PS3 syscon RTC and diag wire to GND

[Cheshire UK]

Console: CECH-J03 / CECH-K03
Board: DIA-002
Firmware tested: EVILNAT 4.92.x and Oficia Sony 4.92

I've tried searching before posting, however I guess my searching skills are rubbish and seems to be turning so many unrelated results that I decided to open a thread.

I have two basic queries here:

1) SYSCON diag wire to GND

I used this regularly, all work as expected no issues here.

The question I have and I certainly must have missed it somehow is: after enabling the diag, do what I need to do is it mandatory to disconnect ti from GND for the console normal operation or can it stay in place? (I am wondering if someone knows the details of that).

2) I am trying to do understand how to set the Real Time Clock (RTC) for the SYSCON.

Using the command "getrtc" shows/retrieves the time, but I can't find a way to change/update it.

I've tried few simple tests via the console's UI:
- set it manually, removed the auto setting, changed time to different values, timezones, etc, etc
- even attempted login into PSN with the date/time settings in "auto set"
- I tried the CFW tool to set the CMOS RTC

Is there a way to change/update it?
Any registry entries I can add the value?
I would appreciate any insight.

(I understand many will say "this is not important, ignore it!" ; however my OCD doesn't accept having a clock set wrong - and I am interested in finding the right way to set it as well )
Many thanks

To the moderators (@bguerville ?): I understand the rules of being new and not being allowed to post in other threads, but I just wonder if I could be removed from the "naughty corner" if possible (please )

 

[Psx_Specter]

Console: CECH-J03 / CECH-K03
Board: DIA-002
Firmware tested: EVILNAT 4.92.x and Oficia Sony 4.92

I've tried searching before posting, however I guess my searching skills are rubbish and seems to be turning so many unrelated results that I decided to open a thread.

I have two basic queries here:

1) SYSCON diag wire to GND

I used this regularly, all work as expected no issues here.

The question I have and I certainly must have missed it somehow is: after enabling the diag, do what I need to do is it mandatory to disconnect ti from GND for the console normal operation or can it stay in place? (I am wondering if someone knows the details of that).

2) I am trying to do understand how to set the Real Time Clock (RTC) for the SYSCON.

Using the command "getrtc" shows/retrieves the time, but I can't find a way to change/update it.

I've tried few simple tests via the console's UI:
- set it manually, removed the auto setting, changed time to different values, timezones, etc, etc
- even attempted login into PSN with the date/time settings in "auto set"
- I tried the CFW tool to set the CMOS RTC

Is there a way to change/update it?
Any registry entries I can add the value?
I would appreciate any insight.

(I understand many will say "this is not important, ignore it!" ; however my OCD doesn't accept having a clock set wrong - and I am interested in finding the right way to set it as well )
Many thanks

To the moderators (@bguerville ?): I understand the rules of being new and not being allowed to post in other threads, but I just wonder if I could be removed from the "naughty corner" if possible (please )

I feel your pain. I am also in the naughty chair, sitting with broken clock heartburn. Fairly certain that your fix will be my fix too. I have a feeling that the devs are working on this. Nobody wants a crocked clock. Watching this thread as well as mine to see what ...develops.

 

[Kevstah2004]

How can you test if the CMOS battery is actually dead or not getting any power? leave the console unplugged for a peroid of time then return after the caps have drained, it'll reset to day1?

 

[Psx_Specter]

How can you test if the CMOS battery is actually dead or not getting any power? leave the console unplugged for a peroid of time then return after the caps have drained, it'll reset to day1?

That would be one way. Another would be disassembling and removing and testing the battery (nobody wants to do that if they don't have to). If the CBOMB fix has been applied, perhaps those things I suggested do not apply in any meaningful way in regards to resetting the date and time. I dream of a future where our CFW PS3's can control all of the syscon settings with a simple diag to ground on a switch (or maybe without a switch). We could undervolt, fix the RTC...probably a lot more important things that escape me at the moment. Isn't the syscon able to set an error code for low RTC voltage? A built in battery checker in the firmware would be great. Or, if the PS3 had a UART driver, it could be done as an internal mod. Just dreaming and babbling, all of my theoretical modding is unfounded nonsense.

 

[Cheshire UK]

@aldostools or @RIP-Felix : I wonder if you guys have any insights on the above

 

[Psx_Specter]

@aldostools or @RIP-Felix : I wonder if you guys have any insights on the above

I feel like I'm cross-posting here, but my suggestion is to use webMAN MOD 1.47.46 to soothe your OCD while the powers that be work on an easy fix to restore the RTC values to default. I'm curious to see how it works in your situation if you don't mind trying it.

 

[shadow fighter]

If the CBOMB fix is already applied, manually disassembling and testing the CMOS battery may no longer be necessary for resetting the date and time. However, I envision a future where CFW‑enabled PS3 systems allow direct control of syscon settings—such as undervolting or RTC maintenance—through a simple diagnostic-to-ground switch, or even without any hardware modding. For instance, integrating a firmware-level RTC voltage monitor or an error code indicator could provide alerts when the battery is failing. The syscon already logs low RTC voltage under error code 1900 ("RTC Voltage"), so expanding that with a built‑in battery checker would be invaluable. Alternatively, adding a UART driver could enable internal diagnostics and on-the-fly adjustments. It's all speculative, but these improvements could significantly streamline hardware management and enhance system longevity.

 

[Psx_Specter]

If the CBOMB fix is already applied, manually disassembling and testing the CMOS battery may no longer be necessary for resetting the date and time. However, I envision a future where CFW‑enabled PS3 systems allow direct control of syscon settings—such as undervolting or RTC maintenance—through a simple diagnostic-to-ground switch, or even without any hardware modding. For instance, integrating a firmware-level RTC voltage monitor or an error code indicator could provide alerts when the battery is failing. The syscon already logs low RTC voltage under error code 1900 ("RTC Voltage"), so expanding that with a built‑in battery checker would be invaluable. Alternatively, adding a UART driver could enable internal diagnostics and on-the-fly adjustments. It's all speculative, but these improvements could significantly streamline hardware management and enhance system longevity.

Agree 100%....until the year 2100....when all PS3's stop allowing manually setting the date from the XMB and Skynet starts sending drones to harvest CELL processors. (Cyberdyne would have discovered how invaluable they were to their research with the 8th SPE enabled by that time). Your AI reply is against the rules, Cyborg.

 

[Cheshire UK]

I feel like I'm cross-posting here, but my suggestion is to use webMAN MOD 1.47.46 to soothe your OCD while the powers that be work on an easy fix to restore the RTC values to default. I'm curious to see how it works in your situation if you don't mind trying it.

I finaly managed to do some tests with webMAN MOD.
One of the boards I am fixing (DIA-002) has the RTC used by syscon with a huge date and time:

Current time on my time zone:
- Sat 26 Jul 2025 01:23:31 BST

Output of SYSCON's "getrtc" command
- Y/M/D(Day)H:M:S : 06/01/01(SUN) 1:24:13
Clock : 0x0b489a3d
​

- I've insnalled the lastest version of WebMAN MD (at the time of writting, 1.47.48n)
- I enabled the option "Auto Fix Clock"
- rebooted, turned off and on, updated date and time via web, etc, etc - I even used "Fix CBOMB" from EVILNAT tools

Nothing is changing/updating that value in place on the RTC used by SYSCON - I used again and again the "getrtc" SYSCON command but the time is still not synced.

Regards,

M

 

[Psx_Specter]

I finaly managed to do some tests with webMAN MOD.
One of the boards I am fixing (DIA-002) has the RTC used by syscon with a huge date and time:

Current time on my time zone:
- Sat 26 Jul 2025 01:23:31 BST

Output of SYSCON's "getrtc" command
- Y/M/D(Day)H:M:S : 06/01/01(SUN) 1:24:13
Clock : 0x0b489a3d
​

- I've insnalled the lastest version of WebMAN MD (at the time of writting, 1.47.48n)
- I enabled the option "Auto Fix Clock"
- rebooted, turned off and on, updated date and time via web, etc, etc - I even used "Fix CBOMB" from EVILNAT tools

Nothing is changing/updating that value in place on the RTC used by SYSCON - I used again and again the "getrtc" SYSCON command but the time is still not synced.

Regards,

M

I'm so glad that someone is still concerned about this issue. I don't understand how to reset the RTC. It seems like changing it should be a simple peek/poke type operation. I feel like (I have nothing to back this up) there's a bit of code that's not allowing the RTC to be reverted to an earlier time/date. I can't get my head around why our RTC dysfunction is seemingly unique to the respective developers involved. I can get my head around the fact that if the developers can't reproduce the issue, they might not have anything to fix. So I lurk, I sit, I wait. Reverting to the older version of webMAN I suggested won't fix the RTC, but it will keep the erroneous RTC values from being shown on the XMB. Of course this leaves you in the dust, unable to update webMAN without breaking the displayed time and date.