Sony fixes PlayStation clock bug

[Baaheeduk]

Sony has admitted that a 'millennium-style bug' prevented thousands of PlayStation 3 (PS3) owners from accessing its online games network.

The firm said that the fault had been caused by machines that had "recognised the year 2010 as a leap year".

The problem did not affect the newer "slim" models of the PS3, Sony said.

The electronics giant said that he problem had now been resolved and that users should now be able to use their games consoles normally.

"We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year," said Patrick Seybold of the firm in a blog post.

"Having the internal clock date change from 29 February to 1 March (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally."

The firm had previously advised gamers to stop using their games console until the problems were resolved.

The problem meant that PS3 owners were unable to connect to the PlayStation Network, used by millions around the world to play online games and download movies.

It said that if gamers still experienced problems, they should adjust the date settings manually or via the internet.

Some have liked the problem to the millennium bug.

The problem, also known as the Y2K bug, was predicted to cause a global computer meltdown when their internal clocks changed at the end of the millennium. In the end, few problems were experienced.

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC News - Sony fixes PlayStation 3 gaming console clock bug

Published: 2010/03/02 08:06:15 GMT

© BBC MMX

 

[Rodbouy]

I changed the clock manually and it didnt fix mine. Only fixed its self after midnight

 

[hackmax]

They Fixed It? Did they fook fix it.... Just tell people they are working on a fix whilst they sit it out. After "29th Feb" is up and it rolls to 1st of Mar you can resync your time and it will change to 2nd Mar. That was always going to be the case. Sony did fook all.

 

[Raven24]

To be fair they didn't need to, the first thing the on the list was always to wait it out and as it happened that was the first thing that fixed the problem. Had that not fixed the problem we'd have probably seen an update in the next day or so, we probably still will see an update so this doesn't happen again. But I'll bet it'll also screw up the hack possibilities.

And in all fairness it's not the only bullshit titled article I've read online in the last 24 hours and they didn't get a mention so I'll put that out there as well. A couple of IGN articles on this for starters.

 

[thecoogster]

To be fair they didn't need to, the first thing the on the list was always to wait it out and as it happened that was the first thing that fixed the problem. Had that not fixed the problem we'd have probably seen an update in the next day or so, we probably still will see an update so this doesn't happen again. But I'll bet it'll also screw up the hack possibilities.

It will be very difficult to patch a hardware exploit such as this, im not saying its impossible but I imagine its would need a lot of re-writing of code for the otheros and could take months to roll-out.

 

[Raven24]

It will be very difficult to patch a hardware exploit such as this, im not saying its impossible but I imagine its would need a lot of re-writing of code for the otheros and could take months to roll-out.

That could very well be true for all we know, but I imagine if anyone knows the PS3 internally better than anyone it's the people at Sony who made the sodding thing lol. So yeah, any hack that's detailed publicly in terms of where and how, if we are aware of it then you can bet Sony will also be aware of it, and as I say them Jap wizards over there that made the PS3 will be able to plug this hack if they want to. As it is I'd hazzard a guess and say that it'll be more work for the hackers to make a working games mod out of this hack than it would be for Sony engineers to plug it. Just my theory on it lol.

 

[thecoogster]

That could very well be true for all we know, but I imagine if anyone knows the PS3 internally better than anyone it's the people at Sony who made the sodding thing lol. So yeah, any hack that's detailed publicly in terms of where and how, if we are aware of it then you can bet Sony will also be aware of it, and as I say them Jap wizards over there that made the PS3 will be able to plug this hack if they want to. As it is I'd hazzard a guess and say that it'll be more work for the hackers to make a working games mod out of this hack than it would be for Sony engineers to plug it. Just my theory on it lol.

No doubt about that but after reading about the hack i dont see how $ony could patch this easily, maybe they could change where the memory is mapped and maybe change a few hypervisor calls but it seems to me the cat and mouse race is well and truly on.
The mod looks to be easily done for someone with a good electronics knowledge and the dumps are floating around the net (except lv2), which tells me from past experience that there are holes in $ony's code to be found.

 

[Raven24]

No doubt about that but after reading about the hack i dont see how $ony could patch this easily, maybe they could change where the memory is mapped and maybe change a few hypervisor calls but it seems to me the cat and mouse race is well and truly on.
The mod looks to be easily done for someone with a good electronics knowledge and the dumps are floating around the net (except lv2), which tells me from past experience that there are holes in $ony's code to be found.

It won't be easy for either party I wouldn't have thought, but saying that for you and me any of this could be difficult but for the people in the know it's par for the course. Talking about coding I mean. I see what you're saying though, it's just I think Sony are still in the drivers seat on this one considering the hack is out there and nothing doing - yet. Could all change in an instant either way though......that's why I think the next update could bork the hack.