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Hard drive format help please!

I

im-loving-it

macrumors member
Original poster
May 3, 2010
35
0
i got a western digital usb hard drive and formatted it with my mac, when i shuved the usb in my ps3 nothing comes up, i found out that ps3's only take videos that are fat-32 usb hard drives.

so if i buy a blu ray player with a usb - will i be able to play videos from my hard drive on it?

let me know
 
Huh? No one here can predict what you will do in the future. However, if your future Blu-ray disc player accepts USB-connected FAT-32 drives, then it will play videos stored on your drive if the video is in the proper format. The proper video format is any of those listed as supported in your future manufacturer's documentation.

Most devices that accept external drives require drives in the FAT-32 format. It is a trivial matter to use your Mac to format a drive as FAT-32. Use the OS X built-in utility Disk Utility.
 
im-loving-it said:
i got a western digital usb hard drive and formatted it with my mac, when i shuved the usb in my ps3 nothing comes up, i found out that ps3's only take videos that are fat-32 usb hard drives.

so if i buy a blu ray player with a usb - will i be able to play videos from my hard drive on it?

let me know
Click to expand...

Many Blu-ray players will do that. Just look up the specs for the model you want to make sure it supports this feature.
 
Im in the same boat as you. Ive given up trying to get my WD 1TB My Passport to be recognised by my PS3.

Ive formatted it to ex-FAT which is supposed to be the same as FAT32, but it still doesn't work on my PS3. Ive even created multiple partitions and ensured they are all formatted to ex-FAT, but still no joy.

I have no idea how to do it. If you find the answer please let me know.
 
Big Stevie said:
Im in the same boat as you. Ive given up trying to get my WD 1TB My Passport to be recognised by my PS3.

Ive formatted it to ex-FAT which is supposed to be the same as FAT32, but it still doesn't work on my PS3. Ive even created multiple partitions and ensured they are all formatted to ex-FAT, but still no joy.

I have no idea how to do it. If you find the answer please let me know.
Click to expand...

exFat is a different format than FAT32 and the PS3 will not recognize it. That is your problem. The PS3 needs FAT32.
 
My mistake. I actually meant MS-DOS. Isnt that supposed to be FAT32. It didnt work regardless!

Should I dig out my windows laptop to format it to FAT32?
 
Last edited:
Weaselboy said:
You can format to fat32 in OS X disk utility.
Click to expand...

I dont seem to get fat32 as an option, all I get is..

DiscUtility1.png
 
Thats what I thought, but it doesnt work. I just cant get the PS3 to recognise it. Could it be that my HD is too large at 1TB? Would that be a factor? Ive tried partitioning it and formatting the partitions but still no joy.
 
Big Stevie said:
Thats what I thought, but it doesnt work. I just cant get the PS3 to recognise it. Could it be that my HD is too large at 1TB? Would that be a factor? Ive tried partitioning it and formatting the partitions but still no joy.
Click to expand...

That should work. Here is a guide that might help you.
 
Thanks. Ive tried all those suggestions but still wont show up on my PS3. One of the posts on that forum suggests the PS3 might not be able to give enough power to a WD ext HDD, and that a USB hub may be needed?
 
Big Stevie said:
Thanks. Ive tried all those suggestions but still wont show up on my PS3. One of the posts on that forum suggests the PS3 might not be able to give enough power to a WD ext HDD, and that a USB hub may be needed?
Click to expand...

Ah... that would make sense. A powered hub should fix that issue.
 
I need to have a look on Amazon for suitable USB Hubs. Before I do, are these possible options to obtain enough power..

Connect my WD My Passport to my router via USB?
Purchase a powered Ext HDD?
 
Last edited:
Big Stevie said:
I need to have a look on Amazon for suitable USB Hubs. Before I do, are these possible options to obtain enough power..

Connect my WD My Passport to my router via USB?
Purchase a powered Ext HDD?
Click to expand...

You mean use the powered external HDD with the PS3? Yes, that should resolve the too much power draw issue.
 
Problem solved. It transpires that the USB ports on the PS3 Slim dont provide enough power to use an external HDD such as my Western Digital 1TB My Passport. Ive now purchased a powered USB Hub and my PS3 now recognises my ext HDD.

party-1.gif


I purchased a Plugable 7 Port USB 3.0 Hub with 4A Power Adapter for UK from Amazon.co.uk, shown here..

81ckVYwNLNL._AA1500_.jpg


I formatted the ext HDD on my MackBook to MS-DOS, with just the one partition. Then just plugged the USB Hub into the mains, connected it to my PS3 & connected my HDD to the Hub.

Im now happily copying over all my films, videos & photos from my PS3 & MacBook onto my HDD. I havent bothered creating folders on the HDD such as Video - Photos etc, Im just copying files over and then pressing triangle on my PS3 controller, then display all.

Done!
 
Last edited:
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