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Not during a hard lock. A freeze is not the same thing as a hard lock and it will not respond to anything other than pulling the power cord to force it to restart.
On topic though, I haven't done the rebuild ever. I've pressed circle at that screen every single time it prompts since I bought my PS3 years ago.
I usually let it run its course. Never had any errors tho, so it never took longer than 10 min or so. Had the same issues with the first Fallout and with skyrim. But Defiance has been the worst by far. But I usually just take it as a sign that I need a break from gaming.
In all honesty about 30-40 times I never "rebuild" it tho to used to it . It's defiance what's messes you ps3 over trust me , like fallout 3 god bad times , never remove the cord!!! Just hold power for 30 seconds it has to shut down no matter what , I think most if not all devices what can turn on or off has this 30 - min hold down anyway just keep letting defiance bum **** your hdd it don't matter anyway you should be getting a ps4 by the time it's dead lol
Ive hard about 3 to 4 hard freezes. Not fun to be in a middle of a mission and have it lock on you.
If your system does a Hard lock it then it doesn't matter how long you hold the power button down for, it doesn't respond and you are forced to cut the power to it. If holding the power button worked for you, then you did NOT experience a "Hard Lock" and only a "freeze"