Help! My Vita Won't Turn On/Off...

Imagine the following scenario:


You have just purchased, downloaded and installed a copy of the full (£29.99) version of the Unit 13 game onto your lovely new PS Vita. You have almost completed your 'basic training' in the game, and are looking forward to undertaking a co-op mission with friends, when suddenly, your Vita screen goes  completely black.


To your delight, you notice that the PS button is still glowing, so you know that the console must still have power somewhere, right? Panicked, you try to press the on/off switch, but nothing happens...

It sounds like the stuff of nightmares, doesn't it? Nevertheless, this is the very scenario which we were confronted with at Mini Gamers HQ recently, and it took our best research to get the console right again, so we thought that we would write this post just in case any of our fellow PS Vita owners experience the same thing.

Now, we should be completely clear in stating that Mini Gamers is still unsure as to what exactly prompted the console to suddenly cut out. We certainly don't want to imply that the Unit 13 download contributed to the failure in any way - at least not without firm proof.

However, it is true that many PS Vita forums have been awash with complaints that the Unit 13 demo version, (not the FULL version which Mini Gamers was playing,) has indeed contributed to some pretty nasty PS Vita failures recently.

Nevertheless, as yet, there is very little evidence at this stage to suggest that the full version of the game is capable of this kind of glitch, and most gamers who purchased the full version seem incredibly happy with it - as well they should, because the little that we did experience of the game, was simply awesome!

As always, the most important thing to do in any crisis is to remain calm. After searching online for answers, Mini Gamers discovered that there is a quick and easy way to get your PS Vita working again after this type of crash. Of course, we cannot guarantee that this will work for every situation, but here goes:

1) if your PS button is still glowing, you need to perform a HARD RESTART. To do this, simply hold down the power button for approximately thirty seconds, until you see the PS button stop glowing.

2) The console should now restart in the normal way. The following Safe-Mode screen will be displayed:

3) Select Option 1 to restart your console. The PS Vita should now operate normally.

Please note, if you feel that your PS Vita database may have become corrupted in some way, then it may be easier to select Option 2 instead. This will restore the PS Vita database before restarting - this is NOT the same as 'resetting' the console, and won't affect things like messages, camera images, or saved data, but may take several hours to complete.

It may also be worth noting that Safe Mode can also be started manually by holding down the Power button, R button and the PS button at the same time until the Safe Mode screen appears. Then select the option you require.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

 

Have you ever experienced a PS Vita console crash before?

Do you know why it occured?

If you have any comments to make about the PS Vita's performance or wish to give or seek advice from other blog readers about this issue, please leave a comment in our comments box below. We'd love to hear from you...