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PS4 Firmware Update Reportedly Fixes Issue When CMOS Battery Dies

PS4 Firmware Update Reportedly Fixes Issue When CMOS Battery Dies - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 22 September 2021 / 4,560 Views

Sony has released a new PlayStation 4 firmware update for the console and it reportedly has fixed a big issue with the PS4.

Before the update was released when the CMOS battery died in the console games would crash on start-up. Now games are no longer crashing and you are even able to earn trophies again. This is according to YouTuber Destruction Games who tested a PS4 with a dead CMOS battery.

"It looks like the 9.0 PS4 firmware update fixed the CBOMB issue," he said. "Tested it on my PS4 with a dead battery and games are no longer crashing on startup and I can even earn trophies, although the trophy earn dates will be blank.

"My date when booting my PS4 was 1969 and 5:00PM which is the default date and time the PS4 falls back on with a dead battery, so my battery is definitely still dead."

He added, "I have also had a few other people who have tested it themselves say that digital games also work! I don’t have any digital games installed on my PS4 so I haven’t tested it myself, but that is also very good news if it is true."

The CMOS battery powers the internal clock and when players go to start a game the PS4 will compare the internal clock with the date and time on a server to verify the player. If the battery dies, the console will ask players to enter the date and time when it boots, then sync the date and time online. However, if PSN is offline, the console can't connect to it, and the sync can't be happen, which means no games are playable. 


A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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10 Comments
Wman1996 (on 22 September 2021)

Good. The CMOS issue was indefensible.

  • +11
No_Name_Needed Wman1996 (on 22 September 2021)

Agreed, glad this has been fixed.

  • +1
scrapking No_Name_Needed (on 22 September 2021)

Yep, good on Sony for listening. Microsoft being really pro-consumer for the last several years has forced Sony to be more responsive. I hope Microsoft closes the gap further against Sony, as the more neck-and-neck the competition the more likely they each are to be pro-consumer.

  • +2
xl-klaudkil scrapking (on 23 September 2021)

Microsoft is even worse, you need to activate your console or it doesnt even work at all.

  • +13
scrapking xl-klaudkil (on 23 September 2021)

Almost no games come entirely on disc anymore (one Ubisoft game is a single GB on the disc, with almost the entire game needing to be downloaded!). If you don't have at least a periodic internet connection you're not getting far with any of the new systems. So your comment misrepresents the situation IMO.

  • -2
DonFerrari (on 23 September 2021)

Took them long enough. Also Sony should have made the replacement quite easy.

  • 0
Kakadu18 (on 22 September 2021)

Why exactly 1969?

  • 0
ireadtabloids Kakadu18 (on 22 September 2021)

Maybe its in reference to an old Sony ad campaign?
The CMOS battery in computers didn’t become mainstream before the mid 1980s.

  • +4
DonFerrari Kakadu18 (on 23 September 2021)

Perhaps when Crazy Ken was born =p

  • 0
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