WIP: PS3 SATA to eSATA 1TB+ External Drive

[Daveid]

I really wanted to make a tutorial for people wishing to use a drive larger than 1TB through eSATA on the PS3, but I fell short on that challenge myself and now I'm wondering if I wasted money.

Here's my setup.

Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme 1.5TB External eSATA - $100~

Male SATA to eSATA - $6
SATA Male to eSATA Cable - 20 Inches - eBay (item 260648786042 end time Feb-06-11 02:37:27 PST)

(Optional) eSATA to eSATA external cable - $5
BLUE eSATA to eSATA external cable 20 Inches - eBay (item 290343861030 end time Feb-17-11 19:17:48 PST)

Pretty basic. Plug the Male end of the SATA to eSATA cable inside the PS3, and the eSATA end to the HDD.
You only use the eSATA to eSATA cable to transfer games. Aside from this, it's completely optional.

So, apart from the External HDD, this can be acomplished pretty cheap (free if you own the cables)

However, there's a problem taking advantage of this setup.

Issues:
1. Apparently I didn't do my research, as the PS3 won't accept the drive when plugged internally with the SATA to eSATA cable. Gives the user a black screen after format. This may be an issue that the PS3 is ONLY programmed to accept 1TB HDDs, possibly to prevent piracy?
2. Another thing I didn't research, if you do get the PS3 to format your HDD, it gets encrypted. This shouldn't be a problem now, as we have access to the keys, but no-one has written anything.

Temporary solutions:
Ditch SATA, go USB. It's slower, but it works.

This isn't good enough for me. You want to be able to leverage the power of SATA whenever possible. So, here are some of my ideas.

1. Perhaps it's possible to add support ourselves, if we can find the correct file, decrypt it, and edit it.
2. If all else fails, perhaps for people like me who bought a drive larger than 1TB you could be able to "permanently" partition the drive. I haven't done much research into it, but I don't think it's possible. Someone please chime in on this.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to accomplish my task, but maybe togethor we can work something out? I'm all ears, really, I've been playing around with this for 3 days now and would appericate some input.

Thanks.

[jawgee]

I started going down this route, but decided it was not right for my situation (didn't want the kids messing around with the loosely connected SATA/eSATA cable), so I decided to buy a 2.5" 750GB drive and use it internally.

I'll use a 1 or 2TB 3.5" drive for an external USB drive if I run out of room on the internal.

While a 1TB 3.5" drive worked via SATA, I ran into the same black screen issue after formatting when experimenting with a 2TB 3.5" drive (WD EARS model).

Thanks,
jawgee

[Daveid]

I started going down this route, but decided it was not right for my situation (didn't want the kids messing around with the loosely connected SATA/eSATA cable), so I decided to buy a 2.5" 750GB drive and use it internally.

I'll use a 1 or 2TB 3.5" drive for an external USB drive if I run out of room on the internal.

While a 1TB 3.5" drive worked via SATA, I ran into the same black screen issue after formatting when experimenting with a 2TB 3.5" drive (WD EARS model).

Thanks,
jawgee

Exactly! Anything over 1TB seems to be a no go. Which is really disappointing, as I could had bought a smaller drive.

I've been trying to do some research on whether I can edit the sectors of the drive, possibly fooling the PS3 into thinking there's only 1TB of usable space. So far, not really turning up anything, but I intend to find a solution.

[kovot]

To Daveid and all the other users who owe or has tested this kind of solution.

I'm thinking to purchase and replacing my PS3 internal harddisk with external enclosure solution (1Tb with eSATA connection).

* LaCie Hard Disk Quadra, Design by Neil Poulton 1 TB - external eSATA/FW800/FW400/USB2.0

* male SATA to eSATA cable

I have one question, how it works in real life? I mean for powering, enclosure has built in external ac-adapter & power switch, how do you start/shut down your PS3, in what order, external harddisk > then PS3??

THX for your answers!

[Daveid]

To Daveid and all the other users who owe or has tested this kind of solution.

I'm thinking to purchase and replacing my PS3 internal harddisk with external enclosure solution (1Tb with eSATA connection).

* LaCie Hard Disk Quadra, Design by Neil Poulton 1 TB - external eSATA/FW800/FW400/USB2.0

* male SATA to eSATA cable

I have one question, how it works in real life? I mean for powering, enclosure has built in external ac-adapter & power switch, how do you start/shut down your PS3, in what order, external harddisk > then PS3??

THX for your answers!

Well, you're on the right track. A 1TB HDD will work fine and beautifully.

After you plug in the HDD to the PS3 (might need tweezers or small fingers), you turn on the HDD before you turn on the PS3. Afterwards, you turn off the PS3 before you turn off the HDD.

And that's it! It should format just fine.

Good luck!

[kovot]

Well, you're on the right track. A 1TB HDD will work fine and beautifully.

After you plug in the HDD to the PS3 (might need tweezers or small fingers), you turn on the HDD before you turn on the PS3. Afterwards, you turn off the PS3 before you turn off the HDD.

And that's it! It should format just fine.

Good luck!

THX m8 for your answer! I read somewhere that you can't get enough power from internal SATA power connection for external harddisk, do you know if this is true? It would be so simple if you get power from PS3 too ..

[Daveid]

THX m8 for your answer! I read somewhere that you can't get enough power from internal SATA power connection for external harddisk, do you know if this is true? It would be so simple if you get power from PS3 too ..

Tried it myself, simply not enough power.

Interesting enough, it seems the PS3's HDD runs a little low on juice as well. I plugged it into my motherboard with it's connections, and I could notice a noticeable difference in noise on the drive.

Or maybe I'm giving it too much juice and that's why it's so loud

Either way, yeah, internal SATA power is too weak, gonna need something external.

[Mistawes]

When ya say it's too weak, is that for any 3.5" drive? I'm planning on getting a 1TB 3.5" and fitting it where my broken BR drive is (and find a way to keep the Logic board attached) but I'm worried about the length of the cable I'l need to use to be able to close my PS3 case back together with the HDD inside the PS3 and if it won't work properly because of a slight drop in power or something.

[Daveid]

When ya say it's too weak, is that for any 3.5" drive? I'm planning on getting a 1TB 3.5" and fitting it where my broken BR drive is (and find a way to keep the Logic board attached) but I'm worried about the length of the cable I'l need to use to be able to close my PS3 case back together with the HDD inside the PS3 and if it won't work properly because of a slight drop in power or something.

I would assume so, yes. I've tried it on two of mine myself.

But, imagine if you will that you were able to power the HDD with the PS3 alone, I would bet you money the read and write speeds would be terrible.

Worth a try I guess, but I would really look into an alternate solution.

[jawgee]

Yes, it's too weak for a 3.5" drive as it's meant for a 2.5" drive. That's why people are using the power from their external enclosure.

The one thing that I caused me to go to an internal drive is that connection made to the PS3 with the SATA/eSATA cable was too loose for being in a house with little kids. I had to break off part of the connector that connects to the SATA interface inside the PS3. Otherwise, the connector wouldn't fit.

I suppose I could have used some hot glue or something other MacGyver tactic to secure the connection, but I'd rather have peace of mind with an internal drive.

Now what would be cool is if someone could figure out how to use a multi-bay eSATA enclosure to hook up to the PS3 internally and have it recognize the multiple drives.

Thanks,
jawgee