Sony Debunk 3.41 HDD Issues
"Not our fault," says Sony.
Published: 15:30, 30/07/2010 by Peter [Colossalblue].
23Every time Sony push out an update to their PS3′s system software, someone, somewhere loses an eye, a puppy explodes, a building falls down and somebody’s PS3 goes a bit wonky. It’s all Sony’s fault. The latest update, which adds a ‘you may also like’ feature to the PlayStation Store, is also, apparently, preventing users from upgrading their hard drives.
What appears to be happening, judging from comments on the official forums, is that users with 3.41 installed aren’t able to upgrade their hard drive – the PS3 tells them they need to have 3.41 on removable storage media, but half way through the update process it’s saying “no applicable update data was found” and hence getting trapped in an endless loop.
Sony don’t think it’s related. “We apologize for any inconvenience you are experiencing with upgrading [your] Internal Hard Disc Drive on your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system,” says a rather formal statement. “The information available to our Consumer Services Department does not suggest that this is a problem PlayStation owners are likely to experience when upgrading the HDD with [the] 3.41 update.”
“Sony Computer Entertainment America strongly supports the quality of its products and backs them with full confidence,” it continues, before asking that the user updates the previous hard drive first, which apparently fixes the issue. It’s all a bit confusing, and perhaps, just perhaps, related to this.
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30/07/2010 at 15:43
Member since: Jan 2009
I’ve just mowed my lawn and stepped in cat shit – its all Sony’s fault. Would never have happened before 3.41.
30/07/2010 at 15:45
Member since: Mar 2010
Bad Karma…
30/07/2010 at 15:46
Member since: Jan 2009
will be for the cat when I find it……
30/07/2010 at 17:55
Member since: Mar 2010
You already found it. :D
30/07/2010 at 15:45
Member since: Mar 2009
Hmmm so could this be a knock on effect from having smaller updates? Without all the previous firmware data the PS3 cannot be formtatted.
30/07/2010 at 16:24
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
30/07/2010 at 17:04
Member since: Apr 2009
First of all, all firmware update files contain the entire firmware, there is no incremental patching, so any PUP file can be used to fully upgrade the firmware on a region-matching PS3.
Second, I’m not quite sure how you can hold Sony accountable for the laws of physics: the HDD must be formatted when you install it because it uses a custom filesystem, formatting it to FAT32 and sticking the firmware on it will not do as the PS3 can’t recognise it.
Plugging in a USB stick or drive in with the firmware on to install it on your new PS3 HDD is exactly like installing Windows on a new PC HDD, and I don’t see you blaming Microsoft for that – it’s nothing to do with them, just like you formatting a HDD has nothing to do with Sony or its firmware. They have provided you with a mechanism to re-install firmware which is analogous to putting your Windows CD in the drive. What more do you want?
30/07/2010 at 17:13
Member since: Nov 2009
I think he referred to the link in the article that lead to the article that stated that incremental patches are now possible (40ish MB firmware update). COuld also be that we misinterpreted something here.
30/07/2010 at 18:02
Member since: Apr 2010
It was a patch, not a full update
30/07/2010 at 18:12
Member since: Apr 2009
Doesn’t matter what was sent down the wire to your PS3. The complaint was that incremental updates made it impossible to upgrade your HDD to the latest firmware version. That is not true because the PUP files supplied online always contain a full firmware image.
30/07/2010 at 18:58
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
30/07/2010 at 16:15
Member since: Jun 2010
mines fine LOL
30/07/2010 at 16:22
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
30/07/2010 at 16:23
Member since: Forever
It’s funny stuff like this arises
Sony are never going to do anything other than flat out deny everything – else they’d be legally liable
but its funny how these coincidences happen from time to time with its firmware updates, and this was so ridiculously minor as to be pointless
30/07/2010 at 16:27
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
30/07/2010 at 16:38
Member since: Forever
By the same token, it could just be couple of coincidences which as usual the hivemind of the internet blows out of proportion
30/07/2010 at 16:50
Member since: Jul 2009
Well I’ll be doing 2 HDD’s on 2 ps3′s that both have 3.41 over the next couple of days so I’ll let you know.
30/07/2010 at 18:56
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
30/07/2010 at 16:31
Member since: Jul 2009
I just 2 seconds ago bought a new HDD what’s going on? :(
30/07/2010 at 16:35
Member since: Mar 2010
Sorry but thats Bull Sony. It’s obviously to do with the new patch updating system they’ve put in!
30/07/2010 at 17:00
Member since: Aug 2009
So updating from your PS3 is the best bet
30/07/2010 at 17:01
Member since: Jul 2010
this actually happened with the 3.40 update cause i changed my HDD the day after the 3.40 update and had to update via a usb stick. anyone without a pc would be in a little trouble
30/07/2010 at 17:06
Member since: Apr 2009
That has always been the case. Since 1.00. If you put in a blank HDD you have no firmware installed. What are people whining about?
30/07/2010 at 17:36
Member since: May 2010
Not technically true. 60Gb launch ps3′s had an EPROM which stored the firmware (which was another thing sony removed to cut costs). It’s only been ps3 sku’s released after that actually store the firmware on the HDD.
30/07/2010 at 18:14
Member since: Apr 2009
That is not true, they would not make such a fundamental change as that, it is on the hard disk so that files can be written, the only part stored in EEPROM is the version number to prevent you downgrading when you put in a different hard disk, that is the case on all models as a security measure. Another reason why they wouldn’t make changes like that is because it would drastically alter the performance, memory footprint and base filesystem layout of the machine.
30/07/2010 at 18:53
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
31/07/2010 at 00:54
Member since: Jul 2009
“The PS3 has 256 megabytes of flash memory to store firmware, using two NAND 128MB Samsung flash chips. The installed firmware data is interleaved between the two flash chips for speed. To prevent errors, Error Correcting Code (ECC) Checksum is added/used on the data in the PS3 flash chips. In newer PS3, a single 16MB Spansion flash chip is used.
Because of the smaller flash chips in later versions, newer firmware versions allow for the firmware data to be partially stored on the harddrive (instead of totally inside the firmware), making the flash purely responsible for holding data involved in the critical booting up process. This allows for cheaper flash chips, while using the harddrive for later bootup stages.”
source with motherboard shot and chip serial: http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html
30/07/2010 at 17:08
Member since: Apr 2010
I’ve never once had a problem with my PS3 or PSP firmwares, and I usually pick them up on day one. Guess I’ve been lucky.
Slightly off topic, but HDD related none the less – I’m swapping my PS3 over in the next few days and I’m hoping one of you lovely people can help with a problem…
I’ve done this before, and backed up my saves and such and simply re-downloaded my PSN games & content by clicking through store>downloads and getting everything again. But, will this work for PS+ content? For example LBP, Wipeout, DLC & Avatars etc. are only available until the 3rd? If I’ve got them before will I be able to re-download them, should I need to, after the 3rd?
Thanks.
30/07/2010 at 18:14
Member since: May 2009
that’s fine. It’s the same console, and the same PSN account. As long as you’ve already downloaded (poss just triggered the download) the PS+ items that month, you can re-download them.
30/07/2010 at 18:43
Member since: Oct 2008
Yep, PS+ stuff will download again just fine. Did this for my new PS3 Slim.
30/07/2010 at 20:46
Member since: Apr 2010
Will be a new console, not just a new HDD, but as long as i’m on the same PSN account it should work. Thanks for confirming my thoughts (or at least having the same ones – I guess we won’t know for sure until after the update on the 3rd).