PS3/PSN Fail! (Update x3)
UPDATE 03/01/10 9:10pm: The PlayStation Blog has just confirmed that service has been restored to normal. If the XMB still displays the wrong date you should be able to fix it manually or via the Internet.
UPDATE 03/01/10 8:30pm: Although I haven't seen any official word on the PlayStation Blog or Twitter Account, Joystiq is reporting that the problem with the clock has been fixed.
UPDATE 03/01/10 12:23pm: The PlayStation Blog has just released the following Statement:
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.
At least we know that the people at Sony are working hard to fix this problem. This blogger hopes that the 24 hour turnaround time frame mentioned in this statement is accurate. (Let's hope they also try to make it up to us somehow.)
Original Post Below:
As of yesterday, the Playstation Network was down... but only for the owners of the original PS3's (not the slims). The most concerning issue many users are having is that this outage is not only affecting their ability to sign into PSN, it is also preventing them from playing download games and there are reports of trophies being deleted. Some have speculated that it is an improper handling of leap years that is causing all of this havoc. As a person that owns one of these older model PS3's, it concerns me that for the amount of money gamers put into their systems, to have data loss on such a large scale is just not acceptable.
PS3 Fail!
A number of tweet's I have read are suggesting that you do not turn on your PS3 until there is a bug fix. Also note, I'm surmising that any update will come in the form of a computer download to be installed via a USB thumb drive.
As of right now, (March 1st, 11:16am) there hasn't been any updates via the PSN Blog or the PlayStation Twitter Account since last night. Check back, any updates we receive will be posted as soon as we get them.
Backing Up DVD’s (Personal Use Only)
Making a backup of a DVD should be easy... right? Wrong! All recently released DVD's from big film companies have some sort of encryption to prevent you from creating back ups. Why would you want to create a backup of a movie that you paid for and own? DVD's, like CD's are vulnerable to scratches and dents. If this happens the disk becomes unreadable meaning you'd have to shell out another $20 to get a new copy with the risk of it happening again.
There are a few open source and freeware options that are available but fall short when it comes to the most recent movies (such as "Star Trek" 2009). Options that I have used in the past required a set of several programs to produce 1 movie usually taking a few hours to complete.
Recently, the good people at Giveaway of the Day and Digiarty Software allowed people to freely download WinX DVD Ripper Platinum. Normally $29.95, this program has performed flawlessly (with one exception). Even at $29.95, this software is a bargain considering it creates a backup of your movie library preventing you from losing potentially hundreds of dollars if your disks become broken.
WinX DVD Ripper Platinum
I also suggest downloading the open source program XBMC, which is a media player and entertainment hub for digital media on your computer. This program is able to use the internet to download information about your movies to sort them (by actor, year, genre, etc.). By enabling UPnP, game consoles like the PS3 will be able to see your computer as a media server and you will be able to steam your movies from your computer to your TV.
Disclaimer: This website is NOT endorsing the use of these programs for illegal file sharing. Use these programs for personal backup of DVD's you already own. Use these programs at your own risk.
Making Your Own PS3 Themes For Free
If you have the an image editor, a text editor, an USB drive, and a PS3... You are on your way to making your own PS3 themes! Sounds simple enough right?
To start off you'll need to download a compiler that Sony offers free of charge (The file is compressed, so you'll need a program like 7zip to uncompress it). You can find the official download on the PS3 site here (Look for "PS3 Custom Theme Toolbox (Zip)" and click).
Once unzipped, you'll be able to find a sample theme located in PS3_CustomThemeToolbox\p3tcompiler_v101\sample\01. I recommend making a copy of the 01 folder renaming it 02. The sample.xml file, located in the new 02 folder, contains all the information used by the compiler to generate the theme. Here you can change author information, language settings, and all of the locations of the images used in your theme using a text editor like Notepad.
Backgrounds are jpegs. You should have at least two backgrounds, one for HD (1920x1080) and one for SD (640x480) resolutions. All of the other images used in the theme are png files. I suggest using an image editor like Gimp or Paint.net to edit the images that come with the theme.
Now that all your images are edited and your xml file is saved, you can now compile the files into a single theme file. Simply drag your xml file and drop it on the p3tcompiler.exe file located in PS3_CustomThemeToolbox\p3tcompiler_v101. This will open a command prompt that will generate your theme file which will be saved in the same folder your xml and image files are located.
Your newly created p3t file can now be moved to your USB drive to be installed on your PS3. On your USB drive create a folder called PS3, inside that folder create another called THEME. Copy the p3t file to the theme folder (Example: E:\PS3\THEME\sample.pt3).
Take your USB drive and plug it in to the PS3. Go to Settings> Theme Settings> Theme> Install. Chose the USB drive and chose the theme. The theme is now installed and will be available from the Theme options. Select the theme and then select Apply.
Here is an example of a Theme I have created. The theme is provided free of charge below the video.
Download Theme
Streaming Media to Your PS3
One of the greatest capabilities of the PS3, in my opinion, is its ability to find media servers on your local network. I have tested two free options, both of which work very well. What are they you ask? The first one we'll look at is called TVersity, the second... the aptly named PS3 Media Server.
Playstation 3
TVersity was my first experience with a Media Server. Overall it is a quality program with an attractive interface. There are two versions of the software, a Pro and a Free version. The Pro version gives you access to "premium online content" such as Hulu. You have to manually add the folders and any online content you want to access and can stream to several devices (I have even been able to stream music and pictures to my Palm Pre using TVersity).
This program has great promise, but it has several flaws. As of today, July10, I haven't been able to get the lastest Beta (ver. 1.6, released in May) to work on Windows XP but have had no problems with ver. 1.5. Another, and seemingly common problem I have read in the forums, is that it is quite easy to accidentally subscribe to the free internet content TVersity has available. This will automatically download the video/audio to your computer taking up internet bandwidth.
The PS3 Media Server seems to be the more stable of these two programs. After install it will detect your PS3 (if its on) and needs no other setup. The media server will find your folders and are viewable by the PS3 and has automatic refresh. Unlike TVersity, every video file that I have attempted to play using the PS3 Media Server has played without any trouble and even shows a nifty thumbnail of your videos.
Tversity and the PS3 Media Server are both free and high quality streaming programs. If you plan to stream your media to multiple devices I highly recommend TVersity. If you plan to stream only to the PS3, however, I would stick with the PS3 Media Server.
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