Digital preservation has always been a concern for new modern consoles. With newer hardware releases, more software becomes depreciated every generation change. While there will always be newer devices to play old software, the old hardware still ages. With many newer consoles, including a set battery for date and time, these will eventually run out of power. In the case of the Sony PS4, the CMOS battery posed a serious threat to the longevity of the console. Not only is it a threat to digital and physical games, but the issue is also prevalent to all current and future PS4 owners. With the most current PS4 firmware 9.0 release, the PlayStation 4 CBOMB issue has finally been fixed. Sony PS4 consoles will now play physical and digital games on consoles with a dead CMOS battery.
(Updated on July 27, 2024 – Fact-checked and fixed formatting inconsistencies).
How Did Sony Fix the PS4 CBOMB Issue?
Eventually dubbed the CBOMB issue, many fans started to worry about their library of PlayStation 4 digital titles. Without a CMOS battery to track date and time, players would need to manually set it themselves every time. The console then syncs over the internet to prevent trophy exploits and to verify ownership of digital games. This CBOMB issue, of course, poses a problem when Sony PS4 servers are eventually disconnected or unable to be reached. This will be a problem in the future when PS4 consoles phase-out of the current gaming market. The new software, thankfully, mitigates this issue and prevents console crashes. Allowing for devices without CMOS batteries to play games and earn trophies, the only thing these consoles will lack is a proper tracker of achievements. Hopefully, the new firmware will prevent crashes and allow for offline play for digital and physical ownership of titles. Who knows? Maybe the new consoles will have even better features that prevent conundrums such as this one.
