Apparently, many gamers who are attempting to upgrade their hard drives since the launch of firmware update 3.41 for the PS3 are having various difficulties. Of these difficulties, there are even some reports of complete console crashes in the attempts to upgrade the HDDs. Sony has issued a statement regarding this matter and offers a bit of advice:
"We apologize for any inconvenience you are experiencing with upgrading Internal Hard Disc Drive (for PlayStation3) on your PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system. The information available to our Consumer Services Department does not suggest that this is a problem PlayStation(R) owners are likely to experience when upgrading the HDD with 3.41update. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) strongly supports the quality of its products and backs them with full confidence.
We ask that you update the previous HDD first to see if the update will go through. Then update from the thumb drive that is formatted in FAT 32 and has the 3.41 update downloaded."
While it is a bit consoling that Sony is at least addressing the matter, there is no word on refunds or continued support for those few consoles that acquired fatal errors. It is certain however that if this problem becomes too big, the super-corporation will have no choice but to alleviate things.