Nov 14 The latest PS3 Firmware Update May Damage Older PS3s
We received an email from a listener warning us not to update to the latest version of the PS3 Firmware. Our listener Brain upgraded and had the following to say about it,
"It has totally bricked my unit, i knew the problem right after i updated, ad I could not do anything about it. I could hear the drive being over worked, and when i ejected the disk. It was WAY hot."
As it turns out the issue is affecting older machines. Ones with the original chipsets. The firmware was released to decrease the Blu Ray disc read times.
If you have an older machine and have firmware 2.8 do not upgrade to 3.0 or 3.0.1. There is a large discussion about this on the PlayStation Discussion Boards (Start reading at about page 20 for discussions pertaining to this issue).
Reader Comments (3)
Thanks for the heads up guys! I would have updated immediately after seeing it was available. I'll sit tight and see what happens. I noticed there is an uproar with all firmware upgrades but this one seems different than the rest.
Thanks
I have the 40GB PS3 and have used firmware 3.0 and 3.01 without issues. :)
Maybe he is talking about the original PS3 60GB one.
The one that broke for me was an 80 gig that was bundled with Metal Gear Solid. I am not sure which units have issues, and which do not. I did notice more comments on the older units as opposed to the new ones.
Sony did agree to repair my unit within warranty ( even though it was 40 days out of warranty), but I think they just got tired of hearing me. I spent about 5 hours on the phone with them over the weekend before they folded.
People on the phone kept telling me of their extremely low failure rate after 1 year, but had no good answer when I asked why if there was such a small number why those units could not be repaired by the company.
I wish they would just own up to the failure that they caused. I was told that the software was an optional download, and they had no responsibility because I clicked through a legal BS page before the download.
Even though the company eventually agreed to fix the problem, my entire opinion of sony will never be a good one again.