PS3 background downloading already broken?
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Feb 28th 2007 at 10:27AM }
One of our biggest gripes with the PS3 has been how poorly the system downloads files: you can't resume broken downloads, nor can you do anything whilst your system is downloading a file. No games. No movies. No music. Nada.This was all supposed to be fixed in Sony's upcoming 1.6 firmware update. But, is it already broken before its release? Apparently so. The Inner Bits has "obtained" info about the upcoming firmware revision, and it's not looking good. The background downloads are limited to while you are in the XMB. If you launch a game, the system will pause your download because "the PS3 needs extra system resources (primarily memory) to do background downloading."
If this is indeed true, it certainly can't be due to the system's inability to play a game and download a file. Although Sony's system has the hardware to deliver the goods, it seems Sony is just not creating user-friendly software to take advantage of the system's "potential." Will we have to wait for yet another firmware revision for Sony to get this right?
[Via digg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jake @ Feb 28th 2007 10:33AM
That is so weak. Not really a deal breaker, but very weak. So you have to leave your system on while not playing it so it can download stuff? Not that there is anything at the PSN store to download, but still.
mike @ Feb 28th 2007 10:36AM
You know you guys are so fing negative toward the ps3. I rather you post no news for the ps3 then read the post you guys have. Even if it is something good joystiq makes it bad. Get off ms balls. Give them sometime to fix things. You didnt know how to read and walk the second u were born did you?
AirIntake @ Feb 28th 2007 10:36AM
The 360 downloads happily in the background while I play games offline, if I'm not mistaken.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 28th 2007 10:36AM
This is what I've experienced on 360 too. The article says downloading is only stopped when you launch an online game, but it stops every time I launch a game on mine.
I think this goes down as a minor niggle given that voice chat doesn't even work in games yet. I'd rather Sony work on that first and then maybe they can do background downloading in-game later.
AirIntake @ Feb 28th 2007 10:37AM
@mike
So there's no problems with the firmware, and the downloads do work in the background then mike?
a.j. @ Feb 28th 2007 10:40AM
uh..i own a 360 as well as a PS3 and correct me if I'm wrong but 9 times out of 10 when I'm downloading from the XBL Marketplace and I start up a game, it quits the download and makes me resume later.
i love how joystiq posts things like this, if you hate the PS3 so much just boycott it all together. it's an issue on both systems but you complain about one.
fanboys, start your engines..NOW..
Sigmund @ Feb 28th 2007 11:03AM
I might be going out on a limb here, but I'm not so sure Sony is going to be able to duplicate the transparent background downloading of the Xbox 360.
The Xbox 360 has 3 symmetrical, dual-threaded cores. Ideally, you could think of it as 6 symmetrical cores. If I recall correctly, Microsoft laid out very strict rules to all developers, from day one, about how much of each of these cores they were allowed to use. I believe one core is almost entirely reserved for system operations. It's this core that is free to do...whatever the system wants to do with it...in the background. (I'm simplifying this, I know.)
Now, the PS3's cell architecture is different. There's a single general purpose PowerPC core, and...7?...SPE's. They're basically big honkin' vertex crunchin' math power-houses. They eat 3d math stuff for lunch. But, they're not general purpose cores. They can't run just anything. And I never heard anything about Sony reserving some chunk of processing power for "system purposes" like Microsoft did.
My point is this. Unless Sony explicitly reserved a fairly large chunk or resources in the primary Cell processor, or some SPE, from day one, they're not going to be able to introduce anything in firmware that will work with every game. You can't know what every game is doing with those resources.
Does that make sense? (Sorry, long-time reader, long time software engineer.)
Sigmund
deaftly @ Feb 28th 2007 10:40AM
$600 ftw
deaftly @ Feb 28th 2007 10:42AM
btw it only stops downloading on xbox 360 if you play a game and want to use the xblive features, if you dont the downloads will continue while you play the game
benjamin @ Feb 28th 2007 10:43AM
Seconding 3, it's a total crapshoot if playing a game on my 360 is going to result in my download ending.
I'll do something totally unrelated to Live and end up getting the 'download paused' notice, presumably because the game's:
a) checking for updates
b) expecting me to sign onto Live
c) underpants?
Because of this, I've pretty much stopped trying to play anything while waiting for my downloads and instead watch some TV or something while it does its thing.
Maybe someone, somewhere is equipped with a mystical 360 that acts this way, but it sure isn't some downloading panacea for me.
Chad @ Feb 28th 2007 10:43AM
For the 360 you can download things while you are playing a game as long as you are not playing multiplayer, I do it all the time.
anon @ Feb 28th 2007 10:45AM
I play games while downloading in the background on the 360 all the time. The only time it pauses the download is if I jump on Live to play online. Otherwise, the download continues while I play offline. 10 out of 10 times.
Josh @ Feb 28th 2007 10:48AM
Because my Wii is so fantabulous about background downloading as well.
sheppy @ Feb 28th 2007 10:47AM
@deaftly
Considering most of my games log into Live whether I want them to or not, that hardly seems an acceptable reaction.
@LS2/LS7
Bluetooth headset FTW. I use it in Resistance all the time. Haven't tried it in RR7 yet.
@Everyone
This seems like a legitimate complaint so get off joystiqs nuts for once. Of course I rarely DL things and there is plenty to do in the XMB (like watching the latest Code Geass episode) but regardless, if the game is not going online, I don't see why this can't DL in the background.
Dracula Jones @ Feb 28th 2007 10:47AM
@mike:
"You didnt know how to read and walk the second u were born did you?"
But the Playstation brand WASN'T just born. It's almost 15 years old, if you count development time for the SNES CD.
I'm going to say it squarely: The Playstation 3 is not as good as the Xbox 360. There is nothing that it can do that the 360 can't currently do better. There really is no argument. Quit bitching about it.
Jiffylush @ Feb 28th 2007 10:48AM
There are lots of problems with the PS3 (lack of games), but this isn't one of them.
I don't care if the download is paused while I am playing a game, hell give me a game I want to play and you can cancel my fucking downloads.
I know this should be taken care of next month, but it is a much more valid complaint than this crap you just pulled out of your ass.
benjamin @ Feb 28th 2007 10:48AM
I hate when people speak authoritatively when they're wrong, so I fully admit that I haven't confirmed this .
That being said, I'm of the belief that the last time I'd played GoW while downloading in the background my download was paused. If memory serves, it was by the time I reached the Epic logo, prior to even getting a chance to use Live.
fallingdove @ Feb 28th 2007 10:50AM
Conjecture.
Give me a break, you are reporting on a firmware update a little less than a month away. Nobody has any idea what the finished product will look like or be able to do.
Wow, bashing Sony products even before they come out, incredible.
NNTPgrip @ Feb 28th 2007 10:49AM
Is this the "big" march update they were talking about? Its not big unless it allows me to play media from my network shares (and without trancoding please). Background downloads are a plus if they indeed work.
I would like the option to turn off the Eject and Power buttons on the unit itself during Blu-ray playback and gameplay. My cat is drawn to the unit when it is on and has ejected a few movies/turned the player off. I have an ugly thick piece of paper taped over the "buttons".
I would like the ability to do a one button shutdown from the Blu-ray remote, as by the time I want to turn the player off, I have already switched inputs on the tv most of the time. (may be possible, I didn't RTFM)
Also, how long before someone gets the Xbox HD-DVD drive playable via USB through Yellow Dog Linux? Or a firmware hack to allow selection and play through the regular UI? (I mean, same codecs are in play, I'm not expecting any iHD stuff)
X @ Feb 28th 2007 10:53AM
Uh-oh! Wass-up? Sony has malfunctioning parts/software ~ NO!!!!
Come on $ony fanboy's let's hear/read the excuses. . . I can always use a good laugh this Wednesday morning :lol:
benjamin @ Feb 28th 2007 10:55AM
@#11:
"[...] if the game is not going online, I don't see why this can't DL in the background."
Presumably they use some amount of the system's RAM to do buffering before the data's written to disk, managing these buffers and performing CRC checking and various other file handling tasks takes up some other amount of the CPU. Granted, it's probably not a significant amount, but it's still something, and I'd wager a lot of games want every cycle to themselves.
Chad @ Feb 28th 2007 10:53AM
@ benjamin
The reason it stops when you play GoW is because whether you are playing single or multi player you are playing live. This is how they allow your friends to jump in with you when you are playing the single player campaign.
benjamin @ Feb 28th 2007 10:58AM
@#17: Doesn't behavior such as this invalidate the utility of background downloading? After all, aren't most 360 games Live-enabled?
Bruce Wayne III @ Feb 28th 2007 11:01AM
I don't own a 360 or PS3, however, I personally don't want a console to act like Windows. When playing a game, I prefer the developers to have the console running a game as close to full throttle as possible, with as little as possible running in the background.
Draco @ Feb 28th 2007 11:00AM
I know on my PC it works best to stop/slow my torrent downloads because my hard drive can't keep up. even if I'm only downloading at 200k/s if I'm using to many reads/writes on the Hard Drive my games start to lag.
perhaps since Sony uses the hard drive on every game they would rather never allow background downloads while games are running then the rare slowdown which would be more of a concern for the end user.
JJC @ Feb 28th 2007 11:01AM
i know its been stated several times but the 360 pauses your download when playing almost every game. normally i queue up a whole bunch of downloads and either walk away, play a demo, watch TV, or do it before i go to sleep. as long as the ps3 has a queue for downloading (if they ever get anything that i actually want to download) i dont really care if it pauses during game play. big deal. its called patience.
AirIntake @ Feb 28th 2007 11:01AM
@benjamin
It depends on the game. I can play Battlestations: Midway and my downloads continue, but as soon as I load NFS: Carbon they stop.
Zero KM @ Feb 28th 2007 11:01AM
Xbox 360 has the SAME issues!! I have one and a PS3 so I can say that it's no big deal... If you want to play a game and download something from the market place, it will stop when your playing any game... people make it out as if you can play online and download at the same time... YOU CAN'T.. only if your offline with your ID can you play something and download at the sametime...
Marty @ Feb 28th 2007 11:02AM
Hey, I thought all you PS3 guys bought that piece of crap for it's future potential! Is this what you were waiting for?
LayLow @ Feb 28th 2007 11:09AM
I have never had an issue on background downloads on my 360...It really depends on what game you are playing..Some games log onto xbox live soon as your start (Crackdown,GOW)Usually when I background download normally I am playing a sports game (Most ALL of the sports don't log you into the server until you are ready to play) or watching a Movie so my downloads go uninterrupted...
mcr @ Feb 28th 2007 11:07AM
wait, the PS3 only has 256MB of system RAM, right? So it's surprising that it can't multitask all that well?
AJay17 @ Feb 28th 2007 11:09AM
@Mike up top
Thats because it all seems to be bad news. Your a dumbass. Sony promised something, didn't deliver (again) and Joystiq is reporting that. fanboy pos.
mushiking @ Feb 28th 2007 11:10AM
"Uh-oh! Wass-up? Sony has malfunctioning parts/software ~ NO!!!!
Come on $ony fanboy's let's hear/read the excuses. . . I can always use a good laugh this Wednesday morning :lol:"
kinda hard to make an excuse for something that hasn't even been released.
OmahaGTP @ Feb 28th 2007 11:12AM
I love how the original post from the Joystiq blogger didn't mention the 360 at all. At all. And PS3 fanboys are still offended.
I would offended easily too, if I bought that thing.
erac3rx @ Feb 28th 2007 11:13AM
Background downloading is NOT broken if it doesn't continue during game play. Yes it *is* technically possible to continue downloads while playing a game on 360, but virtually every game I have immediately pauses downloads so it can auto-logon to Live, making that essentially never happen. This really isn't a big limitation. I want to be able to play media, browse the store, etc... But I'm not expecting to play PS3 titles while downloading.
Interesting that this post came in via Digg... I'm really starting to wonder how much of the anti-Sony stuff is sourced from MSFT. Some of it definitely is, which begs the question-- if Xbox Live is so amazing, Sony screws up everywhere, and PS3 is too expensive... why is the paranoia so obvious and the anti-Sony stream of comments unending?
I look forward to the $479.99 360 SKU dropping on May 1, so that hopefully people can shout "OMFG its so expensive! Microsoft is teh sux0rs!" If they really do drop a black 360 with hdmi at $479.99 and it doesn't include HD-DVD, all people are going to say is 'wow, the ps3 is really not a bad deal', especially with the nice amount of PS3 releases coming in March...
Fuzzy22 @ Mar 1st 2007 12:50AM
Re: 360 background downloading
It pauses most of the time right when you boot into a game, apparently as it verifies that you are online. But in my experience, as long as you don't play a MP game, the downloads commence immediately afterwards. It's sort of like that little hiccup you get when you first turn on the 360...that little lag before it tells you how many friends are online.
Either way, I've been able to download in the background while pretty much doing or playing anything else, including GoW.
As for the PS3, I'm sort of surprised that with all the bitching about the fact that there wasn't background downloading on the 360 (months before the release of the PS3) that Sony didn't heed the call of the consumer and make it work for the PS3 as well. It's not a deal breaker, but it's just a surprise. If the market is trying to give you a heads up, why aren't you listening?
Bruce Wayne III @ Feb 28th 2007 11:14AM
Sigmund - It doesn't make sense. The 7th SPU is reserved for the OS on the PS3. There are lots of article about the architecture.
MCR: there is 512 MB RAM divided into two different parts. The Cell processor can read from both parts. And yes, it multitasks, it merely a decision of how much they will reserve for OS purposes. It doesn't have anything to do with the hardware. It's in the SDK.
Intentless @ Feb 28th 2007 11:16AM
The 360 only pauses downloads when going online or when an online feature goes active. It may temperarily stop the download to check for updates on restart but it doesn't always tell you it restarted the download. Crackdown is the only game where it stops regardless because it is always active with online features. Stats in the billboards are constantly being taken over live... I've never had a problem with Gears stopping the downloading in single player...
JJC @ Feb 28th 2007 11:16AM
Sigmund's comment makes the most sense to me. continue background downloading and all of a sudden your system freezes because something got tied up between the download and the game that is running. still not really an issue to me. maybe when we download something we could have rachet and clank blowing up robots and collecting bolts to entertain us? because i think that was the best way to distract downloaders (seriously can nintendo do anything without mario?)
Tim @ Feb 28th 2007 7:21PM
You think that every game using the standard hard drive has something to do with it? It's not just the resources for online play on PSN like LIVE that would be affected, it's also the hard disk resources.
nikhil.parsad @ Feb 28th 2007 11:19AM
And the Cell "Broadband" Processor is supposed to do what now?
benjamin @ Feb 28th 2007 11:21AM
@#29: I suppose what's required then is a login standard for Microsoft to enforce.
Namely, don't immediately log into Live unless specifically going for multi-player or online content, etc.
Maybe also stipulate that achievements, scores and the like are only reported at the end of a session (using 'Y' to exit to the dash or when notified that the power's going to be cut) instead of real-time.
And to the people that mentioned the 'efuse' upthread, thanks. That's a really cool bit 'o technology I didn't know the 360 had.
F1ghter @ Feb 28th 2007 11:19AM
This is a pretty worthless post, but I can't blame Joystiq. Heck, if I had the power, I too would post lopsided articles to get the fanboys riled. It makes for a great show!
t3nguman @ Feb 28th 2007 11:20AM
And the Cell "Broadband" Processor is supposed to do what now?
mocax @ Feb 28th 2007 11:23AM
Joystiq hates PS3, Xbox360 and Wii!
They should start blogging about cute pets!
Phranctoast @ Feb 28th 2007 11:24AM
as long as an option exists for shutting down the system after downloading.....I really couldnt give a shit if there was background downloading or not.
Phranctoast @ Feb 28th 2007 11:24AM
as long as an option exists for shutting down the system after downloading.....I really couldnt give a shit if there was background downloading or not.
JJC @ Feb 28th 2007 11:25AM
just wait for the first wii-positive thing today. thats when the msg boards get really funny. because you can fight about the 360 vs ps3 all day and in the end i dont think there is going to be such a huge difference. but wii fanboys are the greatest. they defend and defend and defend and there is really nothing to stand on. i think joystiq finds atleast one article like that every day. they probably even post it and say out loud, "it begins..."
Jake @ Feb 28th 2007 11:25AM
I like how my 360 downloads while I watch movies and play single player games. It works slick. It would suck balls to have to just walk away from the system and do something else while it downloads a demo or game content. That is weak as hell.
If you go on Live, it stops then automatically starts again when the bandwidth is available. If you shut off the console, it automatically starts downloading again the next time you start up. It works almost perfectly, imo. Once you initiate the download, you can completely forget about it and game how you want to game. Eventually, you will get a little notice that it is completed. Just set it and forget it!!
This isn't a huge deal, but it is one way in which the 360 is clearly better than the PS3. Sony failed to match MS on this one feature.
samfish @ Feb 28th 2007 11:28AM
"Interesting that this post came in via Digg... I'm really starting to wonder how much of the anti-Sony stuff is sourced from MSFT."
Me too. I also regularly wonder how much the media really hates Republicans. I figure it's only a matter of time before someone finally gets a video of them all at a big table, conspiring against Republicans, Sony and others who do stupid things and then can't believe they're getting shit for it.
Jesus Christ. Get OFF it, you loons. The internet has proven remarkably good at sniffing out and calling bullshit. Get off this fanboy crap about how it's all some big conspiracy against Sony.
It makes you sound insane, quite frankly.