PS5 ticking time-bombs?

alexh · May 24, 2023

If you were lucky enough to a PS5 at launch (Nov 2020) you may have noticed that your 2 year warranty period is now over (quite a while ago)

If you were doubly lucky to buy a 2nd unit and you've been keeping it in the box all this time, powered off, on v1.00 FW in the hopes of a CFW sometime in the future you might want to think about getting it out soon.

TLC (and QLC) NAND Flash devices like the NVMe drive in the PS5 have a relatively short powered off retention span of ~5 years (depending on the temperature)

It might be an idea to get it out, power it on and leave it powered on for some time (24 hours or so) for it to do a background refresh and re-write itself.

Just an idea.

BlessedDog · May 24, 2023

Wtf this is a thing?

SonGoku78 · Jun 5, 2023

You got me worried now here , is this truly a thing ?
Can someone confirm this ?

Tom Bombadildo · Jun 9, 2023

This is only a problem for data retention, and is irrelevant in the case of something like the PS5 anyways.

A), it has a little 16mb flash chip (which likely holds recovery menu data) with a rated 20+ years for data retention, and that's ignoring the CR2032 battery that is likely providing power to that chip which could last 10+ years as well.

B), even if the flash chips lose every single bit due to loss of charge, the SSD itself doesn't just die and become completely unusable, it simply loses data on those cells. Much like if the PS4's software becomes corrupt, you can simply boot it into safe mode and reinstall the firmware. Worst case you lose 10 minutes downloading and resetting the console.

tl;dr, by the time a PS5 will get to the point of no return on the flash chips, we'll already be on the PS"X" and we'll probably be emulating it on futuristic brain implants

However, something that should be noted and is MUCH more likely to happen, is the SSD's controller just outright failing. I work in a repair shop, and we've seen a couple dozen PS5s become completely unusable because that controller up and dies due to heat stress. It's only really a problem on the first revision models (and we're on rev 3 currently), and it's relatively rare, but you can't get replacement controllers beyond pulling them from another PS5 board. Sony will likely replace your PS5 out of warranty, but they'll probably charge you $300 for it and take 3 weeks to do anything.

tech3475 · Jun 9, 2023

alexh said:
If you were lucky enough to a PS5 at launch (Nov 2020) you may have noticed that your 2 year warranty period is now over (quite a while ago)

Heads up, it's only one year by default in the UK.

Yes I know about that EU directive but (unfortunately) it's not that simple, let alone trying to actually use it.

alexh · Jun 12, 2023

Some SSD controllers (e.g. the ones I design) store their firmware on a reserved bit of the NAND that is used for storage and is equally susceptible to being switched off for long periods of time.

If you're keeping one in the cupboard until a CFW arrives I still think it is worth getting it out and leaving it plugged in for a day or so to allow the SSD to refresh.

PS5 ticking time-bombs?

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