Sony: PlayStation 3 firmware fix will be ready next week

[Shawn Knight]

Sony released a firmware update earlier this week for the PlayStation 3 that resulted in a small number of bricked consoles. Update 4.45 added additional trophy functionality to the PS3 as well as system stability features but ultimately caused more harm than good.

As we understand it, update 4.45 prevented some users from being able to access their cross-media bars. Those that tried to fix the issue by formatting the console ended up bricking it completely. Once bricked, the system would hang indefinitely while attempting to boot.

The download was ultimately taken offline and an investigation was opened to figure out what was causing the issue. PlayStation Plus users that have the auto-update feature enabled may have downloaded it automatically. If you fall into that category, it’d probably be best to disable automatic updates until the dust settles.

Sony community manager Morgan Haro penned a post on the PlayStation forum earlier today indicating that they have identified the issue related to the software update. He said a new PS3 software update is scheduled for release on June 27 to resolve the original issue. At that time, Sony will also release steps on how to implement the solution.

It’s unclear exactly how many consoles were affected by the buggy firmware update but having to wait more than a week for a solution is no doubt a bit frustrating. I guess the good news is that there is a solid release date in the pipeline.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/52996-sony-playstation-3-firmware-fix-will-be-ready-next-week.html

 

[GhostRyder]

Wow, I feel bad for those who now have a 300 dollar paper-weight now because of this.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Interesting.

 

[Jcanno0759]

Huh. Still goin with ps4

 

[NTAPRO]

I guess this mean free brick repairs for a limited time lol

 

[yukka]

Ps3 update bricks ps3, Sony offer fix with weeks. Yawn. And they are sooooo much better than ms etc etc

 

[NTAPRO]

Do you expect them to offer a fix instantly or something? I'd rather hear it being acknowledged along with a possible date instead of nothing

 

[GhostRyder]

If the system is bricked, I doubt its fixable (Because normally the definition of bricked means its deceased). Hopefully there is a fix, but its gonna be interesting to say the least.

 

[NTAPRO]

If the system is bricked, I doubt its fixable (Because normally the definition of bricked means its deceased). Hopefully there is a fix, but its gonna be interesting to say the least.

I'd have to disagree, in this case at least. I know one or two people who do unbricking services (for a fee of course), and from what I've experienced, firmware bricks are usually the easiest to deal with.

 

[SlayerPro]

Do you expect them to offer a fix instantly or something? I'd rather hear it being acknowledged along with a possible date instead of nothing

Uhhhhh... yeah. I don't think it's out of the question to expect a fix within 24 hours.

 

[NTAPRO]

Wouldn't hurt to wait some days and find something better to waste time on

 

[cliffordcooley]

Do you expect them to offer a fix instantly

Actually yes I would, whats wrong about expecting a company to be prepared in case of any mistakes. They should have had a firmware reset on the console. After reset, firmware updates could start over.

 

[misor]

Wouldn't hurt to wait some days and find something better to waste time on

...now they are playing games on their xbox 360s.

 

[NTAPRO]

...now they are playing games on their xbox 360s.

That'll teach sony haha

Actually yes I would, whats wrong about expecting a company to be prepared in case of any mistakes. They should have had a firmware reset on the console. After reset, firmware updates could start over.

I agree, I'm probably just saying that because the ps3 I was using was off during the update so I missed out lol

 

[GhostRyder]

I'd have to disagree, in this case at least. I know one or two people who do unbricking services (for a fee of course), and from what I've experienced, firmware bricks are usually the easiest to deal with.

I didn't mean impossible to fix, but if the system is stuck in a loop as im reading where it wont do anything (Even Update), then an update from sony does not sound like a fix. But who knows, it didn't happen to me so I would have to see before I made a judgement like that. But when I hear "Bricked" I assume without actual repairs, that things not gonna run.

 

[Scshadow]

Technically its only semi-bricked. True you can not boot to the xmb but you can boot into the recovery menu. From there it'll be as simple as loading the new update off of a usb stick.

 

[GhostRyder]

Oh so you can boot it up, the way I was reading it, I thought they were saying it was just freezing on start period. So its fixable, thats good to hear.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

So does this mean Sony's going into the construction business as brick layers with a special patented brick?

 

[Camikazi]

If the system is bricked, I doubt its fixable (Because normally the definition of bricked means its deceased). Hopefully there is a fix, but its gonna be interesting to say the least.

Not true, there are things that can get bricked and still be fixed, routers for instance. Being bricked makes it harder to fix but not impossible.

 

[PC nerd]

Why wouldn't you check the update before releasing it?

Sony already look stupid after the hacking fiasco.

 

[Burty117]

Meh, how many people did it actually affect? I have several friends with ps3's and all of them bar one got the update and none of them had an issue? Likewise. I didn't hear any complaining on Facebook so it can't be that wide spread? I did see a load of Spanish people complaining on twitter, I wonder if it affected certain machines by region?

 

[Guest]

PSN+ user, got the update, did not install, because I like to check what sony are uselessly adding or unfortunately removing from my ps3.

I want my Other O/S back. Not to use it, just to have it.

And to the fella being sarky about their being so much better than MS...

MS made a console with an X clamp, that when hot broke machines. And what did they do with the X clamp in newer models, left it in.... and it does.... nothing, it literally did nothing other than break machines.

This update only apparently messed with people using HDD's with 750gb or 1tb that they had installed themselves, and yes unfortunate, but one of them things and fixable. Although I would hate to lose the 600gb of free sony games I have obtained.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Heh, hopefully you guys got this story idea from my thread.


I have some things to clarify:
- This update apparently only affected those with custom HDDs, usually 500GB or higher.
- PS+ only auto-downloads firmware, not installs.
- In tech lingo, the current state of the broken PS3's is 'soft-bricked'. It's just the firmware not loading/working properly. There's actually a safe-mode on the PS3 to allow the fix to be patched. Hard-bricking is where critical firmware data is corrupt and the device is not recoverable by any means.

 

[yukka]

To the fella commenting on the x-clamp, in 1994 I had to turn my original Sony playstation through 360 degrees in the end to get games to load once the plastic disc arm warped. And how many bluray lasers have died on the original ps3 swings and roundabouts.

I think if Sony can pull the update for users and still let those users log in, they should have released the previous working firmware in a format you can restore using the USB safe mode. That should be a standard rollback option and for Sony not to have that option in place and offer a fix in weeks instead, that's a bit crap. It's not like this is the first bad firmware update they have sent out. Also an interesting retort for anyone saying its great that Sony let you upgrade with any size hard drive when they manage to do something like this to make the benefit temporarily take your console out.