A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years(notebookcheck.net)

22 points by GNU_James 5 years ago | 25 comments

lmilcin 5 years ago |

Sounds like good case of building a small device that will ensure uninterrupted supply to the real time clock. This would have to be done before PSN goes out so that the device can live indefinitely (assuming the batteries work, the console does not need servicing, and no other problem is discovered).

voxadam 5 years ago | |

I'm willing to bet that all you would have to do is supply AC power to the system while you pop the old battery from its socket and replace it with a fresh one. I can't imagine a design in which the battery would be required while powered up.

https://imgur.com/3otivuc

lmilcin 5 years ago | | |

It is possible it will work.

But now I think you can easily replace the battery without interrupting supply. Just solder two wires, connect additional battery and then replace the old one with a new one. Nothing extra necessary.

Jonnax 5 years ago |

So a 115 millions PS4s have been sold.

A CMOS battery lasts about 15 years.

The issue arises when the PS4 APIs are not available.

At what point does Sony drop their APIs?

Is it really just 'a few years'?

simion314 5 years ago | |

What Sony should do is when they turn off the servers for PS4 they will put a final update that disables all this problematic checks/features.

Now legally if I bought a game digitally could Sony refuse to offer it to me in 25 years because they can't bother to run some servers anymore? The PS3 announcement specifies that you can still download your games, only purchasing new stuff is no longer supported - which honestly feels weird , why not let people publish small indie games to PS3 too, is it hat extremely expensive to maintain those servers? Is it because of technical issues or is a people issue.

spicybright 5 years ago | | |

It could just be squashing demand for the older console so there's more inventive to buy the new one. Or at least that could be what they're thinking.

audiometry 5 years ago |

Sounds like an opportunity to practice replacing that battery on a few old PS4s so you can offer the replacement service in the future.

lilSebastian 5 years ago | |

In a few yeas time they'll have dropped support for the PS4 network, rendering it a brick regardless of battery.

dsnr 5 years ago | | |

That would be a good opportunity for a class action lawsuit. They should normally release a software update to allow users play their games without a PSN connection.

fomine3 5 years ago |

BTW, is CMOS memory still used on motherboard or embedded device?

joezydeco 5 years ago | |

Yes. A lot of external clock/calendar chips use a small amount of CMOS RAM to retain the registers. The objective is very low power consumption when the main power bus is off and the device is drawing off of battery or capacitor.

A common part I use is the Epson PCF8563, for example.

https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/PCF8563.pdf

Now the PS4 doesn't seem to have an external chip from the teardowns I've seen. And the term "CMOS Battery" makes no sense other than shorthand for "battery that backs up CMOS memory".

But I'd wager the gates on the custom Sony silicon responsible for keeping time are CMOS or similar technology to minimize power when disconnected from mains (and how often is that? I'm curious what their design criteria is for that).

fomine3 5 years ago | | |

Thanks. I didn't know that RTC chips use CMOS RAM.

> And the term "CMOS Battery" makes no sense other than shorthand for "battery that backs up CMOS memory".

Nowadays BIOS is replaced by UEFI but we sometimes still call it "BIOS", so I thought that possibly "CMOS" battery is same story.

cable2600 5 years ago |

These systems were not designed to last. Which is why I am a member of the PC Master race. I upgrade my PC to specs above video game consoles and use Steam for my games. My PC is a Steam Machine.

spicybright 5 years ago | |

> I am a member of the PC Master race.

I know it's a meme but I always cringe a bit hearing that.

dsnr 5 years ago | |

What happens with your Steam Machine if Steam decides to pull the plug for whatever reason?

Rhedox 5 years ago | | |

Valve has said in the past that they'd patch out steamworks DRM and allow you to download stuff in advance in case the company dies.

Yes, that's a pretty shallow promise not a guarantee. If they don't, there's always piracy to get access to the games you already legally purchased.

tweetle_beetle 5 years ago | | |

Although multiplayer games are pretty much all wrapped up in proprietary systems like Steam, there are significant DRM-free content libraries on GOG and itch.io.

cable2600 5 years ago | | |

I'll go to a different service. I doubt Valve will pull the plug on Steam they are doing very well.