Sony issues PS4 "blinking blue light" advice as customers report DOA consoles

A number of North American PlayStation 4 owners have reported their consoles dead on arrival.

Following the North American launch of the console on Friday some customers reported their console failed to send a signal to their television. Instead of a white light, which indicates the console has entered the powered on state, they get a blinking blue light.

Videos of the problem have flooded YouTube, and there are now 600 one star reviews on Amazon, with many complaining about the inconvenience of contacting customer support to arrange for a replacement or a refund.

Last week Sony said it was investigating reported issues with PS4, but insisted the number of affected systems represented less than 0.4 per cent of shipped units to date - a number "within our expectations for a new product introduction". Over the weekend Sony announced it had sold over one million PS4 units in 24 hours following the North American launch.

Now, Sony has issued troubleshooting advice to those who have the dreaded "blinking blue light". It lists four possible causes:

• TV compatibility
• Issues with PS4 power supply
• Issues with PS4 hard drive
• Issues with other PS4 hardware

So what can you do about it? Sony suggests updating the firmware on your TV, turning the console off and checking the power and HDMI connectors for damage. It also suggests checking the hard drive to make sure it's properly seated in the HDD bay.

If all that fails, you can try booting your PS4 into safe mode. This changes the resolution to 480p and allows you to update the system software, restore default settings and restart the system. You can also rebuild the database and initialise the PS4 (this deletes all user data and restores the PS4 to as if it just came out of the box).

If you want to contact Sony, it's probably best to try Live Chat rather than call on the phone, the company warned.

PS4 launches in the UK on 29th November.