If you’re on the same road as me with the PlayStation 5 experience, you probably know how hell of a ride it has been to get your hands on this scarce gaming unit.
It started with an infestation of scalpers and resellers in the pre-order event that basically ruined the experience for everyone.
And if that wasn’t enough to give you a stupendous headache, the Covid pandemic caused so many restrictions that you couldn’t just walk into a store and buy it, rather place an online order first and then pick it up in-store.
This totally makes sense amidst the ongoing crisis, but there’s only one problem – scalpers. These pesky creatures scoop up a gigantic volume of units so we can’t get our hands on one, and some of us who are irresistible even buy them for inflated prices from them.
Anyways, I finally managed to grab one somehow and proceeded to boot it up. Everything was perfectly fine until I updated the firmware and downloaded some games to bang on. However, the more I engaged with my PS5, the more I felt disappointed as an early adopter.
I experienced some really annoying problems with my PS5 that allowed me to learn certain new things about my console. In this article, I’ll walk you through the issues I faced and tell you how I was able to mitigate them from my PS5 console.
Watch Out for These PlayStation 5/PS5 Crashing and Freezing Problems
There’s no denying that PlayStation 5 is an excellent gaming console with an amazing range of supported games, but when it launched initially, not everything was in line with the console.
The most-recent patches have managed to make the experience more stable, yet there are some issues that have popped up in 2022, such as:
1. Crashes During the Rest Mode
The much-touted rest mode in PS5 consoles was a promising feature from Sony, with some even calling it a haven for competitive players. However, bad implementation led the feature to cause crashes and freezes in the console.
No matter what a user does, the only way to rectify the issue is to rebuild the database from scratch.
Sony suggests that the issue has been patched in the recent updates, but there are plenty of gamers on the web who share their struggle with the ‘Rest Mode’ feature till now.
While the concern is acknowledged by Sony, even they’re unclear whether the issue triggers due to a game feature, the console’s firmware, or user’s tweaks.
To stay on safe grounds, you can just turn off the feature by navigating to Settings > System Settings > Power Saving and disabling the rest mode.
2. Issues Due to Data Transfer Through USB or LAN
When I was setting up my console, I tried to transfer data from my PS4 to get everything relocated seamlessly to my new console by connecting both devices using a USB cord.
I turned on the system and right when I accepted the prompt displayed on my screen, another crash occurred.
Apparently, consoles affected by this bug first power down, and when you try rebooting it, the console says ‘The database is corrupted, it will not rebuild’, and attempts to fix the issue.
But, I’m pretty sure it’s not what you want to see after going through so much hardship to get hold of PS5.
3. Hard Drive Corruption Problems
Integration of external hard drives on PS5’s is one of the most useful features Sony ever rolled out. It allows you to store your games from other consoles, and upgrade your system when you run out of the provided storage space.
As with the problems during the data transfer process from PS4 to PS5 through USB and LAN, using an external hard drive makes you prone to this error too.
Its effects are still vague as for some, it corrupts the data, and for others, it wipes out the entire hard drive.
Sony hasn’t rolled out a firmware update to fix this issue yet, but certain tips suggest that attaching the hard drive while having your PS5 in Rest Mode can help fix the issue. If the workaround doesn’t work for you, the problem is likely much bigger than you think.
4. The Error Code CE-108262-9
If you experience constant crashes or freezes on your PS5 console with error code CE-108262-9 stated as the issue, it indicates that your system is deteriorating and there’s some fault with the hardware that requires you to contact tech support.
It’s classified as an error that cannot be fixed with any kind of firmware updates or tweaks. That’s why the moment you see this error on your console, consider contacting PlayStation support as soon as possible to discuss a potential solution.
Identifying The Underlying Issues Within Your PS5 Console
If your PS5 pops up with a weird error message, remember not to panic. Just make sure you read the on-screen prompts properly and allow the system to sort things out on itself.
In case you keep getting the same error repeatedly, consider checking out more about it on PlayStation’s list of error codes here – https://www.playstation.com/en-in/support/error-codes/ps5/.
You should also prevent reproducing the steps that caused the issue in the first place until the developers have rolled out a fix.
Bottom Line
Even after so many lumps and bumps, PlayStation 5 still had a successful launch from a business point of view, but it surely didn’t go short of issues.
Amidst the widespread chip shortage that took the tech industry over the storm, PS5 still managed to become the fastest-selling gaming console in history.
The figures are impressive, but customers are left with many problems that affect their user experience.
Hopefully, Sony should roll out firmware updates soon to mitigate the issues, but until then, make sure you avoid doing the aforementioned things on your PS5 console to prevent crashes and freezes for now.
