty hard to do that simply by loading new software on a machine. Additionally, though SACD-ripper correctly reports v0.37 when it runs, you must remember that the whole purpose of my original post was that SACD-ripper was
not running on my PS3. So the only way I could check (at that time) what version was installed was through the PS3's Options menu, which
does display SACD-ripper v0.37's version
incorrectly as 0.36! (See screen photo.)
But the purpose of this (longish again, sorry) post is not to upbraid ted_b, but to outline the steps I took to restore successful SACD-ripper operation, in case others with the same problem end up at this thread. I did a lot of Googling, but found no-one with exactly the same problem. But there were many threads talking about a 'black screen' when starting a game, and I suspected my problem was possibly similar, given that SACD-ripper appears as a 'game'.
Many of those threads suggested going through the list of actions, from top to bottom, that appear in the PS3's 'Safe Mode' menu. I tried all those, to no avail.
So I thought I'd try 'going back to tors' - 'rebuilding' my PS3 firmware from scratch, to bring it back to how it was when I bought it (second-hand). So I downloaded and installed OFW3.55, followed by an 'update' to True Blue 3.55 (this is what was installed when I bought it, complete with True Blue dongle, which I subsequently sold). Then I installed SACD-ripper v0.37, even though I knew it wouldn't run under True Blue (but this is what I did when I first got this PS3, albeit with SACD-ripper v0.21). But on trying to run SACD-ripper, still just a black screen (in the original case, it at least told me it wouldn't run with that OS). So then I 'updated' to OtherOS++3.55, but still no joy.
Some of the 'black screen' threads mentioned that this is a common symptom if your BD drive is faulty, even if the drive is not required for the game. I thought it unlikely my drive was faulty, given that it worked fine before I did the SACD-ripper update that started this mess. But someone mentioned a BD drive 'reset' (by holding the eject button for > 30-seconds). I did this, but still no joy with SACD-ripper.
Well, I thought, maybe my drive
is faulty - I'd better test it. So I popped in an SACD, and was horrified to find that the PS3 didn't recognise there was a playable disc there. The blue light was on steadily, but nothing appeared in the PS3's Music menu. As a last resort I tried rebooting the PS3 with the SACD still in the drive. Now it appeared in the Music menu! I played a bit of track 1 just to be sure all was well with the drive (it played fine).
Then I forlornly tried SACD-ripper once more, not expecting any change. But it ran, and asked for the PS3 keys!! I quickly inserted them, and was ripping that SACD in no time! Woohoo!!!
So in summary, I don't know which of the many steps I did was crucial to getting SACD-ripper running again, but my gut feel is that it was the BD-drive reset/insert-disc/reboot/play sequence. At one stage I looked at forums that explained how to replace the BD drive and 'remarry' it, and one of the final steps in that process is inserting a BD movie and playing it, to 'restore your DRL files' (whatever they are). Maybe inserting and playing an SACD performed a similar function??
PS: After this success, I re-setup my wireless networking on the PS3 (the settings having been wiped during the many system resets etc I tried) with the hope of being able to rip SACDs via the network. But after doing this and checking that I could browse the web, when next I tried to run SACD-ripper again I got the same black screen I had just fixed!
After rebooting the PS3 (since it was frozen), I again inserted an SACD in the drive (SACD-ripper normally complains if there's no disc, so I didn't have one in it for that quick re-test before), and this time it showed up immediately in the Music menu. Now when I ran SACD-ripper it behaved correctly again. I don't know what's going on there.
Incidentally, when I then tried to rip via the network, SACD-extract r274 (on the networked PC) gave me this error message before exiting, despite me having permitted it (via ZoneAlarm) to access the network:
libsacdread: Can't open 192.168.0.112:2002 for reading(Those are the correct numbers, as shown on the PS3 display at the same time.)
I'm not too worried about that, as the 32GB USB drive I bought specifically for ripping is now working on the PS3. But it would be nice to have ripping working via the network too.
Daniel (Australia)
Update 30 March 2015:
This same problem occurred a second time, when my HDD became corrupted and I had to do a "Restore PS3 System", then reinstall Other_OS3.55++ and SACD Ripper. SACD Ripper again produced the black screen and froze the PS3.
So for anyone stumbling upon this thread with the same 'black screen' problem I experienced, the definitive answer seems to be the "BD-drive reset/insert-disc/reboot/play sequence" which I thought was the probable fix the first time round. I did that straight away this time (except the SACD played even before the reboot), and it fixed the problem straight-up. So there you are - hope it helps someone else.
