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A few months ago we reported that the “devil was in the details” about how Sony Playstation 3 owners could go about getting either $9 or $55 from Sony as part of a class-action settlement over a 2010 software update that removed the ability to run Linux on the popular gaming consoles.

The California judge presiding over the litigation is now killing the proposed settlement amid concerns the lawyers representing the class haven’t explained why they should get $2.25 million for their legal services, especially considering that the deal has made it burdensome on gamers to get their cash. Of the gamers who tried to get their $55 refund, 25 percent have been rejected.

“The Court has concerns, based upon how the notice and claims process preceded, the results it produced, and the disproportionality of the attorneys’ fees versus the class recovery, that the settlement agreement is not fair, reasonable, and adequate,” US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled, (PDF) a decision that reversed her earlier order that tentatively backed the pact.