Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Bug Plagues PlayStation 3; Sony Warns of Data Loss

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-01-2010, 07:52 PM:

From Japan Today:

quote:

Bug Plagues PlayStation 3; Sony Warns of Data Loss

Tuesday 2 March, 07:12 AM JST

NEW YORK —

Sony Corp said a glitch has knocked PlayStation 3 users off the game console’s online network, and the company warned that data loss could occur if gamers continued using the machines.

Sony said in a blog post Monday that the problem was likely caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system, reminiscent of the Y2K bug a decade ago. The problem is affecting older PlayStation 3 models, but not the newest slim version that went on sale in September.

The company urged customers not to use the older PlayStation 3 systems until the problem is resolved, warning that doing so could cause errors and make it impossible to record gaming achievements and restore some data.

Sony would not say how many users were affected by the problem, which comes just as PlayStation 3 sales are picking up. According to the NPD Group, 276,900 units of the system sold in January in the United States, up from 203,200 a year earlier. In December 2009, meanwhile, nearly 1.4 million PlayStation 3 consoles were sold in the U.S.

Errors that PS3 users started seeing Sunday include the date of the systems being reset to Jan 1, 2000.

The problem was reminiscent of the Y2K bug, in which programming shortcuts caused some computers to malfunction in the new millennium because they interpreted “00” as the year 1900. Although a mass computer meltdown didn’t result, as some people had feared, hiccups were reported around the world.

Other problems resulting from the Sony glitch can include an error message saying the user has been logged out of the online game network. Users’ game trophies—their accomplishments—can also disappear.

Sony is not the first to deal with a Y2K-like bug years after 2000. At the end of 2008, thousands of Microsoft Corp’s Zune media players unexpectedly crashed, prompting references to “Y2K for Zunes.” Microsoft said at the time that the failures, which affected only the 30-gigabyte Zune models, were caused by a problem with their internal clock.

Sony said Monday that it hopes to resolve the problem within 24 hours.
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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-01-2010, 07:59 PM:

Already fixed. Only affected the Phats, not the Slims.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-01-2010, 10:39 PM:

Too bad the problem is already fixed -at least from my own selfish perspective. It would be nice for the piece of shit who has my stolen "phat" PS3 to not be able to log into the Playstation Network with it.

I've mainly been watching Blu-ray movies on my new PS3 slim (and playing some Super Stardust HD). Very quiet. I don't think I've heard the fan kick up into high gear yet. The old "phat" version wasn't blow dryer loud, but sometimes the fan would get going pretty good.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-02-2010, 01:13 AM:

I'm not a gamer, but I hope to eventually acquire a PS3 for Blu-ray playback. Two questions:

Will the Slims eventually be able to play the older PS games? Are the older games going to be re-released in Slim-compatible versions? I understand that some people are hanging on to their Phats so they can play the older games. But if lots of used Phats start showing up, maybe I'll have some lower-cost options for Blu-ray p/b.

Are PS3s set up for selectable regions for Blu-ray p/b? Or all-region? Not that I may need that - Japan and the US are both Region A for Blu-ray.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-02-2010, 09:06 AM:

Regarding backward compatibility, if anything Sony has been removing features with each new version of the PS3. It's the one very stupid aspect to the console. I guess it makes sense from a business standpoint to nudge the Playstation user base harder and harder away from the aging PS2 platform.

The very first PS3 had hardware compatibility with PS2 and PS1 games. It included the "emotion engine" chip set. The next generation of "fat" consoles shifted to emulation for backward compatibility, which helped reduce the cost of the system.

The last generation of the "fat" console reduced the number of USB ports from 4 down to 2, eliminated Super Audio CD compatibility and eliminated the flash card slots. Backward compatibility with PS2/PS1 games was also further reduced. I really don't understand the elimination of SACD from the consoles, especially when Sony's newest standalone Blu-ray players are adding SACD compatibility.

I don't think the new "slim" models have any backward compatibility with PS2 & PS1 games, which kind of annoys me since I bought a couple PS1 oriented titles from the Playstation Store. I'm hoping Sony might try to port R-Types to PS3 compatibility. The only other gaming system current PS3 models support is interfacing with Playstation Portable (PSP) gadgets.

Sony still sells new PS2 consoles for under $100.

Aside from the smaller, lighter and more quiet design the other significant improvement Sony added to the PS3 "slim" was bit-stream output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. "Fat" PS3 consoles have to internally decode and output those formats as multichannel linear PCM.

I think PS3 systems sold in North America are set up at the factory for Region 1 compatibility. The Japanese versions of the PS3 are slightly different; my understanding is those systems have the additional capability of working as a DVR.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-02-2010, 11:10 AM:

All PS3 systems without exception can play Playstation 1 games, real and downloaded from the PSN. PS2 compatibility will likely be added later.