I have a US 80gb PS3 model(the earliest one, the one with the built-in ps2 software emulator). I've stayed at firmware 2.80 for quite some time and I decided that I wanted to rent Tekken 6. I tried to play it but it asked me to update my firmware to 3.01, which I did using the software update provided in the gamedisk itself. Thing is, after that, I went in-game and played for about 10-20 minutes and then decided to install the game files into my hard-drive from the option in the game menu so that it would load faster. For some bizarre reason, the install stopped at 99% which is when I noticed that the drive itself wasn't doing anything, no noise, no blue light flickering, no disk spinning. Sony decided that they need to sell new consoles so they sent out updates that fuck up oldest models for some reason, therefore a) either something is wrong in my firmware installation(highly unlikely but a man can dream) or b)  I am left with a malfunctioning lens.
 There has been discussion on this issue(or at least a really really similar one) on many forums, including the official PS3 boards, it's just that they are filled with trash posts that pretty much tell me that I am fucked and that I need to take my console back to sony in order to get it replaced. Isn't there any other way to get it fixed? Like, could I maybe get a ps3 replacement lens and have a technician install it? I don't really know what my options are at this point, so if you guys know anything about this or have experienced the same problem, it'd be great if you could help me out.

you could look up a few guides and go DIY on it

I can't think of anything that won't just temporarily fix the problem.

are you still under warrantee? I had this happen to me right before my warrantee with Future Shop expired and they fixed it for me. Just had to send it away. You gotta keep it dust free, because that can seriously damage the lens, as I found out.

I could also probably get the lens replaced if it turns out to be busted, right?

I thought 60gigs were the oldest models with the PS2 backwards compatability? I bought one on launch(Has been sold since then)and it fucked up around 7-8 months later with the same problem. They offered me a new 40gig but I wanted a 60 gig for the PS2 BC so I asked nicely and they replaced it for me, which was cool of them.

But that was after I sent it in for 2 weeks to get fixed.