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PS3 Sync Issues (controller) - Page 2

post #31 of 434
11/18/08 at 12:11pm
UPDATE: I called Sony again this afternoon and asked for a supervisor. I was escalated a few times before I found someone I was comfortable was actually hearing me. His position basically is that even with hundreds of people online complaining about the issue, that an issue like this is considered very minor because its affecting just a tiny fraction of the millions of units sold. Of course if you own one of those units like we do it feels a lot different.

I told him the frustrating part is that it seems like a software related issue, and it seemed like a fair possibility I could go 3 weeks without the unit to exchange it and still have an issue. He said it could be a software issue, but one that may only affect certain units based on what was gong on with the hardware.

So now I have a dilemma... My 1 year warranty expires in a few days, so at this point I can still have it fixed at no charge, after that its $100. So do I send the unit it in, and go without a Blu Ray player for 1 month, only to risk getting a unit back that has (or eventually will have) the same issue - and possibly be NOISY (mine is nice and quiet)? Or do I just put up with this and no that once in a while I'll lose sync and will have to power on/off to restart it? Hummm. Tough call. What do you guys think?
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post #32 of 434
11/18/08 at 1:34pm
Seems like I have been having similar issue with BT and my controllers.

I've tried system restore, restore database, restore file system and nothing. I started having this issue after 2.35.

Here's my story:

My controllers will sync with the PS3 when it is turned on and then will freeze after a few minutes. Even plugging the controllers into the USB port doesnt fix the issue. I have to hard reboot the ps3. Once in awhile I get lucky where I can use the PS3 when I have the controllers plugged into the USB ports. The only way this works is if I can't sync the controllers to the PS3 wirelessly. Strange. If I can sync the remotes wirelessly when I first turn the PS3 on, it will freeze for sure.

I know the PS3 is not freezing because I have watched movies on the ps3 even after my ps3 remote and controllers have frozen. I did notice that if I have an external drive hooked up to the USB ports and play music off of it, the music will freeze once the controller freeze happens. I suspect my whole controller system is flawed.

Frustrating for sure and for Sony to say this is a minor issue when it seems like alot of people are having similar issues is kinda dumb but expected.
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post #33 of 434
11/18/08 at 1:43pm
I would not risk sending the unit back in - (I am having the same issue) - shipping the unit back and getting a replacement is asking for more (and potentially) bigger problems - hopefully a future firmware release will fix this. Just my .02.
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post #34 of 434
11/18/08 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by oz727 View Post

I would not risk sending the unit back in - (I am having the same issue) - shipping the unit back and getting a replacement is asking for more (and potentially) bigger problems - hopefully a future firmware release will fix this. Just my .02.

I agree, I'd keep hold of it for now....
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post #35 of 434
11/18/08 at 3:31pm
Don't know if this is the same problem others are having or not, but I have a 40GB unit with the sixaxis that came with it. When I turn it on, the controller is assigned to 2 instead of 1. So when I start up a game I have to reassign the controller back to 1 every time. How can I fix this?
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post #36 of 434
11/18/08 at 3:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BH0012 View Post

Don't know if this is the same problem others are having or not, but I have a 40GB unit with the sixaxis that came with it. When I turn it on, the controller is assigned to 2 instead of 1. So when I start up a game I have to reassign the controller back to 1 every time. How can I fix this?

Unplug whatever you have plugged into your USB port. The controller you turn the system on with will now be #1 every time.
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post #37 of 434
11/18/08 at 4:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jayoldschool View Post

Unplug whatever you have plugged into your USB port. The controller you turn the system on with will now be #1 every time.

Thanks! Yea I forgot to remove the usb dongle after playing Buzz.
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post #38 of 434
11/18/08 at 5:06pm
I've also bought another controller with the same results.
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post #39 of 434
11/18/08 at 9:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cruzzz_94 View Post

Seems like I have been having similar issue with BT and my controllers.

I've tried system restore, restore database, restore file system and nothing. I started having this issue after 2.35.

Here's my story:

My controllers will sync with the PS3 when it is turned on and then will freeze after a few minutes. Even plugging the controllers into the USB port doesnt fix the issue. I have to hard reboot the ps3. Once in awhile I get lucky where I can use the PS3 when I have the controllers plugged into the USB ports. The only way this works is if I can't sync the controllers to the PS3 wirelessly. Strange. If I can sync the remotes wirelessly when I first turn the PS3 on, it will freeze for sure.

I know the PS3 is not freezing because I have watched movies on the ps3 even after my ps3 remote and controllers have frozen. I did notice that if I have an external drive hooked up to the USB ports and play music off of it, the music will freeze once the controller freeze happens. I suspect my whole controller system is flawed.

Frustrating for sure and for Sony to say this is a minor issue when it seems like alot of people are having similar issues is kinda dumb but expected.

cruzzz_94 - from what you describe it sounds like the problem you are running into is considerably different than the more typical syncing issues being reported here and elsewhere. Is your PS3 still under warranty?
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post #40 of 434
11/18/08 at 9:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Was_There_Then View Post

I agree, I'd keep hold of it for now....

Yea, thanks guys. I think that's what I'm going to do. I am however going to have them ship me out a box for repair anyway. My one year warranty period expires in a few days, so this effectively buys me another month (they said they just need to get the unit from me in a month) to decide.

I believe this bug was likely introduced by a firmware update (how else would it appear out of the blue for some many of us?) so hopefully they can fix it with a firmware update.

The frustrating thing however is that I have the feeling this issue would be deemed significant enough to warrant their engineers to look at a fix. But that it is under their radar and as such will go unresolved. The customer service 800 number has the 'go over the checklist and if that doesn't fit it send it in for service' mentality, but so few of us are doing that so they won't say we lost $x replacing these under warranty let's fix it. Instead most are not reporting it or sending their units back, so it remains under their radar most likely.
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post #41 of 434
11/19/08 at 12:22pm
Lovingdvd - As luck would have it, I don't know what I did with the receipt after making a copy of it to send away for my 5 free Blueray movies . I'm usually careful with my receipts. Just so happens my PS3 decides to act up with me. So, I'm SOL on that. What makes me believe it is a firmware or upgrade issue is because once they released 2.3 or 2.35 (whichever one it was) I started having problems. The problem seemed to have gone away for awhile until I bought EA NHL 09 and started using the wireless controllers. Before I was playing Rockband and the drums were plugged into the USB port so I never used the wireless controllers. I've run a few other tests like hooking up a External Drive to my USB port and played music from the External drive. After about 10 minutes, that froze as well. Could well be my USB ports are acting up now as well. If there was away to reverse the upgrades, that would be great. At least then I can see if that has anything to do with it.
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post #42 of 434
11/22/08 at 9:24am
I'm also having this issue as well but its mainly an issue with Bluray watching. If I watch a Bluray my BT remote or controller will un-sync with the system. While I can eject the disc the console hangs on shutdown from the front button and I have to flip the power switch on the back to reset. Since its primarily my Bluray player this issue is extremely frustrating.

Luckily I haven't had any disconnect issues while playing games, which I can only guess is because the controllers don't power down in that circumstance.

-40 GB unit purchased earlier this year
-Also have a buffalo wrt router and wii near the system
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post #43 of 434
11/25/08 at 3:27am
Maybe this can be fixed with firmware but I've personally installed maybe three or four firmware updates since I first detected this problem and it has not been fixed so I am not very confident that there will ever be a fix. First that there would be a fix Sony should investigate the matter and admit that there is a flaw (either sw or hw related). Now they do not admit there is a problem with PS3s so there will be no fix.

No one has found a fix for this problem yet and only fix that Sony could offer me was to send my unit back for a replacement. My warranty expires in three months so I decided to get it done now - I have three months to use the replacement and get it replaced if it has or will develop any problems (I got a "refurbished" PSP from Sony once that was broken - my PSP that was sent to service worked better than this replacement).

I suspected interference too and switched my WLAN router off but that didn't help at all. Microsoft uses same band (2.4 GHz) with its controllers and I've had ZERO problems with those in two years and my XBOX 360 is used in the same room with PS3 i.e. in exactly same conditions.
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post #44 of 434
11/25/08 at 3:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by x_fiddle View Post

I'm also having this issue as well but its mainly an issue with Bluray watching. If I watch a Bluray my BT remote or controller will un-sync with the system. While I can eject the disc the console hangs on shutdown from the front button and I have to flip the power switch on the back to reset. Since its primarily my Bluray player this issue is extremely frustrating.

You have the exactly same problem that I am having.

Tip: if you keep pressing on/off button on the front for about 10 seconds PS3 will beep three times and shut itself off. You can then flip the switch on the back and get your controllers detected again by the PS3. I think this is a safer way than switching your PS3 off from the back when it is running.
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post #45 of 434
11/25/08 at 7:01am
Yep, we are all describing the same exact issue. Loss of controller sync during Blu-ray playback (but only sometimes- most movies I seem to be able to get through w/o losing sync) and never lose sync when playing games.

This is why I am so hesitant to send my PS3 in. I have a hard time believing that it is hardware related and that I will not experience this with a replacement PS3.

Hopefully those of you that are having these issues are calling Sony and pressing them on it like I did. The more they hear about it the more attention they'll pay to it.

I agree that the firmware to date has not done anything to fix it but I am slightly hopefully that one of these times we'll be pleasantly surprised.
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post #46 of 434
11/26/08 at 2:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingdvd View Post

This is why I am so hesitant to send my PS3 in. I have a hard time believing that it is hardware related and that I will not experience this with a replacement PS3.

What speaks against purely firmware raleted issue is the fact that not all PS3s have this problem. All firmware updates include the fixes and features that were in previous firmware updates so all PS3s should have this same problem if it was purely firmware related.

It can be possible that for some reason f.ex. if different Bluetooth controller chips are used in PS3s this problem happens only with PS3s with specific hardware components used. This can be fixed with firmware if those components itself are not to be blamed for this problem (faulty patch of components f.ex.).

First step like has been said already is to make Sony know that there indeed is a problem and send your PS3s in for service. If enough units with this problem are returned maybe just maybe Sony will investigate the matter and make a firmware fix if possible but I am not very confident they will. At least thousands of PS3s with this problem should be returned before they will see it economically viable to allocate engineering resources to investigate the matter and make a fix.

What I am saying is that don't wait too long and be too optimistic about a possible firmware fix. Of course every one of us makes decisions how they see best in the light of the facts available but this is my recommendation. I hope that I am proved wrong
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post #47 of 434
11/26/08 at 8:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarking View Post

What speaks against purely firmware raleted issue is the fact that not all PS3s have this problem. All firmware updates include the fixes and features that were in previous firmware updates so all PS3s should have this same problem if it was purely firmware related.

It can be possible that for some reason f.ex. if different Bluetooth controller chips are used in PS3s this problem happens only with PS3s with specific hardware components used. This can be fixed with firmware if those components itself are not to be blamed for this problem (faulty patch of components f.ex.).

First step like has been said already is to make Sony know that there indeed is a problem and send your PS3s in for service. If enough units with this problem are returned maybe just maybe Sony will investigate the matter and make a firmware fix if possible but I am not very confident they will. At least thousands of PS3s with this problem should be returned before they will see it economically viable to allocate engineering resources to investigate the matter and make a fix.

What I am saying is that don't wait too long and be too optimistic about a possible firmware fix. Of course every one of us makes decisions how they see best in the light of the facts available but this is my recommendation. I hope that I am proved wrong

I agree. This is basically what the Sony rep said - that it could be a combination of a hardware and a software issue. For instance maybe some chips used have a tendency to go slightly bad in a certain way that causes this - then further assume that only some units used these chips and that only some of those had gone bad, etc, etc.

My main challenge is that I really don't want to be without the PS3 for 3 weeks while getting repaired, considering it is my Blu-ray player and would essentially shut down my HT. If I new for sure they would fix it, the issue would not return, and the unit I got back worked well and was silent like this one then that may be another story.
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post #48 of 434
11/26/08 at 8:51am
A quick update - in an earlier post I said that this sync issue did not occur while playing games. I want to clarify that after something I had happen yesterday...

I completed a game but left it on and it was in a self running demo mode of the game showing the cpu doing racing and so forth. I left the room for about 15 minutes. When I came back there was a message on the screen that said to reconnect the controller. Sure enough the light on the controller was out, and when I pressed it's PS button it just blinked and did not resync. Then I had to switch off the PS3 and switch it back on to get it to resync as before.

So at this point I can best summarize the issue as this: when watching a Blu-ray and not touching the controller for a while, the controller may lose sync and will not resync without a power off/back on via the back switch. This can also happen when gaming during long idle times with no activity on the controller.
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post #49 of 434
11/27/08 at 12:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingdvd View Post

My main challenge is that I really don't want to be without the PS3 for 3 weeks while getting repaired, considering it is my Blu-ray player and would essentially shut down my HT. If I new for sure they would fix it, the issue would not return, and the unit I got back worked well and was silent like this one then that may be another story.

I can feel your pain. I am in the same boat and I've now been one week without my Blu-ray player and at least one or two weeks more waiting before I can see what I get back.

Anyway, if I get a lemon back (and these things do happen unfortunately) I'll just send it back to be replaced again. Agreed, I then have to wait another two to three weeks. I do not know what rights as a customer you guys have in the US but where I live the thing is that if Sony cannot fix my issue in two to three weeks I am entitled to a new unit from retailer or my cash back . In practise this can be hard but at least so in theory.
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post #50 of 434
11/27/08 at 8:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarking View Post

I can feel your pain. I am in the same boat and I've now been one week without my Blu-ray player and at least one or two weeks more waiting before I can see what I get back.

Anyway, if I get a lemon back (and these things do happen unfortunately) I'll just send it back to be replaced again. Agreed, I then have to wait another two to three weeks. I do not know what rights as a customer you guys have in the US but where I live the thing is that if Sony cannot fix my issue in two to three weeks I am entitled to a new unit from retailer or my cash back . In practise this can be hard but at least so in theory.

Hopefully it will arrive soon than later and you will only have a week or so to go... Please keep us posted on how the replacement/repair goes and whether it solves the issue.

My greatest concern with sending it back is that I get a unit back that has a noisy fan. My fan is *extremely* quiet. The Sony rep even stated that some units are known to be noisier than others and that a louder unit would not be considered bad or repairable should I get one in exchange for mine through their warranty/repair. Great...
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post #51 of 434
11/28/08 at 3:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingdvd View Post

Hopefully it will arrive soon than later and you will only have a week or so to go... Please keep us posted on how the replacement/repair goes and whether it solves the issue.

My greatest concern with sending it back is that I get a unit back that has a noisy fan. My fan is *extremely* quiet. The Sony rep even stated that some units are known to be noisier than others and that a louder unit would not be considered bad or repairable should I get one in exchange for mine through their warranty/repair. Great...

I got the replacement unit today. Refurbished of course. It looks OK. Couple of scratches on top but not bad ones. Bottom however has quite bad scratches. Fortunately scratches on the bottom do not show. Anyway not that bad - roundabout time was exactly one week.

The replacement PS3 has been running happily beside me for couple of hours now just to hear how silent or loud it is but I have not been able to test it otherwise at all because I am at work. This unit is as quiet (or as loud) as the original was at least on idle.

I'll post an update later after I've been able to test it thoroughly for any problems including the controller "disappearance" problem my original had.
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post #52 of 434
11/28/08 at 7:00pm
So tonight I experienced the problem again, except this time it happened when I was actively using the controller (normally I'd only lose sync after the controller sat idle for a long time after gaming or while watching a Blu-ray).

In this case I had just finished a Blu-ray and everything was fine - made it through the movie with no sync issues. Then I was flipping through the PS3 menus and the light on the controller went out and voila, there's the sync issue again.

Also earlier today I had the unit on, then had the controller idle, then found it has lost sync while out of the room. So I just turned off the unit on the front and put it away. When I went to use it tonight, I hit the controller button and it just blinked and the unit did not come back on. I had to do a hardware reset to get it back.

So at this point I pretty much determined that following a sync issue I must flip the switch on the back, then power back on, and then it will resync. But if I just put it away after a lost sync then later when I go to put it back on it will not sync.
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post #53 of 434
11/28/08 at 7:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarking View Post

I got the replacement unit today. Refurbished of course. It looks OK. Couple of scratches on top but not bad ones. Bottom however has quite bad scratches. Fortunately scratches on the bottom do not show. Anyway not that bad - roundabout time was exactly one week.

The replacement PS3 has been running happily beside me for couple of hours now just to hear how silent or loud it is but I have not been able to test it otherwise at all because I am at work. This unit is as quiet (or as loud) as the original was at least on idle.

I'll post an update later after I've been able to test it thoroughly for any problems including the controller "disappearance" problem my original had.

Wow that was fast! How many days total was that?

I've reached the realization that mine is going to have to be sent back. Not happy about it, but its getting too frustrating and its encouraging that I could have it back as quickly as one week or so.

Tarking - about how many days will you need to play with the unit before you begin to feel confident that the issue was indeed fixed?

Too bad about the scratches - I can relate to how you are feeling with that. We take great care and pride of our equipment, then need to bear the brunt of someone else's poor treatment of their unit.

At any rate I was told by Sony that normally the machines are built from mostly new parts and its the casing that is typically the main reused piece since it is the most expensive.

Glad to hear your replacement is just as quiet - that is a big concern in exchanging mine.

Please keep us posted, and congrats again for getting a replacement so quickly! BTW your's is a 40GB model and you got a 40GB back? Would be nice if there was a chance of sending in a 40GB and getting back a 60 or 80.
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post #54 of 434
11/29/08 at 11:51am
I guess this is a big problem with the 40gigs, I just sent mine out wed. because of the sync issues it was having. My launch 60gig has never had a single issue to date.
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post #55 of 434
11/29/08 at 2:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingdvd View Post

Wow that was fast! How many days total was that?

I've reached the realization that mine is going to have to be sent back. Not happy about it, but its getting too frustrating and its encouraging that I could have it back as quickly as one week or so.

Tarking - about how many days will you need to play with the unit before you begin to feel confident that the issue was indeed fixed?

Too bad about the scratches - I can relate to how you are feeling with that. We take great care and pride of our equipment, then need to bear the brunt of someone else's poor treatment of their unit.

At any rate I was told by Sony that normally the machines are built from mostly new parts and its the casing that is typically the main reused piece since it is the most expensive.

Glad to hear your replacement is just as quiet - that is a big concern in exchanging mine.

Please keep us posted, and congrats again for getting a replacement so quickly! BTW your's is a 40GB model and you got a 40GB back? Would be nice if there was a chance of sending in a 40GB and getting back a 60 or 80.

Yes it was fast. I left mine wednesday last week to a local shop and picked a replacement unit this friday so that makes 9 days total or 7 business days.

I am happy now. No sync issues anymore and the replacement is as quiet as my original unit ever was. I have now played one Blu-ray movie without losing my controllers (could not do that before) and played couple of hours Ratchet & Clank without any issues. The scratches on the bottom were not scratches after all - they were glue from tape or something. So at least in my case service was super fast and I am now happy again with my PS3 .

I hope that you guys get your PS3s fixed too.

EDIT: Here where I live PS3s are always replaced they are never serviced.

EDIT: I got 40G back with 2.42 firmware which I updated to the latest 2.52.
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post #56 of 434
11/29/08 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarking View Post

EDIT: I got 40G back with 2.42 firmware which I updated to the latest 2.52.

Great to hear the replacement is working just fine! Seems strange they would send out a refurbed unit with such outdated firmware. Doubt it is intentional but a tiny part of me wonders if so. At any rate if the issue shows up again soon we can suspect something in the firmware after 2.42...

On a related note - I picked up a $128 Blu-ray player at Walmart on BF. It is fantastic especially for the money and will certainly hold me over for the week or two that its gone (since without it I'd have now Blu-ray player otherwise and even a week would be rough!).
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post #57 of 434
11/29/08 at 4:29pm
I hope my replacement works also
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post #58 of 434
11/29/08 at 10:14pm
have you guys tried turning on Controller Auto-Off (in Power Save Settings), i have had the same issues as you guys, losing sync and having to perform a reset using the switch in the back.

I just enabled this and i didnt have the issue when my controller turned off after being idle. And it makes sense because the issue doesn't occur until the controller is off after not being used. I haven't tested extensively but wanted to let you guys know.
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post #59 of 434
11/30/08 at 10:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by darknesstw View Post

have you guys tried turning on Controller Auto-Off (in Power Save Settings), i have had the same issues as you guys, losing sync and having to perform a reset using the switch in the back.

I just enabled this and i didnt have the issue when my controller turned off after being idle. And it makes sense because the issue doesn't occur until the controller is off after not being used. I haven't tested extensively but wanted to let you guys know.

I thought about this setting but it was already set to OFF and I was thinking it would make sense if it was set to ON that that's what may have been causing the issue.

Do I understand correctly you are thinking that by turning it ON it may force the PS3 to turn off the controller when idle, before it had a chance to lose sync? That's an interesting point of view and please keep us posted on whether this helps.

In my case I recently had it lose sync a couple of times while I was actively moving around within the PS3 dashboard/menus and not in an idle situation so I don't think that would have helped for this particular case.
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post #60 of 434
12/1/08 at 4:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by darknesstw View Post

have you guys tried turning on Controller Auto-Off (in Power Save Settings), i have had the same issues as you guys, losing sync and having to perform a reset using the switch in the back.

I just enabled this and i didnt have the issue when my controller turned off after being idle. And it makes sense because the issue doesn't occur until the controller is off after not being used. I haven't tested extensively but wanted to let you guys know.

I tried with this setting both off and on. Didn't have any effect PS3 kept losing controllers.
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