Sony released version 4.45 of the PlayStation 3 firmware. Reports are coming through all over the Internet that people who have updated their firmware, and are using upgraded hard drives, are finding their systems locking up, bricking, or becoming generally unusable. Sony hasn’t exactly had the best track record with firmware updates for the PlayStation 3 and Vita, but nothing in recent memory is as bad as this.
I updated my PlayStation 3 to 4.45 and I am using an upgraded 500 GB hard drive, and so far I have noticed no problems. However, I will not be turning off my system as a precaution until Sony releases another firmware update. I’m not sure how long this is going to take, but hopefully it will be less than 24 hours. No word on whether or not those with their PlayStation 3’s affected by this will be able to fix it without sending it in to Sony, or whether or not they will get some kind of compensation. It’s also possible that Sony may release some kind of free game or free PlayStation Plus time to all PlayStation 3 owners as a make-good for this incident.
Are you having problems? Sound off in the comments.
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Gamer Horizon 
I’ve restarted my PS3 several times now and it’s still working fine. I have a 500GB drive myself. Maybe it’s size related?
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Did you get 4.45? It’s been pulled now, of course. Some say it’s size related, that 1 TB drives are far more likely to go down from this.
Rumor is 4.46 is coming out today.
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Sure do. Downloaded it before I learned of the problem. PS3’s fine.
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Meh, I’m still scared to turn off my PS3. Yet, some strange part of me wants to know what will happen if I do.
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Ted, how big is the hard drive in your PS3? I wonder if there’s a specific size or larger that causes the problem.
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500 GB.
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Found out I am safe to turn on my PS3. Sony actually has a built in way to recover bricked systems, so credit to them.
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