Play Station 3 Hard Drive UpgradeReady for a 500GB (½TB!) SATA Hard Drive Upgrade for the PlayStation 3? This is a step-by-step description of MY experience on MY PS3 Model CECHH01 (40GB). Obligatory Warnings: Do not attempt this if you are not comfortable with the procedure. This WILL violate your warranty. Do not work on energized circuits. Do not email me and ask for directions, they are ALL here and are as complete as possible. I do not know if these procedures will work on other units, so please don't ask. Use at your own risk - Rogue Group, LLC is not responsible for what you do to your equipment. That being said - Enjoy! This procedure was completed, AGAINST the direction of the "experts" with a 7,200 rpm, SATA 2.0/3Gbps (backwards compatible to SATA), 16 MB Cache (Factory is 8MB), 500GB SATA Drive. "They" said a faster drive would draw too much power, create more noise and too much heat. I chose this drive, as I know that modern, "green" drives are incredibly efficient, quiet and produce little heat. Since this installation of the Seagate ST905003N3A1S-RK drive, the cooling fan has not come on ½ as much as before, the drive is cooler (to the touch), quieter than stock and faster. System boot time and major scene changes in game play are reduced by 20 to 30%. Parts: 2.5" SATA (1.5Gbps) Laptop drive (250GB to 1TB) - New Appropriate size hard drive (EIDE, IDE, SATA) with the appropriate USB adapter - formatted to no more than 32GB in a logical partition in FAT32. [Edit: 5 Feb 2014] The PS3 DOES NOT support SATA 2.0 or 3.0, so a Solid State Drive upgrade would have to be reformatted every few months for housekeeping and would NOT get more than the original 1.5Gbps transfer rates. SSDs are SATA 3.0 which handle 6Gbps! SATA 2.0 (SATA II) drives that are 100% SATA compliant may work if there is a SATA (1.5Gbps) jumper position on the drive. This is now verified on the PS3 Ultraslim! [/Edit] Tools: A quality Phillips screw driver (#1 tip) Downloads: http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/index.htm [Updated] Store this on the laptop drive that will be doing the back up storage. The folder is: [root] > PS3 > UPDATE > [PS3UPDAT.PUP] (Downloaded file is already named) With your original drive in place: USB drive formatted for Fat32 Insert in to PS3 Back up "Trophies": Go to Game > Trophy Collection "/\" (Green Triangle for options) and select "Sync with Server" ("X" to select) from the Options Menu Sign in to the PlayStation Network "Sync operation completed" message is what we want to see. Press "O" to go "Back" Back up everything else: - If you change the format of the drive (single to dual partitions), the backups WILL NOT work. Use backups from within the game, restore from the game (if available). Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility > Back Up "X" for "Enter" "Do you want to back up data on the hard drive to another storage media?" "←" (Left Arrow) for "Yes", "X" to select "Select the destination" (USB Device (xxxxxxxxx) Free Space XX GB" > "X" for "Enter" "Preparing... Please Wait" "Backing Up... Do not remove the storage media. Remaining Time Approximately xx Minutes" (~28 minutes for a 40GB PS3) File resides in the logical partition under [root] PS3 > EXPORT > BACKUP > [Folder] The folder is the date of backup in the following format: YYYYMMDDHHMM, (where Y=Year digits, M=Month digits, D=Day digits, H=Hour digits (24 hour clock) and M=Minute digits). Files may be listed as: "archive.dat" ~ 1.8MB "archive2.dat" ~ 4.2MB "archive_00.dat" ~ 4.2G Followed by additional files (as needed, all serialized) "archive_01.dat..." Verify your original Free Space (PS3 Menu > Settings > System Settings > System Information > Free Space) - Write this down for later. Note: Power down your PS3 and remove the power cord before servicing. Remove side cover (back has shortest tabs) Remove large blue Phillips head screw - This screw is notoriously difficult with "cheap" screwdrivers Pull tab to remove drive. Remove 4 screws securing HD to chassis tray. Insert new drive. Reinstall 4 screws. Slide tray in to slot. Secure with large blue screw. Reinstall side cover (front side first). Plug in power/signal cords. Connect USB back up drive. Power up PS3. Press PS button (as per screen prompt - despite prompt, it can be via Bluetooth) At warning (No UPDATE found...) press START and SELECT at the same time. "Checking... Please wait" *Note: If you chose a formatting option other that the one on the original device, the backups will not restore properly. If you are changing formats (single partition to multiple partition), you must restore settings from within the individual games (if available). "The System partition of the hard disk will be formatted. During the format operation..." Press START and SELECT together for at least 5 seconds (hold until:) "Checking... Please wait." "Formatting... Do not turn off the system or remove the storage media." System restarts automatically after the formatting and installs the system software. "User Agreement..." read, then "→" (Right Arrow) Accept "↓" (Arrow Down) Press "X" "Do not turn off the system during the update..." Press "X" Installing... Do not turn off the system.. System will restart when complete... Start the set ups all over again by pressing the "PS" button Selecting a language... Select HDMI (if found) Select video resolution Select time zone Set date and time Select User name... Set up network Configuration.. System is operating on the new drive and OS image! Go to Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility > Restore Press "X" "Do you want to restore data that has been backed up" (This will delete all previous data) Select "Yes" Press "X" Select the media Select the backup data (as listed before in YYYYMMDDHHMM format) Press "X" "Are you sure..." Select "Yes" Press "X" "Formatting..." (Do not turn off the system) Unit reboots (see drive light activity) "Push the PS button" Press "PS" button "Restoring..." (Do not turn off the system - restoring 40GB of data will take ~50 minutes) "Push the PS button" You have completed the final step for the formatting of the hard drive - Congratulations! Remaining steps:
Restore game settings (if not restored during back up) Configure Media Servers Verify your "new found" Free Space (PS3 Menu > Settings > System Settings > System Information > Free Space) Written: Circa 2009 Updated: 5 Feb 2014 |
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