Full FeedDYI PS3 hard drive upgrade with only a screw driver
Don’t care about WiFi and looking to save some money and go with the 20 GB $499 PlayStation 3 model (like you can actually get your hands on any model)? T3 seems to be the first brave souls who decided to go at it and hack their PS3 by manually upgrading the internal hard drive.
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Question is that hard drive a notebook size one or a regular size one? Just wondering.
on December 1, 2006 at 01:05 AM - LINKI want to know if anything else is needed, I call the Sony Suppport number on the manual, and the guy did not know much, but he mentioned something regarding a backup that I need to perform before and a restore. Any truth about that? Once you change the drive what happens.
on January 2, 2007 at 10:26 PM - LINKit needs to be a notebook size (2.5”) and Serial ATA. Also 5400 rpm is recommended.
on March 22, 2007 at 12:45 AM - LINKIS THERE SOME PLACE TO GET THE UPGRADE OR DO U HAVE TO DO IT ?
on April 10, 2007 at 09:09 PM - LINKWhat happens to your game saves if you already have any and want to change the harddrive?
on May 14, 2007 at 07:14 AM - LINKYou can backup to an external harddisk or memory card.
Then just swap the harddisks, format the new one and put your backup (from where you saved it) onto the new one.
on May 31, 2007 at 02:37 PM - LINKwill downloaded games still function on the new drive, after restoring the backup to the new drive?
on June 26, 2007 at 01:56 PM - LINKwhat adverse effects would using a 7200 rpm hard drive cause?
on July 30, 2007 at 10:18 PM - LINKThe PS3 comes with a Seagate 5400.2 (5400 RPM) notebook sata drive.
A 7200 RPM drive puts off more heat than a 5400 RPM, and as we all know how important keeping the heat down in these systems is, most people don’t recommend trying a 7200 RPM.
I haven’t seen anybody reporting any problems, but I personally don’t feel like tempting fate.
As for downloaded content, everything that is backed up gets put back in it’s place like it was before, just with more free space. So as long as you back up your downloaded games, etc, they’ll get restored on the new hdd.
on August 6, 2007 at 07:16 PM - LINKWait a minute…are you THE Brian Peppers?
on August 19, 2007 at 02:00 AM - LINKI just tried to unscrew the hard drive out of its harness and i got all the screws off but one!!! That one has worn out and has lost its groove to be unscrewed. What should I do now? I tried callign Sony and my call never goes through!!! Help! I have 160GB hard drive waiting to be installed and i can’t get the old HDD off its harness due to this damn screw!!!
on August 29, 2007 at 04:16 AM - LINKCharly said:
“I just tried to unscrew the hard drive out of its harness and i got all the screws off but one!!! That one has worn out and has lost its groove to be unscrewed. What should I do now?”
Either CAREFULLY use a pair of pliers to grip the screw head and rotate it, or go buy what’s called a “screw extractor” at your local hardware store, Sears, etc.
You could also TRY placing a very small screwdriver’s bit into what’s left of the slot and lightly tap it into the metal as you gently turn it.
on September 22, 2007 at 06:43 PM - LINKjust fill the head of the screw with solder while you have a screwdriver in it. when its cooled you can just unscrew it easy as.
on October 15, 2007 at 03:06 AM - LINKIf i was to install say 160gb hard drive from new, would i need to format it in my pc or just put it straight in to the sony ps3?
on February 2, 2008 at 11:50 AM - LINKjimi said:
If i was to install say 160gb hard drive from new, would i need to format it in my pc or just put it straight in to the sony ps3?
on February 3, 2008 at 01:12 PM - LINKYou would format the HDD on your PS3 not on your computer.
WHEN YOU FORMAT YOUR NEW DRIVE,YOU HAVE TO PUT IT INTO 32GB PARTITIONS.BUT WHEN I TRY TO BACKUP MY PS3 IT TELLS ME THE HARD DRIVE IS FULL,BECAUSE IT IS ONLY USING 1 PART.HOW DO I GET IT TO TO USE ALL THE PARTITIONS.
on February 8, 2008 at 06:23 AM - LINKPaul, thanks for the clarification.
on February 10, 2008 at 09:13 PM - LINK1. so i hav 40gb ps3 so wat internet plan should i hav like 1 with fast speed and heaps of quota and wat is the best wirerless router to buy fast and no lags because my ps3 is 2 far from the computer
on February 21, 2008 at 11:07 PM - LINKonly 23gb left is that all i need 4 online patch updates and ps3 FW so i hav 40gb ps3 so wat internet plan should i hav like 1 with fast speed and heaps of quota and wat is the best wirerless router to buy fast and no lags because my ps3 is 2 far from the computer
so even if i do not hav the older FW updates i would not need them because i can just get the latest 2.10 is that right
i want online so i can do this but wired LAN cable is not an option becasue my computer is 2 far from the 40gb ps3 but i am thinking of changing the internet plan so it is faster and more downloads but how fast would the wirerless router need 2 be so no lags and my floor is thick any ideas and with HDD upgrades i now u can do it but what speeds and recquirements would i need 4 this and with game patches eg AC COD4 do u download them as soon as u lanch the game or ps3 network store
WHAT SATA MODEL CAN NOT BE USED
1. so by upgradeing ps3 40gb HDD to say 250gb sata 2.5 5400 rpm western digital would it hav any problems or speed damage or ps3 damage but i thing the original HDD is 5400 rpm is there a step by step once the new HDD is in the ps3 of wat to do next and is there 300-320 GB western digital model as well thanks PLZZZZ help
what about the o.s once you’ve formatted the drive and installed it where do i get the o.s from and also are there compadibility issues that i should know of b4 trying to opperate on my ps3
on April 9, 2008 at 09:30 PM - LINKI just bought a 40gb ps3 and bought a WD 160 gb hard drive.. i put the thing in, now it is saying that it cannot update, i need the disk with software 2.01 or higher.. any help??? im stuck…
on April 10, 2008 at 11:57 PM - LINKum..im not much of a tech wiz or anything..but my ps3 hard drive failed awhile ago and i was debating whether or not to buy a new one…and a friend of mine said to take out my ps3 hard drive and put it in a laptop…and format it…and put it back into the ps3 and it will work good as new…i wanna know if this is true…do i need sumthing else…or can i do it…
on July 10, 2008 at 12:46 AM - LINKi need help trying to get my ps3 hard drive screws out ive got 2 that are worn out ive tried pliers, screw drivers,etc can someone plz tell me how they got theres out
on August 22, 2008 at 10:56 AM - LINKhttp://www.dangmami.com
on November 17, 2008 at 09:27 PM - LINKhttp://www.bestfreedriver.com
on November 29, 2008 at 11:01 PM - LINKCan anyone tell me exactly what i need to order to replace my PS3 hard drive; the one I received has pins instead of the connector boards. this is so frustrating. newegg techs cant help and of course sony techs seem lost when i spoke to them today. any help would be greatly appreciated.
on January 13, 2009 at 12:57 AM - LINK