PSN error 8001050F Sony's official response

UPDATE 10: Problem solved!

It’s official. The PlayStation Network Service has been restored. Here’s the word from Sony’s US PlayStation Blog.

We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally.

If the time displayed on the XMB is still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet. If we have new information, we will update you through the PlayStation.Blog or PlayStation.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Well, there you have it. The crisis caused by the insidious 8001050F error has been resolved. What was your PlayStation experience like over the last few days? Were you mad? Were you sad? Did you try opening up your PS3 to fix the internal clock battery? Or did you just play it cool while not playing your PS3? Post your comments and share your thoughts below.

UPDATE 9: Problem solved?

We turned on our PS3, got several games to play that were giving us trouble earlier this morning, and managed to synch our trophies without receiving the dreaded 8001050F error. We did have to reset the date, and if you earned any trophies the day before the 8001050F error started plagueing PS3s around the world, you still may not be able to recover them for now. But other than that, everything appears to be working fine at the moment.

Unfortunately, Sony has yet to post any official updates on any of their blogs or Twitter feeds. In Sony's last statement, posted earlier this morning, SCEE’s Social Media Manager, Jem Alexander advised that you “do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.”

UPDATE 8: How to crack open your PS3 to fix the 8001050F error

According to Sony, they hope to resolve the 8001050F error within the next 24 hours. But who knows how long it will actually take? If you can’t wait for an official solution from Sony and don’t mind voiding your warranty, check out the video below. YouTube user killergibbo has posted a video showing how to open your PS3 to remove and replace the battery, which powers the system’s clock. According to him, doing this will reset the internal clock, solving the 8001050F error. We can’t confirm that this actually works, so if you decide to crack open your PS3, be warned.

UPDATE 7: Sony fail ad surfaces

Above: A spoof on Sony’s ‘It only does everything’ ad. Click here to see it in motion

UPDATE 6:  Hitler gets the 8001050F error 

It was only a matter of time before someone did a remix of The Downfall (Der Untergang) showing Hitler’s reaction when he finds out his PS3 is suffering from the infamous 8001050F error.

Above: First spotted on Ramen Para Dos

UPDATE 5 From Sony 5.17PM GMT: 

Official update: 

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today.  This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3. 

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system. 

Errors include: 
* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000. 
* When the user tries to sign-in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; "An error has occurred.  You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)". 
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies.  Please exit your game.” 
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)” 
* Users are not able to playback certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date. 

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours.  In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.   

As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error.  We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

UPDATE 4: 4 GMT: Still no word from Sony US, but Sony Europe has posted three Twitter updates in the last few hours, at least indicating that they are working on the problem:

@PlayStationEU: We will be updating you the second we have some news.

@PlayStationEU: Please don't trust info regarding this issue unless from an official Sony source. On Twitter this means @PlayStationEU and @SonyPlayStation.

@PlayStationEU:Rest assured, we've many people working on fixing this issue. As soon as we have some news, we'll let you know.

Not exactly conclusive, admittedly. On a less serious note:


Above: How to solve the 8001050F error without voiding your warranty

UPDATE 2: 13:16 GMT: Apparently this is affecting game developers too. According to UK developer news site Develop, 'debug' consoles (like the one we have in the GR UK office) have, "been thrown into a rebooting cycle, due to an endlessly-looping error message."

UPDATE 1: As at 12.18pm GMT: Sony has yet to officially clarify what is causing the widespread PS3 PSN (error code 8001050F) problem except announcing it doesn't affect certain PS3 Slim models.

The issue seems to stem from a date bug that affects the DRM and authentication systems in the PS3. This causes the PS3 system date to reset to 1st January 2000. When a PS3 attempts to connect to PlayStation Network it logs the 8001050F error which causes a series of malfunctions, including offline games not working, corrupt trophies and loss of PSN DLC - basically anything that requires a connection to PSN to function.

At the moment, in discussion with the Official PlayStation magazine, we're speculating (not official info) that the issue will be sorted out with a patch which will correct the clock bug on the PS3. Given that the bug affects the PS3's ability to connect online, it's likely this patch would be issued on SCE community sites and blogs and then you'd download to a PC and transfer this to your PS3 locally.

As all of your PSN purchases, DLC and trophies are on PSN servers we're making an educated guess they will be 100% recoverable unless we hear otherwise.

Sony's official response to the current widespread PS3 error:

"We have found out that some users are experiencing a network connection failure when signing on to PlayStation Network.  We are currently looking into the issue to identify the cause of this network connection failure and will update further information as necessary (on the Blog or official website).  We appreciate for your understanding and continued support."

March was supposed to be great for the PS3. God of War III is coming on the 16, and the GTA IV DLC is finally appearing at the end of the month. But it seems there's a price to pay before we can get to all that goodness. You see as of this morning, the 1st of March 2010, PS3s are dying like Lemmings at every corner of the globe.

No-one knows the cause for sure yet (there's some speculation that an internal clock error is related, but this comes from the collective bellowing of the internet rather than a truly authoritative source), but what we do know is that PS3 upon PS3 is greeting its owner with the following error message today:

Above: Thanks to Artefx for the photo 

There are also disturbing reports of Trophy lists corrupting or refusing to load. It's apparently happening during both disc-based and PSN games, whether or not the machine is connected to the internet pipes. Strangely, the problem seems to affect chunky original model PS3s rather than the slim.

We also got on to you guys to see just how widespread the problem is. The answer, it seems, is 'very'. In just a few minutes we've had a stack of responses through the GamesRadar Twitter and Facebook accounts. And it seems this guy isn't too happy either:

Here are just a few of your replies:

Artefx: 
I've got that error. clock had reset to 31/12. Many psn games won't load. Some full price games seem to have trouble has well. Even offline.

Dontforceit:
 Had PSN 8001050F error for 10 hours now. Which's stopped Heavy Rain completely. No need to press L2 to know what I'm thinking.

Stephen Hudson: 
It happened to me last night bout midnight, while playing MW2 lost all those trophies from my list and wont let me play it even offline.

Alison J Campbell: 
My Bioshock 2 trophies have been corrupted - read on the internet that it's a problem with my the sony servers. damn just finished that game today.

burmese_python: 
Too scared even to switch on PS3. I'm unplugging it from the mains until I know this 8001050F is solved!

And most worryingly if true:

dougedey
Mate of mine works at SCEI, full hands on deck atm, as of this morning they have no idea what's wrong, only one model is good.

And it's not just you lot who are being affected. If it's any consolation, GR Trophy-whore Nathan is currently playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 through a veil of tears, having just lost all of his precious unlockables. And yes, he'd synched up his own account to the office machine before it happened.

Any more horror stories or queries? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook. We'll get through this together, people. And in the meantime we'd recommend not switching on your machine until Sony sends us the all-clear.