Sony to roll out new update to fix PlayStation 3 bricking firmware

After having recently rolled out a firmware update for the PlayStation 3 that accidentally bricked the console if it had a HDD in it bigger than 500GB, Sony has told Eurogamer that it will be releasing an update that fixes the issue. The new update will attempt to fix the issues with the 4.45 firmware update that caused any PS3 with a modified HDD to brick. So far, the update doesn’t seem to have affected any console with the default HDD. Sony has since pulled the 4.45 firmware from its official listing.

A fix is coming soon

“We have identified the issue related to the PlayStation 3 software update (version 4.45) that impacted a small number of PS3 systems earlier this week," Sony told Eurogamer. "A new PS3 system software update is planned to be released on June 27 that resolves the issue. Thank you for your patience and understanding and we apologise for the inconvenience."

The brick issue is presumably not intentional, since Sony hasn’t ever mentioned in the past that changing the console’s HDD is against the Terms of Service of the console. Users might need to access the PlayStation 3's Safe Mode to be able to download the new update that Sony rolls out.

Booting the console up into Safe Mode is a lengthy process, but it is relatively simple. You can check out how to do so here. From the Safe Mode, you can simply make the PS3 install a new firmware from a USB drive as long as it is formatted in FAT32.