[Lethal]

Those of you who've been able to pick up PS3 firmware 2.41 or may have been the recipient of the nasty problem in PS3 FW 2.40 may want to read this next bit of news we have for you. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe recently sent out an announcement for the release of PS3 FW 2.41, and with it came a little revelation behind what caused the problems in 2.40.

SCEE writes,


With this update, we have fixed the problem that prevented a limited number of PS3s from activating properly after updating to version 2.40, when certain system administrative data were contained on the HDD.


Apparently, if you have that specific data on your hard drive, installing 2.40 would cause your PS3 to freeze or your XMB to not show.

If you happen to be one of those unlucky folks who picked up 2.40 and were greeted by a bricked PS3, you'll have to call customer service to get the PS3 fixed or possibly receive a replacement. Of course, if your XMB disappeared after FW 2.4, updating to 2.41 may prove an impossible task; Sony likewise suggests to go through customer service as well.

For those folks who were able to update to 2.40 without a hitch, Sony assures that you won't pick up the problem anymore.

Three Speech Firmware 2.41 announcement