Y2K also ate my baby.
Rumors over the weekend on the Play Station Network being down are false, the issue is with the Operating System.
The old operating systems that are contained within the BIOS of the first models of the Play Station 3 have caused a clock issue, which cause the entire system to bug out. Much like the very similar issue that occurred in Microsoft Zune’s at the start of 2009.
Little do some electronic owners know, the tiny clock at the bottom right of your screen right now holds a lot of power over your computer. If the clock is off, programs don’t update properly, some programs that rely on dates and times are even completely thrown off. Hell, the same issue can be seen in Tamagotchi’s and other handheld video game units that base their date off of time.
The first PS3 just needs an update to fix their clock updating function and all should be fine. In the mean time, Sony has some tips and their regular public relations jabber to help clarify some concerns. We figured this was a clock issue as soon as we heard the original PS3′s were bugging out, yet the Slims were just fine.
From Sony:
As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.
We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.
Errors include:
- The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
- When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following
message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been
signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”. - When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears
on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install
trophies. Please exit your game.” - When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the
Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date
and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)” - Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the
PlayStation Store before the expiration date.
We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.
As mentioned above, please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.
For the latest status on this situation please continue to check either the PlayStation.Blog orPlayStation.com.
