| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to the PlayStation 3's internal clock glitch causing the "ApocalyPS3" issue in 2010 [641] has happened again within the same organization, Sony, with the potential for a similar issue affecting older PlayStations in the future [112960].
(b) The potential software failure incident related to the CMOS battery issue affecting older PlayStations [112960] is not explicitly mentioned to have happened at other organizations or with their products and services in the provided articles. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase:
- The incident with the PlayStation 3 consoles on February 28, 2010, was caused by a leap-year bug affecting the internal clock functionality of the system. This bug led to the consoles mistakenly thinking it was February 29, 2010, instead of March 1, 2010, causing various issues with gameplay and network connectivity [641].
- The potential future issue with older PlayStations, including PS3 and PS4, is related to the internal timing systems and the CMOS battery. If the CMOS battery dies or is removed, it raises an internal flag in the system's firmware, indicating a clock sync issue. This issue is tied to the system needing to check in with PSN to confirm the correct time, impacting the playability of games [112960].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase:
- The incident with the PlayStation 3 consoles in 2010 led to gamers being advised not to use their consoles to avoid errors in functionality and potential data loss. Sony recommended not using the systems until a solution was found for the leap-year bug affecting the internal clock functionality [641].
- The potential future issue with older PlayStations, including PS3 and PS4, is related to the systems needing to check in with PSN to confirm the correct time, especially after a CMOS battery replacement. This online check is necessary for the systems to load games properly, indicating an operational aspect affecting playability [112960]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The failure boundary of the software failure incident reported in the articles is within_system. The incident was caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the PlayStation 3 system [641]. This bug led to the consoles' internal clocks glitching out and mistakenly thinking that 2010 was a leap year, resulting in the error and gameplay issues experienced by users [641].
Additionally, the impending issue with older PlayStations' internal timing systems, which threatens to make PS4 games and downloaded PS3 games unplayable, is also within the system. This issue is related to the CMOS battery inside every PS3 and PS4, which raises an internal flag in the system's firmware if the battery dies or is removed, indicating a clock sync problem [112960]. This internal check with PSN to confirm the correct time is a system-level requirement that impacts the playability of games on these consoles [112960]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions:
- In Article 641, the software failure incident with PlayStation 3 consoles was caused by a leap-year bug affecting the internal clocks of the consoles. This bug led to the consoles mistakenly thinking it was February 29 instead of March 1, causing games to not load properly [641].
- In Article 112960, the potential future software failure issue with older PlayStations (PS3 and PS4) is related to a ticking firmware time bomb caused by the CMOS battery inside the consoles. If the battery dies or is removed, it triggers an internal flag in the system's firmware, indicating a clock sync issue that requires an online check with PSN for confirmation [112960].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
- There is no specific mention in the articles about the software failure incidents being caused by human actions. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware, software |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware:
- The incident mentioned in Article 112960 highlights a potential future issue with older PlayStations where the internal timing systems could make PS4 games and downloaded PS3 games unplayable due to a problem related to the CMOS battery inside every PS3 and PS4 [112960].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to software:
- Article 641 discusses a software failure incident related to a leap-year bug that affected PlayStation 3 consoles. The bug was identified as a problem with the clock functionality incorporated in the system, causing issues with games loading and internal clocks glitching out [641]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to the PlayStation 3 leap-year bug in Article 641 was non-malicious. The issue was caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system, leading to the consoles mistakenly thinking that 2010 was a leap year and causing games to not load properly [641].
(b) The software failure incident related to the ticking firmware time bomb affecting older PlayStations in Article 112960 was non-malicious. The issue stemmed from the CMOS battery inside every PS3 and PS4, which raised an internal flag in the system's firmware indicating the clock may be out of sync with reality, requiring an online check with PSN to confirm the correct time [112960]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident related to poor_decisions:
- The incident with the PlayStation 3 consoles on March 1, 2010, was primarily due to a leap-year bug that affected the internal clocks of the consoles, causing them to malfunction and preventing users from playing games. This issue was identified as a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system [641].
- The potential future issue with older PlayStations, as reported on April 19, 2021, is related to the internal timing systems and the CMOS battery. The problem arises when the CMOS battery dies or is removed, triggering a clock consistency check with the PSN servers. This design decision could lead to unplayability of PS4 games and downloaded PS3 games on current hardware in the future [112960]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in Article 641, where a leap-year bug affected PlayStation 3 consoles, causing them to malfunction due to a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system. This bug led to the consoles mistakenly thinking that 2010 was a leap year, resulting in errors and the inability to play games properly [641].
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is highlighted in Article 112960, where an issue with older PlayStations' internal timing systems poses a threat to make every PS4 game and downloaded PS3 games unplayable on current hardware. This issue arises from the CMOS battery inside the consoles, which, if removed or dies, triggers a clock consistency check with PSN, affecting the playability of games [112960]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident described in the articles is more of a temporary nature rather than permanent. The incident involving PlayStation 3 consoles being affected by a leap-year bug in 2010 [641] was temporary as it was caused by a specific issue related to the internal clock functionality of the system. Similarly, the potential issue with older PlayStations' internal timing systems in 2021 [112960] is also temporary, as it is related to the CMOS battery and the need for the system to check in with PSN to confirm the correct time, which can be mitigated by firmware updates or workarounds. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, timing, other |
(a) crash: The incident described in Article 641 involved a crash where PlayStation 3 consoles were rendered inoperable due to a leap-year bug affecting the internal clock functionality, causing downloaded and disc-based games to refuse to load [641].
(b) omission: The potential future issue highlighted in Article 112960 involves an omission failure where older PlayStations may eventually be unable to play PS4 games and downloaded PS3 games due to a problem with the internal timing systems and the need for online checks to confirm the correct time, especially after the CMOS battery dies or is removed [112960].
(c) timing: The issue discussed in Article 112960 is related to a timing failure, where the correct time synchronization is crucial for the PlayStation systems to function properly, especially in terms of enforcing time limits on digital purchases on the PS3 and ensuring accurate PSN trophy data registration on the PS4 [112960].
(d) value: There is no specific mention of a value failure in the provided articles.
(e) byzantine: There is no specific mention of a byzantine failure in the provided articles.
(f) other: The other behavior observed in the incidents described in the articles includes a system behavior where the correct functioning of the software is contingent on external factors such as the availability of PSN servers for time checks, potentially leading to hardware becoming semi-functional due to failing CMOS batteries and lack of server support [112960]. |