
Problem after update to PS3 firmware - kyle_t
http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3-Support/Problem-after-update-to-4-45/m-p/40712247#U40712247
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levesque
Not bricked since it still boots stuff and can be fixed. Oh well, everyone's
taken a liking to say they are bricked - it sounds so much more dramatic.

~~~
TillE
Yeah, I'll allow the usage of "bricked" if recovery requires opening up the
device and connecting via JTAG. That's effectively dead and unrecoverable by
any normal consumer.

But c'mon, a device that you can fix by sticking in a USB drive with a patch
is not bricked.

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josephlord
[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-19-playstation-3-u...](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-19-playstation-3-update-4-45-bricking-
some-consoles)

This story says the offending patch has been pulled offline.

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K2h
[http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/06/19/playstatio...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/06/19/playstation-3-update-4-45-reportedly-
bricking-systems/)

affected systems estimate:

Aftermarket HDDs, 500GB-1TB ~90%

Stock 500GB models ~8%

Stock 120GB models ~2%

Stock 1st-gen fat models ~ 0%

~~~
criley2
Heh, it's worth noting that the Forbes source for those "numbers" is a
Redditor who is ballpark estimating based on user reports in a forum.

Didn't realize we were in a time when Forbes sources were nearly unsourced
Reddit comments.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1gmrmx/do_not_update_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1gmrmx/do_not_update_your_ps3s_new_firmware_brick/calqjiq)

~~~
viraptor
At the top, over the article: "Paul Tassi, Contributor". I think the official
articles are written by "..., Forbes staff". There's not much distinction
these days between the core and the affiliated people. (not that this is an
excuse)

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Aardwolf
What happens if an official update bricks your device and the warranty
expired?

~~~
gozmike
Happened to me and I was SOL. They wanted me to send it in and pay about
200CAD for repairs. I yelled till I was blue in the face, but no dice.

~~~
whaevr
Wait for the company to realize what's going on. Wait for said company to
release a patch to fix a problem that was obviously their fault to begin with.
You face can return to it's normal color now. Jumping to conclusions like
"SOL" is a bit ridiculous

edit: I'll gladly take a downvote for this, you're talking about screaming at
customer support and IM getting downvoted. Constructive group we have here.

~~~
gozmike
This happened during another wave of bricked PS3's about a year ago. One year
later - same shit is happening to PS3 owners, no real addressing of the
problem happened.

My device has been stuck in a perpetual (failing) update loop like many
others. No patch was ever released. There's no known way without specialized
hardware (PS3Key) or out-of-warranty RMA. I don't want to invest in either
solution.

~~~
leddt
My device does something similar. When a new update comes out, 95% of the time
the update will fail. When that happens, it continues to fail no matter how
often I retry.

Through much trial and error, I found a way to make the update work every
time. This may look stupid, but I swear it works:

    
    
      1. Try the update. It fails.
      2. Turn off the console.
      3. Take the hard drive out.
      4. Turn on the console. It will fail to boot and shutdown.
      5. Put the hard drive back in.
      6. Turn on the console. The update will start again and succeed.
    

I have no idea why this works, it makes no sense to me. But it's been working
this way without fail for a few years.

~~~
gozmike
Thanks man. I tried this out to no avail. When I realized that I was faced
with a hefty RMA bill, I tried both removing the battery and letting its
settings RAM clear overnight as well as booting without a hard drive. Both had
no effect unfortunately.

In my opinion, it's a poorly designed update mechanism that makes it prone to
failure. There should be some redundancy built into the process so that the
machine can always force itself back to a "known-good" state and at least
access the recovery menu.

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loucal
These may not actually be bricked but I had an old ps3 that actually was
bricked after the update following the psn hack and consequent month-long
outage. This ps3 had linux installed on it at some point (from back when ydl
had a ps3 tailored distro) but that was overwritten by a sony update that I
grudgingly agreed to since I didn't want to give up my access to psn. When psn
came back up after the long outage I got on immediately and the update was
downloaded, but as soon as it finished and before any indication of a restart
I heard a 'click' and it was gone, forever. Sony told me they would 'pass on'
my info about having linux legally installed previously but admitted nothing
and it remains useless to this day. Luckily, I received a new one as a gift...
but now I am afraid to update it ;) I'll wait a couple days I think to be
sure.

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scrabble
It will be interesting to see how this type of situation would be handled in
the XBox One, which can't play games unless you're checking in online. It's
not like you'd avoid connecting in order to see if people have problems with a
patch.

~~~
teamonkey
If you've paid for PS+ your PS3 will switch itself on in the middle of the
night (optionally; you can disable it) to sync, download and install queued
titles and most importantly apply patches.

I wonder how many people woke up to broken consoles?

But really, you can unplug the new Xbox, it's just that if the situation goes
on for more than 24hrs you won't be able to play anything (Sony 'resolved' the
situation within hours by removing the problem patch).

~~~
maskedinvader
" But really, you can unplug the new Xbox, it's just that if the situation
goes on for more than 24hrs you won't be able to play anything (Sony
'resolved' the situation within hours by removing the problem patch). " not
sure what you mean by 'resolved' when scores of people are complaining Sony
just bricked their consoles.

~~~
teamonkey
If you want to try to prevent your Xbox One from receiving the broken update
by unplugging it from the network, then you will still be able to play your
games so long as Microsoft pull the update within 24 hours like Sony have
done. As soon as they do that, it's safe to connect again.

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bdcravens
Seeing all the drama about XBox One vs PS4, I can't help but laugh. The PS4
may seem a better solution (lower cost, more freedom) but then I remember,
this is Sony. Gaming network hacked many times, company that attacks hobbyists
that hack on the hardware _they_ own, and then situations like this.

~~~
shadowmint
OP not about PS4. Don't care.

(seriously, are you trying to start another PS4 / XB rage thread? Stop
trolling)

~~~
bdcravens
No, I'm not. In the same way that a post related to the iPhone somehow
magically turns into a discussion about Samsung and "rounded corners", when
the original article had nothing to do with those issues. My point is
situations like this are further indications of Sony's incompetence, yet
there's plenty on HN who will be standing in line to give them money when the
PS4 come out, as if it's a different company without all the fails.

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VLM
I would imagine they can roll out the rootkit PR campaign almost unchanged. In
order to protect our IP, sometimes extreme measures have to be taken ... Along
with a healthy dose of the ole "In order to save the village we had to destroy
the village"

