PS3 Hard Drive Question...

[zektor]

Maybe somebody knows:

Say I have a PS3 that I stuck an upgraded HD in (250gb). I have been downloading PSN games to it, copying my music collection, pics, etc...

Now, say I want to stick this drive in a different PS3. I already know how to remove and install obviously, but will it look exactly the same on the new PS3?

I mean, I know I would have to activate the new PS3 to allow for the games to be played, but I guess I am more concerned if the new PS3's firmware does not match or something....I don;t know. Will it be as simple as popping the drive in, activating, and all will work as it did on the last PS3?

[youruglyclone]

I don't think they ever imposed firmware restrictions on psn titles, but regardless in order to sign onto psn you need the latest firmware, so you're still going to have to upgrade the ps3, unless you plan on leaving the thing off the grid.

[zektor]

I don't think they ever imposed firmware restrictions on psn titles, but regardless in order to sign onto psn you need the latest firmware, so you're still going to have to upgrade the ps3, unless you plan on leaving the thing off the grid.

Well, yeah, I'll probably just upgrade to the latest firmware anyway. I was just wonderig if anyone else ever had to swap out their drive to another PS3 for some reason.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'm not sure if you can hot swap a drive pre-loaded with a bunch of stuff to a new PS3.

From all the data I've seen it looks like you'll need to use the backup and restore features (which ultimately requires a THIRD external intermediary storage device to transfer the backed up files).

For the most part PSN softwares are DRM'ed to allow for download to up to 5 consoles ... but I don't think that means you can move your HDD around without actually INSTALLING the software ON each console in some fashion.

If nobody here can provide a definitive answer I think the best place to look for answers on this would be the After Dawn forums. They're usually very up to speed on these types of things.

[SwingingPendulum]

how do you install the ps3 OS onto a new hard drive? does it automatically do it once the new drive is inserted?

[zektor]

I'm not sure if you can hot swap a drive pre-loaded with a bunch of stuff to a new PS3.

From all the data I've seen it looks like you'll need to use the backup and restore features (which ultimately requires a THIRD external intermediary storage device to transfer the backed up files).

For the most part PSN softwares are DRM'ed to allow for download to up to 5 consoles ... but I don't think that means you can move your HDD around without actually INSTALLING the software ON each console in some fashion.

If nobody here can provide a definitive answer I think the best place to look for answers on this would be the After Dawn forums. They're usually very up to speed on these types of things.

You know, you maybe right. When you download a given game, it activates in that first second. Damn, oh well. Just trying to save myself the massive 23+ game download and re-copy of 70GB of music all over again, but if I have to I will. I unfortunately do not have another HD for backup purposes.

EDIT:

I found the answer. Apparently the PS3 will automatically initiate a format of any given drive that is inserted that was NOT formatted with that specific PS3 console. I guess protection against people that may be playing around illegally with the download content. The only way to back up and restore is to use an external formatted Fat32 and do the backup/restore process. I don't have one so I will have to download it all over again. Good information on how this works tho.

[heybtbm]

Just buy a portable hard drive. Save everything to it, then restore on the new PS3. Those tiny 320 gb hard drives are $90 - $100 now days.

The way I look at it, my hundreds of PS1 and PS2 save files are worth $100 to me...no question. We're talking about 1000's of hours of play time. I would think most people here would understand the value of that data.