14 ms·

Many PS4 units dead on arrival

197 points by manojlds 13y ago

obsurveyor 13y ago
Manufacturing defect with the HDMI port is causing damage to HDMI cables. Amazon should really send an email out about it to people who ordered, there is an easy fix.
- jonny_eh 13y ago
  What's the fix?
  - caw 13y ago
    Kotaku documented it, push down the HDMI pin with something.
    - viseztrance 13y ago
      Yeah this is the link http://kotaku.com/good-news-about-our-once-broken-ps4-1464813671 http://kotaku.com/good-news-about-our-once-broken-ps4-146481...
agumonkey 13y ago
Was it better on previous models ? I wonder Sony isn't suffering from off-sourcing issues. Instead of in-house easily controlled circuitry, the cheaper off-the-shelf approach might cause higher rates of failures.
abritishguy 13y ago
There may well be widespread issues but this link just shows that some people have issues which given the volume of PS4s was kind of a given.
minimaxir 13y ago
I read a comment earlier that made a good point that unlike the console launches of the previous generation in 2004-2006, we now have access to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to vocalize and demonstrate our complaints worldwide. It makes the vocal minority much more vocal.
- barista 13y ago
  If you clicked on the link above, you will see that nearly 40% of the Amazon reviews are 1*. There is a good chance that most of those people received a dead PS4. Agree that not everybody who received a good PS4 left a positive review but this certainly does not make it looks like a minority.
  - hmottestad 13y ago
    We know that at least 323 received a broken PS4. At least 492 received a working PS4. I would guess that 1/10 would write a review when the PS4 is broken and 1/1000 would write a review regardless. Also we don't know if these are real reviews or just 323 Microsoft employees who were given money to order the PS4 and then post a bad review :P
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - chucknelson 13y ago
    Definitely reaching there - you can't assume a large majority of people who ordered from Amazon are leaving reviews. You already know that people without a working console will no doubt go leave a review, so the sample is significantly skewed. We won't know if this is a real problem until Sony says something. Disclosure: I ordered my PS4 from Amazon in June, received it yesterday, it works fine...and I have no reason to write a review about it.
    - makomk 13y ago
      Also, it looks - at a glance - like more of the 5* reviews are from verified purchasers than the 1* reviews. Presumably a bunch of people who didn't buy from Amazon and had a DOA PS4 went onto Amazon and posted an angry review, but people who got a working one had no reason to.
yelnatz 13y ago
At least you know right away that they're dead. It'd be more annoying 6 months down the road.
- minimaxir 13y ago
  Or worse, the Xbox 360 RROD issue, which was an inevitable ticking time bomb that could blow at any time.
  - barista 13y ago
    Why worse? Weren't the rrod Xboxes replaced by Microsoft? PS4 has not made any public announcement that I know of.
    - stedaniels 13y ago
      And how many years did it take for Microsoft to come to that decision? Exactly.
      - city41 13y ago
        The RROD was really crappy, for sure. But ultimately MS did do do the right thing, or at least they tried. On the other hand, Sony has never stood behind their consoles. From the PS1 cd drive wearing out prematurely [0], to the PSP's analog nub falling off[1] to PS2 disc read errors [2] to... on and on. Sony has never once helped the consumer in these situations. For most Playstation owners, buying multiple systems per generation is just part of owning a Playstation. [0] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)#Hardware_problems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)#Hardware_... [1] -- http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9761604-1.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9761604-1.html [2] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_2#Disc_Read_Error_.28DRE.29_lawsuit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_2#Disc_Read_Error_....
        jlgreco 13y ago
        The fact that I have never even heard of those issues probably says something in itself.
simias 13y ago
The problem with those reviews is those whose console is working are not complaining. Are there any hard numbers on the proportion of dead consoles? Have Sony commented on this issue?
- floatingatoll 13y ago
  As of right now, there are 323 1-star reviews. Sony sold "81,639" PS3 consoles on that unit's launch day. So if Amazon shipped 81,639 PS4 consoles, this would be a failure rate of 4.0 units per 1000, or 0.4%. Microsoft noted at one point during the Xbox 360 launch that the industry standard failure rate was between 3 and 5%. Presuming that same 3-5% is the failure rate for the PS4, and that 100% of DOA customers posted a 1-star comment, Amazon sold between 6,460 and 10,766 PS4 units. I would hope the failure rate is closer to 0.4% than to 4.0%, but I can't even hazard a guess at Amazon's sales volume, so this is where the hard numbers stop. (ps. I didn't check my math closely and I'm walking out the door, feel free to correct me in replies and I'll edit later to reflect.)
  - spaux 13y ago
    I'm more upset by the way they are handling it, it looks like they aren't going to replace them, but try to fix them. Anyone who's sent an RROD xbox (I haven't) knows the pain that will come with that. You'll see your PS4 again in a few weeks.
    - Nerdfest 13y ago
      I had the RROD with an XBox and they were _very_ quick getting it back. I think it was a couple of days. It's still an inconvenience, but it was also after more than a year of use. Ctl-Alt-Del is referring to this as the "Pulsing Blue Dick-Punch of Death". I think everyone should do everything they can to spread that term. It's too good to pass up.
      - w0rd-driven 13y ago
        Unless you lived right by, and I mean next door, to the refurb place I believe in Texas, it was never a few days. A few weeks maybe. I've had a Xbox 360 since launch go through 2 rrod's (so not really the same console) and at best it was 2 weeks to Georgia. They handled everything but shipping was never 2/3 day or better either way. I haven't had a return in 2-3 years now so maybe they got soooo good at the end that changed but I never remember it being that quick. MS also finally owned up to and corrected a serious design flaw. I don't expect the same from Sony just yet. You'll at least get them looking at it in the same manner initially. It behooves everyone for them to check it out and refurbish first, then just replace as they determine the root cause.
vonskippy 13y ago
So rushing to stand on the cutting edge might result in bloody feet - whoda thunk it?
- JoachimSchipper 13y ago
  I don't think something as super-mass-market as a gaming console qualifies as "cutting edge". (You could make an argument for the PS3's Cell processor, I suppose, but that's hardly relevant here.)
mtsmithhn 13y ago
Don't they do burn-in tests on consoles so they know it works before it ships?
thetrb 13y ago
I find it interesting that as of now with 516 5 star reviews and 332 1 star reviews (and very few 2, 3 or 4 star reviews) the average still shows up as 3.5 stars. It's interesting since the lowest value possible is 1, so more realistically it's not 3.5/5 but 2.5/4. I'm wondering if this makes a psychological difference and if less people would buy something on amazon if they changed their rating system to go from 0 - 4 stars.
- idProQuo 13y ago
  This has always bothered me, both on Amazon and the iTunes app store. No lie, when I published my first app, one of the comments was "I'd rate this zero stars if I could." and my first thought was actually "wait, why can't you?" Overall, I think YouTube was on the ball by switching to a "Thumbs up, Thumbs down" rating system. "Out of five star" rating systems are always sabotaged by the fact that most people think in absolutes: Either something is the bee's knees or it's fried shit on a biscuit. Given that most people vote this way, up/down vote systems are better at giving an honest impression of how people feel about something.
  - brownbat 13y ago
    I wonder if a five star rating system could secretly count only the 2 and 4 star reviews without telling anyone, sort of filter out anyone passionate enough to try to game things...
    - mistercow 13y ago
      That might work, but I have doubts. Interestingly, it's the opposite approach the the one taken by pre-employment personality tests, in which each question has no partial credit and exactly one right answer, which is either "strongly agree" or "strongly disagree".
      - brownbat 13y ago
        Oh right! I think Barbara Ehrenreich mentioned that in Nickel and Dimed. At Walmart, one of the hiring surveys included some question pitting personal considerations or ethics against loyalty to management, and the only correct answer was absolute loyalty to management. When she debated the point, she was not offered a job.
gigq 13y ago
There appears to be multiple issues going on that are probably all being filed under the console being bricked. HDMI seems to be causing problems where the console won't show a picture but everything internally is still working. There is also a safe mode you can go into that is fixing the issue for some. And finally there are some that are really just bricked which is probably accurate to the 0.4% rate that Sony claimed. Also FWIW I received one from Amazon and everything worked fine out of the box.
- gigq 13y ago
  From an Amazon review: You can return it to Amazon or Call Sony @ 1(800)345-7669 to schedule a replacement. Mine is broken like everyone elses. If your console light turns white (and doesn't get stuck at pulsating blue), it could be the HDMI cable or connection issue. Fix with a pin (see Kotaku's article). If it stays blue and pulsates, try safe mode (turn off system completely, then hold down power for 10 sec and wait till you hear beeps). From here Sony can help you troubleshoot if you wanted to call in. If it wont even boot to safe mode, it's bricked. You can try to troubleshoot on your own if you're adventurous: 1. Hold down power button until the unit powers off and the light goes out. This took about 10 seconds. 2. From power off, enter Safe Mode by holding down the power button until you hear beeps. Release power button after the second beep. The Safe Mode menu will appear with a list of options. 3. Select Option 4 to restore PS4 to factory defaults. Once it's done, the system will restart. 4. In our case, after the reboot, the PS4 automatically entered Safe Mode. This time, they had us select Option 6 to Initialize the PS4. Note that by doing this, you will lose profiles and settings so just be aware that you are basically starting over. Once it's done, the system will restart. 5. When the PS4 comes back up, it will take you through the initial setup again as if it's being booted for the first time. If you can't get the PS4 to boot into safe mode, it's not your HDMI port. it's an internal issue and you'll have to send it to Sony to be fixed.
  - pgrote 13y ago
    This is the article relating to the pin: http://kotaku.com/tips-for-using-the-playstation-4-1465228783 http://kotaku.com/tips-for-using-the-playstation-4-146522878... "A thin piece of metal in the port got raised when we put an HDMI cable in—at least that's what we think happened. A Sony official fixed the unit by pushing the metal down with a pin."
yolosweg 13y ago
simply ebin XXDDDD
andrewfong 13y ago
That's just how Xbox people think. http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s17e07-black-friday http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s17e07-black-f...
- aspensmonster 13y ago
  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
whalesalad 13y ago
Apparently it's an overheating issue[0]. The 'red line of death' is not a sign that your PS4 is dead, but a sign that it needs to shut down to cool off. If that is happening immediately on boot, then hopefully the temp sensor or overall temp system is flawed and can be fixed either by a Sony patch or really quickly in their manufacturing process. Hard to believe something like that slipped through the cracks. Reminds me of Dave Baggett's recent story[1] about how when you jiggled a controller stick during save, cross-talk on the motherboard would end up causing your memory card to become completely erased. I'm no EE but I wonder if there is something really strange at play here ... like perhaps old wiring in your home. I only say this because I can't imagine a really straightforward reason for this to be happening, unless they have a bad batch of temp sensors? Fortunately iFixit has taken apart the PS4 already, so we can take a look inside the chassis[2]. There's a lot of talk there on the 'revolutionary' cooling system. There's a giant fan/heatsink combination for the CPU, and the exhaust air seems to flow over the PSU to cool it passively. There's another fan beneath the motherboard which looks pretty small. Could also be a case of left-over tape or manufacturing material, like we saw with some of the Macbooks coming off the assembly line. There was a piece of plastic/tape coviering the exhaust vent that caused the fans to quickly go full speed and the system to get real hot. I can't find a reference to it anywhere though. In other news, I'm anxiously awaiting my Xbox One pre-order and hope that it doesn't have any of the same issues :) 0. http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/basic/partnames.html http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/basic/partnam... 1. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DaveBaggett/20131031/203788/My_Hardest_Bug_Ever.php http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DaveBaggett/20131031/203788/M... 2. http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlayStation+4+Teardown/19493 http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlayStation+4+Teardown/19493
- lostlogin 13y ago
  I laughed at this due to the bad home wiring thing. I agree this may be possible, however its what my ISP would always say regarding crap speeds. In a fit of rage I paid someone to cat 6 the house - everything we own is brand new. The way we are running it, it is one wire from the side of the house to the router, no joins, shortest possible run, away from all power cables and makes crossings at appropriate angles. No change to connection speed. Credit to them I suppose as they backed down fast after the next use of the "home wiring" line was met with me asking if they wanted the paperwork on the specs of the new wiring that had made zero discernible difference.
robmcm 13y ago
If this is the ps4 launch imagine the xbox one...
kmfrk 13y ago
Amazon's packaging also seems to leave something to be desired: http://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/1qrawl/this_is_how_my_box_arrived_from_amazon_it_is_no/ http://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/1qrawl/this_is_how_my_b....
- anonymfus 13y ago
  Official Amazon packaging video from that Reddit thread shows problem with lack of cushioning on bottom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSHX-iHJEWM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSHX-iHJEWM
wnevets 13y ago
doesnt this happen release cycle ?
jsz0 13y ago
If the failure rate was as high as the Amazon reviews suggest it seems like there would be more news about this even from the mainstream non-tech media by now. Lots of people get pretty fanatical about video game brands so I personally wouldn't trust any of the Amazon reviews good or bad. Remember Amazon allows anyone to write a review of any product -- purchased or not.
- IvyMike 13y ago
  > there would be more news about this even from the mainstream non-tech media by now. "By now"? It's one day after release on a weekend.
wgx 13y ago
MS PR in action? They've got previous: http://m.slashdot.org/story/181735 http://m.slashdot.org/story/181735
mikevm 13y ago
There are some rumors claiming that interns at Foxconn sabotaged a few PS4s: http://corruptedcartridge.com/ps4-sabotaged-news/ http://corruptedcartridge.com/ps4-sabotaged-news/
skc 13y ago
Seems like the fact they sold 1 million units in 24 hours in NA alone should put these DOA failures into perspective. It's a tiny, tiny number of consoles not working vs those that are.
hassanoo1 13y ago
Brand new Sony Ps4 original come with accessories $350usd. Serious buyer should contact us via email: faisa.hassan01@hotmail.com Skype: hassan.inc1

197 points by manojlds 13y ago

Manufacturing defect with the HDMI port is causing damage to HDMI cables. Amazon should really send an email out about it to people who ordered, there is an easy fix.

jonny_eh 13y ago
What's the fix?
- caw 13y ago
  Kotaku documented it, push down the HDMI pin with something.
  - viseztrance 13y ago
    Yeah this is the link http://kotaku.com/good-news-about-our-once-broken-ps4-1464813671 http://kotaku.com/good-news-about-our-once-broken-ps4-146481...

agumonkey 13y ago

Was it better on previous models ? I wonder Sony isn't suffering from off-sourcing issues. Instead of in-house easily controlled circuitry, the cheaper off-the-shelf approach might cause higher rates of failures.

abritishguy 13y ago

There may well be widespread issues but this link just shows that some people have issues which given the volume of PS4s was kind of a given.

minimaxir 13y ago

I read a comment earlier that made a good point that unlike the console launches of the previous generation in 2004-2006, we now have access to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to vocalize and demonstrate our complaints worldwide. It makes the vocal minority much more vocal.

barista 13y ago
If you clicked on the link above, you will see that nearly 40% of the Amazon reviews are 1*. There is a good chance that most of those people received a dead PS4. Agree that not everybody who received a good PS4 left a positive review but this certainly does not make it looks like a minority.
- hmottestad 13y ago
  We know that at least 323 received a broken PS4. At least 492 received a working PS4. I would guess that 1/10 would write a review when the PS4 is broken and 1/1000 would write a review regardless. Also we don't know if these are real reviews or just 323 Microsoft employees who were given money to order the PS4 and then post a bad review :P
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- chucknelson 13y ago
  Definitely reaching there - you can't assume a large majority of people who ordered from Amazon are leaving reviews. You already know that people without a working console will no doubt go leave a review, so the sample is significantly skewed. We won't know if this is a real problem until Sony says something. Disclosure: I ordered my PS4 from Amazon in June, received it yesterday, it works fine...and I have no reason to write a review about it.
  - makomk 13y ago
    Also, it looks - at a glance - like more of the 5* reviews are from verified purchasers than the 1* reviews. Presumably a bunch of people who didn't buy from Amazon and had a DOA PS4 went onto Amazon and posted an angry review, but people who got a working one had no reason to.

yelnatz 13y ago

At least you know right away that they're dead. It'd be more annoying 6 months down the road.

minimaxir 13y ago
Or worse, the Xbox 360 RROD issue, which was an inevitable ticking time bomb that could blow at any time.
- barista 13y ago
  Why worse? Weren't the rrod Xboxes replaced by Microsoft? PS4 has not made any public announcement that I know of.
  - stedaniels 13y ago
    And how many years did it take for Microsoft to come to that decision? Exactly.
    - city41 13y ago
      The RROD was really crappy, for sure. But ultimately MS did do do the right thing, or at least they tried. On the other hand, Sony has never stood behind their consoles. From the PS1 cd drive wearing out prematurely [0], to the PSP's analog nub falling off[1] to PS2 disc read errors [2] to... on and on. Sony has never once helped the consumer in these situations. For most Playstation owners, buying multiple systems per generation is just part of owning a Playstation. [0] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)#Hardware_problems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)#Hardware_... [1] -- http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9761604-1.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9761604-1.html [2] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_2#Disc_Read_Error_.28DRE.29_lawsuit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_2#Disc_Read_Error_....
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        The fact that I have never even heard of those issues probably says something in itself.

simias 13y ago

The problem with those reviews is those whose console is working are not complaining. Are there any hard numbers on the proportion of dead consoles? Have Sony commented on this issue?

floatingatoll 13y ago
As of right now, there are 323 1-star reviews. Sony sold "81,639" PS3 consoles on that unit's launch day. So if Amazon shipped 81,639 PS4 consoles, this would be a failure rate of 4.0 units per 1000, or 0.4%. Microsoft noted at one point during the Xbox 360 launch that the industry standard failure rate was between 3 and 5%. Presuming that same 3-5% is the failure rate for the PS4, and that 100% of DOA customers posted a 1-star comment, Amazon sold between 6,460 and 10,766 PS4 units. I would hope the failure rate is closer to 0.4% than to 4.0%, but I can't even hazard a guess at Amazon's sales volume, so this is where the hard numbers stop. (ps. I didn't check my math closely and I'm walking out the door, feel free to correct me in replies and I'll edit later to reflect.)
- spaux 13y ago
  I'm more upset by the way they are handling it, it looks like they aren't going to replace them, but try to fix them. Anyone who's sent an RROD xbox (I haven't) knows the pain that will come with that. You'll see your PS4 again in a few weeks.
  - Nerdfest 13y ago
    I had the RROD with an XBox and they were _very_ quick getting it back. I think it was a couple of days. It's still an inconvenience, but it was also after more than a year of use. Ctl-Alt-Del is referring to this as the "Pulsing Blue Dick-Punch of Death". I think everyone should do everything they can to spread that term. It's too good to pass up.
    - w0rd-driven 13y ago
      Unless you lived right by, and I mean next door, to the refurb place I believe in Texas, it was never a few days. A few weeks maybe. I've had a Xbox 360 since launch go through 2 rrod's (so not really the same console) and at best it was 2 weeks to Georgia. They handled everything but shipping was never 2/3 day or better either way. I haven't had a return in 2-3 years now so maybe they got soooo good at the end that changed but I never remember it being that quick. MS also finally owned up to and corrected a serious design flaw. I don't expect the same from Sony just yet. You'll at least get them looking at it in the same manner initially. It behooves everyone for them to check it out and refurbish first, then just replace as they determine the root cause.

vonskippy 13y ago

So rushing to stand on the cutting edge might result in bloody feet - whoda thunk it?

JoachimSchipper 13y ago
I don't think something as super-mass-market as a gaming console qualifies as "cutting edge". (You could make an argument for the PS3's Cell processor, I suppose, but that's hardly relevant here.)

mtsmithhn 13y ago

Don't they do burn-in tests on consoles so they know it works before it ships?

thetrb 13y ago

I find it interesting that as of now with 516 5 star reviews and 332 1 star reviews (and very few 2, 3 or 4 star reviews) the average still shows up as 3.5 stars. It's interesting since the lowest value possible is 1, so more realistically it's not 3.5/5 but 2.5/4. I'm wondering if this makes a psychological difference and if less people would buy something on amazon if they changed their rating system to go from 0 - 4 stars.

idProQuo 13y ago
This has always bothered me, both on Amazon and the iTunes app store. No lie, when I published my first app, one of the comments was "I'd rate this zero stars if I could." and my first thought was actually "wait, why can't you?" Overall, I think YouTube was on the ball by switching to a "Thumbs up, Thumbs down" rating system. "Out of five star" rating systems are always sabotaged by the fact that most people think in absolutes: Either something is the bee's knees or it's fried shit on a biscuit. Given that most people vote this way, up/down vote systems are better at giving an honest impression of how people feel about something.
- brownbat 13y ago
  I wonder if a five star rating system could secretly count only the 2 and 4 star reviews without telling anyone, sort of filter out anyone passionate enough to try to game things...
  - mistercow 13y ago
    That might work, but I have doubts. Interestingly, it's the opposite approach the the one taken by pre-employment personality tests, in which each question has no partial credit and exactly one right answer, which is either "strongly agree" or "strongly disagree".
    - brownbat 13y ago
      Oh right! I think Barbara Ehrenreich mentioned that in Nickel and Dimed. At Walmart, one of the hiring surveys included some question pitting personal considerations or ethics against loyalty to management, and the only correct answer was absolute loyalty to management. When she debated the point, she was not offered a job.

gigq 13y ago

There appears to be multiple issues going on that are probably all being filed under the console being bricked. HDMI seems to be causing problems where the console won't show a picture but everything internally is still working. There is also a safe mode you can go into that is fixing the issue for some. And finally there are some that are really just bricked which is probably accurate to the 0.4% rate that Sony claimed. Also FWIW I received one from Amazon and everything worked fine out of the box.

gigq 13y ago
From an Amazon review: You can return it to Amazon or Call Sony @ 1(800)345-7669 to schedule a replacement. Mine is broken like everyone elses. If your console light turns white (and doesn't get stuck at pulsating blue), it could be the HDMI cable or connection issue. Fix with a pin (see Kotaku's article). If it stays blue and pulsates, try safe mode (turn off system completely, then hold down power for 10 sec and wait till you hear beeps). From here Sony can help you troubleshoot if you wanted to call in. If it wont even boot to safe mode, it's bricked. You can try to troubleshoot on your own if you're adventurous: 1. Hold down power button until the unit powers off and the light goes out. This took about 10 seconds. 2. From power off, enter Safe Mode by holding down the power button until you hear beeps. Release power button after the second beep. The Safe Mode menu will appear with a list of options. 3. Select Option 4 to restore PS4 to factory defaults. Once it's done, the system will restart. 4. In our case, after the reboot, the PS4 automatically entered Safe Mode. This time, they had us select Option 6 to Initialize the PS4. Note that by doing this, you will lose profiles and settings so just be aware that you are basically starting over. Once it's done, the system will restart. 5. When the PS4 comes back up, it will take you through the initial setup again as if it's being booted for the first time. If you can't get the PS4 to boot into safe mode, it's not your HDMI port. it's an internal issue and you'll have to send it to Sony to be fixed.
- pgrote 13y ago
  This is the article relating to the pin: http://kotaku.com/tips-for-using-the-playstation-4-1465228783 http://kotaku.com/tips-for-using-the-playstation-4-146522878... "A thin piece of metal in the port got raised when we put an HDMI cable in—at least that's what we think happened. A Sony official fixed the unit by pushing the metal down with a pin."

yolosweg 13y ago

simply ebin XXDDDD

andrewfong 13y ago

That's just how Xbox people think. http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s17e07-black-friday http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s17e07-black-f...

aspensmonster 13y ago
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

whalesalad 13y ago

Apparently it's an overheating issue[0]. The 'red line of death' is not a sign that your PS4 is dead, but a sign that it needs to shut down to cool off. If that is happening immediately on boot, then hopefully the temp sensor or overall temp system is flawed and can be fixed either by a Sony patch or really quickly in their manufacturing process. Hard to believe something like that slipped through the cracks. Reminds me of Dave Baggett's recent story[1] about how when you jiggled a controller stick during save, cross-talk on the motherboard would end up causing your memory card to become completely erased. I'm no EE but I wonder if there is something really strange at play here ... like perhaps old wiring in your home. I only say this because I can't imagine a really straightforward reason for this to be happening, unless they have a bad batch of temp sensors? Fortunately iFixit has taken apart the PS4 already, so we can take a look inside the chassis[2]. There's a lot of talk there on the 'revolutionary' cooling system. There's a giant fan/heatsink combination for the CPU, and the exhaust air seems to flow over the PSU to cool it passively. There's another fan beneath the motherboard which looks pretty small. Could also be a case of left-over tape or manufacturing material, like we saw with some of the Macbooks coming off the assembly line. There was a piece of plastic/tape coviering the exhaust vent that caused the fans to quickly go full speed and the system to get real hot. I can't find a reference to it anywhere though. In other news, I'm anxiously awaiting my Xbox One pre-order and hope that it doesn't have any of the same issues :) 0. http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/basic/partnames.html http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/basic/partnam... 1. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DaveBaggett/20131031/203788/My_Hardest_Bug_Ever.php http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DaveBaggett/20131031/203788/M... 2. http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlayStation+4+Teardown/19493 http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlayStation+4+Teardown/19493

lostlogin 13y ago
I laughed at this due to the bad home wiring thing. I agree this may be possible, however its what my ISP would always say regarding crap speeds. In a fit of rage I paid someone to cat 6 the house - everything we own is brand new. The way we are running it, it is one wire from the side of the house to the router, no joins, shortest possible run, away from all power cables and makes crossings at appropriate angles. No change to connection speed. Credit to them I suppose as they backed down fast after the next use of the "home wiring" line was met with me asking if they wanted the paperwork on the specs of the new wiring that had made zero discernible difference.

robmcm 13y ago

If this is the ps4 launch imagine the xbox one...

kmfrk 13y ago

Amazon's packaging also seems to leave something to be desired: http://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/1qrawl/this_is_how_my_box_arrived_from_amazon_it_is_no/ http://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/1qrawl/this_is_how_my_b....

anonymfus 13y ago
Official Amazon packaging video from that Reddit thread shows problem with lack of cushioning on bottom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSHX-iHJEWM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSHX-iHJEWM

wnevets 13y ago

doesnt this happen release cycle ?

jsz0 13y ago

If the failure rate was as high as the Amazon reviews suggest it seems like there would be more news about this even from the mainstream non-tech media by now. Lots of people get pretty fanatical about video game brands so I personally wouldn't trust any of the Amazon reviews good or bad. Remember Amazon allows anyone to write a review of any product -- purchased or not.

IvyMike 13y ago
> there would be more news about this even from the mainstream non-tech media by now. "By now"? It's one day after release on a weekend.

wgx 13y ago

MS PR in action? They've got previous: http://m.slashdot.org/story/181735 http://m.slashdot.org/story/181735

mikevm 13y ago

There are some rumors claiming that interns at Foxconn sabotaged a few PS4s: http://corruptedcartridge.com/ps4-sabotaged-news/ http://corruptedcartridge.com/ps4-sabotaged-news/

skc 13y ago

Seems like the fact they sold 1 million units in 24 hours in NA alone should put these DOA failures into perspective. It's a tiny, tiny number of consoles not working vs those that are.

hassanoo1 13y ago

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