Question for those with PS3/Wii/PS2 backups experience

**Zirekyle** · 01-16-2011,11:02 PM

Currently, I'm using dvd-r for my Wii (softmod) and PS2 (free mc boot). I have a PS3, but am waiting for a backup-supported CFW that does not need a dongle.

Since all 3 of these support playing backups from external drives through USB in some form, would it be possible to buy a large (say, 2 TB) external drive and create partitions for each system, so that I could configure each system so I could just switch the usb cable between systems and play backups, all with the same drive? Not at the same time, of course, just without needing an extra drive or repartitioning each time I switch systems.

My gut tells me no, because the Wii and PS3 each require the drive to be plugged into a specific USB port; this tells me that it uses a specific path (e.g. usb0 vs usb1), so it would not be interchangeable (without EBOOT editing), and I'm not even sure about the PS2 in this regard, as I haven't connected a usb drive to it for backups before.

Anyway, I figured that it would be best to ask experts. Does anyone have any personal experience using the same external drive to back up multiple systems through multiple partitions, or any definitive reasoning as to why it would not work? Also, please let me know about just 2 of the systems, instead of all 3. I just want to save some money by sharing drives, so I'll take what I can get.

Thanks in advance!

**icEEE** · 01-16-2011,11:58 PM

Since all 3 of these support playing backups from external drives through USB in some form, would it be possible to buy a large (say, 2 TB) external drive and create partitions for each system, so that I could configure each system so I could just switch the usb cable between systems and play backups, all with the same drive? Not at the same time, of course, just without needing an extra drive or repartitioning each time I switch systems.

i have my wii using the 100gb wbfs partition and my ps3 using the 400gb fat32 partition, switching the cable between the two systems and encountering no problems.

**Zirekyle** · 01-17-2011,12:43 AM

Originally Posted by icEEE

i have my wii using the 100gb wbfs partition and my ps3 using the 400gb fat32 partition, switching the cable between the two systems and encountering no problems.

Awesome, thanks! Does anyone have any information about the PS2 also?

**RS2** · 01-17-2011,01:04 AM

IIRC ps2 games run like crap off of external HDD since it's limited to USB 1.0 anyways

So I'd probably just stick with DVD-Rs maybe for PS2, or else go internal HDD on PS2

Personally, I use

1tb ext hdd for wii
2tb ext hdd for ps3
and 500gb internal hdd for ps2

I know it's a bit excessive in terms of size, but I got them all at a good price

**Zirekyle** · 01-17-2011,01:39 AM

Originally Posted by RS2

IIRC ps2 games run like crap off of external HDD since it's limited to USB 1.0 anyways

Damn, I didn't know PS2 was stuck on USB 1.0/1.1. That's a good point, I suppose I will just stick with dvd-r for now, or find a cheap IDE later. Thanks for the information.

Gotta do something with the Wii, though. Running from dvd-r causes slowdown in quite a few games.

Do I need to partition the drive for the PS3/Wii in any specific order, or will it work fine as long as I have a wbfs and fat32 partition on the drive? I also assume that I can have another ntfs partition for general pc usage for giving files to friends, etc? And, last question, is there a partition size limit for the partitions? For example, the Xbox1 had a 137gb limit for a while.

**bitsbubba** · 01-17-2011,01:46 AM

Originally Posted by Zirekyle

My gut tells me no, because the Wii and PS3 each require the drive to be plugged into a specific USB port

wasn't aware of this on the PS3 mine seem to work from any port

**Zirekyle** · 01-17-2011,01:51 AM

Originally Posted by bitsbubba

wasn't aware of this on the PS3 mine seem to work from any port

Sorry, as I said, I haven't actually done any hacks to my PS3 yet, just got it recently and figured I would wait until a CFW that supports backups (like maybe the one being released tomorrow). I thought I read something about that in another thread, and I know the Wii hard drive has to be connected to the outermost port, so it kind of pieced together in my mind that way. I may have been remembering a dongle thread, though. My bad.

**girlsname** · 01-17-2011,01:52 AM

Wii 360 and PS3 all run backups off USB from FAT32 partitions. I have a 3.5" HDD USB enclosure and I popped a 500GB in it. On 360 I picked the folder that has the backups, on Wii these go into a WBFS folder (search for "Wii Backup Manager" tool for great FAT32 support) and PS3 Games or Gamez. I am thinking about buying 2 more portable HDDs so that each of my systems can have their own and Im not forced to plug in the USB HDD into whichever I want to play.

**bitsbubba** · 01-17-2011,01:55 AM

My games on my Wii run from a folder named WBFS on a fat32 format drive

**Zirekyle** · 01-17-2011,02:00 AM

Ah, the Wii can play games from fat32 also? Thanks, that answers all of my questions.

Thanks everyone!

User Tag List

Thread: Question for those with PS3/Wii/PS2 backups experience

Tweet

LinkBack

Thread Tools

Display


	Would you like to get all the new info from PSX-Scene in your email each day? Subscribe to our Daily Digest! Want to learn more about the team keeping you up to date with the latest scene news? Read about them now! Check out our Developer bios, too!