Firmware 2.40 removed from update servers

by Jem Alexander { Jul 2nd 2008 at 4:40PM }

We're receiving reports that PS3s are no longer updating to firmware 2.40. Consoles currently running 2.36 are stating that there are no available updates when a system update is attempted. It seems that downloading the firmware from the official sites is also impossible. Firefox 404s out on the Japanese, European and American sites. Has the latest firmware been pulled from the net? If so, why? If you're having issues with grabbing the latest update be sure to let us know.

We'll be contacting Sony to find out exactly what's going on, so keep an eye on us for more info. Hopefully soon.

Update: Confirmed. Firmware 2.40 is currently unavailable.

Tags: 2.40, firmware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

the_culture @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:44PM

I grabbed the firmware last night, then proceeded to pick up 5 trophies in Super Stardust HD.

I know, it's sad... but addicting!!!

Paul (PSN: heypaul) @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:01PM

Well I've got 10! Ha!

And when I reached level 2, my hair turned blonde and my fireballs now shoot farther. Weird...

Phantom @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:16PM

HAHA!!!!!!!! I got A TROPHY . PWNED . Oh wait . lol , hope uncharted has lots of trophies for me to collect , burnout is going to have 56 or so , so i expect uncharted to have around 50 .

John S @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:45PM

Strange. There must have been something wrong this time. I haven't updated yet. I was planning to when I got home from work. I'll let you guys know if there's an update there or not.

Gunegune @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:43PM

I had a problem with the update. I installed it last night and after the install had completed I noticed the "Cross Color Reduction Filter" wasn't working properly. I turned the CCRF off then on manually and it seemed okay. I proceeded to play Super Stardust HD and the CCRF turned off again. It does this everytime I enter a game or restart the system.

I contacted Sony earlier this afternoon to inform them of my problem but I doubt that's why the update is offline. It's probably something pertaining to the network. I just want the CCRF to get patched.

Vasco @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:47PM

I'm in Portugal and tried to update at the end of the day when I got home and it didn't work. It says I already have the last update. Maybe it's better this way, who knows if there isn't a good reason for that?

deaftly @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:52PM

The update is bricking alot of PS3's , hence why it got taken down. Seems this happens with every firmware update to some people, Sony needs to test this shit before releasing.

igotthatfire247 @ Jul 6th 2008 9:13PM

Oh Noez! Sony brokes da' PS3! Daddy no likey!

HAAS599 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:46PM

japanese, european, AND Japanese sites, Wow!

j/k

maybe they will put in-game music in the update for real this time.

Rowdehaj @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:03PM

Have you not listened to anything that's been said? The feature is there for developers to add in to their games! Each game has the soundtrack implemented in a different way, and there is not one catch-all method of turning it off in favor of something on your harddrive! This is not in Sony's hands, and your sarcasm is uncalled for.

HAAS599 @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:58PM

keep drinking Sony's kool-aid

I love my PS3 but dont buy this "its up to the develops" garbage.

Sony could have allowed music HD access in this update if they wanted. Yes, some games dont let you turn off their soundtrack but most do. So instead of having most of the games already out being able to use your own music off the HD by just turning off the soundtrack for the game (you did see the pjm demo, right?), we now have to wait for all of our games to get patched (who knows how many will).

I would rather wait for the few games that dont let you turn off the original game soundtrack to be patched.

Maybe that kool-aid is ice cold and sugary-sweet to you but for me it has a sour after taste.

Mattchewie @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:14PM

Your damn right I will drink the kool-aid. Here is why

For instance, say your developer. You want a great game with great atmosphere. So you go out and drop a HUGE amount of cash for a great composer and come up with an an engaging score. However the system lets users play their music in all titles. So now you have all these people playing the game and not giving the in game score a lick of time. I know many games I have played wouldn't of been as enjoyable if not for the score.

So yeah I can see your point but if sony has given a nice easy hook for devs to plug in game music into their title and they see fit to have it, they will.

Ben @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:14PM

It's a big conspiracy. The entire games industry is out to prevent you from listening to your music.

It's not a memory or CPU or testing issue.

They are personally out to get YOU.

HAAS599 @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:27PM

I was waiting for that arguement and if you play your own music you can only make the game better for yourself. YOU bought the game, the dev. has his money everyone is happy! if someone thinks you are just ruining your own experience, so be it, I believe you have the right to do so.

Kojima, one of the most artsy-fartsy game devs has an ipod in his game that lets you listen to a podcast of just people talking about MGS. You can listen to it at any point in the game. I listened to it during my first play-through. you may say I ruined the experience, you can have your opinion. I still gave the game a 10 out of 10.

Maybe your playing a scary game and you have a scarier song then the one in the game. I'm not saying take away the original soundtrack. I encourage everyone to play MGS4 without touching the ipod. But if I could blast "I can't drive 55" while on the back of a motorcycle shooting flying metal birds with a machine gun, i think MGS4 would be an 11 out of 10.

HAAS599 @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:30PM

if the PS3 cant handle playing music off the hard drive and a game at the same time then that is a completely different story.

and the PS3 isnt as powerful as I thought

Ben @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:45PM

It is powerful enough if you design and test the game and tune it to work that way.

If you slap a music-player on later without testing it with the game, then maybe it works sometimes and maybe it crashes or slows your game down other times. I wonder if someone might complain about that?

I'm personally surprised (and happy) they were able to add in-game XMB without breaking any old games.

HAAS599 @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:57PM

maybe thats what it is.

The PS3 is supposed to be the most powerful console out right now and it wouldnt be good PR to have a bunch of games lagging and freezing because you play music.

Its sounds a lot better to just say "It's up to the developers" and let the users put the pressure on them and be mad at them if the game doesnt include the feature, then to simply say "the PS3 doesnt have the power to handle music off the HD in-game for all games".

whether thats the case or not, thank you ben, your the first person to actually make a good point. I am greatful

Popfrogs @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:26PM

@HAAS: Welcome to Trollville, population: You.

I see your point, but Sony has chosen to give developers freedom. Freedom has a price on the PS3. If Sony forced devs to do everything according to their rules, they could easily have matched Microsoft's features from day one. However, they left lots of things in the hands of the developers.

The PS3 doesn't have a sound chip. Sound can be synthesized using the core and spu's, with unlimited channels available to devs. Also you can stream audio from the BR disc or the hard drive. How does Sony work around this and force every game to allow for custom soundtracks? Answer: they can't. It's too late. They never told devs *how* to do it in one specific way, therefore, the devs had the freedom to implement this however they liked or could.

First party games like SS:HD have had this ability because Sony chose a way to implement soundtracks that dovetailed with what the firmware/XMB allows. They release this ability in their devkits, but again, it's up to third parties to implement it.

Stop blaming Sony like they're conspiring to squash all your favorite me-too features. At this point they (and we) are victims of giving developers too much freedom.

Joel Carr @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:47PM

Microsoft owns an ingame soundtrack patent http://www.ripten.com/2008/03/31/microsoft-owns-patent-for-in-game-custom-soundtracks/

Hopefully this will shut you lot up!

Thanks to 'Survivalism' on Engadget comments about the pull for this bit of information!

John @ Jul 2nd 2008 9:30PM

Joel Carr, that is the best response to this I have seen. But is it not bizarre that MS could patent something so vague? Oh, wait, the patent office lets multi-billion-dollar corporations patent LIFE. I keep forgetting how much evil there is.

HAAS599 @ Jul 2nd 2008 9:39PM

you see, I was in search for answers

If i have to force the issue and go through the people that dont know what they are talking about to get to the people that do, I will gladly be a troll

I have my answers now. Thank you Ben, Pop Frogs, and Joel Carr for allowing me and anyone else out there not knowing what was going on to now know.

Wait! You guys all work for Sony and this is part of the conspiracy! Very clever.....

Mark @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:47PM

could it have to do with their website getting hacked?

kchton_b73 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:54PM

probably

Evan Brown @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:47PM

sweet! i got it already!

Sloar @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:50PM

You're happy that you got it already? You do realize that this update has been breaking PS3s, don't you? I wouldn't be so happy if I had already installed it.

Wayne @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:48PM

Interesting.. Perhaps there is a security hole (or two) in 2.40?

-.- @ Jul 4th 2008 6:55AM

Exactly What I was thinking :]

Spam @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:48PM

Well, I picked it up early this morning (in the UK) so I guess I'm lucky?

I have no games with trophies though.

toxiclow @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:55PM

LOL i just got mine from the EU website like 2 hours ago

MaternalBloom @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:55PM

I hope there adding more features lol

pomme @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:52PM

Now that's scary... if they removed it after launching it, it might have something to do with stability or quality control? If so ... people who got 2.4 (like me) should keep an eye on your systems

Rowdehaj @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:35PM

The Playstation Store does take a bit longer to load now, though when it's done it is way faster and a little sleeker. I'm curious...

TypeF @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:51PM

so what about those that already updated it and have 2.40? like me

Gabriel @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:14PM

If I were you, i would back up all your saves NOW! Cause if you have to reformat your HDD, kiss all that info good bye! (ps really glad I waited to update.)

Hunts314 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:51PM

hope there is nothing "PS3 damaging wrong" with it as I grabbed it this morning

HAAS599 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:52PM

I've never had a problem with GTA4 or this update

My PS3 must be special or something

ComicShaman @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:58PM

We should take Cell samples from your machine for cloning.

leiwei @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:52PM

I was glad to finally see in-game xmb but noticed it was incredibly slow while playing MGS4. Not so much in Super Stardust but I figure playing custom soundtracks in MGS4 (if it's ever possible) might take a toll on the system.

OH yea, I did pick up two trophies in Stardust before goin to bed but it never updated on my trophy profiles. What gives?

Paul (PSN: heypaul) @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:01PM

For some reason, you have to compare your trophies with someone else's in order for it to "register." My guess is it's little bugs like this that they realized they should fix before mass distribution (and hysteria).

Laurens Holst @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:08PM

I think it looks slow because the in-game XMB probably runs at the same framerate as the game (seeing as it is an ‘overlay’ of sorts and you can still see the game running in the background). So while it normally runs at 60fps, MGS4 runs at 30fps, hence the noticeable difference in smoothness.

~Grauw

leiwei @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:26PM

^ ahh that seems a reasonable explanation.

So far I've lovin it. I can see what other friends are on and what they're doing, but this trophy system isn't as straightforward as the achievements on Live! I've tried "comparing" with a friend to see if the trophy registered, but he doesn't have any Stardust trophies yet. So far I'm still at 0 trophies. Here's to hoping MGS4 has trophies (or soon if Kojima already planned for it). I'm hoping Uncharted gets them too, and other games. Haven't played anything but MGS4 for the longest time (trying to get enough points for the camouflage special item).

Dehshizknight @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:53PM

You're supposed to go to the Trophies icon in the Game menu and it will synchronize your Trophies with your PSN account.

Matt @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:52PM

Yea, I came back to see mine finished and rebooted to "Can not find correct hard disk" or something like that.

Needless to say, I'm pissed.

uh-oh polio @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:54PM

I have it and its worked perfectly since it got downloaded.

Hunts314 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:57PM

yeah mine has been working fine as well, but needless to say, after this I'll be watching it very closely

Reaper55 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:54PM

This probably has to do with the exploit which non-owner accounts to access single PSN ID purchased games (Warhawk/GT). You play any game with a non-owner account, then select a game which doesn't belong to you and you can play.

I'm sure we will all be patched soon.

Some other issues reported include crashing during update and SSHD update freeze issue, but most can be dealt with by just retrying/uninstalling retrying. I'm thinking the unauthorized access is more of Sony's worry as it is leading to piracy/trading PSN games.