Sony: PS3 disc drive errors not a firmware issue
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Oct 1st 2009 at 11:52AM } 
Eurogamer has reached Sony for comment, and the console manufacturer has disavowed responsibility for the apparent drive failure, declaring it "not an issue with the firmware." In other words, corresponding repair costs are currently placed squarely on the shoulders of the affected consumers.
We will continue to follow this story as it updates. Stay tuned.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Tom Kalinske, CEO. @ Oct 1st 2009 11:54AM
Sony, you made me do this.
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David @ Oct 1st 2009 12:01PM
ok, peter moore, bobby kotick.....fine. but i had to google your name to figure out which fake businessman you were posting as.
Tom Kalinske, CEO. @ Oct 1st 2009 12:03PM
Yes, I ran Sega during the glory days. I even won the 'Gamer of the Year' award!
David @ Oct 1st 2009 12:05PM
i don't think you understand my previous comment. it was a polite way of saying that you fail.
hug?
Tom Kalinske, CEO. @ Oct 1st 2009 12:07PM
I fail? You fail for not knowing your history. I took on Nintendo and kicked their ass. Looks like someone needs to do it again.
Kids these days...jeez.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Oct 1st 2009 12:15PM
@ David
You're fucking name is David. You know what David means in Chinese?
The same thing it means in English: Dumb Ass.
dabamf @ Oct 1st 2009 12:33PM
Well done sir! +1
Matt @ Oct 1st 2009 12:44PM
A Sony console, with a Disc Read Error?
No way!
Sizer @ Oct 1st 2009 12:47PM
David, avoid a battle of wits when you're only armed with a peashooter that fires limp memes.
esposch @ Oct 1st 2009 12:51PM
@ Captain Planet.
Actually it's Da Wei (大韦).
Which means "Large soft leather"
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Oct 1st 2009 12:57PM
You want some of this esposch!? You shut your face!
esposch @ Oct 1st 2009 1:04PM
Sorry, I couldn't resist. :D
Jack Tretton @ Oct 1st 2009 1:07PM
Don't look at me.
Peter Moore - peterfuckingmoore.blogspot.com @ Oct 1st 2009 1:56PM
I'm look straight at you, Jack.
I can see your soul, and it is pure.
Jack Tretton @ Oct 1st 2009 2:04PM
Pete, the only soul more pure than mine is yours or Reggie's. His cries the tears of newborn puppies, but yours smells like Mom's apple pie.
Peter Moore - peterfuckingmoore.blogspot.com @ Oct 1st 2009 2:07PM
:3
Gamer4Life @ Oct 1st 2009 2:39PM
@esposch I work with a guy named Da Wei and we all call him David cause it's easier for most English speakers.
Autobot @ Oct 1st 2009 8:32PM
@esposch
It should be "small, soft leather"
Or what describes him most: "No leather, but still soft"
deubanks08 @ Oct 1st 2009 11:38PM
This looks like the early PS2 days again. Now I'm a sad panda.
Seriously, though, this is sad news.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Oct 1st 2009 11:54AM
:awaits fanboy angst:
mywhitenoise @ Oct 1st 2009 12:34PM
I'm. so....ANGRY!
kacex @ Oct 1st 2009 12:53PM
@mywhitenoise:
unless you are The Hulk we dont care...
mahouneko @ Oct 1st 2009 12:59PM
HULK SMASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tenor77 @ Oct 1st 2009 2:36PM
Is now the appropriate time to go on a fanboi rant and claim I've had 3 PS3's fail on me and how I'll never buy another Sony product........well I won't.
All 3 consoles have issues.
MrWeatherby @ Oct 1st 2009 11:56AM
Is it me or is this generation just filled in hardware and software errors? I dont remember it ever being this bad.
MrWeatherby @ Oct 1st 2009 11:56AM
with* hardware
Tom Kalinske, CEO. @ Oct 1st 2009 11:56AM
Well, Sony has always had problems with disc drives, but I think you're right. This is the worst in terms of hardware reliability.
pd771 @ Oct 1st 2009 12:01PM
It's just more people on the internet to talk about it. After every hardware update for every console we get claims that it's bricking console. I think in many cases (like this one) it's more general failures that happen in hardware and people looking to place blame on something like the Firmware update.
In the end, these numbers just seem bigger because everyone posts in one big group (and on many occasions the fanboys of another console post in the thread),
Jerk Face @ Oct 1st 2009 12:04PM
pd's got it. It's not worse - we just actually have somewhere to talk about it, now.
MrWeatherby @ Oct 1st 2009 12:08PM
I remember my PS2 had some disc drive errors (which eventually led to its death, thank god I have a backwards compat. PS3). I wonder if it is the firmware, or if its like PD said and people are just looking to place blame on a already existing problem with hardware. Either way, mine is working fine. B)
My friend did have a problem related to a firmware update, however. It was the one that added picture frames to the image gallery. I guess the update failed or had become corrupted, and it prevented his system from getting online (plus he never got his precious picture frames). He even sent it in to Sony and they wrote back some time later saying it was impossible to fix. Got a new PS3 out of it, sure, but it goes to show that firmware (at least in the PS3's case) can be detrimental at times.
Snowblind @ Oct 1st 2009 12:09PM
The Dreamcast was pretty horribly built, I had numerous problems with mine. And the old Atari machines always had issues as well.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Oct 1st 2009 12:13PM
Yes. Agreed. The optical drive has punked out in all 3 of my current-gen consoles. PS3 stopped reading (even spinning) discs. 360 stopped reading discs (disc errors). And my Wii couldn't read dual-layer discs from day 1.
Viney @ Oct 1st 2009 12:18PM
Does nobody remember having to blown into every single NES game they had to get them to work after a year or so? It was way more widespread than RROD or YLOD.
Could you imagine someone releasing a product that faulty into today's market?
Even my Sega Genesis had shoddy soldered connections to the controller ports and I had to spend whole afternoons getting the damn controller to work.
MrWeatherby @ Oct 1st 2009 12:21PM
While I agree some of the complaints are dumb, I dont think thats a really good comparison. Blowing into a game to get it to work is a lot better than having to send the whole console in for repairs.
Danthok @ Oct 1st 2009 12:21PM
I remember my old PS1 that I had to flip over to play games. Ahhh those were the days.....
uncle jesse @ Oct 1st 2009 12:22PM
I would say that the problems started when everyone made the move away from catridges.
Tom Kalinske, CEO. @ Oct 1st 2009 12:22PM
The NES was finicky. I finally disassembled mine, tweaked the pins in the 72-pin connector, and haven't had a problem since.
Never heard of controller port issues on the Genesis, but I I aware of the issues the 32X has with the ribbon cables connecting the SH-2's to the mainboard.
Taylor @ Oct 1st 2009 12:30PM
IMO, if something breaks, it should be the developer that fixes it. We all know Sony has a history with DRE. I had an original PS2 and a PS2 slim that I had to send back to Sony for repair. Granted, the PS3 hasn't had that much of an impact, but still, if this becomes a little widespread, Sony should just suck it up and fix them. Why does my original NES still work (20 years old!), but a brand new PS3 have a read error?
pd771 @ Oct 1st 2009 12:41PM
@Taylor
Because the machines are much more complicated, and the storage devices are different. Cartridge based systems are much better for reliability. The reason they don't exist is the cost for making a cartridge and the lack of storage they had.
Think about how many ways things can fail on a 360/PS3 versus a NES.
Taylor @ Oct 1st 2009 1:03PM
@ pd771:
I understand the systems are more complicated, but it confuses me that as technology increases and things get "bigger and better," complications arise. Can't technology increase to negate these problems?
The same goes with Cable. Why do we need a comcast hd box to get hd channels? Can't they just run through the cable lines? To me, even though we have HD channels, this is still one step forward and two steps back.
pd771 @ Oct 1st 2009 1:19PM
Many old Cable boxes simply can't handle the amount of data for HD. Technology progressed past its abilities.
korwyn @ Oct 1st 2009 6:22PM
When Super Nintendo came out, I remember my dad told me that he would had got me one if my Reg Nintendo break. I did all I could to break it, but it didn't. These days, I do all I can to make my systems working, but they always fail me... I miss the old days...
Vidikron @ Oct 1st 2009 2:08PM
"Can't technology increase to negate these problems? "
To an extent it does. That's why later models of the current systems are generally more reliable. But I don't think anything that relies on moving parts (optical drives, hard drives, cooling systems) can ever be as reliable as solid state parts like cartridges.
I wouldn't be surprised if future generations were more reliable though. We seem to be headed back to solid state with SSDs and digital distribution.
shibathedog @ Oct 1st 2009 2:18PM
Yeah it does seem like that. I have consoles that are 20+ years old that still work great, somehow I doubt this round will last that long.
About this disc read error thing, Apparently it only happens with Blu-Ray media, so isn't this still just the disc rot problem?
Don't tell me disc rot is fake, I SEENT IT!!
Mr Khan @ Oct 1st 2009 3:14PM
The idea that we have more crashing is just because most consoles have OSes now (Wii still doesn't have an always-on OS, but it has update issues too, 4.2 has been bricking a few), so there's far more opportunities for code errors to crop up where no-one expects them to.
Tiptup300 @ Oct 1st 2009 3:22PM
We have more internet this round. Smaller problems get louder.
Matt @ Oct 1st 2009 4:00PM
I remember going through three of those small form factor Genesis' because the solder point on the motherboard for the power cable to plug in would get loose and stop working unless you held the power cable in.
Those were the days!
Alex @ Oct 1st 2009 4:02PM
Danthok, I had to do that too. My PS1 never liked playing Driver 2. I also had to spin the disc manually sometime with the lid open. There was a little button that I had to press to make the console think the lid was shut...
Wes @ Oct 1st 2009 6:29PM
@Taylor
Well, SSD drives are coming into popularity which no longer have moving parts so sooner or later, it will more or less be a situation where there should be less hardware failure imo. If we start downloading games, no discs(for disc read errors/optical drives to fail) onto ssds or onto say 64gb flash-card kits we take to our local game-store and download from kiosks the new games in a matter of a few minutes. If we can get either one of those two systems working, we should be back to a state near 'cartridges' where hardware reliability is great.
I think then, our most common failures would become overheating. Especially the heat being generated by video cards/cpus. If only, we can somehow remove the moving parts(fans) in cpu/graphics cards, while retaining the current speed we have in graphics without generating overheating problems. That would be great.
NOT ME @ Oct 2nd 2009 6:37PM
all playstations have had reading issues....most people ended up having to turn their ps1's upside down or sideways....and everyone i know and i mean EVERYONE has had the disc read error screen on ps2....which is why i dont see why people bitched so much about xbox. sony didnt help at all they did honor anyone that was out of their 90 day warranty . Its crazy how people these days have such short term memory