TECH NEWS – According to a recent report, particular Xbox One consoles cannot download firmware updates.
According to a report published by Digital Foundry at Eurogamer, the 2013 launch models of the console – the larger, VCR-like console pictured above, as opposed to the 2016 Xbox One S revision – cannot download the latest firmware update if it hasn’t been updated in a while. them.
The report follows some claims on the gaming forum NeoGAF that gamers were having trouble downloading updates for older Xbox One consoles.
After further investigation, the Digital Foundry team determined that Xbox One consoles with outdated firmware may no longer be able to update.
The team attempted to update three Xbox One consoles—two running a 2017 dashboard and one running a 2018 dashboard.
None of them could update to the latest firmware – not only by trying to download the update, but also by saving the update to a USB stick and trying to install it that way.
Xbox consoles can only work online if they are running the latest firmware. This means that these consoles cannot access Xbox Live at this time. Digital purchases that require online verification also do not work.
The report also points out that if someone restores one of these consoles to factory condition (for example, to sell), they are effectively “bricking” it. Because you won’t be able to download the latest firmware as part of the original setup.
What can be done if we, as Xbox One owners, find ourselves in this situation?
Unfortunately, no solution is currently available for the problem. The good news is that Xbox One S consoles are unaffected, according to the report. Also, it appears that Xbox One consoles that have been regularly updated over the years can be updated as usual. It seems likely that only launch model Xbox consoles with older firmware are at risk for now.
Digital Foundry says it has contacted Microsoft about the issue and is “confident the problem will be fixed” but notes that “the situation raises awkward questions about the future prospects of console hardware reliant on an internet connection to fully function.” Until then, the best thing anyone can do is not try to factory reset the console and wait for a future patch…
Source: Eurogamer
