Sony advises against PS3 use

By Tom Bramwell Published 1 March, 2010

Hopes to resolve problem in 24 hours.

Sony has finally issued a detailed statement in response to the ongoing issues with PlayStation 3, apologising and advising users not to turn on their consoles.

The platform holder has confirmed that the problem affects consoles older than the new slim PS3, and said, "We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system."

The statement goes on to list symptoms identified and catalogued by Eurogamer technology editor Rich Leadbetter earlier today.

Sony hopes to have the problem solved "within the next 24 hours", the company said.

"In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data."

The full statement follows:

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:

  • The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
  • When the user tries to sign-in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
  • When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
  • When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
  • Users are not able to playback certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (160) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • robg #1 2 years ago

    Sony advises against PS3 use

    Comment left as an exercise for the reader.

  • Burkey #2 2 years ago

    "Not being able to restore certain data" - sounds a bit worrying for those who did get the error, no?

  • chudders #3 2 years ago

    Unprecedented.

    Now is the season of evil...

  • Goodfella #4 2 years ago

    In other words, they are crossing their fingers that it fixes itself at midnight tonight.

  • carrotcake #5 2 years ago

    Fuck shouldnt've turned mine on this morning. Yeah it cant play games and thinks it is 1999. Will be v.annoyed if lost data after the fix!

  • Mnia786 #6 2 years ago

    @ goofella - seconded. They took all fucking day to tell us what we knew already. Is it that hard for them to fix a bloody leap year code if they managed to make the Cell CPU?!

    Edit: Yes I know Sony alone did not make the Cell but ofcourse if they got boffins that good there, this would be no major problem now would it or am I being a little tooooo ignorant?
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 18:43

  • Skire #7 2 years ago

    oh noes! it's the millenium bug all over again! expect floods and major power downs aswell later today

  • peterfll #8 2 years ago

    Can't you switch it on and like NOT connect it to the internet?

  • Killdare #9 2 years ago

    Thank heaven my "fat" PS3 hasn't been turned on, so doesn't think it's 1999. For one thing I'd hate to have to break it to it just how much of a disappointment the Millennium Dome and London's New Year's Eve 'River of Fire' will be.

  • myiagros #10 2 years ago

    This is one of the many unforseen circumstances for which sony should never allow locked save game data.

    I have as many of my save games backed up as is possible, as do many others, but if i loose any of those which are locked, as i concequence of this sort of system design oversight, then i would have to start those games over again.

    If I loose any data or progress over this issue, then i will be seriously pissed, this looks like an entirely avoidable and predictable problem.

  • FenderMaster #11 2 years ago

    too late...

  • Doctor_What #12 2 years ago

    @ peterfll : Nope, it's to do with the internal clock and so will be buggered whether you connect to the internet or not.

    One manifestation of the internal clock problem is that it won't connect to the internet, but that's a symptom, not a cause.

    Thank goodness I texted my housemate before he got home from work earlier - I've got a launch model that he would have nicely borked if I hadn't. We use the PS3 every night to watch films, listen to music, and play games (obviously)... It's actually going to be really pretty weird not having it turned on tonight!

  • mcmonkeyplc #13 2 years ago

    Juicy!

  • CatWeazle #14 2 years ago

    So - Will this happen every 4 years? And what happens in 2012 when there really *is* a leap-year?

  • bnazir #15 2 years ago

    can someone explain why an internal clock would reset back to 1999, how does that happen?

  • funkateer #16 2 years ago

    "Sony advises against PS3 use"

    What a surreal advise from Sony ;-)
    Ok, so I turned it off and now 'it only does nothing' quite well.

    Being bit by this bug, I'm still hopeful that this may be fixed with an update. AFAIK, you don't even need a PSN account to update your firmware, right? In any case, I'm not getting the error while checking for a firmware update and it can still connect to the internet just fine.

  • Bigglesworth #17 2 years ago

    symptoms identified and catalogued by Eurogamer technology editor Rich Leadbetter

    ORLY?

  • ShinMegami08 #18 2 years ago

    It's the end of the world as we know it!

    /wonders if he shall go out...
    //hooks up his old Atari2600 VCS and plays the whole night Space Invaders

  • Scimarad #19 2 years ago

    That's a headline I never thought I'd see;)

  • laruso #20 2 years ago

    I stopped using my x360 because I had four rrod episodes, and switched to ps3, I now have over 50 games I can't play. What a massive PR disaster, can't believe that Sony idiot was saying how good their PR was last week! Wonder what he has to say now.

  • Bigglesworth #21 2 years ago

    can someone explain why an internal clock would reset back to 1999, how does that happen?

    Read this.

  • FladgeMangle #22 2 years ago

    The iPlayer still works, so does the internet browser.

    I don't think it'll break anything as long as you avoid "gaems". An evening without Ad-Hoc party isn't one I'm relishing though.

    Still, there's always pr0n... ;o)

  • Gurgeh #23 2 years ago

    @bnazir - a combination of a quality control slip-up on the hardware and DRM zealotry from Sony on the software. In other words it looks like they used buggy hardware for a few batches of PS3s, and their DRM then kicked in when it saw an incorrect date and locked down the system. If they've been really nasty the DRM may wipe data on the hard disk it believes you've been trying to "pirate" by altering the date.

    I suspect the "wait 24 hours" advice means they hope the systems will fix themselves once the faulty clock gets off 29th February, otherwsie they're in for one big recall

  • TurboBailey #24 2 years ago

    Egg Fried LOL

    /hope ma bitch hasnt turned my PS3 on to watch Play TV

  • Burkey #25 2 years ago

    @EarlBassett I think this pretty important advise does warrant a story of its own.

  • Bigglesworth #26 2 years ago

    @Gurgeh
    Lol, yeah I also heard that it might cause the PS3 itself to self-distruct, and also take out the hard disks of any other machine on the local network, on the assumption that your "pirated" shit is all over those too.

  • barchetta #27 2 years ago

    There will be a lot of surprised Playstation widows tonight :)

  • darleysam #28 2 years ago

    CookieMonster, it may placate her some if you started referring to her by name, rather than 'wife unit'.

  • Eighthours #29 2 years ago

    In other words, they are crossing their fingers that it fixes itself at midnight tonight.

    Yep.

  • saku_luk #30 2 years ago

    It looks like they are waiting for the problem to resolve itself once the date changes to 2nd march in OS and 1st in the internal clock. But what if it doesnt? well Sony you better pray it does ;p

  • jack_klugman #31 2 years ago

    Well that's one way to incentivise a hardware upgrade I suppose.

  • GamesConnoisseur #32 2 years ago

    Millennium bug got loads of hypes but at end nothing much really happened aside from VERY few reported instance AND Fat PS3 bug apparently much more damaging in term of data/ functionality temp or otherwise than so called millennium bug!!

    Other difference is no one predicted this and not even xbots!

    Ps3 will be kept off... However long it ll take and glad I finished best ending on Heavy Rain yesterday n off I go for ME2 on X360!

  • MyPointIs #33 2 years ago

    And an unusually large number of babies will be born in 9 months.

  • xentar #34 2 years ago

    and this is happening with all the Heavy Rain hype on... i would hate to be Sony spokesperson

  • bnazir #35 2 years ago

    well, at least the wife will be happy, hang on a minute, I haven't seen the wife and kids for sometime now....

  • themorganator #36 2 years ago

    this is astonishing. I am literally struggling to hold back the inner fanboy in me. MUST..... NOT..... fall into fits of laughter.

    oh, bugger it.

    hahahahahahahaha

    BS3!

  • sneetch #37 2 years ago

    @Mnia786
    @ goofella - seconded. They took all fucking day to tell us what we knew already. Is it that hard for them to fix a bloody leap year code if they managed to make the Cell CPU?!

    Actually, they made it with IBM, who I think did most of the work (as IBM seem to own the patents and do all the manufacturing). Either way different people do different jobs. The hardware engineers in STI who designed the cell probably aren't going to be writing software fixes for the PS3.

    Any changes will have to be checked and validated against all the PS3 fat revisions, this will take time but 24 hours (if they do it) is a damn good turnaround speed for this kind of thing.

    @GamesConnoisseur

    An absolute fortune was spent ensuring that the millennium bug didn't affect countless systems throughout the world, so it wasn't that it simply didn't happen, it was prevented from happening.

  • bauhaus #38 2 years ago

    Lets party...

  • funkateer #39 2 years ago

    "Millennium bug got loads of hypes but at end nothing much really happened aside from VERY few reported instance AND Fat PS3 bug apparently much more damaging in term of data/ functionality temp or otherwise than so called millennium bug!! "

    If you knew how many billions were spent to prevent millenium problems, you'd probably understand how wrong you actually are :-)

  • Skynet #40 2 years ago

    Sony: All your PS3s are belong to us.

  • MizzouGaming #41 2 years ago

    @Tyrell Seriously are you that butthurt over people criticizing a company? Sad

  • looy1 #42 2 years ago

    I just tried my 80gb PS3 model (CECHL04) and it works fine, its the model just before the slim came out and maybe that has something to do with it but it definately works :D . Seeing as it might be fixed by tomorrow its not such a big deal anyway but im still a little surprised to see this happen :p
    Anyway Heavy Rain here i come....:)
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 18:22

  • metallicorphan #43 2 years ago

    Fuck Tyrell off Eurogamer...we don't need pricks like him here

  • davisorle #44 2 years ago

    @Mnia786 - Cause wasnt Sony that made it but another 3-4 companies that are capable of. Thats for sure not Sony though :) Google it.
    @Tyrell - RROD caused extention of waranty to 3 years anf free repairs/shipping. When YROD you have to pay for :) Even if you post this another 100 times you will sound as much of an ignorant. I cant say worst cause you look as bad as it goes already.

  • davisorle #45 2 years ago

    @metallicorphan
    Yet its funny how he just gained votes from whoever else is as much of a tard like thim.. Is banning active here or EG is in need of fucktards to the max?

  • Hendo #46 2 years ago

    Can mods please delete those repeated messages?
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 19:10

  • Waffleaber #47 2 years ago

    Tyrell posting on his ps3 web browser there.

  • dloob #48 2 years ago

    "You've successfully snitched on Tyrell - thanks for the tipoff. "

    In other news I had my fat PS3 on yesterday downloading the GOW3 demo.
    Didn't get any errors.
    But I think I'll be leaving it off tonight anyway.

  • PlugMonkey #49 2 years ago

    Heh heh. I think Tyrell has suffered some sort of internal clock error. Bless 'im.

    I just can't help chuckling at this. Even though I've got a potentially bricked fat PS3 at home, which I imported from America putting me on slightly shakey ground should some sort of Return To Base action be required. I just can't quite believe the extent to which Sony have managed to fuck up just about every single aspect of this hardware generation.

    I mean, microsoft have an excuse. They're still quite new to this, and they're microsoft. I don't really expect their shit to work. But Sony?
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 18:34

  • GamesConnoisseur #50 2 years ago

    Millennium bug were very profitable ventures for IT companies but had been reported that only 28 percent of schools in US had taken up the fix, also many thousands of small businesses didn't afford the fix also.

    What happened?!

    Nothing very much, there are a strong opposing views of how serious it actually was or on the necessity to expand the actions required to everywhere else. I do personally believe that we got drama queen about it all.

  • FortysixterUK #51 2 years ago

    Errrr......

    So SONY have released a PS3 that is fundamentally flawed......then TOYOTA get dragged over the coals for an issue with their cars last week......who will be the third company who will have to fall on their swords ?

  • youhavenomail #52 2 years ago

    It's nothing new to me. My Wii's graphics chip thinks it's 1999 every time I turn that console on.

  • BOFH_UK #53 2 years ago

    Hmm, I've got a fat PS3 but all I really use it for is a media centre. Seriously tempted to see how much it's worth after this debacle and see about shifting to another solution as I really don't want my console getting borked just because I switched it on at the wrong f'n time. And yes, I know this is very unlikely to happen again but it points to a serious flaw in the PS3 design and I can't help but wonder what else is lurking in there...

  • GamesConnoisseur #54 2 years ago

    Also I recall recently Stephen Fry on QI claimed Millennium Bug wasn't as it was made out to be, so must be true!!!!

  • Shrike #55 2 years ago

    I think there's something quite grandiose about this fuckup. I imagine Sony HQ looks a bit like an ancient Greek city during the latter half of a great tragedy, at the moment.

    Someone should write an opera.

  • jonbwfc #56 2 years ago

    @FortySixerUK - So SONY have released a PS3 that is fundamentally flawed......then TOYOTA get dragged over the coals for an issue with their cars last week......
    Slight difference between the two cases really. So a lot of people's PS3's don't work. Nobody's been hurt. Accelerator pedals sticking down on a car, on the other hand, could kill people. A little perspective here, please.
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 19:20

  • Mnia786 #57 2 years ago

    @everyone telling me it was not just sony, I know! I was just acting on the barebones that one of the worlds largest and advanced consumer tech companies really take their time trying to patch up one buggy bit of code - I would think they would be a bit snappier.

  • NinjaWilliams #58 2 years ago

    In the meantime whilst waiting for a fix!:

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=Cu-vdhgkC6o

  • mukki #59 2 years ago

    Crap, got the error... And I thought it was my router... Mnnn let's hope no data is lost... Bahhhhhhh no mw2 tonite double bahhh

  • chessboxer #60 2 years ago

    So I got round to playing L4D2 today due to this PS3 internal clock bug. I have come to the conclusion that it's not as good as the first game. It looks nice and the melee weapons are fun (especially the chainsaw) but after spending several hours on it, I'm not in a rush to play it again.

    Now... to continue my Gears Of War campaign, followed by a bit more Crysis

  • makeamazing #61 2 years ago

    Well as i pretty much thought mine had done this late last night (it disconnected from the PSN), so turned it on tonight (nothing to lose really) and yep mine is dead in the water at the moment.... guess i will have to find something else to do for an evening. :)

  • berelain #62 2 years ago

    wow, with Tyrell on ignore, this thread is less than half the size. Impressive.

    /glares at his useless PS3 and White Knight Chronicles disc

  • Rodchenko #63 2 years ago

    This is such a mess. Two days ago I lost all my chapter saves in Heavy Rain bc of a fatal freeze late in the story and had to start it all over again (only for another freeze to occur in the first crime scene chapter). Today I can't even start it at all. Fuck this, Sony.

    Well, at least The Saboteur works for some reason (quite underrated game, btw)

  • funkateer #64 2 years ago

    "Millennium bug were very profitable ventures for IT companies but had been reported that only 28 percent of schools in US had taken up the fix, also many thousands of small businesses didn't afford the fix also. "

    Schools and small businesses weren't much affected by it anyway, as it turned out. Big businesses depending on mainframes (banks and such) most definitely were and very real bugs were fixed.
    I can assure you that the millennium bug was very real and a multimultimultitude more damaging than this, even if all PS3's including Slims were to be bricked beyond repair and would take all of Sony with them in their grave.

  • bad09 #65 2 years ago

    The Sony big wigs took news of this problem well.

  • MORZTAN #66 2 years ago

    This is a part of their ten-year-strategy?

  • modo_komodo #67 2 years ago

    Does even turning it on and doing nothing affect it?

  • Markusdragon #68 2 years ago

    Didn't the Zune do much the same last year, but with less data corruption?

  • Killerbee #69 2 years ago

    Well, my PS3 was switched on over midnight, and I did get the error message... I was playing Heavy Rain at the time so I guess it'll be that game's save data and trophies that are at risk? It'll be very annoying to lose my progress (although I was planning a second playthrough in any event - this just isn't quite how I'd intended it!) so I hope the fact that I literally just quit the game and switched the machine off (I didn't try to load it and thereby get the "trophies failed to install / initialise" message) might mean I'm okay...

    Sony have some serious grovelling to do though... I think a free PSN game of our choosing for everyone with a Fat PS3 would be nice, don't you?!

  • saku_luk #70 2 years ago

    You don't need to be signed into PSN to update your ps3 via system update....but the question is if you can patch ps3 bios using system update?

  • Goodfella #71 2 years ago

    @ Zedfragg

    You might want to try getting some facts before commenting.

    In it's current state the 'fat' PS3's are still able to download updates and connect to the internet via the web browser

  • DuvaDan88 #72 2 years ago

    Got back form work today and wanted to watch a Blu Ray so turned my PS3 on and got the error and ignored it. Came online after the film and now find out my PS3 might be dead so like turned it back on wacked in Little Big Planet and now its dead.

    Sony better not try and give me a slim as I want to be able to play my large PS2 game collection on the console I brought at launch, if I cant have a working PS3 fat I want my Ł400 back in my pocket.

  • Rodchenko #73 2 years ago

    Cap Morgan on Joystiq: "Y2K bug also has a 10 year life cycle"... LOL

  • funkateer #74 2 years ago

    Just speculating here, but let's imagine that this bug has actually bricked all those fat PS3's.... Highly unlikely, but let's just imagine.
    That would (apart from obviously suck) be just so.... amazingly epic! Think about it, something like 15+ million of consoles bricked at the same day! That's probably unprecedented for any machine in the history.

    In any case, I'm not holding my breath for a fix within 24 hours (or 48 for that matter). If they pull it off, than much respect for the engineers that fixed it, but let's be realistic...

  • seanthejackal #75 2 years ago

    I need MAG, i need to kill noobs...hurry the fuck up!!!

  • Findus #76 2 years ago

    Sorry if I've missed this but wouldn't Eastern Europe/Austrailian owners now be able to see if things have been fixed since it's well after midnight?
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 20:36

  • Negotiator #77 2 years ago

    But the slim PS3 is ok, oh thank you Sony for telling us that, what about the rest of the fucking PS3's.

  • Goodfella #78 2 years ago

    @ Findus

    No, apparently all consoles are set to GMT. So the whole world is waiting for midnight tonight, GMT.

  • Ben86 #79 2 years ago

    I love my PS3 SLIM Lmao

  • Theorendil #80 2 years ago

    They have gotta be kidding! How could they screw up so badly? My Ps3 got affected too... I tried Modern Warfare 2 and it wouldn't start! All i got was an error saying that there was an error with the trophy registration. BTW why am i locked out of a game because the damned trophies can't sync or whatever? How retarted is that? Thank God i don't have any DLC other than some Guitar Hero songs to worry about. Mark my words, there are going to be thousands of reports of bricked units or PS3s experiencing disc read problems and failures after (if) Sony issues a fix! Since Sony admitted that the problem was caused by them, people are going to use it as an excuse to get out of warranty machines repaired or exchanged for free! How could they be so massively stupid, one has to wonder... Hadn't they seen the problem coming? Couldn't they have issued a warning or something BEFORE the whole debacle? Unless they found out about it the same way we did! I'm afraid Sony will be up the proverbial body of flowing liquid excrement in a small boat without any means of prepulsion...

  • coolbritannia #81 2 years ago

    This is absolutely brilliant. I mean it sucks to be a PS3 owner right now, but this is a fail on a truly epic scale. I mean the headline alone is hilarious. Sony: Y2K starts when WE say it does!

  • Fab4 #82 2 years ago

    No, not a bug. Just pondlife aka Tyrell, spamming the thread earlier, which have now been deleted.

  • Theorendil #83 2 years ago

    @zedfragg: PS3 updates can be downloaded from the PS3 website and installed via PSP or USB sticks and other stuff like that (i've actually updated my Ps3 using this method, via PSP to be exact), so getting the fix shouldn't be a problem.

    BTW i just checked my emai that's connected to my PS Store etc account to see if there were any mails warning about the problem that i might have missed. There were none of course... Funny how they always mail you when they want to inform you of their newest offers in the Ps Store, yet they completely failed to issue a warning for this problem as soon as it appeared! And no, a post on some blog, even if it is official, doesn't count!

  • riz23 #84 2 years ago

    I am definitely checking here after midnight to see this fixes itself.

  • AnEyeBall #85 2 years ago

    Ahhhhh. xbox 360 got RROD at weekend and ps3 dead today.

    Don't want to play any wii games so trying to remember wife's name ....

  • SPKRFCKR #86 2 years ago

    "Sony do good hardware.
    MS do good software. "

    This is why 'console wars' are ridiculous.

  • makeamazing #87 2 years ago

    Some people are getting way to serious on this. Yes its bad, but hopefully it will all be fixed tomorrow.. so 1 day offline, whats the problem?

  • jonbwfc #88 2 years ago

    The problem is some people seem to have nothing else to justify their existence.

    Me, I've been reading a book. Now there's resilient hardware for you. Assuming you're not being rained on, anyway.

  • Theorendil #89 2 years ago

    @makeamazing: it's been 2 days so far and it's not just being off line that's the problem, you can't play any games, even off line, and there's a good chance (according to some sites and, indirectly, Sony's statement) that trophies may become lost forever... If you're one of those OCD types who get all the Platinum trophies, this is gonna be quite a big deal i'm afraid...

  • Mnia786 #90 2 years ago

    @Theo, If you have synced your trophs with PSN, there should be no-problem as you will just re-dl the data from the PSN servers. Obviously if someone has like 16 plats and never synced, then s/he is fucked -,-

  • FladgeMangle #91 2 years ago

    @ SPKRFCKR

    Microsoft do not do good software. No debate necessary. Apple do good software, Microsoft copies, appropriates and steals good software.

    edit 2 - typo - Sorry guy, meant @ Resstanza
    Edited by 2 at 01/03/10 @ 21:45

  • Widge #92 2 years ago

    Lol! I am missing 130 posts from this article. That is a high cunt ratio.

  • coolbritannia #93 2 years ago

    A good day for UK: Resistance.

  • Widge #94 2 years ago

    It was just one person? What happened?!

  • overgrown #95 2 years ago

    I've got a fat ps3 60gb and I got the error message this morning. Time and date was wrong and I could not sign in so I went upstairs and logged in on my girlfriends 3 week old ps3 - no problem and all my online data was still intact. I hope it stays that way. When ps3's were first released a big deal was made about the consoles costing more to manufacture than the selling price. If this was true then maybe Sony decided to try and cut corners , hence the problem we are having now?. One strange thing - I am having trouble signing into the PSN using my desktop pc so maybethere is a problem their end as well or maybe it's just volume of traffic?.

  • busboy33 #96 2 years ago

    @markusdragon:

    There was a leap year freeze for the 30gig Zunes, but there was no data loss. The units bricked for a day, then they stopped being bricked once the calendars moved forward.

    What confuses me about this PS3 clock thingy is it ISN'T a leap year. It's an ignorant oversight, but I can see it happening when an internal clock can't read leap years and the network clock does -- it can create a problem. But did Sony install faulty clocks in the PS3s, so that they think its a leap year when it isn't? That's just . . . odd.

  • coolbritannia #97 2 years ago

    http://ne ws.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/techno... Amazing headlines, what an entertaining night!

  • rockin_rob_1 #98 2 years ago

    omg, i've rediscovered that little white box known as the wii thanks to my PS3 being down. Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, Galaxy! Why did I abandon you?!

  • makeamazing #99 2 years ago

    @Theorendil sorry but having read some of the posts on the Sony forums, it reads like Sony has killed someones family or something. Yes its not a good situation, and yes some unfortunate people will have lost a few trophies (I think i will have lost a couple), but this isnt the end of the world. These idiot who are claiming they will get rid of their console, buy another or want compensation are just muppets.

    Crikey you have earth quakes and bad storms killing lots of people which is a hell of a lot more serious than losing access to the PS3 for 24-48 hours. Sometimes some quarters of the human race dont know its got it so good.

  • grayn #100 2 years ago

    @Widge, yes it was just one idiot, repeatedly posting the same thing.

  • zubnut #101 2 years ago

    I can see this one running and running.
    Glad to say I've only been on the xbox today so won't be touching the ps3 for few days yet til they solve the issue

    Very disappointing that no warning email from Sony about this- day one ps3 and psn registered owners should be treated better than that.

  • Theorendil #102 2 years ago

    @zedfragg: Well if it turns out to be a hardware problem then i guess we're all screwed... I've read on gamesradar that not even Sony knew what the hell was the problem when it first appeared, hell, according to some of their twitter posts, their knowledge of the fact that slim models remain unaffected, is attributed to twitter posts of PS3 users! In other words they seemed to have no idea what so ever as to what was hapening! There are some unofficial solutions going around (apart from the ironic ones like "get an XBox 360) that all require "opening" the console and tinkering with its insides.

    Can anyone actually imagine the absolute worst case scenario? What would that be? A total recall (sans Arnie hopefully) of fat PS3s and their exchange with slim ones? I bet they will ask for proofs or purchase like receipts and what not! Can you imagine how many of us will not be able to get them? My machine is 2 1/2 years old and the receipt has been sent to the IRS a very long time ago! This is the ABSOLUTE worst case scenario i can think of (i have a talent for coming up with worst case scenarios, strange considering the fact that i am quite an optimistic person!) that will cause a sh*tstorm the likes of which the industry has never seen before! I wish it doesn't come to that...

  • makeamazing #103 2 years ago

    Well we will see in 1 hour 15 mins how bad this problem might be :)

  • GrantW #104 2 years ago

    @Theorendil if sony were to recall the 'fat' ps3s and replace them all with slims it would pretty much ruin the company considering how many millions of people own 'fat' ps3s, i bought a 'fat' ps3 yesterday didnt even get a chance to get into heavy rain, well pissed off. back to the xbox 360 for now

  • GamerG #105 2 years ago

    Has anyone tought about the world wide power requirement when millions of PS3 owners all try their machines at 00:01 GMT????

  • Theorendil #106 2 years ago

    @makeamazing: You're right about certain people over reacting. I hope that my posts don't sound like that... It's just that i am just a bit worried that my cosole has suffered permanent damage through no fault of my own and i can't buy a new console at the time... I know i'm probably being paranoid! It's not the end of the world though, you're right about that!
    If there is something we should be angry about as consumers though, is the fact that we had no official warning, since we all have PSN accounts, Sony has our e-mails and they should have contacted us! I hope that the gaming press will bring this up with them!

  • Josh128 #107 2 years ago

    Quick observation-- if Sony is "banking" on the next calender day to fix the problem, how can that possibly work for PS3s that were powered on and had their BIOS clocks reset to 1/1/2000? Tomorrow, the only difference is that the BIOS date will read 1/2/2000-- how in the world is that going to make everything "OK"??!

    It would seem that if the system wasnt powered on and the DRM never found the descrepancy between the OS calender and the BIOS clock and thus never kicked in, that then waiting till the next day to power on might make everything well again-- though it will still find a date descrepancy, as the BIOS would have a date of 3/1/2010 while the OS would have a date of 3/2/2010.

    Just trying to make sense of this "next date" fix/prayer... :0)

  • jonbwfc #108 2 years ago

    I don't think you'd need a receipt at least in the UK. My understanding of the 'worst case' scenario goes like this - there are actually two important factors

    1) The idea that an item has to be of 'merchantible quality' and should be free of design or manufacture defects. If fat Ps3s have been bricked en masse, then it would be pretty much impossible for Sony to argue that they don't have a design or manufacture defect. This rule is not limited to the one year warranty, it is for a period of reasonable expectation of the life of the device - I think generally for electrical goods this is considered to be 5 years and slighty longer for 'white goods' like fridges and washing machines.

    2) Who has responsibility - for the first year, legally your recourse is with the retailer you bought the goods from, not the manufacturer. Your contract of sale is with Game or Amazon or whoever, not with Sony. After that year, the responsibilities outlined above fall onto the manufacturer, because after all they made the widget, whatever it is.

    The upshot of all this lot is if this isn't fixable and the early 'fat' PS3's are being bricked, Sony (because it's past the year mark) has a legal requirement in the UK to make good on the situation (because it's a defect in the product). This is by refund if it chooses to - and the refund is the current market value, NOT the original retail price - or by replacement or repair. It has the right to choose which of those services it offers but it must make reasonable efforts i.e. it can't say 'We'll repair your PS3, send it to us and you'll get it back in six months' and it has to be at their expense and the goods offered have to be a reasonable replacement - I think in this case though a Slim PS3 would legally be considered to be sufficient, they don't have to replace your PS3 with the same model because it fulfils substantively the same functions.

    Caveat : I am not a lawyer but I have worked for the CAB in the past and I've been on 'the wrong side' of product failures before so I got some jist of the way things work. I think we can say with some certainty this is a defect Sony are legally required to fix but they have some leeway as to how they do so.

    If it all goes away in an hour or so then *shrug* Sony will say it wasn't a major issue and we'll just have to lump it - they wn't have to give anyone free games, or PSN credit or any of that. if it doesn't fix itself then we're in a whole different ball game and Sony will have a lot of work on their hands.

  • makeamazing #109 2 years ago

    I agree, they can send us emails about the latest game releases, they should have at least emailed people telling them there was a problem. They do seem alittle slow to react.

  • SheffieldSteel #110 2 years ago

    Theories:-
    (1) A crack squad of Microsoft engineers penetrated Sony's firmware development suite, got drunk, decided to mess about, and got into an argument about whether 2010 was a leap year. The rest is history.
    (2) This is a US government sanctioned operation designed to disable the guidance chips in all those Iranian and Korean long range missiles. (Remember the rmours about the "export limitations" clause? PS3's will have to be returned to base... but if there's one thing guaranteed to void your warranty, it's putting the chips into a missile nosecone.)
    (3) Situation Normal...
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 22:55

  • Paulie_P #111 2 years ago

    @jonbwfc

    You're right. That Toyota problem did kill people, I heard a chilling recording of three people phoning an emergency line just seconds before they died. Kinda puts this bug into perspective.
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 23:09

  • Theorendil #112 2 years ago

    Josh128 seems to be right, at least according to common sense... And i don't recall the statement saying that the problems will be fixed by midnight, it says that they hope to resolve it within the next 24 hours. If they knew, or even hoped, that the problem will go away once we reach the second of March then they would have anounced it and saved themselves some of the bad press that they' re getting now. In any case, i would advise against turning on your PS3, affected or not, before an official statement by Sony..

  • GodofGamblers #113 2 years ago

    Out out interest my 80GB fat PS3 works fine, logs onto PSN hasn't forgot what day it is etc etc. Serial number is CECHL00. It was the little big planet bundle, and was one of the last models before slim......

  • makeamazing #114 2 years ago

    If they knew, or even hoped, that the problem will go away once we reach the second of March then they would have anounced it and saved themselves some of the bad press that they' re getting now

    First rule of fixing things is not to tell people its fixed until you are certain, especially when the fix is wait till its no longer the 1st of March. This may not be the case, but if i was them and i was convinced it would work after this date and its only 24hours, i would probably say its being investigated and a fix is forthcoming. Seriously this is not something you want to say is fixed and then isnt :D

  • coolbritannia #115 2 years ago

    'The Sony Defence Force were caught offguard, with reduced manpower due to an outbreak of Heavy Rain keeping them indoors'

  • Paulie_P #116 2 years ago

    I kinda want to see what Tyrell said now (though not as many times as he posted).

  • MightyMouse #117 2 years ago

    Hmmm 256 comments in theory, 129 visible. I guess we have a lot of trolls in this thread.

  • GreyBeard #118 2 years ago

    @Josh128

    I tried to explain this a bit earlier: The RTC is simply a counter that runs continuously while its receiving power from its battery. That count is divided down into seconds, minutes, hours and days and added to a base time/date so it can calculate when leap years and leap days are needed.

    This value is then read back from the RTC with an access function and used by the system software.

    What appears to be happening is that due to an error in the RTC's microcode an invalid date is being passed back, ands the system software is freaking out because it can't reconcile it.

    When people pull the battery and let the circuit discharge, the big counter returns to zero, and the date/time stuff works as normal, and so normal PS3 function resumes.

    The fact that the time output on the clock is in the past DOESN'T MATTER, because all that value is used for as is as a "base" that can be modified to produce a value right for wherever in the world the PS3 is being used.

    With a broken date return 29/2/2010 it can never be right because the base time is an invalid non-existent day, so we have the issues we are seeing today.

    However once it rolls over to 1/30/2010 everything will right itself, and Sony have YEARS to add patch code into the system to prevent this issue from arising again.


  • no_way! #119 2 years ago

    @Paulie_P

    It was just something to do with a comparison to the RROD, nothing offiensive, just a couple of lines. Don't know if he meant to spam the thread or it was a glitch or something. He did post after it that he was sorry and had a slow connection, don't know if that was genuine or sarcasm or what. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything very exciting :)

  • gjgjg #120 2 years ago

    i get the impression nobody is thinking of the damn childeren

  • makeamazing #121 2 years ago

    I agree, they can send us emails about the latest game releases, they should have at least emailed people telling them there was a problem. They do seem alittle slow to react.

    Ironically i just received an email from them advertising Heavy Rain.... hehe :D

  • peteb #122 2 years ago

    Microsoft should capitalise on this by putting out a press release advising against PS3 use too.
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 23:25

  • Bigglesworth #123 2 years ago

    Can't help noticing that the people who's PS3's are bearing the brunt of this trouble and keeling over are those who's EG game collection is oddly filled with 360 titles. Hum.

    @Zedfragg
    Any chance you could point us to the error codes people are receiving that state that their firmware can't be updated?

  • zubnut #124 2 years ago

    "2) Who has responsibility - for the first year, legally your recourse is with the retailer you bought the goods from, not the manufacturer. Your contract of sale is with Game or Amazon or whoever, not with Sony. After that year, the responsibilities outlined above fall onto the manufacturer, because after all they made the widget, whatever it is. "

    This is slightly wrong. Your contract of sale is always with whomever you purchased the product from.
    Under the sale of goods act (in the uk anyway) the product should last a reasonable amount of time, and even if it goes wrong outside of the usual 12 month warranty period you can still go back to the retailer if it has not lasted a reasonable time.
    It is then upto the retailer to take issue with the manufacturer of the goods.

    When my launch 360 died out of 12mth warranty I threatened Game with the sale of goods act, and they promptly sent me a brand new replacement. This was well before Microsoft extended the warranty to 3years.

  • adz #125 2 years ago

    Wow - this crisis has certainly put chile and haiti in perspective! I mean, I thought hundreds of thousands of people being crushed to death under their own homes was bad, then I tried to turn on my PS3 and the date changed! Holy crap! Oh god -even worse - what if you survived the earth quakes, only to try and get some solace from your dead family by playing a little Bioshock2, and then, AND THEN THE DATE ON YOUR PS3 CHANGED!

    Okay, sorry, a little over the top. And sincere apologies if you were actually effected by either disaster. All I can say is that if this is fixed within the week it will rank as one of the more minor annoyances with electronic equipment I've encountered. Just getting your toaster replaced can be just as much of a hastle. And I love my toast. God, I've sent two xboxs off to the great GOD OF FIXING STUFF and waited weeks for their return. On the one hand, we shouldn't have to put up with it, on the other hand, I'm constantly amazed at how good these things actually work, given the level of technical amazingness we demand from the industry in every new product.

    Suck it up people. As of right now this is just a minor inconvenience.

  • peteb #126 2 years ago

    @adz

    Yes, although thats assuming it gets fixed soon. I guess most people (on this gaming site) are worried that it might not be fixed so easily. People are entitled to voice their concerns about their games consoles on a games site.
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 23:51

  • Rembrandt #127 2 years ago

    Out of order - after a hard days work I hoped to get in an hour of Heavy Rain and then get this sh... Most articles on line said thousands affected so I figured I'd have to be real unlucky to get the bug and then surprise surprise... "trophies can not be registered - this game will quit". Considering its those without the Slim affected that would be the majority of PS3 owners, ir is it just unlucky FAT owners? Knew I should have got the slim when I had the chance - I'm attracted to shiny things and purposely got the FAT over Xmas '09... Doh!

    Still shiny though.... (nods head).

  • makeamazing #128 2 years ago

    Yep mine has just signed in fine, all working now :)

  • peteb #129 2 years ago

    Love how Michael Pachter weighed in saying only fats were affected " which make up 20-25% of the install base". Er? Is he actually an analyst? Slims have outsold years of fats already?

  • TurboBailey #130 2 years ago

    yep - just gone midnight and now mine has fixed itself. took ages to log into PSN

  • chessboxer #131 2 years ago

    My 60GB has just signed in. Date says 29/04/2020 and all my Trophies and save game data is still there. Time for some MAG.

  • Bigglesworth #132 2 years ago

    Storm in a teacup confirmed.

  • Mark1412 #133 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain trophies lost from two days ago. Red mist.

  • FladgeMangle #134 2 years ago

    Sugar and rainbows mode restored.

  • Theorendil #135 2 years ago

    Mine's working too! It's a fat 40GB if that's of any significance!

  • peteb #136 2 years ago

    Im leaving mine off until I hear more I guess, but sounds like everything is sorted out. fixed applied within 24hrs haha. Time heals all wounds i suppose! Can imagine a whiteboard at Sony HQ today with a big heading: "solutions?", underneath written in red is: WAIT AND SEE?

    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 00:10

  • DrStrangelove #137 2 years ago

    "MS might be new to hardware, but software wise they are in a different league than Sony."

    Yea, MS certainly knows how to make failproof software.

  • Artemus #138 2 years ago

    Awesome all my Heavy Rain trophies gone!

  • o_ci2007 #139 2 years ago

    What the f$%K? OMG some of my trophies are gone. aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....................

  • DrStrangelove #140 2 years ago

    "My 60GB has just signed in. Date says 29/04/2020"

    Quick, look if GT5 is out!

  • Rembrandt #141 2 years ago

    Peteb... Agree, someones lying to me here - FATS make up 20-25%??? so around 12 mil Slims were sold in under a year and only 2-3 mil FATS in 3 (years)... Hmm nah its all part of the plan to make FAT users feel outdated.... I love the FAT 40gig, only regret I have is that I couldn't get a white one imported from Japan.

    Thank god my Heavy Rain trophies are still there, love the game but wasn't looking forward to having to go through that power station level, I swear you need 6 fingers for that...

  • BritishBlue1 #142 2 years ago

    Well my PS3 is now signed in properly but...it appears some of my trophies are missing...fuck it, I'm going to bed.

  • K1LLAY #143 2 years ago

    St.Davids Day over. PS3 working now. Feeling 10 years older...

  • peteb #144 2 years ago

    It wasnt simply one day without psn, it was also people being unable to play their games offline. How quick are we to forget? :(

  • coolbritannia #145 2 years ago

    This episode really has shown how far Sony have to go with their online offerings. Making a mandatory synch between the trophies and the PSN, which results in a bricked console for certain games, is a bloody terrible idea. Bottom line is this should never have happened, and the PS3 brand has been tarnished again. The ApocalyPS3 gag was great though, good times.

  • TheBrow #146 2 years ago

    So, we live to fight another day then....

    From my reading here, i might have lost a few trophies, but my save games and downloaded games are all fine and dandy?

  • F3nNec #147 2 years ago

    thanks geohot

  • polymorph #148 2 years ago

    Well thank fuck for that, im one of the lucky one's with a bc launch 60gb. I want my bc, but knew if my system was f'ed id only get a limited system back.. Thank you jeebus...

  • Stepharneo #149 2 years ago

    What is weird is that it's only my heavy rain trophies missing, my sonic and all stars racing trophies, which I got while taking a break from heavy rain, are there...maybe as punishment for taking a break at all. what can I say I needed some green hill zone and sunshine after all the depression.

    EDIT: but yeah starting game, quitting out and then re syncing trophies does appear to work...at least for me.

    EDIT:EDIT: actually I'm missing a trophy....don't want to give any spoilers by saying which one, but I'm misiing some of the more recent trophies I'd earned for Heavy rain.
    Edited by 2 at 02/03/10 @ 00:41

  • Bigglesworth #150 2 years ago

    it was also people being unable to play their games offline. How quick are we to forget?

    Some games. How quick we are to exaggerate?

  • Shikasama #151 2 years ago

    How quicka re we to exaggerate?

    Yes, because all expensive pieces of equipment should have this problem. Thats why my Xbox did.

    This is a major, major fuck up from Sony, don't let your brand loyalty persuade you otherwise.

  • sibley1 #152 2 years ago

    i do have a question though....

    i got my heavy rain trophies back....but bonus content has completely dissapeared?? anyone have the same?

    this online sign in requirement/psn sync requirement etc is ridiculous. shouldnt stop us from being able to turn on the console and play.
    the fact that i cant take my game to my mates house....and play my saved data on his machine??? anyone else find that backwards 2?

  • rommy667 #153 2 years ago

    And 2010 had started so well for ps3........id hate to be the person/ppl in charge of this sort of thing heads will be cut off lol

  • seanthejackal #154 2 years ago

    the amount of sexually frustrated xbox 2 fanboys in this PS3 thread is really quite amazing :D

  • copper08 #155 2 years ago

    Hey, ive been away all day, so what did i miss?

  • man.the.king #156 2 years ago

    Looks like the date change from March 1 to 2 (Jan 2000 to Mar 2010 in PS3-speak :) ) sorted things out: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/ 03/playstation-network-service-restored/.

    Apparently their strategy of "We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours" aka pray-the-Lord-makes-this-problem-go-away worked.
    Edited by 2 at 02/03/10 @ 05:23

  • cyber_nicco #157 2 years ago

    I wasn't planning on turning it on, anayway.

  • chtan #158 2 years ago

    Could this be the infamous Kill-Switch (being activated prematurely due to bug) which intend to kill all old PS3 and replace them with newer Slim one?

  • PlugMonkey #159 2 years ago

    "This is a software problem, not hardware.
    MS might be new to hardware, but software wise they are in a different league than Sony.

    Sony do good hardware.
    MS do good software.

    Both of the above statements are debatable, but on the whole, accurate. "

    Yeah, but srsly? A date counting bug? In a product made after 2000?

    And microsoft don't do good software or hardware.

  • space_ace #160 2 years ago

    time travel added to the cell capabilities? impressive