Friday, June 24, 2011

Shady Gets Pwned by PS3's 3.66 Update.

It all started the night of June 22, 2011. It was a Wednesday, a pretty neutral day if you ask me...and if you didn't too bad. I had just got my kids to bed when I turned on my PS3 to play some Call of the Dead (Zombie map on Black Ops, for those who don't know). I noticed I wasn't auto-logged in, so I went to sign in manually. Update available, 3.66? Sure, why not? What you'll read next is what exactly happened from starting that download to yesterday afternoon (6/23/11).


  • I start the download of update 3.66 and go on Facebook to post on Gamerchick & play some Cafe World.
  • Some % later, the download fails. I try a second time. Also a certain % later it fails. Of course, the saying is third time's the charm, right? PFFFFFT.
  • The PS3 starts installing the fail of a download update 3.66 turned out to be. As soon as it reaches 30%, I receive error code 8002F165 (which, after consulting the PlayStation site's search of error codes, is found to be the error code associated with the PS3 "having an issue when trying to update the software" 8002F165 Error Information). The instructions on the tv tell me to hold down the power button until it beeps, unplug the AC power cord for a few minutes, plug it back in and try again. I lather, rinse & repeat about 15 times (no lie), to no avail. The error code mocks me. The bottom of the information screen containing the error message tells me to contact customer service and give them the error code. It's 2 minutes before 12am EST and their phone lines close at 8pm PST. True FML moment. 
  • I notice the bottom of the list of error codes on the Playstation site that it says to reboot the system and to redownload and install the damned 3.66 update. Attempting to reboot PS3...power off. Again, attempting to reboot PS3...power off. WTF. I then notice under THAT useless piece of information that if I continue to have "issues with the system update" I would need to send my PS3 in for "service". WHAT?! NO. I refuse! 
  • Powered off, I unplug the power cord and try to let it get about 10 minutes so I can try again. I go on Facebook some more, check my email, look at stupid, useless articles on Yahoo! news, and then plug the PS3 right back in to try again. ERROR 8002F165 yadayadayada. 
  • I eject my Black Ops disc and put it in it's case, and try rebooting the system for the 100th time. Unable to do so, AGAIN, I take my console and violently shake it as if it harmed my kids. I develop a case of Gamer Rage, and decide before I slam the bitch and break it, I will just go to sleep. Right before I knock out, I alert my husband to the issue with the PS3. 
  • Next morning, I wake up to see my hubby attempting to also reboot the PS3. Since he is the techie and I am not (just a WEE bit), I show him an article I found while trying to Google troubleshooting options for my loving error 8002F165: What saved my PS3 <3. He does the same exact thing mentioned in the LAST posting by "Andrewc78", because just like his dilemma, the XMB is not accessible due to the installing update screen that forced itself upon us like the plague. After awhile of trial and error and reformatting the HDD about 2-4 times, the update FINALLY worked (however, not by USB because it failed to recognize it as 3.66, instead recognizing it as 3.65). 
  • As soon as the update finishes downloading via internet successfully without interruption, I began to get a little bit of anxiety while it installed the dreaded update. All I could think of was that dreaded 8002F165. If it happened ONE MORE TIME...JUST ONE MORE....
  • *Cue the startup theme of the PS3* ^_^ *cue the happy dance* ^_^ *cue the victory smooch hubby gets for being totally awesome* ^_^

Actually, this is not the first time my PS3 was pwned by an update. About a year after we bought the original 60gb (this was probably around 2008, I don't exactly remember), there was an update that was so epic fail it pretty much targeted ONLY 60gb PS3's. If yours was a survivor, I hate you just a little. We had to reformat ours, not too long after Sony pulled the update and had a new one available not too long afterward. At least then I was able to transfer my saved data. This time, not so lucky. It's ok though, because apparently I saved a shitload of money by having an awesome hubby and not needing to send my PS3 in and paying over $100 for something so easily fixed. Not like they were gonna back up my game saves anyway, right? >_> Ok, I need to go redownload alllllllllllllll my games and DLC. It's gonna take awhile, I'm sure, so until something else spectacular happens, I will be just posting on the Gamerchick page. Have fun, gamers... AND BEWARE THE ERROR OF DESPAIR. O_O