PS3 3.0 / 3.01 firmware update making Blu-ray drive unusable?
By Donald Melanson 
posted September 25th 2009 2:34PM
posted September 25th 2009 2:34PM
What could possibly cause nearly 700 comments on an official Sony blog post announcing the relatively minor 3.01 firmware update for the PS3? Plaudits? A Kanye meme gone awry? No, it's the age old problem of an update that apparently breaks more than it fixes. In this case, a sizable number of users are reporting that the 3.0 and/or 3.01 update caused their PS3's Blu-ray drive to be all but unusable for both games and Blu-ray movies (although some folks report that DVDs still work). Other users are also reporting intermittent problems like no sound, and some problems with specific games, but it does seem like the complaints are pretty widespread and, as of yet, Sony isn't saying much about them. Bitten by the upgrade bug yourself? Let us know in comments.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
hmm cant seem to figure out why everyone needs over 250gb on a console..
oh right, because every game pretty much uses a few gigs to save.
i still find that pointless.
any how, i tried updating to the new firmware in hopes of my drive working,
nope no luck. takes disc, spins once and thats the end.
i really wish it would work, i miss my HD movies :-\ and i refuse to pay $150 for repairs.
I did the update and began having power-button issues with my 1st gen 60 gig PS3. I can unplug it for a while and the power button works again. But only for 1 or 2 times, then it stops again. I e-mailed Sony and they said there's no way the update could have done that. B-S. They'd better fix this fast.
UPDATE: I did the 3.01 update, and my power button issue magically disappeared. It must have been magic since Sony's customer service said the 3.0 update couldn't have created that issue. Wow.
Updated to 3.0, and since then, I've been able to play one BR movie, but the second one wouldn't play... updated to 3.0.1, same deal, same blu ray won't play, the drive literally acts as if I put a DVD in a CD-ROM drive, doesn't know how to read it anymore.
Is this only for particular BluRays, as I didn't have a problem with the prior one with the 3.0 update?
It played a DVD fine.
Try erasing the blu ray data file for the one that does not play, worked for me
There was no BD_Data for that movie. It never read the F'n disc!!
My Blu Ray capability is no longer there, it's as if the drive itself, only can play DVDs.
Yes I am having the freezing issues.
After upgrading to 3.00, my games started freezing randomly, so I updated to 3.01 and the freezing is much more frequent. One thing i notice is that I'm unable to install any games from the disk ie: Devil May Cry 4, Valkyria Chronicles. On the other hand, the HDD is perfectly fine, I even bought a new HDD just to be sure.
DVD and CDs can be played fine
2006 60gb 1st gen PS3.
BluRay capability hosed immediatly after 3.00 update. Tried 3.01 but no love their either.
DVD's and PS2 games play just fine. Downloaded games still play OK.
Cannot play BluRay movies or BluRay games.
Of course, this all happened the day I bought Beatles Rock Band, so I have not been able to enjoy that or any other recent games/BR movies. Very sad. I wish Sony would acknowledge the issue.
haven't had a problem with either updates plays both games n movies fine
My 60 gig launch console is 3.00 and still is working fine, I've tried a few games (for about 3 hours yesterday and loads more since i updated I'm sure), audio works good, haven't tried any blu ray movies but I'm sure they still work.
I forgot to mention that I also install a game onto the hard drive from a bluray disk and it worked fine. I mention it now because i remembered that many people have been saying that they are unable to do that now thanks to the update.
Incidently, after applying the update, I can't play Bluray movies anymore. But HD-DVD's now work. Everything is coming up Milhouse.
Euro 60Gb on 3.01 with no problems so far....
Wish I knew the mentality of how some comments got low ranked here XD Really goes to show how many immature readers we got
I know I might get down-voted for this but I'm going to say it anyway. Check out this list
1. PS2's repeatedly failing due to faulty dvd laser lenses leading to the dre (disc read error) affecting thousands of systems. Sony's response - no acknowledgement of the issue and gamers are forced to pay up to $200 to repair their systems. That is until a class-action lawsuit is leveled against them forcing them to fix the issue.
2. Thousands of pc's suffer from software virus vunerability due to sony bmg music cds that force rootkit subroutines onto user pcs with a mandatory install without user knowledge. Sony's response - "I doubt people even know what a rootkit is?" (That's what the bmg ceo said at the time) Sony refuses to acknowledge the problem again. That is until multiple class-action lawsuits are leveled at them by several different states and entities forcing them to fix the problem.
3. Thousands of first and second gen sony xbr hdtvs begin to have a strange greenish tint or hue appear on the screen from 6 months to 2 years after use. The hue becomes progressively worse and worse until all color is virtually gone from the picture. Sony's response - refusal to acknowledge the problem and since the majority of users did not have the problem until more than 1 yr after use Sony refused to fix the problem unless the owner paid $1500 for a new optical drive. The optical drive was the issue and eventually Sony extended the warranty past 1 yr to cover all owners of these tvs with faulty drives. Why did they do this? You guessed it. Another class-action lawsuit was brought against them forcing them to solve the issue.
I could keep going. I didn't even mention the millions of overheating sony laptop batteries that forced a huge recall a few years ago.
Now let me add a disclaimer before all of the sony fanboys down-vote me for listing all of this. I actually like Sony. I think for the most part they produce excellent technology. I have 2 sony blu-ray players in my house and a ps3 that is 1 yr old. (And no I'm not going to update it to 3.0. I don't want to take a chance on missing out on uncharted 2 next month.) I also have an early sony xbr tv. That's how I knew about that particular issue. It happened to me. And if not for that lawsuit sony was going to make me pay $1500 to fix the tv. I just wanted to mention to everyone that sony has a pattern of refusing to fix problems when they occur unless that are forced to.
And here is the big kicker that I'm sure some of you are screaming about. What about microsoft? Well, I agree that microsoft has just as many issue with their technology as well. I am on my 3rd 360 in the past 2 yrs. I despise vista and I hate the fact that m$ still overcharges for proprietary hardware and accessories to their gaming system. $100 for a wireless adapter and over $150 or more for a 120 gb hard drive is silly. The main difference that I see here between sony and microsoft is m$ doesn't have to be sued (anymore) in order to fix a problem. I guess they learned their lesson from all of those anti-trust lawsuits involving windows. (Which still seems to have a monopoly over the workplace for some reason)
Anyway, take it for what its worth. Agree with me or disagree. Vote me up or down. Whatever. Just realize sony will refuse to acknowledge any kind of problem with the ps3 and they will not fix it unless there is a class-action lawsuit leveled against them. Have you ever wondered why the ps3 is the only piece of electronics that sony sells that doesn't give you the option to buy a substantial extended warranty? If you don't believe me go to the sonystyle web site and try to buy a new ps3 with an extended warranty. You won't have that option. Yes you can buy one from 3rd parties like squaretrade or retail stores, but sony refuses to offer one. I can get a sony extended warranty for sony hdtvs, laptops, blu-ray players, mp3 devices, and book readers, but I can't get one for what arguably is the most popular sony product right now? Even more curious it seems that the blu-ray drive in the ps3 isn't as durable as the drives in stand-alone players causing them to go out after 1 yr. Thus out of warranty. And do any of you guys wonder about how these firmware updates are mandatory and the problems from these updates seem to predominantly affect older ps3s which of course are already out of warranty. Conspiracy? I don't know but I do know sony won't fix this unless they are forced to.
always crying about something I have the first console 60gb and never had a problem even with this new update everything works great....
Just updated to 3.01, watched a BD all the way through, started watching extras then it all went black. Can't play games now, can't do a damn thing that involves discs. I'm seriously not happy with this :-(
PS. this is a non-modified (stock HD), lightly used machine ......
Well,
I left it unpluged over night, switched it back on this morning and popped in Guitar Hero WT (which last night was freezing at the loading screen) and it worked straight off. Popped in a BD and that was fine too. Mine might be possibly be a overheating thing; so I'm going to leave a BD playing and see what happens ..... Strange thing is it's well ventilated so why is it overheating?
This is the first time this has happened since I've owned the unit (less that 6 months) and up till now it's performed impeccably. If it happens again it's going straight back to Argos (UK). Just a coincidence that I've just updated to 3.01?!?!
I have owned my 80 GB PS3 for 3 years without a problem until now. I downloaded firmware update 3.0 and as soon as it finished downloading I tried to play KillZone 2 and the optical drive did not read the disc. I was playing it fine before I updated it. I have tried all of my Blu-ray disc's, DVD's, PS3, PS2, PS1 and even CD's. The optical drive does not work. I called Sony and they told me it was not a firmware issue. Funny that I am looking at this blog and I am not the only person with this problem. Sony is now going to charge me $150 to repair my system. If this isn't a reason to jump to another console, I am not sure what is! Thanks a lot Sony...
Timothy Rodriguez.
My PS3 has been bricked by update 3.01
I found the same.
I tried a fix, and it seemed to work...
First, go to the Recovery Menu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0SPmkV-jco
Then use the Restore File System (this shouldn't delete anything - just tidy up the hard drvie tables or soemthing).
This fixed the blu-ray reading issue - but now, when you're in an app or game, and try to turn of the console, it doesn't always turn off; so then I have to hard-reset it (switch by the power cable).
This is kinda crazy - how could Sony release a patch that kills the PS3?! A lot of people aren't going to like PS now...
My 40GB PS3 broke with the same issue BEFORE 3.0, at 2.9x. My blu-ray drive stopped reading anything. i just got the spinning globe thing, but nothing appeared on the XMB!
Called Sony at their extremely expensive support line. They told me it was broke. Send it in. Got a new one, free of charge (was still covered by the danish 2yr law-obliged warranty though). Now everything is working fine. Seems to me its a hardware defect!
Blu-ray, DVD, and games are working fine on 3.0. I haven't upgraded to 3.01 as the game it supposedly fixes is not one I own or am currently playing.
I upgraded my PS3's FW to 3.01 and all is working fine, Blu-Ray and all.
I updated and played a game yesterday no issues.
I've used my PS3 maybe 15 times for bluray movies only in the past year and a half. Last week I popped in a BR disc to finish a movie. Everything was working fine to finish the Afro Samurai BR. After that I noticed that there was a FW update. I updated to 3.01 then popped in State of Play. I got to the menu and ran around the house to do a few things then my machine froze on the Universal HD screensaver.
After the 3.01 FW update my BR drive will not read anything; no games, no dvds, no bluray discs! This machine has barely been used....but of course I'm out of warranty after a year and a half. I know correlation does not imply causation, but the fact that so many other owners are experiencing the same thing leads me to believe the Sony PS3 firmware update is the cause. Sony really needs to step up and take responsibility for this type of issue or I'm most definitely never purchasing another Sony product.
@Sean
I'm actually having exactly the same problem as you.
When I went to Sony, they said my ps3 is out of warranty. And that I should pay 120$ to fix it.
I updated my PS3 before on an older firmware update and it screwed it over
had to send it back to sony and they sent me a new PS3 (refurb)
not im scared of updating it.
it works now.. i will just leave it at that..
Can unfortunately only confirm...
Ran the update a while ago and did not touch the ps3 anymore since.
Wanted to watch a Bluray on last monday, ran just fine for 44 minutes... then it froze totally, the overlay menu would take 2 minutes to display (you could actually watch it displaying line by line) but not useable.
No ejection possible, so powered it of, ejected the disc and restarted.
Since then not a single disc is recognized by the ps3. No DVD, no BR, no game, nothing.
It is worth mentionning my ps3 has maybe been used for 100-150 hours in total since I bought it back in May 2008... So definitely not a heavy user but very disapointed. Especially since I have now a couple of Blurays I'm not able to watch anymore.
Oh and of course, eveyrthing else is just doing fine... Games or videos from the HD juste play as they should, no other problem.
Its the firmare, got a used 40Gig updated to 3.01 two days later, no cd/dvd/games. Went and a new slim, and will not be doing anymore updates anytime soon. Sony needs to do something about this ASAP.
Clearly the updates are designed to break the BD compatibility of a PS3 and leave it as a useless a stand alone media streamer or dvd player.
This has happened twice to me with Sony Official Updates and twice I paid $150. Sony you owe me a new slim ps3!
I demand online access without updates!
I demand a warranty that is unlimited when it comes to updates that break bd computability!
Sony should be forced to change their business model and support it's loyal Playstation consumers,
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT IS THE ONLY OPTION!!
SONY "YOU LIE"
Shame on you Sony.
If this continues I will never buy another Sony product ever again.
My 1st gen 60gb stopped playing any and all blu-ray games and movies withing 24 hours of updating to firmware 3.0. Update 3.01 didn't dix anything. I don't care about Sony trying to keep up a public image by ignoring a faulty, untested, and mandatory update to its customers. I just want update 3.02 to reset whatever damaging code they used in 3.0 so I can use my system again.
Make that 1 more with the 3.0 / 3.0.1 update problem; BluRay discs not playing; some games play but eventually crash when they need to heavily read from disc.
There are far too many people having immediate BluRay Disc related problems after these updates for it to be circumstantial --- I'm 99.9% convinced if I was able to reinstate the 2.8 FW, BluRay Movies & Games would play again.
Come on SONY; bring out a rollback 2.8 or rename it as 3.0.2 --- my PS is still under warranty, but I don't really want to send it back yet, for something that is almost certainly a firmware problem.
80029906 and 80029941 are related error codes when the drive cannot read from disc.
Hi All,
** Fix for bricked Bluray drive below **
My 60GB PS3 worked fine after the 3.0 update but the very next day when I did the 3.01 update the BD drive packed up. It would not play any PS3 games, BD movies or PS2 games from the BD drive and the system would lockup if I attempted to. Audio CD's and PS1 game disks worked fine. PS3 Games on the HDD worked fine.I called Sony and they gave me the pay AU$250 bull. They also suggested formatting the HDD to see if it fixed the problem. I was sceptical, but I got a new HDD, formatted it and everything worked as before. I was however unable to backup the old HDD as the PS3 would throw an error saying unable to backup the drive. I therefore suspect that firmware 3.01 botched up something and corrupted the HDD.
If you have this problem do the following:
1) As HDD backup does not work, copy everything of value (Save games, music, PS1 saves, etc) to an external media. Do not copy game data and downloaded games. This is a tedious process if you have lot of stuff.
2) Format the PS3 HDD
3) Copy all your data back into the PS3 HDD
4) Download any purchased content again from the Playstation Store in 'My Downloads'
Thats it! Have fun.
Cheers,
Rajiv
3.01 bricked my shit. Toally freakin lame!!!! I hate you Sony!!!! Hello X-Box.
finally, someone did something about this chaos.
"Class Action Suit Filed Over PS3 Firmware Update
A class-action complaint over the latest firmware updates for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) has been brought against Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA).
Accusing the company of negligence and breach of implied warranty, the suit, filed Oct. 2 in U.S. District Court in Northern California, alleges that SCEA failed to adequately test the effect the 3.0 and 3.01 firmware updates would have on some PS3s, freezing some systems and rendering the Blu-ray Disc drive inoperable on others.
A call to SCEA seeking comment had not been returned by press time.
“Thousands of Sony PlayStation 3 video game owners who downloaded a system update required by Sony found that the update caused their PS3 units to malfunction and actually damaged the hardware on many units,” the suit reads. “For owners who sustained hardware damage from the Sony-required update, Sony is charging a $150 repair fee per unit.
“Sony failed to perform adequate testing to detect the performance degradation and product damage effects of its update, failed to warn its customers of possible defects, continues to distribute the defective updates, and has caused and continues to cause financial injury to thousands of consumers.”
The suit, filed by Florida resident John Kennedy, asks that SCEA fix systems allegedly damaged by the firmware updates, at no charge, and suspend distribution of the firmware updates.
The suit details the timeline of the firmware updates, which some consumers say cause games to freeze, stop controllers from working and damage the Blu-ray drive. On Sept. 1 the 3.0 firmware was released as a direct download to Internet-connected PS3s, and after consumers complained about problems allegedly caused by the update, SCEA released the 3.01 update Sept. 15, the suit reads.
“Plaintiff and other PS3 owners downloaded the firmware 3.01 update, hoping it would remedy the problems caused by the firmware 3.0 update,” the suit reads. “Unfortunately, the 3.01 update not only failed to address problems introduced by firmware 3.0, it caused new problems.”
The suit also seeks reimbursement to those consumers who have already paid SCEA to fix their PS3s. "
yes i cannot play blu ray discs or games
yea, mine freeze/hangs after about 10-15min either playing games or watching bd. this sucks almost got tempted to send it to sony and cough out $150 for it, thank God it's just their stupid firmware update....
My PS3 is 2 years old. I was playing Uncharted 2 and updated to 3.01. It disabled my Bluray drive immediately after rebooting just as the article mentions.
same here beat uncharted one then updated after heavy probs and uncharted 2 sometimes they don't talk during cutscenes my disks only read like 10% of the time and my games freeze on loading screens. also my controller doesnt always turn it on and my ps3 doesnt turn off i have to use the switch everytime! FIX IT SONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got My 40GB February 25th of 2008. Less than 2 years later, the blu ray drive "fails". I had good fortune with firmware version 3.00, but when I upgraded to 3.01, the movie that I was watching froze. After that, no BluRay disc (game or movie) worked.
Due to firmware (I hope) or not, this is unacceptable. Especially when I have to pay $150 to get it fixed. I could get a brand new one for another $150!!!! I really hope this gets resolved with the next update.
The interesting thing is that when I spoke to someone at Sony, it sounded like he wanted to get me off the phone after I mentioned it was my BluRay Player that was not working. He suggested a couple of remedial things to check and then said "there is nothing more to troubleshoot over the phone and your PS3 must be sent in for service." Then spouted all the legal jargon and what I needed to do and pay to get it working again. It appears that all the older PS3s are effected as I have not seen anyone with a new PS3 slim complaining. Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but is this Sony's way to get the older PS3 owners to upgrade? It just seems a little interesting that when the new PS3 is release, they release a firmware that "possibly" effects the BluRay Drive on the older models.
The PS3 is still a good media center, but I specifically bought it with the intention of having the best BluRay Player and gaming system available. So much for being "Future Proof"!
Has anyone swallowed the $150 and got it back working? It would be nice to know what they put on the ticket.
I upgraded to 3.01 before starting the new Uncharted, only played an hour, then watched a movie when the drive froze two hours in. Now it won't read anything. I can't imagine that the drive failure is just a coincidence. Mine is a 40GB that was replaced by Sony seven months after my original purchase (video went out) but eight months ago so it isn't still covered.
Yes, definitely there is some issue with 3.01 release. My PS3 is not playing Blu-ray disc. If it plays it will be for few minutes only and then get black screen for ever. Sony is defending there is no issue with firmware and asks 150 USD for service (my system is out of warrantly). It is also saying I accepted their agreement during upgrade. Looks silly to me. Releasing some thing without proper testing (how many versions will be out, may be 5 and not doing any testing whether this will work for all models) and saying to consumers you accepted the agreement. They should take responsiblily to replace all the issue created by this firmware upgrade without any charge.
Same problem for me. I'd sort of ignored my Netflix for a while, but the first Bluray disc I played after the update crashed and now no Bluray discs show up at all. If Sony thinks I'll give them $150 to fix a problem they caused, they're insane. And buying any future Sony products will be verbotten.
broke my PS3 blu-ray drive bought Jan 28, 2008 and played less than 4 hrs a week and not once over the entire summers. CECHE01 backwards compatible 80GB model. People say that the firmware could not affect blu-ray, well check out this site all you butt-holes:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1060
My 40gb also bricked on 3.0, and doesn't do anything new on 3.01.
HMPF
FIX IT SONY!
I am having the same problem since upgrading for COD4 MW2 this weekend. I've have my PS3 for a couple of years and it's been fine, now it locks up randomly after a few minutes and refuses to load any games... it was flawless up until the firmware update. It's one of the older fat PS3's CECHC03. I've emailed Playstation EU support with full details but am not holding my breath.
DONT DO IT....
2.72 -> 3.01 killed my blu-ray. And since it's out of warranty I'm left to either purchase a new PS3, or spend the $150+ sending in to Sony for a repair. Hmmmm..... Get the repair and no warranty, or spend twice as much and get 1 year warranty.
But now you're in a pickle... If you acknowledge it, you risk having to fix not only the units that were hosed via the update, but all of those units where people had Blu-ray drives that died for other reasons.
Either way.... Can you spell C-L-A-S-S-A-C-T-I-O-N?
Add me to the dead pool...