PS3 Hard Drive Replacement

kart racer
OK, one more nuub question. can you do the backup file using your pc that has Windows XP?Hooking the PS3 to the pc.
Click to expand...

Nope, not possible. Also Windows XP uses NTFS, where as the PS3 can only recognise external drives that are FAT or FAT32 file systems.
 
H3rmaN
Can you please show me exactly where in your previous post that you said you needed 3 storage devices (original HDD, new HDD, and external HDD for backing up)??
Click to expand...

un_peacekeeper
Not that I am aware of, you would need to use the backup feature, which infers that you need a third area of storage. If you don't have another storage space that can hold everything, maybe you can try moving all your media bit by bit onto your computer to reduce the size of the backup file. And keep it mind, something like an iPod can be used, if you don't mind syncing for a million hours after to get your music back haha.
Click to expand...

💡
 
Ok I Have another question.I don't have a backup big enough to hold 11gb,and someone suggested to transfer my game saves onto a flashdrive.( I have one of those )then install the new hard drive.Re install games and updates and put the game saves back in so not to lose progress.My main confusion is the psn,do you just enter your old one? Will I get a mesage saying that "this user name is all ready being used" ?
 
OK,new problem.Picked up a external hd,formated to fat32,works fine.Removed the 40g and installed 120g,problem starts.The ps3 will not recognize the 160g.It has a black screen and says to hook up usb cord to controller.Press ps button to restart.I did as told and the "usb"message came up again.Pressed the ps button again and a new message came up saying to press the select & start buttons at the same time to bring up data from the external drive.Now I did backup the system before starting all of this but now it is saying "no valid files found"I even put my 40g into a external case and hooked it up and it still said the same thing.Pulled out the 120g and reinstalled the 40g and it works fine.Even did a restore from the backup and that works fine also.Put the 120g into the externall case and it reads it no problem.So why wont this 120g work as the main internall HDD?Has anyone run into this before?:nervous:

At first I thought that the new HDD was defective.But if that was the case,how come it works as a external hd?BTW,it is the same brand as the oe one.
 
Last edited:
I just upgrade to a 250 G(1000)B HD (238GiB), but the system doesn't seem to use that much afaik. So I got a 192 GB partition for PS3 and 10GB for linux and the rest for the system (3GB), hmmm.
Anyway it worked like a charm. This is how I did it:

Parts used:

My 160 GB USB drive with Fat32
A 250 GB 2.5 SATA drive (€60)

Step 1: made a PS3\UPDATE folder on the USB drive
Step 2: Downloaded the 2.42 update onto the USB drive.
Step 3: Connected the USB drive to my PS3 and did the backup (25GB compressed into 18GB) The backup splits into several files to cope with the filesize limit.
Step 4: Changed the drive (Really easy, took maximum 2 minutes)
Step 5: Restarted and installed the new system
Step 6: Repartitioned the drive.
Step 7: Restored the backup

Result: I got everything back! including themes.

Time it took: about 2-3 hours, following all the instructions on the screen and restarting a when prompted. Remember to bring your USB cable for your controller.
 
kart racer
So why wont this 120g work as the main internall HDD?Has anyone run into this before?:nervous:
Click to expand...

Because you have a brand new one w/o a operative system on it.
First thing you have to do is to install the system onto the new HDD.
You don't need to format or partition the new drive at all. Your PS3
will do that for you. Check my post above on how to.



Step 1: Made a PS3\UPDATE folder on the USB drive
Step 2: Downloaded the 2.42 update onto the USB drive.
.
.
Step 5: Restarted and installed the new system
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
kart racer
OK,new problem.Picked up a external hd,formated to fat32,works fine.Removed the 40g and installed 120g,problem starts.The ps3 will not recognize the 160g.It has a black screen and says to hook up usb cord to controller.Press ps button to restart.I did as told and the "usb"message came up again.Pressed the ps button again and a new message came up saying to press the select & start buttons at the same time to bring up data from the external drive.Now I did backup the system before starting all of this but now it is saying "no valid files found"I even put my 40g into a external case and hooked it up and it still said the same thing.Pulled out the 120g and reinstalled the 40g and it works fine.Even did a restore from the backup and that works fine also.Put the 120g into the externall case and it reads it no problem.So why wont this 120g work as the main internall HDD?Has anyone run into this before?:nervous:

At first I thought that the new HDD was defective.But if that was the case,how come it works as a external hd?BTW,it is the same brand as the oe one.
Click to expand...

When it sayd to press the Start and select buttons simmultaniusly, it is waiting for a source with the newest OS. From how you describe the problem id say you dident manage to do the backup correctly.

The reason you can not put the old 40 GB drive in your external case and read it is because it is not the same file format. The Internal drive in PS3 uses a Proprietary File format.

And it is the same reason why you can not use your new internal drive in the PS3 before you follow the directions given on the screen by the PS3 system.
 
Last edited:
klondike
When it sayd to press the Start and select buttons simmultaniusly, it is waiting for a source with the newest OS. From how you describe the problem id say you dident manage to do the backup correctly.
Click to expand...

He did the backup correctly but he needs the OS itself from an USB key/drive
The backup do NOT copy systemfiles but "only" the rest. My USB drive has this folders after a "correct" backup and download of the OS i e update 2.42:

PS3\
EXPORT\
BACKUP\
2008xxxxxxxxxxx\
SAVEDATA\
Bxxxxxxxx\
UPDATE\
PS3UPDAT.PUP


I might have missed a specific backup option to make a backup of the systemfiles. Anyway, it was easy to do.
 
Ok in case the Firmware is not stored with the back up. You can download it from here. Make sure you make the right folders and you type letters in Uppercase.

http://www.us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/pc_update.html

Moondancer.

I swapped my drive a while ago, with a 320 GB. But I dident have a USB keyboard, and Linux disc at that time, but now I am thiking about formating again and try and get a Linux system up and running.

So wich version of Linux did you install and where did you get it ?
 
Last edited:
If your new to Linux, then UBUNTU is the most user friendly version, and it can be found here (SDTV users) or here (HDTV users).

For more info about Ubuntu on PS3 and how to install it have a look here.
 
H3rmaN
If your new to Linux, then UBUNTU is the most user friendly version, and it can be found here (SDTV users) or here (HDTV users).

For more info about Ubuntu on PS3 and how to install it have a look here.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.
I mainly want Linux so I can run MAME. Do you know if all versions are able to do it without to much hassle, or anything else I should be aware of before I begin the process ?
 
Yes, all LINUX distros can run MAME, its just that some can be a pain to setup, where as like I said above, UBUNTU is the most user friendly....HOWEVER, most current distros out there for PS3 (apart from Yellow Dog Linux and one or 2 others) are a pain when it comes to setting up wireless on the PS3.

If you want to use wireless then I suggest you google on how to set it up with UBUNTU 7.10 (the newest version supported by PS3, and also the one I linked you to above).
 

Latest Posts

Back