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Forums - Sony Discussion - DO NOT TURN ON YOUR FAT PS3 - date bug is majorly screwing up systems

What's happening?

It seems there's a calendar bug present in the firmware of some ps3s that is causing the date to reset to 12/31/1999.  As a byproduct of this bug, people are unable to log into PSN, many games aren't working (online or offline), and trophy files (and some theme files) are being corrupted.

Who's it happening to?

Most fat ps3 owners, ragardless of whether your system has ever even been connected to the internet.  However, not all fat ps3s are being affected, and Slims are (as of now) completely unaffected.  It seems that CECHL model 80gb ps3s in particular do still work, based on numerous testimonials on gaf.  However, if you're a fat owner and you're already logged in to PSN, it may be wise to not log out.

Other news on this issue:

Garnett Lee:

"PSN trouble looks potentially messy since my debug's not been Net connected and it's out too. Probably not a quick fix."

Joystiq:

Update: Sony has acknowledged the issue, and is "looking into it." We've yet to hear an official word on what the problem is, though it seems to be a bit larger than just the PSN. Owners of PS3 Phats are reporting that the date on their console has reverted to 12/31/1999, which is likely the cause of the data-corrupting errors. Some Phat-owners have reported receiving the errors while their console was offline, which is upsetting, to say the least. We'll let you know when we hear official word from Sony.

The issue seems to revolve around February 29th.  Or rather the fact that there is no February 29th this year.  All issues starting popping up around 6:30 EST today, so hopefully all date issues should be fixed by aroudn the same time tomorrow.  If not, we may have to wait for a firmware update from Sony, which will be quite troublesome if nobody can connect to the network!

I will update the OP as more news surfaces on this.

Explanation as to what might be going on from iammeiam on gaf:

The going theory is that the PS3 is storing some form of date in GMT, then modifying that to get whatever you see in the on-screen clock. That modification process seems to be fine--the system can take 2/28/2010, 9PM GMT, add four hours, and get 3/1/2010, 1AM random time zone.

What's apparently effed, as speculation goes, is when the internal GMT-tracking rolls over to 3/1. It's either not rolling, or rolling to 2/29, at which point a system tries to add/subtract from 2/29, which it can't do because the front-end calendar doesn't have a 2/29/2010, and shit explodes. Seemed to happen around 4PM PDT, which I think is 12AM GMT, so.

And the PS3 launched in 2006; it's hit 4 2/28s so far. 2007 and 2009 were odd-numbered years; 2008 was an even, and a leap year. 2010 is the first even non-leap-year the system's been around for. If some sort of base-level math is choking on itself, it may have ruled out the odd 2007 and 2009 successfully, but is convinced the even 2010 is a leap year (this part I'm less sure of, but is why leap year could theoretically come into play at some point.)

Latest from Sony:

We are narrowing down the issue and continue to work to restore service to all. Updates as soon as we get them.

IF YOU ARE ALREADY LOGGED INTO PSN, I'd suggest not turning off your ps3 or logging out of PSN.  It seems that fat owners who are currently connected to PSN remain unaffected, most likely as their date is being auto-updated via PSN.  Sever that connection, and it seems the bug still goes into effect.



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lol sony.

that's a lame bug, ps3's are confused.



That's a cool bug though ^^



What if.... you've already turned it on?



^_^

i don't get why this only effects the fat ones.



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skeezer said:
What if.... you've already turned it on?

If everything works, then you're set. If not, you're f'ed.  I'll keep you updated on whether it's fixable!



It brings back souvenirs from the Y2K bug.



Y2K strikes?



Do you know what its like to live on the far side of Uranus?

Boutros said:
That's a cool bug though ^^


Yes.



Mine was on during this problem and it worked fine. I guess whoever was logged in before this happened was spared. We don't know if slims are getting it yet.



19:44:34 Skeezer METAL GEAR ONLINE
19:44:36 Skeezer FAILURE
19:44:51 ABadClown You're right!
19:44:55 ABadClown Hur hur hur
19:45:01 Skeezer i meant
19:45:04 Skeezer YOU ARE A FAILKURE
19:45:08 Skeezer FAILURE*