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[DangerousDave]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digital-foundry-vs-apocalyps3

Early yesterday afternoon, PS3 users on the #Efnet IRC network claimed to have pinpointed the problem. A small ARM Syscon CPU dedicated to menial tasks within the PlayStation 3 was known to have an issue dealing with leap years. The same piece of silicon had a history of causing similar aggravation for mobile devices with the likes of Zune and some Blackberry devices afflicted. In those cases, MSFT and RIMM were on top of the issue. Sony, unfortunately, was not.

 

[Danielsan]

Kevin Butler updated his Twitter:

Sorry you had to do something else for 24 hours. I empathize. I game too. Kevin Butler, VP of Apologetic Apologies.

I don't think that "VP of ..." joke will ever get old with Kevin Butler. :lol

 

[dolemite]

now I can play Bakugan Battle Brawlers

Does it mean we are all getting a free game?

 

[NeoUltima]

Kevin Butler updated his Twitter:

Sorry you had to do something else for 24 hours. I empathize. I game too. Kevin Butler, VP of Apologetic Apologies.

edit: NVM rofl

 

[Manp]

Does it mean we are all getting a free game?

and a puppy

 

[explodet]

Could have been worse, he could have reported to us as the VP of Up Yours Apologies.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

PSN issue fixed! YAY!!

now you are doing it on purpose...witch is lame

 

[Neuromancer]

Kevin Butler updated his Twitter:

Sorry you had to do something else for 24 hours. I empathize. I game too. Kevin Butler, VP of Apologetic Apologies.

I'm so glad it's all a big joke to this Kevin Butler guy

 

[EricHasNoPull]

I rarely get compensation when Blizzard messes a WoW server up for 1-2 days, and I have to pay for that every month!. :lol

Pulling you away from Wow for two days and making you do something better with your time is Blizzard's compensation to you!

 

[DarienA]

Hey guys what I miss? I haven't turned on my PS3 for about a week now.....

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digital-foundry-vs-apocalyps3

In those cases, MSFT and RIMM were on top of the issue. Sony, unfortunately, was not.

Except for that part where Zunes were completely useless for a 24-hour period

*sigh* Eurogamer *sigh*

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Except for that part where Zunes were completely useless for a 24-hour period

*sigh* Eurogamer *sigh*

I think what they mean is that MS got the word out pretty quickly that they knew what the problem was and told everyone just to wait for 24 hours. Simple communication. Sony froze.

 

[Dogenzaka]

I like Butler's tweet lol.

Seriously, is it that big of a deal that you couldn't play online or get trophies for 24-hours on a work-night?

For comparison, XBL was down for days during a Christmas Break.

 

[Psychotext]

Seriously, is it that big of a deal that you couldn't play online or get trophies for 24-hours on a work-night?

20m people couldn't play ANYTHING involving trophies for 24 hours. So you could boot up Valkyria Chronicles, but not Heavy Rain for instance.

This wasn't just a network problem.

 

[expy]

20m people couldn't play ANYTHING involving trophies for 24 hours. So you could boot up Valkyria Chronicles, but not Heavy Rain for instance.

This wasn't just a network problem.

Not exactly, I was able to play NHL'10 for example, which has trophies. I was just unable to sign-in to PSN.

 

[thetrin]

I like Butler's tweet lol.

Seriously, is it that big of a deal that you couldn't play online or get trophies for 24-hours on a work-night?

For comparison, XBL was down for days during a Christmas Break.

Sunday is a work night?

 

[larvi]

I think what they mean is that MS got the word out pretty quickly that they knew what the problem was and told everyone just to wait for 24 hours. Simple communication. Sony froze.

And MS had a patch ready for the problem right away. Contrary to what the title of this says the bug is not actually "fixed", it still exists in the clock controller/firmware or where ever and may very likely reoccur at some point in time. I work in software support and I wish I could consider an issue fixed when the symptoms that caused it occur aren't currently happening, but it doesn't work that way.

 

[Psychotext]

Not exactly, I was able to play NHL'10 for example, which has trophies. I was just unable to sign-in to PSN.

I couldn't play any of the games I tried, other than VC... which I didn't particularly want to play. :lol

 

[expy]

And MS had a patch ready for the problem right away. Contrary to what the title of this says the bug is not actually "fixed", it still exists in the clock controller/firmware or where ever and may very likely reoccur at some point in time. I work in software support and I wish I could consider an issue fixed when the symptoms that caused it occur aren't currently happening, but it doesn't work that way.

The problem itself is resolved, not fixed. And it will take another 4 years for this to re-occur. So, much time for the team to issue a fix in the next firmware update.

 

[Always-honest]

Hey guys what I miss? I haven't turned on my PS3 for about a week now.....

a weeks worth of great gameplay?

 

[BocoDragon]

I couldn't play any of the games I tried, other than VC... which I didn't particularly want to play. :lol

You monster.

 

[Dogenzaka]

Sunday is a work night?

By work night, I meant you have to anticipate working the next day. Like on how Sunday is a "school night" because you have school on Monday...

20m people couldn't play ANYTHING involving trophies for 24 hours. So you could boot up Valkyria Chronicles, but not Heavy Rain for instance.

This wasn't just a network problem.

Uh, really?

I have a 60GB BC unit, and I was getting this same error. The 805 or whatever error.

But I could still play God of War Collection throughout the night.
Just missed 8 hours of trophies, hahaha.

 

[larvi]

The problem itself is resolved, not fixed. And it will take another 4 years for this to re-occur. So, much time for the team to issue a fix in the next firmware update.

Do we know that for sure that it won't reoccur for 4 years or is that just best guess speculation based on what the suspected problem is. Did anyone actually reverse engineer the code to find out what it's doing?

 

[Violater]

A friend of mine is having problems with MAG since the fiasco.
It seems to be the only game with issues.

Game loads to a certain point then the screen goes blank and freezes the whole PS3 system up. And after a hard reboot the system says no disk in the machine.

Gaf Detectives any idea?

 

[Psychotext]

You monster.

I've done everything there is to do in that game. Every single medal, every single bit of DLC. Playing more would be wrong.

I have a 60GB BC unit, and I was getting this same error. The 805 or whatever error.

But I could still play God of War Collection throughout the night.
Just missed 8 hours of trophies, hahaha.

I can't speak for every game, just that my experience was that none of the games I tried worked. That's aside from the fact that Sony themselves told everyone not to turn the machines on.

 

[user friendly]

I think Sony handled it the best way they could. I'm sure it'll be fixed in the next firmware update, at least they have 4 more years to figure out a solution.

I still want reparations though.

 

[CrayzeeCarl]

A friend of mine is having problems with MAG since the fiasco.
It seems to be the only game with issues.

Game loads to a certain point then the screen goes blank and freezes the whole PS3 system up. And after a hard reboot the system says no disk in the machine.

Gaf Detectives any idea?

Sounds like a dying blu-ray lens that just happened to occur soon after this clock thing.

 

[Violater]

Sounds like a dying blu-ray lens that just happened to occur soon after this clock thing.

Works fine for other games though, bc that's what I thought at first.

 

[CrayzeeCarl]

Works fine for other games though, bc that's what I thought at first.

Strange...try deleting game data, maybe? That's all I got.

 

[Violater]

Strange...try deleting game data, maybe? That's all I got.

Yea we did that too :lol , thanks though.
He has another ps3 and it works fine there so that rules out the disk itself and his network.
So its probably just his fatty giving out.

 

[Teknoman]

So if I haven't turned on my PS3 since last Saturday, I should be alright...right?

 

[catashtrophe]

God damn just switched on my PS3 and lost some of my Batman trophies.

Im about to face poison Ivy but lost my trophies for Bane, scarecrow, some riddler stuff

what the hell

 

[gutter_trash]

I turned on my PS3 this morning, everything was fine.. the date was set to March 1st .. I just did an Internet clock update then it got set to March 2nd

I haven't been home all week-end since i don't have a bathtub anymore (it's rusted and busted)

 

[jcm]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digital-foundry-vs-apocalyps3

Early yesterday afternoon, PS3 users on the #Efnet IRC network claimed to have pinpointed the problem. A small ARM Syscon CPU dedicated to menial tasks within the PlayStation 3 was known to have an issue dealing with leap years. The same piece of silicon had a history of causing similar aggravation for mobile devices with the likes of Zune and some Blackberry devices afflicted. In those cases, MSFT and RIMM were on top of the issue. Sony, unfortunately, was not.

Is he really using "PS3 users on #Efnet" as his source for the location of the bug? DF is such a joke.

 

[InterMoniker]

I gotta say... people completely overreacted lol. The service was down for what? a day and a half or something? Guess people really love their ps3's.

I gotta agree with this sentiment.

People did NOT overreact. People reacted the way they did due to Sony's lackadaisical response to the situation. They had no idea what the problem was, when or IF it could be fixed, and they offered no apologies. People reacted appropriately given the circumstances.

You are overreacting.

 

[pslayer666]

If they had know about that, they'd would have fixed it in the latest firmware patch.

I think it's much more probable that they changed the internal clock they were using in one of the many hardware revisions.

Oh. I guess that also makes sense. So much for my conspiracy theory :lol

Eitherway, playing God Of War yesterday felt even sweeter than ever before!!!

 

[sinnergy]

I gotta agree with this sentiment.
You are overreacting.

It's not the fact that the service was down.. but that there is something wrong with the PS3. And that this issue is not fixed, it could happen again..

And the fact that Sony did absolutely nothing to fix this or make a statement that they are fixing it.


This error is not comparable with the LIVE outage at all, which was completely server-sided. If you look objective at it, your PS3 is not functioning correctly, thus it's the PS3 which is not working correct and not PSN.


\

 

[saunderez]

And it will take another 4 years for this to re-occur.

Are you sure about that? This year WASN'T a leap year. Next year isn't a leap year too. What's to say their algorithm for determining leap years (which is obviously wrong) won't screw up again next year? Perhaps the only time it will function correctly from now on is if it actually is a leap year. We really don't know.....

What I do know is I want this fixed. Waiting 24 hours is not a fix. If it involves a full product recall so be it.

 

[TheHakku]

It's not the fact that the service was down.. but that there is something wrong with the PS3. And that this issue is not fixed, it could happen again..

Yes. It will happen again. In the year 2014. A PlayStation 4 might even be out by then.

I will admit that I was in a panic until 12:00:01 GMT the next day, though. Sony didn't handle the issue well.

 

[CrayzeeCarl]

Are you sure about that? This year WASN'T a leap year. Next year isn't a leap year too. What's to say their algorithm for determining leap years (which is obviously wrong) won't screw up again next year? Perhaps the only time it will function correctly from now on is if it actually is a leap year. We really don't know.....

What I do know is I want this fixed. Waiting 24 hours is not a fix. If it involves a full product recall so be it.

I think people assume it will happen in four years because it didn't happen last year. The system correctly determined that 2009 was not a leap year.

 

[Gattsu25]

yes, they did a good job by ignoring and discrediting gaf and then taking credit for 'fixing' the 'psn issue' in a timely and decisive manner.

thats pretty amazing work in terms of PR, GAF certainly wasn't doing them any favours worthy of reward.

Haven't been following too closely...when did this happen?

 

[Diablohead]

I couldn't play any of the games I tried, other than VC... which I didn't particularly want to play. :lol

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH back to your cage!

 

[TTP]

Why are websites still reporting this 10 years old news is beyond me.

 

[PuppetMaster]

This thread is like the PS3. It will rise from it's grave if you just wait 24 hours.

 

[Erebus]

Why are websites still reporting this 10 years old news is beyond me.

:lol

 

[cRIPticon]

And who might that be, because websites like Kotaku and whatnot linked to this thread while the rest linked to Kotaku and so on. Google "NeoGAF" and this thread is the first one to show up right after wikipedia and frontpage. I am not saying that we should be credited for it (I love the anonymity), but all I am saying is that Sony should admit the fact that there is a major problem in PS3 and they should start working on resolving the problem by patching it, and by not telling people that it has been "resolved". I'm sure they are already working on a patch. By lying and saying that the problem is "resolved", they're being dubbed fucking heroes for magically fixing PS3 without any physical connection or patch. Now THAT IS JESUS PS3 RIGHT THERE! Oh and "we" guys don't sound like we've cured cancer or something; it's me along trying to voice the fact that GAF's panic mode was the reason why the news got elevated to the point where it is right now. Yes, there are millions of PS3 users who had this problem and they were all throwing tantrum, but their answer to this was that "OMG PSN ISN'T WORKING! FUCK YOU SONY, FIX YOUR SERVERS!".

Whatever... doesn't matter. All is well that ends well!



My sarcasm detector is dead...



Downloaded games were rendered unplayable due to this bug (yes, including PSOne games like FFVII and FFVIII).

Not if you were playing them on the PSP

 

[cRIPticon]

Are you sure about that? This year WASN'T a leap year. Next year isn't a leap year too. What's to say their algorithm for determining leap years (which is obviously wrong) won't screw up again next year? Perhaps the only time it will function correctly from now on is if it actually is a leap year. We really don't know.....

What I do know is I want this fixed. Waiting 24 hours is not a fix. If it involves a full product recall so be it.

:lol :lol Ok....

And who is to say it will ever happen again? Full product recall for a self resolving bug that will most likely be patched? Crazy talk.

 

[see5harp]

Get over it people. If Sony released a patch to actually fix the issue you'd all be complaining about the way the PS3 handles firmware updates. I do hate the way the PS3 handles most tasks, but it's not like I'd ever want to return to launch day functionality. The people that are harping on the issue could have just watched a blu-ray, which is all they use the PS3 for anyways.

 

[Pandaman]

My sarcasm detector is dead...

nope, i just wasn't being sarcastic.

look at it this way:
if gaf is right and sony says so - problem solved, good for sony for figuring it out quickly.
if gaf is right and sony stays quiet - problem solved, good for sony for solving that psn issue so quickly.
if gaf is wrong and sony agrees with gaf - dogs lay down with cats.
if gaf is wrong and sony stays quiet - sony comes out with pr at 00:15GMT explaining plans for a firmware update, sony appears to be on top of the issue or atleast more on the ball than gaf.

Haven't been following too closely...when did this happen?

there was a tweet asking people to ignore mob science and wait for a sony source to explain the cause of the problem IIRC. gaf of course, wasn't mentioned.

 

[iceatcs]

Most people not understand OS much, which it is an interface between hardware and user. It is possible to trick fix on OS by using 'blind' code if the hardware is permanent error, but it is depend on security to allow to mod the code.