There are a growing number of frustrated, disgruntled and angry voices being heard over on the official PlayStation forums. The burning issue, it seems, is still hard disk replacement after firmware 3.56, something we reported on a couple of weeks ago.
As most of you will now be aware, the problem was seemingly fixed when Sony issued a new version of the firmware, still numbered 3.56 but a fixed file that resolved the problem with upgrading hard disks. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have fixed it entirely.
If you had a fully working system on February 1st, when the revised 3.56 firmware became available via an optional update (under System Update on the XMB), then you can just download the revised 3.56 via the XMB option as normal. This lets the PS3 know that you’ve got the latest firmware and it shouldn’t then have problems when trying to read the file from the external drive during the installation process. However, if you tried to swap the hard disks between the original 3.56 (launched on January 27th) and the fixed version then you won’t be able to get past the version check.
There seems to be a specific predicament which leaves users with unusable consoles. If you installed your new disk and formatted your old one (perhaps to use as the external disk needed during installation) then you might be in trouble. It would seem that the installation process still needs an external disk with the newest firmware on it but the latest firmware available for PC download is actually showing to the PS3’s checking system as the version of 3.56 before it was fixed. The PlayStation doesn’t recognise this as the latest firmware during the booting process so it won’t allow you to reinstall it from your external disk.
This means that a growing number of people are finding themselves stuck halfway through the installation process with no means to get their consoles working again. According to many forum posters Sony’s support teams in the UK have admitted the problem and indicated that there is a fix on the way but it has now been seventeen days since the firmware upgrade and the number of users finding themselves in this unfortunate position continues to grow.
For now, we would strongly advise against trying to upgrade your hard disk. We’re sure Sony will get on top of this problem soon but until a fix is issued it’s safest to wait.
Thanks, Jay
minerwilly
I have just arranged a replacement through Continuous Play as ive been getting YLOD since september but if i sat next to the ps3 and pressed the button continously for 20 mins i could turn it on (ooerrr missus!) . Anyway that now no longer works so i called them this afternoon and they said to put in my original 40gb drive as ive been using a 640gb badboy for the last 6 months now .
The reason i write this is that i was playing the KZ3 Beta this month so my 640gb drive surely must have the 3.56 firmware on it now but im concerned that when they give me a shiny new replacement on Wednesday that putting my 640gb in may cause me to be affected by this issue . Would it be safe for me because i already at least have the first part of 3.56 ? I think last Saturday the 6th FEB was the last time i was signed in on the PSN network .
djsunna
3.56 isn’t your problem its when you put your 640gb drive in the ps3 that arrives and you HAVE to reformat the drive so most if not all the data on the 640gb drive will be wiped. someone correct me if i’m wrong but another thing is save games are tied to specific PS3’s so if you buy an external case for your 640gb hdd and try copying save games via the usb port the ‘new’ PS3 won’t recognise the data. if you search the internet you should find more info but i had a 60gb phat with 320gb hdd and got ylod and have still got the hdd with the data on but i don’t think i can retrieve it onto my PS3 slim
minerwilly
Im resigned to losing gamesaves and thats a freaking pain but i can live with that i suppose but cant i just slot in my 640gb into the replacement and still have all my music and films etc on there . Are you saying i have to reformat it because its going into a different PS3 , that really sucks if so .
cartman_101
I don’t understand are they going to fix this or not??! I wiped my original HDD clean and so my console is unusable, I rang SONY but all they said was that its going to cost 160 euro