can you use external usb hard drives w/ ps3

[awolpoland]

my question is when u go to save a game during game play can the playstion save to an external drive instead of the hdd if so how and what external hard drive can i buy?

[Shin-Ra]

No, only the internal HDD.

[Macca78]

Originally Posted by awolpoland

my question is when u go to save a game during game play can the playstion save to an external drive instead of the hdd if so how and what external hard drive can i buy?

you can add any external drive but not sure if you can use it for game saves or not:

Purchase your external hard drive. Most hard drives will do. Some have incompatibilities. Western Digital is one that works fine.
Once you have your external hard drive is purchased, use the USB cord provided to connect it to a COMPUTER (not your Playstation 3).
IMPORTANT* Once your external hard drive is connected to your computer, go to START, CONTROL PANEL, ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS, COMPUTER MANAGEMENT, and select DISK MANAGER on the left hand side options. Select the external drive and read the "File System" type. If it says "NTFS", right click the disk and select "Delete Partition".
A. The reason you needed to delete the partition is because it MUST be FAT32. However, Windows XP will not partition a hard drive into FAT32. You must instead go to DOWNLOAD.COM and search for "Swiss Knife". Download the program that comes up (CompuApps SwissKnife V3 x.xx) and install it when the download completes. Once the install is complete, run the application and select the external hard drive you need to partition. On the top select the following settings: (Partition Type: Primary), (File System: FAT32), and (Volume Label: [whatever you want]). Then at the bottom, select "Create" and you're done.
Alternatively you can format using the command prompt: format h: /FS:FAT32 (This works if you are running Windows Server 2003.)
If you are on Mac OS X, open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app, pick the drive, and click on the 'Erase' tab. Pick 'MS-DOS (FAT)' for the file system type, and click on the 'Erase' button. This will reformat the drive in FAT-32.
Once you are SURE the partition is FAT32, open "My Computer" and double-click on your empty external hard drive. Now, you will want to create a folder system identical to that on the Playstation 3. Right click to create a new folder and name the first folder "Photo". Do this for "Music", "Video" and "Game". When you are finished, you should have 4 folders total in the hard drive. Each folder should (at this point) be empty.
Now, you can load all the music you want into your music folder, all the video you want into your video folder, and all the photos you want into your photo folder. Your game folder should still be empty.
At the bottom right hand corner of the screen, left click the green arrow in your icons list and select "Safely remove..." Once your computer tells you "XXX drive can now be safely removed", unplug the hard drive from your computer.
Now, you can connect the hard drive to your Playstation 3 and use the extra space to save information and access all your extra content saved on your external hard drive.
Congratulations, you now have turned your 20, 60, or 80 gigabyte Playstation 3 into a much larger one for all your multi-media needs. Enjoy!

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Some games will let you copy the save data over from the HDD to an external USB drive. 'Rock Band' for example, is one that will not let you transfer that information.

I just use a USB Flash Drive to back-up my data.

[SpinPsycleNYC]

I always recommend using the internal HDD for the game saves and then get a HUGE external for Photos, Music & Vids! 1TB would be DOPE!

[geekboy2000]

I'm using an 80GB Samsung Pleomax that I seem to recall getting for about $40 after rebates at CC about a year ago. They no longer carry it, but if you can find one, though not tons of space by today's standards, it is nice, because it requires no external power. Thin, glossy, and tucked along side the PS3, it's a cool addition.

[saprano]

wow i didnt now yoy had to do all that macca78, my freind just got a 80 gig ps3 and he was asking me can he use his exsternal harddrive on his ps3, i told him yes, but it looks like ill have to show him your post, thanks for the info.

[Iago]

Yes you can but the PS3 can only read hdd that are formatted for FAT32. I used this program:

http://www.download.com/CompuApps-Sw...html?tag=lst-1

Worked great to format my external 320GB hdd to Fat32 for my PS3.

[Disturbed350z]

Originally Posted by saprano

wow i didnt now yoy had to do all that macca78, my freind just got a 80 gig ps3 and he was asking me can he use his exsternal harddrive on his ps3, i told him yes, but it looks like ill have to show him your post, thanks for the info.

many external harddriver are by default formated in FAT32
My WD Mybook came standard that way...aswell as the external one in our office..(brand escapes me right now)
I was able to hook mine in right outta the box straight to the ps3...of course after loading all my music and movies to it

the mybooks work great...I love it...and the fact that my particular 320gb was an older model that was clearenced at $40 instead of the near $200 price tag made it amazing

[CptGreedle]

It was easy to upgrade my internal to 160 GB, but you can add an external drive. It can't copy all the files you have to it, you will have to try and see what ti will do with games and saves. But saves can be put on a memory card (flash card) and moved to a computer or other PS3 from there.

[The Don]

so if I were to download from the PS3 browser, I couldn't save it to the external HDD?..

[domerdel]

i do believe this is going to be a near-future issue when sony gets more than one PS3 in the house-hold. I want to sometimes not hog the bigscreen in the living room, but then i'm out a Blu-ray player. Sony/Soft. Dev's need to find a robust way (similar to rockband) to be able to save, saved-game data. You can pick up 4 GB flash drives for cheap now, similar to the price of memory cards for PS1/PS2 during their generation.

[Shin-Ra]

You can transfer saves in the XMB, just not directly to the external media through the game.

Some saves are copy protected for various reasons, however.