i want to change my hardrive what do i need?

[brum4884]

i want to upgrade my internal hardrive just wondering what hardrive i need i read 2.5 something but i dont understand what 2.5 is and do i need anything else? sorry if this is a noob question?

hello anyone help???????/

Do not double post. Someone would have found it and helped, you don't need to bump after less than an hour ~Carl

[Tha_Last_Romeo]

You cannot go wrong with these instructions. I done it and it actually works. I turn both my 60GB to 120GB.

We here at GR, never content to leave well enough alone, have replaced our puny Playstation 3 HDD with a monster 120 GB HDD. We also wrote this mini-guide on just how to do it for those of you who may be a tad afraid to try it.

You will need:

1 NOTEBOOK 2.5MM HDD SATA ANY SIZE (We recommend staying with the same RPM as the PS3’s original HDD, 5400RPM. You can upgrade to 7200RPM, of course, but we cannot promise that it will not have ill-effects on your machine.)
1 MINI PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWDRIVER
1 MINI FLATHEAD SCREWDRIVER
1 SOLID PLACE TO WORK

We cannot stress enough the importance of buying the correct HDD. The one we used cost $93 USD at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822149057). If you get a regular old IDE Notebook drive, you will be out of luck, so make sure you order the right part.

http://www.gamersreports.com/image_article.php?d=1164150437&type=articles&aid=43&g=77&pos=2



The first step is to find the HDD Bay on your Playstation 3. It is located on the left side of the console, and it is marked with HDD. Easy enough. Use your flat head screwdriver to pop off the plastic cover. You now have access to the actual HDD caddy.

http://www.gamersreports.com/image_article.php?d=1164150453&type=articles&aid=43&g=77&pos=2


The next step is to remove the blue screw that holds the HDD caddy in place using the Phillips head screwdriver. Once you have done so, flip up the metal handle that is on the front of the caddy, and slide the HDD towards the FRONT of the Playstation 3 to dislodge it. Once you have done so you can remove the HDD tray.

Once you have access to the tray outside the PS3 (http://www.gamersreports.com/article/43/#), you can take out the 4 screws which hold the original Playstation 3 HDD in place, and swap in your new 2.5MM SATA Notebook HDD.

http://www.gamersreports.com/image_article.php?d=1164150472&type=articles&aid=43&g=77&pos=2


Once the new HDD is secured in the HDD caddy, you need to place the caddy back inside the PS3 unit, and slide it toward the REAR of the console to lock it in place. Once you have done so, the final step is to use your Phillips head screwdriver to replace the blue screw which anchors the HDD caddy to the Playstation 3. Pop on the plastic cover, and boot up the console.

http://www.gamersreports.com/image_article.php?d=1164150516&type=articles&aid=43&g=78&pos=2


As soon as you boot up the console, the PS3 (http://www.gamersreports.com/article/43/2/#) will detect that the HDD is not formatted, and it will ask you if you would like to format. You must select yes twice, because they want you to be sure that you realize you will be destroying all the data. Of course, you pick yes.


http://www.gamersreports.com/image_article.php?d=1164150529&type=articles&aid=43&g=78&pos=2


Once the HDD is formatted, which takes less than 2 minutes, the unit will ask you to reboot. Once you have done so, you can do into the settings menu option in the PS3 OS. Then choose system settings, and then finally system information. There you will see a display of the HDD space on your console. If you have done everything correctly, you will see that the HDD space now reflects the amount of space on the replacement drive. Keep in mind, about 15 to 20 GB of space will be taken up by the PS3 for system use, so do not be alarmed when the HDD space measurement comes up short.


http://www.gamersreports.com/image_article.php?d=1164150969&type=articles&aid=43&g=78&pos=2


To answer your question before you ask, the only thing that gets erased is game saves. Your network ID info, your console settings, and even the 1.10 update all remain in place when you do this HDD swap. Neat eh?

There you have it folks, easy as pie. Of course, if you choose to perform this modification, GamersReports accepts no responsibility if you break or otherwise harm your console. As always, if you are not sure you can perform the mod without damaging your hardware, do not do it at all.

http://www.gamersreports.com/article/43/

[expectnothing]

Before you do physical change you might want to back up the HDD.

To do that you'll need to have a spare external HDD (10+gb) that you can plug into the ps3 via USB. The external HDD will need to be formatted in FAT32.

To do that you'll need a prog like swissknife ("can't remember the exact name") to format a large drive to FAT32 in windows.

Once you've got all that done you simply plug it into the ps3, go to the system settings and select backup. Everything on the HDD will be backed up, so you won't need to re download anything.

Once the new HDD is in the ps3 go back to the system settings menu and hit restore.

Easy as.

[Nakatomi Uk]

If you want to format a external HDD in FAT32 you can plug it into a USB port via cable if you've got Windows XP under My Computer right mouse click the drive select format. And it should have 2 options FAT32 and NTFS it would normally advise you to format to NTFS drive if it's over 134GB as FAT32 only supports upto that size.

To understand 2.5" HDD there Laptop/Notebook hard drives slightly smaller and thiner and use a little less power but can get hotter quicker. The PS3 uses the SATA interface so your looking for a any branded 2.5" SATA (Or SATA-II dosn't matter) 5,400rpm HDD.

For example here's the one I am buying next week http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(18807)Western-Digital-250GB-25-inch-95mm-5400rpm.aspx

You can buy a 7,200rpm speed drive but there's no performance gain from what a 5,400rpm due to the onboard SATA controller being SATA150 which is old technology. The original in a PS3 is a Seagate Momentus 2.5" 40GB/60/80GB 5,400rpm HDD so can stick with that brand if you want.

Also if you want to back-up any gamesaves all you need a USB memory stick and go to folder where there saved and copy them to the stick (has to be in FAT32 as well), you do not need to back up the game data as that is game install data for faster loading times.

[Black Beard]

If you want to format a external HDD in FAT32 you can plug it into a USB port via cable if you've got Windows XP under My Computer right mouse click the drive select format. And it should have 2 options FAT32 and NTFS it would normally advise you to format to NTFS drive if it's over 134GB as FAT32 only supports upto that size.



I was under the impression that windows will not allow you to format a partition larger than 32Gb as fat32. That is certainly my experience trying to format drives under windows XP.

Using Linux however you can format drives of any size as fat32 and I would assume the same can be done using 3rd party software on a windows machine.

[SoulSeeder]

Hi peeps just a very quick question about hard drives

im just about to upgrade my ps3 hard drive to
this :
Wester Digital WD1600BEVS 160Gb 5400 SATA Laptop Hard Drive

INFO:

WD Scorpio delivers best-in-class performance with low power requirements comparable to much slower notebook drives. In addition, you'll get the quietest 2.5-inch drive on the market with real-time data protection technology to help keep your data safe.


• Fast and efficient - Spins at 5400 RPM for fast performance but has power specs similar to slower 4200 RPM drives. Low power consumption yields increased reliability.

• Quiet - WD's exclusive WhisperDrive™ technology with SoftSeek™ algorithms make this the quietest 2.5-inch hard drive, regardless of spin speed.

• Reliable - WD's ShockGuard™ technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks. WD's DuraStep Ramp™ locks the heads in a secure position away from the disk to provide another layer of protection when the drive is not in use. Utilizing the most technologically advanced material available, the drive can perform a minimum of 600,000 load/unload cycles without contamination - up to twice the performance of its competitors.

• Rugged - WD Scorpio's rigid stainless steel top cover withstands more than 5 pounds of pressure - nearly 1.5 times the industry average - without pinching vital internal components.


could somone just please confirm that this drive will work with no probs ????

[Black Beard]

Hi peeps just a very quick question about hard drives

im just about to upgrade my ps3 hard drive to
this :
Wester Digital WD1600BEVS 160Gb 5400 SATA Laptop Hard Drive

INFO:

WD Scorpio delivers best-in-class performance with low power requirements comparable to much slower notebook drives. In addition, you'll get the quietest 2.5-inch drive on the market with real-time data protection technology to help keep your data safe.


• Fast and efficient - Spins at 5400 RPM for fast performance but has power specs similar to slower 4200 RPM drives. Low power consumption yields increased reliability.

• Quiet - WD's exclusive WhisperDrive™ technology with SoftSeek™ algorithms make this the quietest 2.5-inch hard drive, regardless of spin speed.

• Reliable - WD's ShockGuard™ technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks. WD's DuraStep Ramp™ locks the heads in a secure position away from the disk to provide another layer of protection when the drive is not in use. Utilizing the most technologically advanced material available, the drive can perform a minimum of 600,000 load/unload cycles without contamination - up to twice the performance of its competitors.

• Rugged - WD Scorpio's rigid stainless steel top cover withstands more than 5 pounds of pressure - nearly 1.5 times the industry average - without pinching vital internal components.


could somone just please confirm that this drive will work with no probs ????

Highlighted the only piece of relevant info. Yes this drive will be a suitable HDD upgrade for your PS3.

[SoulSeeder]

Sweeeeeeet

Thanks For The Quick Reply

+rep

**The only thing that gets erased is game saves. Your network ID info, your console settings, and even the 1.10 update all remain in place when you do this HDD swap**
found this on a different forum is this true ??

SO does this mean the only thing i need to backup is gamesave , and themes ??


and everything else will still be there like, PSN id "as god noes what email and password i used when i set it up"

[Zodia]

Sweeeeeeet

Thanks For The Quick Reply

+rep

**The only thing that gets erased is game saves. Your network ID info, your console settings, and even the 1.10 update all remain in place when you do this HDD swap**
found this on a different forum is this true ??

SO does this mean the only thing i need to backup is gamesave , and themes ??


and everything else will still be there like, PSN id "as god noes what email and password i used when i set it up"That is correct, your user account and PSN account info is store in the PS3 Flash memory (or whatever it's called :-?) and only media, game saves and downloaded content/media is stored on the HDD, so if you do a backup of all your media and game saves you're good to go, once the PS3 formats the new HDD. Enjoy.