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A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

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Re: A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

#21

Post by voxadam »

lmilcin wrote: post #11

Sounds like good case of building a small device that will ensure uninterrupted supply to the real time clock. This would have to be done before PSN goes out so that the device can live indefinitely (assuming the batteries work, the console does not need servicing, and no other problem is discovered).

I'm willing to bet that all you would have to do is supply AC power to the system while you pop the old battery from its socket and replace it with a fresh one. I can't imagine a design in which the battery would be required while powered up.

https://imgur.com/3otivuc

Re: A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

#22

Post by moistbar »

siquick wrote: post #10
Rhedox wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve has said in the past that they'd patch out steamworks DRM and allow you to download stuff in advance in case the company dies. Yes, that's a pretty shallow promise not a guarantee. If they don't, there's always piracy to get access to the games you already legally purchased.

If the company is going bust then the last thing their shareholders are going to do is let them pay devs to do stuff that doesn’t make money.

That would be a substantial problem for a publicly traded company, yes.

Re: A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

#23

Post by lmilcin »

voxadam wrote: post #21
lmilcin wrote: post #11

Sounds like good case of building a small device that will ensure uninterrupted supply to the real time clock. This would have to be done before PSN goes out so that the device can live indefinitely (assuming the batteries work, the console does not need servicing, and no other problem is discovered).

I'm willing to bet that all you would have to do is supply AC power to the system while you pop the old battery from its socket and replace it with a fresh one. I can't imagine a design in which the battery would be required while powered up. https://imgur.com/3otivuc

It is possible it will work.

But now I think you can easily replace the battery without interrupting supply. Just solder two wires, connect additional battery and then replace the old one with a new one. Nothing extra necessary.

Re: A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

#24

Post by joezydeco »

fomine3 wrote: post #9

BTW, is CMOS memory still used on motherboard or embedded device?

Yes. A lot of external clock/calendar chips use a small amount of CMOS RAM to retain the registers. The objective is very low power consumption when the main power bus is off and the device is drawing off of battery or capacitor.

A common part I use is the Epson PCF8563, for example.

https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/PCF8563.pdf

Now the PS4 doesn't seem to have an external chip from the teardowns I've seen. And the term "CMOS Battery" makes no sense other than shorthand for "battery that backs up CMOS memory".

But I'd wager the gates on the custom Sony silicon responsible for keeping time are CMOS or similar technology to minimize power when disconnected from mains (and how often is that? I'm curious what their design criteria is for that).

Re: A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

#25

Post by fomine3 »

joezydeco wrote: post #24
fomine3 wrote: post #9

BTW, is CMOS memory still used on motherboard or embedded device?

Yes. A lot of external clock/calendar chips use a small amount of CMOS RAM to retain the registers. The objective is very low power consumption when the main power bus is off and the device is drawing off of battery or capacitor. A common part I use is the Epson PCF8563, for example. https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/PCF8563.pdf Now the PS4 doesn't seem to have an external chip from the teardowns I've seen. And…

Thanks. I didn't know that RTC chips use CMOS RAM.

> And the term "CMOS Battery" makes no sense other than shorthand for "battery that backs up CMOS memory".

Nowadays BIOS is replaced by UEFI but we sometimes still call it "BIOS", so I thought that possibly "CMOS" battery is same story.

Re: A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

#26

Post by cable2600 »

dsnr wrote: post #7
cable2600 wrote: post #2

These systems were not designed to last. Which is why I am a member of the PC Master race. I upgrade my PC to specs above video game consoles and use Steam for my games. My PC is a Steam Machine.

What happens with your Steam Machine if Steam decides to pull the plug for whatever reason?

I'll go to a different service. I doubt Valve will pull the plug on Steam they are doing very well.

Re: A dead CMOS battery could cripple the Sony Playstation 4 in a few years

#27

Post by cable2600 »

fooker wrote: post #12
siquick wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the company is going bust then the last thing their shareholders are going to do is let them pay devs to do stuff that doesn’t make money.

You can find Steam cracks for most popular games on torrent sites right now. So, realistically someone would make a tool to do this automatically (not done now because API changes quickly, which is not an issue at EOL). The larger issue is multiplayer servers run by Valve. Some games allow you to run a server and connect to arbitrary servers, most do not. Those are going to be somewhat unplayable without explicit act…

I used to pirate games until Steam made them affordable and solved the lost CD/DVD issues. So I bought some games for my friends to make up for my past piracy of those games.
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