Overnight, Sony released Firmware v4.45 for the PlayStation 3, containing mainly stability updates and a few improvements. However, there has been reports from users in the US that the new firmware is bricking PS3 consoles, affecting consoles with 500 GB and larger hard drives.
We advise you to wait a few days until Sony has time to diagnose the issue and release a fix. Until then, PlayStation Plus subscribers can turn off Automatic Updates from the [Settings] > [System Settings] > [Automatic Update] > [Off].
Sony has since pulled the update, but if you console was affected, you’ll have to wait until Sony releases a working version of the firmware and use the PS3’s Recovery Mode to restore the firmware. Watch our video below and read the FAQ to see how to activate Recovery Mode:
