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[BooJoh]

Quoting for new page:

Update: Sony has rolled back to FW 4.41.

...

If your PS3 is bricked, report your PS3 Model and HDD size
DO NOT UPDATE TO 4.45, PEOPLE ARE GETTING BRICKED PS3S

Problem with FW 4.45? (choose one):
* No

HDD (choose one):
* Factory 250GB

PS3 type (choose one):
* Slim 1

PS3 Region (choose one):
* US

 

[ElfArmy177]

I dont even understand how something like this happens. I get that they try to test on as many PS3's as possible before the update rolls out. But how different can each PS3 really be where an update works on one but not another??

Aside from HDD. Obviously a fat PS3 is diff than a slim, but is the hardware much different? I really dont know so Im asking honestly.

 

[Ashes]

@Liquid, you're understandably angry, but bob's not the issue here. He was only asking, as far as I can see...

 

[SeaOfMadness]

I dont even understand how something like this happens. I get that they try to test on as many PS3's as possible before the update rolls out. But how different can each PS3 really be where an update works on one but not another??

Aside from HDD. Obviously a fat PS3 is diff than a slim, but is the hardware much different? I really dont know so Im asking honestly.

it seems like everyone affected has >750GB HDDs so they probably didn't test on all types of PS3s. Does Sony do beta testing of FW updates?

 

[dalin80]

Somebody please explain to me how a software update can brick consoles? You should be able to manually remove the update but apparently you can't even reformat to fix it. How's that possible? I've never in my life heard of software breaking hardware. It's unfathomable. GG Sony.

Kinda reminds me of how crappy their software is on my Sony Bravia TV. It loads as slow as the XMB on PSN and sometimes will even crash. Worst. Software. Programmers. Ever.

Software and firmware are two different things. And yes it has happened plenty over the years across many devices that now have firmware updates.

 

[GraveRobberX]

If you aren't having any problems, stop posting all that useless info, let those that do have a problem post in here, it's easier to figure out

Like the last 2 pages (100ppp) there were so many No's that even the occasional Yes got drowned out

Looks like something in the Firmware stalls if your HDD is too big, it doesn't read that big of a HDD

Maybe Sony fucked up and forgot to check-box the option on those who have 1TB+ in their PS3's

 

[Joeki11a]

Who asked for this update?

Trophy prompt is cool

 

[Gen X]

I will risk a bricked PS3 for disabled trophy notifications.

Well regardless of the outcome you won't get trophy notifications either way!

trollface.jpg

 

[kick51]

Somebody please explain to me how a software update can brick consoles? You should be able to manually remove the update but apparently you can't even reformat to fix it. How's that possible? I've never in my life heard of software breaking hardware. It's unfathomable. GG Sony.

Kinda reminds me of how crappy their software is on my Sony Bravia TV. It loads as slow as the XMB on PSN and sometimes will even crash. Worst. Software. Programmers. Ever.

You should try updating the firmware on all your other electronics, then unplugging them half way through. Then report back to us the results.

 

[TheJerit]

Just chiming in with my results;

HDD:
* Factory 60 GB

PS3 type:
* Phat w/ BC

PS3 Region:
* US

Update:
* Successful


Looks like they recently pulled the update. I have noticed in the last few minutes Netflix is having trouble playing title (Arrested Development), but I don't want to assume they are related at that moment. Hopefully they'll have something soon for you guys with issues. Sounds like someone forgot about non-factory HDD's.

 

[inner-G]

No prob here, stock 250 slim. (Not super slim)

 

[ElfArmy177]

Somebody please explain to me how a software update can brick consoles? You should be able to manually remove the update but apparently you can't even reformat to fix it. How's that possible? I've never in my life heard of software breaking hardware. It's unfathomable. GG Sony.

Kinda reminds me of how crappy their software is on my Sony Bravia TV. It loads as slow as the XMB on PSN and sometimes will even crash. Worst. Software. Programmers. Ever.

When Ive updated a bios on my Asus motherboard Its bricked before. I guess its easily possible with anything that changes the way the hardware thinks. Its not exactly software - as software I believe just works off the hardware that is controlled by the firmware.

Firmware breaks, hardware is confused - thats my understanding atleast.

 

[Ashes]

If you aren't having any problems, stop posting all that useless info, let those that do have a problem post in here, it's easier to figure out

Like the last 2 pages (100ppp) there were so many No's that even the occasional Yes got drowned out

Ruling out, and working out ratio of those affected. It might be 1 in 10 or it might 1 in 1000. But perhaps we have enough of the nos, seeing as the update is reportedly pulled.

Don't update if you have >500gb update.

Heck, you shouldn't update, now anyhow.

 

[endlessflood]

These are the only 3 people who've actually posted the specs of their bricked PS3. If your PS3 has bricked then this sort of info can help get it fixed faster so it's in your interests to post up properly.

I have the same problem trying to install the new firmware via the recovery menu. (Managed to get back in after holding down the power button through one full turn on/beep/turn off cycle.)

FWIW, my info:

Problem with FW 4.45? (choose one):
* YES

HDD (choose one):
* Custom (1TB Samsung Spinpoint)

PS3 type (choose one):
* Slim 1 (CECH-2001A)

PS3 Region (choose one):
* US

Bricked. Son of a bitch.

Problem with FW 4.45?:
* Yes.

HDD:
* 750 GB Custom

PS3 type:
* Slim

PS3 Region:
* US

Problem with FW 4.45?
* Yes :-(

HDD:
* Samsung HDD (1 TB)

PS3 type:
* Slim 1

PS3 Region:
* US

Didn't read this thread and formatted my PS3 to no avail. Lost about 300GB worth of games/music. I can still get to the debug menu so hopefully an update via usb will get me going again.

 

[HardRojo]

Seems it has to do with custom HDDs that are well over 500 GB and on Slim models.

 

[ShdwDrake]

So everyone whos having problems has a swapped out HDD it looks like?

 

[BobTheFork]

I really didn't mean to derail the thread or make light of the problem. I won't get home for another hour and a half so I'll have to see what happens with my own auto update.

 

[deuce985]

When Ive updated a bios on my Asus motherboard Its bricked before. I guess its easily possible with anything that changes the way the hardware thinks. Its not exactly software - as software I believe just works off the hardware that is controlled by the firmware.

Firmware breaks, hardware is confused - thats my understanding atleast.

Ah, ok. That makes sense. Yea, I've always heard bios flashing was dangerous so I've avoided it. I've updated firmware on plenty of devices and never had a problem. That's scary to think a simple internet hiccup could fuck your PS3.

 

[ElfArmy177]

So everyone whos having problems has a swapped out HDD it looks like?

From what I saw on reddit, those with 500gb stock models were having issues also. Then again, its reddit so.... yea there that lol. Thank god the update was pulled because I still have about 10 hours of Last of us left!

 

[FootballFan]

Wow updated my ps3 without knowing about this bricking problem. It was successful in updating though.

(500gb, fat ps3)

 

[LiquidSolid]

Please check again. I didn't say there was no issue, I asked where are the reports coming from. I thought maybe it went wide on twitter of came from Sony and we had lots of the people saying it did not happen to them.

Sure came across that way.

But whatever, my PS3 is fucked and at very best, Sony won't be coming up with a solution for another couple of days. Brilliant.

 

[sldfghtrike]

Problem with FW 4.45? (choose one):
* No

HDD (choose one):
* Custom (500 GB)

PS3 type (choose one):
* Fat without backward compatible

PS3 Region (choose one):
* US

 

[flipswitch]

I won't be be updating, staying on the safe side.

Wait: Can you still connect to psn/store without the update?

 

[kick51]

I have a slim 1 and 1tb installed. Glad I didn't update!

 

[SeaOfMadness]

You should try updating the firmware on all your other electronics, then unplugging them half way through. Then report back to us the results.

To be fair, most electronics that do FW updates have a 2 stage process where the new FW is downloaded to some sort of temporary storage, then quickly flashed to replace the old FW. That window of time where the old FW is replaced by the new FW is usually very small (like seconds, depending on how big it is). Most devices are pretty tolerant to that these days.

I don't think that happened here anyway. Looks like something entirely different.

 

[red731]

Wow. Just called dad to unplug PS3. I don't have custom HDD and am rolling with Slim1 with 250gb, but I ain't taking any chances.

 

[Onion_Relish]

Holy shit, I was literally just taking about this the other day in a different thread regarding ps+ auto updating and the general trends of something always fucking up during these updates. Just another reason I'm glad that I play the waiting game.

 

[Templar_Dante]

Somebody please explain to me how a software update can brick consoles? You should be able to manually remove the update but apparently you can't even reformat to fix it. How's that possible? I've never in my life heard of software breaking hardware. It's unfathomable. GG Sony.

Kinda reminds me of how crappy their software is on my Sony Bravia TV. It loads as slow as the XMB on PSN and sometimes will even crash. Worst. Software. Programmers. Ever.

Im guessing if people are trying to do HDD rebuild and reach 38% then it says unable to rebuild. Must format.. Ive seen that happen once before (without an update). I was playing Fifa 12 on and older fat PS3 80GB (I upgraded to 500gb Seagate Momentus), the game froze my ps3, I was unable to switch it off with the on/off button. I was forced to use the switch on the back of the PS3.
When I booted it up again, I had very very similar problems to what people are having here.


I did research and it turned out that the partition was in fact being corrupted by me switching it off.
Anyways, the symptoms are oddly similar.
Black screen on bootup.
Stuck at the wavy lines before the XMB.
HDD rebuild failing at 38%.

I did read online at the time if that happend, you should try to remove the HDD, connect it to your PC and run Seagate Tools. Scan for errors and fix it. Im not quite sure how it even ends up with corrupted partitions if its FAT32.

 

[endlessflood]

Sure came across that way.

But whatever, my PS3 is fucked and at very best, Sony won't be coming up with a solution for another couple of days. Brilliant.

Were you planning on posting up the specs of your PS3 at some point?

This was the form posted earlier (although I think Slim and Superslim are better descriptors than Slim 1 and Slim 2 to avoid confusion):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=64668646&postcount=237

 

[Salmonbottle]

Commenters on Kotaku are claiming this kind of thing happens frequently with PS3 firmware updates, just usually on a much smaller scale.

Is that true? I have a PS3 that I rarely use, and it does seem to hard-lock pretty frequently. Really making me reconsider switching to PS4 next gen.... This kind of thing would never happen on Xbox.

 

[phosphor112]

I was gonna make a post earlier, I couldn't even download the update. Thought that my PS+ did it.. while my PS3 was on? Anyway, I guess they just rolled it back.

 

[MFPSN]

I still have 4.41 and I can get into the PS store and on Netflix. Maybe they are going to fix it soon. I really feel bad for those who were affected, I have a 500gb custom HDD so I was reluctant, but since they pulled it, the choice was made for me.

 

[torontoml]

I just want to confirm, I have my system set to auto update, I think it takes place in like an hour. It isn't going to update now right, as this thread is saying it's back to 4.41?

 

[moniker]

Are these hard bricks or soft bricks? Can you get into the recovery menu after it's been bricked?

 

[LiquidSolid]

Were you planning on posting up the specs of your PS3 at some point?

I didn't really see the point but fine:

Problem with FW 4.45?
* Yes

HDD
* Custom 1TB

PS3 type
* Slim 1

PS3 Region
* AUS

 

[ElFly]

I dont even understand how something like this happens. I get that they try to test on as many PS3's as possible before the update rolls out. But how different can each PS3 really be where an update works on one but not another??

Aside from HDD. Obviously a fat PS3 is diff than a slim, but is the hardware much different? I really dont know so Im asking honestly.

Not all units of a console model will be exactly the same.

Dunno about the PS3 Slim, but Wii Us receive different memory chips from different manufacturers, obviously all within the same specification, but the point is the hardware is not necessarily exactly the same.

 

[Vilam]

So, I got semi bricked before news of this blew up online, sigh...

My PS3 would boot past the system screen and I could see the xmb background, but the xmb itself wouldn't load. I called Sony support, and after booting into safe mode and selecting option 3 it said my data was corrupt and I needed to format... Sigh... That was a lot save files and downloads lost.

After I formatted I got back into the xmb, but for some reason the system was no longer recognizing any discs in the drive. Called support back and this time they had me select option 5 in safe mode to do a full system wipe like new. Did that and my PS3 seems to be back to normal now... Minus all of my data and settings of course, meh. Super annoying.


Problem with FW 4.45? (choose one):
* Yes, semi bricked until format and factory reset in safe mode.

HDD (choose one):
* Upgraded with a 750gb (forget manufacturer)

PS3 type (choose one):
* Launch 60gb fat

PS3 Region (choose one):
* US

 

[NateDrake]

I just want to confirm, I have my system set to auto update, I think it takes place in like an hour. It isn't going to update now right, as this thread is saying it's back to 4.41?

I think Sony took 4.45 off the server. Or that is what I have seen other some websites.

 

[flipswitch]

Im guessing if people are trying to do HDD rebuild and reach 38% then it says unable to rebuild. Must format.. Ive seen that happen once before (without an update). I was playing Fifa 12 on and older fat PS3 80GB (I upgraded to 500gb Seagate Momentus), the game froze my ps3, I was unable to switch it off with the on/off button. I was forced to use the switch on the back of the PS3.
When I booted it up again, I had very very similar problems to what people are having here.


I did research and it turned out that the partition was in fact being corrupted by me switching it off.
Anyways, the symptoms are oddly similar.
Black screen on bootup.
Stuck at the wavy lines before the XMB.
HDD rebuild failing at 38%.

I did read online at the time if that happend, you should try to remove the HDD, connect it to your PC and run Seagate Tools. Scan for errors and fix it. Im not quite sure how it even ends up with corrupted partitions if its FAT32.

My ps3 use to get a message saying "it hasn't been turned off properly, and sometimes I would have to go into recovery mode because the data was corrupt when I turned it off from the back switch.



Found out the reason why. When you want to turn off your ps3, first put it into standby mode, and when the light turns red (which could take 5 seconds) then turn it off from the back switch. Since Ive done that I have never gotten the corrupt/ps3 wasn't turned off properly.

 

[Wario64]

Commenters on Kotaku are claiming this kind of thing happens frequently with PS3 firmware updates, just usually on a much smaller scale.

There are always people with problems with firmware updates, that's just the nature of it. This problem had a pattern though.

 

[Permanently A]

Seems like, for the most part, avoid updating if you have a custom HDD.

 

[fertygo]

This why auto update sucks.

 

[baphomet]

Commenters on Kotaku are claiming this kind of thing happens frequently with PS3 firmware updates, just usually on a much smaller scale.

Is that true? I have a PS3 that I rarely use, and it does seem to hard-lock pretty frequently. Really making me reconsider switching to PS4 next gen.... This kind of thing would never happen on Xbox.

I hope you're joking. When NXE came out it bricked a massive amount of older consoles. This has happened far more with the 360 than with the PS3.

 

[Permanently A]

This is a very real fuckup, I wonder how they plan on alleviating the situation

 

[Karsticles]

Launch PS3 here (60GB), and no problems.

 

[Hung_real]

Problem with FW 4.45?
* No

HDD
* Factory 120gb

PS3 type
* Slim 1

PS3 Region
* US

 

[Hitokiri03]

Problem with FW 4.45?:
* No

HDD:
* Factory (120GB)

PS3 type :
* Slim 1

PS3 Region:
* US

 

[Boss Man]

Man, it sucks that this is affecting people with big custom hard drives. It's like selectively wiping the hard drives of people who have a ton of shit to reinstall.

 

[TheGamer]

I must have been one of the lucky ones. *knocks on wood*

Problem with FW 4.45?:
* No

HDD:
* Custom 750GB

PS3 type:
* Slim

PS3 Region:
* US

Update:
* Successful

 

[wyvern_bloodfist]

Problem with FW 4.45?:
* Yes

HDD:
1TB

PS3 type :
* Slim 1

PS3 Region:
* US