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Kotaku's broken PS4 fixed, obstructed metal in HDMI port caused issue

W

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
http://kotaku.com/good-news-about-our-once-broken-ps4-1464813671

Later in the day, I got a call from Sony. They'd examined our unit and they figured out the problem. A piece of metal in the system's HDMI port was supposed to have been flush with the bottom of the port but instead had been bent upward, obstructing some of the pins in the port. It had been hard to see, though I imagine we would have noticed if we'd examined the unit more closely and not given it back. Nevertheless, we were told that that PS4 had been fixed. The Sony employee testing our unit used a pin to push the small piece of metal back down. They then plugged an HDMI wire into the unit and it worked. They even brought the unit to our office so we could see for ourselves.

The obstructing piece of metal in the formerly-broken PS4 had actually knocked some of the "teeth" out of the HDMI wire—the one bundled with that PS4—that we'd originally plugged into the unit, the Sony folks told us. We checked two other HDMI wires that we'd used during our brief bit of troubleshooting, and sure enough, they were missing the same teeth, too.

The good news here is that the problem was small and easily fixed. The slightly bad news is that we're unable to tell you why this happened. It's certainly possible that we accidentally knocked that piece of metal upward when we first plugged Sony's HDMI wire into the PS4. We can't rule out human error on our end. But we've been plugging wires into HDMI sockets for a long time, and we've never had this issue before. It's also possible there was something wrong with Sony's wire and that that's where the initial fault lies. Or perhaps the jack was indeed badly made. Sony doesn't know. We don't know.
Click to expand...

Weird

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbJfqGbQYXQ
 
T

Tsundere

Banned
So it wasn't failure at all, it was just not able to handshake through HDMI and complete the boot process.

Failure rate drops without selling more units!
 
A

ALBOFIGHTER

Member
Can the guys who posted about their broken ps4s please check if you have the same problem and if your cables have damaged teeth etc. if it's the same issue for everyone then at least we know how to fix it.
 
C

Chamber

love on your sleeve
ibk9bEVz5VVIX2.png
 
WoolyNinja

WoolyNinja

Member
Saddens me that the game journalist didn't take the time to troubleshoot something as simple as a connector being bent a little. Instead they instantly go to the "broken PS4" story! This is tech 101 stuff here, even my parents know to check connections/connectors.
 
R

reptilescorpio

Member
So Sony will be making sure the next batches of HDMI ports aren't as flimsy/easily damaged as these ones.

Easy fix! At least those affected can get replacement units no hassle since it has been confirmed by Sony.
 
B

BONDO

Member
just be careful when you put it in.
You know you cant be jamming it.



Applies to more than just consoles too
 
J

Jburton

Banned
The angle of the rear of the ps4 case could be influencing the angle of insertion of the hdmi cable, causing the distorted part of the hdmi port which was damaging the hdmi leads on full insertion into the ps4.

When Sony brought the fixed ps4 back they noticed the damage caused to the HDMI leads they used when trying to get it to work and they say themselves they might have caused the issue.
 
H

Hypron

Member
Pop said:
Big deal over something so minor. I mean how could you not at least check that part, at least once.

So pushing it back down fixed it. haha
Click to expand...

I don't know but the hdmi port is not the first thing I'd think about checking if my brand new PS4 died.
 
L

lol51

Member
WoolyNinja said:
Saddens me that the game journalist didn't take the time to troubleshoot something as simple as a connector being bent a little. Instead they instantly go to the "broken PS4" story! This is tech 101 stuff here, even my parents know to check connections/connectors.
Click to expand...

It is not their responsibility to troubleshoot bent connectors. They didn't even report it until multiple taco bell winners started reporting it too.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Not a very serious issue at the end of the day, but it's still weird that it's happening (if this is indeed what many of the reports are about). Something like this doesn't just happen with an HDMI port unless there's some flaw with it to begin with. Maybe that piece of metal is slightly bent in some systems for whatever reason, and then when you shove an HDMI cable in there you make it worse.
 
RedAssedApe

RedAssedApe

Banned
Good followup. Should hopefully qualm some of the hysteria. Although maybe they could have consulted Sony first.

Hopefully other people are just having straightforward issues.
 
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