The PlayStation 4 Red Line Issue And A Possible Fix

The PlayStation 4 Has Had Reports Of An Overheating Issue Leading To The ‘Red Line Of Death’. Here Is A Possible Fix For You

So the PlayStation 4 has only been officially out in North America for a few days. I, like many other excited gamers, spent many hours tooling around in the system, playing games, and watching videos. Fortunately for myself I have yet to run into any of the issues that seem to have been reported all over the internet the last few days. The bricking ‘Blue Pulse Of Death’ and the ‘Red Line Of Death’ seem to be the most common in the mix. What is extremely concerning is that there has been only ‘not-so-official’ statements by Sony (via Social Media) and recently a short trouble shooting post on their forums on what is causing them and how to possibly fix them. That is at least as the Blue Light is concerned.

You can check out the details on the PlayStation forums for all the details, but it only really refers to issues with TV Compatibility, Power Supply issues, Hard Drive Issues, and Software faulting out on you. Most of which feel like no brainers to me, but if you are freaking out that your new $400 machine is messed up you can try these steps before going through the process of sending the unit back and getting a replacement shipped.

Moving on.

All of the above is nice and good for those issues, but what about the ‘Red Line’? What is it and how do we fix it without sending it back to Sony? Well, building off a message that was sent out by the CEO this light will show up when the system is overheating. Be it overheating and just needs to cool down or overheating and is ‘bricked’. Not a very good system on indication but that is where we are at. I would think that having a blinking light for general overheating would have been a smarter indicator but alas.

Anyways, while I would personally say send that bad boy back and get a new one on Sony’s dime, it looks like users on YouTube are already on the case. In fact you can see the steps to fix the issue below, but do know that this will void the warranty so this is best for people who are no longer within the warranty period. That should be no one for at least another year from now.

What is a bit concerning is that the person below states that this is a heat sink issue and that they are replacing the thermal paste that is the standard for the PlayStation 4. Why? Because it is already dry and ‘flaky’ right out of the box. This guy did this on launch day and uploaded this video the same day. If all is to believed, how did the thermal paste dry out so quickly? Even if the system was boxed up a month before, I can’t see it going bad that fast unless corners were extremely cut on Sony’s end or they got one large batch of crappy thermal paste. Either way, not good.

Like I said, I would just rather deal with the return process, but if for some reason you are alright with voiding the warranty and DIY, here you go. Everything looks like it still works when he is done. Best of luck to those who try to follow in his steps.