Issues w/PS3 Backup

[Taintedmind]

I've gone through multiple tutorials of how to backup the save data on a PS3 to upgrade to a larger Hard Drive, then bring it back over.  The problem is when I go into the actual Backup status under the Console Settings, it says input the drive, but it's already inserted.  I've allocated 500GB of FAT32, started it up w/the E-HD plugged in, started w/it off and plugged it in afterwards and nothing seems to work; any useful tips would be appreciated.

[doomsriker]

I would just buy two cheap usb to sata adapters on ebay or amazon then connect both drives to a pc and clone the drive with something like Macrium Reflect.

 

 

[B16CXHatch]

Alright. I've fought with this myself. Here's what I did to get it to work.

 

FIRST! You need a USB adapter that's compatible with the PS3. Most are so it shouldn't be a big deal. I have some cheap Orico enclosures and an adapter that came with my old Samsung 840 Evo that all work, however I have one dock that doesn't. Next, get you a partition tool. My recommended tool is MiniTool Partition Magic (and my instructions will be specifically for it). Delete all volumes/partitions from the drive (right click the partitions and click Delete). Next, create a new volume (right click and click Create). HERE'S WHERE I ALWAYS MESSED UP. Not only do you need to set it to FAT32, you also need to set the "Create As" option to LOGICAL instead of Primary. I always did Primary and it would never work. Of course, set File System to FAT32 and basically leave every other option alone then hit OK. Next, hit apply and you should be good to go.

[Taintedmind]

47 minutes ago, B16CXHatch said:

Alright. I've fought with this myself. Here's what I did to get it to work.

 

FIRST! You need a USB adapter that's compatible with the PS3. Most are so it shouldn't be a big deal. I have some cheap Orico enclosures and an adapter that came with my old Samsung 840 Evo that all work, however I have one dock that doesn't. Next, get you a partition tool. My recommended tool is MiniTool Partition Magic (and my instructions will be specifically for it). Delete all volumes/partitions from the drive (right click the partitions and click Delete). Next, create a new volume (right click and click Create). HERE'S WHERE I ALWAYS MESSED UP. Not only do you need to set it to FAT32, you also need to set the "Create As" option to LOGICAL instead of Primary. I always did Primary and it would never work. Of course, set File System to FAT32 and basically leave every other option alone then hit OK. Next, hit apply and you should be good to go.

I'll have to do this this weekend, since there're T-Storms tonight and tomorrow; thanks for the tips, so I'll be able to work on somethin hopin it'll work.

[Taintedmind]

On 7/23/2020 at 9:22 PM, B16CXHatch said:

Alright. I've fought with this myself. Here's what I did to get it to work.

 

FIRST! You need a USB adapter that's compatible with the PS3. Most are so it shouldn't be a big deal. I have some cheap Orico enclosures and an adapter that came with my old Samsung 840 Evo that all work, however I have one dock that doesn't. Next, get you a partition tool. My recommended tool is MiniTool Partition Magic (and my instructions will be specifically for it). Delete all volumes/partitions from the drive (right click the partitions and click Delete). Next, create a new volume (right click and click Create). HERE'S WHERE I ALWAYS MESSED UP. Not only do you need to set it to FAT32, you also need to set the "Create As" option to LOGICAL instead of Primary. I always did Primary and it would never work. Of course, set File System to FAT32 and basically leave every other option alone then hit OK. Next, hit apply and you should be good to go.

It's completely blocked out from me being able to change the option, but I'll try w/it as this, regardless; we'll see what happens.

 

It's not recognizing it at all, even when I remove the drive letter and use YouTube walkthroughs.  I'm using a 4TB E-HD, so I'm not sure if that's the problem or not, but it shouldn't be relevant.  I'm not sure how to set the Create As to non-Primary, so that might be the issue.  The walkthrough video doesn't even touch it and it works fine for them, but they're using a 128gb E-HD; not sure if it's relevant or not.

 

I can't get my PS3 to recognize my Seagate E-HD 4TB - I've gone through several tutorials and none of them have worked. I've tried your recommended software and mini tool. I've tried MBR, Set as Active, Resizing, Logical/non-Logical, etc. and nothing has worked; any other recommendations?

[B16CXHatch]

Hmmmm. Well I was testing with a 500GB drive originally but busted out a 2TB drive and tested it but still gave me the same options in Partition Magic. I didn't test it with the PS3 though, because that drive is in active use. Something I looked up says that if you are using a 4TB drive, you need to set the cluster size to 32K as well but that may make no difference here. It could be possible that the PS3 doesn't like the USB adapter the drive uses.

 

Quick question, is the drive a desktop style external with its own power supply, or a USB powered portable drive? If it's USB powered, it's possible the PS3 isn't supplying enough power to properly run it. I had this problem when running an external hard drive on my Wii U. I had to get a dual end USB cable so the drive could get enough power. That doesn't explain the lack of options in formatting though.

 

Now I wish I had your drive (or an identical one) to test myself.

[Taintedmind]

7 hours ago, B16CXHatch said:

Hmmmm. Well I was testing with a 500GB drive originally but busted out a 2TB drive and tested it but still gave me the same options in Partition Magic. I didn't test it with the PS3 though, because that drive is in active use. Something I looked up says that if you are using a 4TB drive, you need to set the cluster size to 32K as well but that may make no difference here. It could be possible that the PS3 doesn't like the USB adapter the drive uses.

 

Quick question, is the drive a desktop style external with its own power supply, or a USB powered portable drive? If it's USB powered, it's possible the PS3 isn't supplying enough power to properly run it. I had this problem when running an external hard drive on my Wii U. I had to get a dual end USB cable so the drive could get enough power. That doesn't explain the lack of options in formatting though.

 

Now I wish I had your drive (or an identical one) to test myself.

Seagate Backup Plus 4TB External Desktop Hard Drive Storage (STFM4000100) on Amazon - I got it years back.  I was told through research that some of the USB ports aren't recognized, as you've stated, and some of the E-HD manufacturers don't use the exact 100% specs required for FAT32.  Apparently the PS3's aren't lenient, whatsoever, so it has to be an exact match or it won't recognize it.

[B16CXHatch]

OK. I did some more testing with my stuff. I tried another drive just for shits and giggles (a 1TB HGST originally from one of my PS4 Pros). I'm still using the same enclosure but I noticed something. I forgot to convert the drive from GPT to MBR before starting and the Create As option was grayed out for me. I started over, selecting Convert to MBR before creating the new partition. Then Create As was available. Again, following the same instructions as before, the drive works perfectly fine on my PS3s.

 

Are you sure you have the drive set as MBR? You can do that in Partition Wizard (I called it Partition Magic earlier, sorry) before you format it. Just right click the drive and there should be an option called Convert Disk to MBR or something to that effect.

 

Otherwise, all I can say is, maybe the PS3 just doesn't like your drive.

[Taintedmind]

21 minutes ago, B16CXHatch said:

OK. I did some more testing with my stuff. I tried another drive just for shits and giggles (a 1TB HGST originally from one of my PS4 Pros). I'm still using the same enclosure but I noticed something. I forgot to convert the drive from GPT to MBR before starting and the Create As option was grayed out for me. I started over, selecting Convert to MBR before creating the new partition. Then Create As was available. Again, following the same instructions as before, the drive works perfectly fine on my PS3s.

 

Are you sure you have the drive set as MBR? You can do that in Partition Wizard (I called it Partition Magic earlier, sorry) before you format it. Just right click the drive and there should be an option called Convert Disk to MBR or something to that effect.

 

Otherwise, all I can say is, maybe the PS3 just doesn't like your drive.

I tried all of those and it notices it being plugged in, but it won't allow me to see anything or select anything.  It'll show the little clock in the top-right, but nothing else will appear each time I plug it in - I'm goin to just move on and delete games as-needed, instead of just installing everything I own.