Harddrive

Missing Hard Drive Error on NAND-consoles

Missing Hard Drive Error on NOR-consoles

PS3 % Reserved Area
(system files {dev_flash}; {dev_flash2}; {dev_flash3}, game data {dev_hdd0}, system cache {dev_hdd1} etc

Internal harddrive

All HDD models used in retail PS3's are 2.5" size and 9.5 milimeters height max, with 1 platter (and 1 or 2 heads), the platter has a rotational speed of 5.400 rpm and 512 bytes per sector

Is connected internally to South Bridge wich contains ENCDEC device to manage AES-CBC-128/AES-CBC-192/XTS-AES-128 encryption/decryption, and a SATA-150 controller with a maximum transfer speed of 1.5 Gbit/s.

• GameOS partition
  • Is an UFS2 256-bit file system with a sectorsize of 512 bytes (4096 bits).
  • Because it is per-console encrypted, it is not possible to read out the data on it with another console (it will just ask to reformat it, to set it to its own per-console encryption, hence emptying the drive)

To read/write data out in Linux, BSD, Windows, or Mac OS X, you'll need to use the specific per-console "ATA tweak" and "ATA data" keys. See Harddrive encryption and HDD_Encryption

• In some newer PS3 models (like CECH-40xxA 12GB) the internal harddrive has been replaced by a Flash

Harddrive Model info

The data in this table has been copied from manufacturer documents (datasheets or productsheets) available at support sites found at the links at bottom of the page

• A collection of productsheets/datasheets of the HDD models used in PS3, renamed by manufacturer/series: [Download] (fujitsu series are missing)

Brand	Series	Model	Capacity	Rotation Speed (Platters/Heads)	Buffer	Interface		Seek Speeds					Power Requirements					Operating Temp.	Noise Max	Used in PS3 Models
								tracks	latency	read	write		startup	idle	read	write
Fujitsu	MHW	MHW2040BH	40 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-150		1.5 ms	5.56 ms	12 ms	14 ms		1.0 A	0.60 W	1.9 W	1.9 W		55 ºC	2.0 bels	CECHJxx
	MHZ	MHZ2080BH	80 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-300		1.5 ms	5.56 ms	12 ms	14 ms		1.0 A	0.60 W	1.9 W	1.9 W		55 ºC	2.4 bels	CECHKxx, CECHLxx
		MHZ2160BH	160 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-300		1.5 ms	?.?? ms	?? ms	?? ms		1.0 A	0.60 W	2.1 W	2.1 W		55 ºC	2.0 bels	CECHPxx, CECHQxx
Hitachi	Travelstar 5K160	HTS541640J9SA00	40 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-150		2.2 ms	5.50 ms	14 ms	15 ms		1.0 A	0.85 W	1.8 W	1.8 W		55 ºC	2.7 bels	CECHHxx
	Travelstar 5K250	HTS542580K9SA00	80 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-150		2.2 ms	5.50 ms	14 ms	15 ms		1.0 A	0.85 W	1.8 W	1.8 W		55 ºC	2.7 bels	CECHLxx
	Travelstar 5K500	HTS545012B9SA00	120 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-150		2.2 ms	5.50 ms	14 ms	15 ms		0.9 A	0.80 W	1.4 W	1.4 W		55 ºC	2.9 bels	CECH-20xxA, CECH-21xxA
	Travelstar Z5K500	HTS545050A7E380	500 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.2 ms	5.50 ms	13 ms	13 ms		0.9 A	0.55 W	1.6 W	1.6 W		60 ºC	2.1 bels	CECH-40xxC
	Travelstar Z5K320-160	HTS543216A7A384	160 GB	5400rpm (1/?)	?	?		?	?	?	?		?	?	?	?		?	?	CECH-30xxA
	Travelstar Z5K320-250	HTS543225A7A384	250 GB	5400rpm (1/?)	?	?		?	?	?	?		?	?	?	?		?	?	CECH-40xxB
Seagate	Momentus 5400.2	ST96812AS	60 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-150		1.5 ms	5.56 ms	12 ms	14 ms		1.1 A	0.99 W	1.9 W	2.3 W		55 ºC	3.1 bels	CECHAxx, CECHCxx
	Momentus 5400.3	ST980811AS	80 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-150		1.5 ms	5.56 ms	11 ms	13 ms		1.0 A	0.75 W	1.9 W	1.8 W		60 ºC	3.2 bels	CECHExx
	LD25 SATA	ST920217AS	20 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	2 MB	SATA-150		2.0 ms	5.60 ms	16 ms	16 ms		1.0 A	?.?? W	2.3 W	2.3 W		55 ºC	2.7 bels	CECHBxx
		ST9402115AS	40 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	2 MB	SATA-150		2.0 ms	5.60 ms	16 ms	16 ms		1.0 A	2.00 W	2.3 W	2.3 W		55 ºC	2.7 bels	CECHGxx, CECHHxx, and probably in CECHJxx
	LD25 5400.2	ST940210AS	40 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	2 MB	SATA-150		1.5 ms	5.60 ms	15 ms	15 ms		1.0 A	2.50 W	2.3 W	2.3 W		60 ºC	2.6 bels	CECHGxx, CECHJxx, and probably in CECHHxx
Toshiba	MKxx52GSX	MK8052GSX	80 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	?.?? ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.85 W	2.0 W	2.0 W		55 ºC	25 dBA	CECHLxx
		MK1652GSX	160 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	?.?? ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.85 W	2.0 W	2.0 W		55 ºC	25 dBA	CECHPxx, and probably in CECHQxx
	MKxx55GSX	MK1255GSX	120 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	5.55 ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.85 W	1.4 W	1.4 W		55 ºC	2.0 bels	CECH-20xxA
		MK2555GSX	250 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	5.55 ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.85 W	1.4 W	1.4 W		55 ºC	2.0 bels	CECH-20xxB
	MKxx65GSX	MK1265GSX	120 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-?		?.? ms	?.?? ms	? ms	? ms		?.? A	?.?? W	?.? W	?.? W		?? ºC	?? dBA	CECH-21xxA
		MK1665GSX	160 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	?.?? ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.75 W	1.5 W	1.5 W		55 ºC	20 dBA	CECH-25xxA
		MK2565GSX	250 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	?.?? ms	12 ms	12 ms		4.5 W	0.75 W	1.5 W	1.5 W		55 ºC	20 dBA	CECH-21xxB
		MK3265GSX	320 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	?.?? ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.75 W	1.5 W	1.5 W		55 ºC	20 dBA	CECH-25xxB
	MKxx76GSX	MK1676GSX	160 GB	5400rpm (1/1)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	5.55 ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.55 W	1.5 W	1.5 W		55 ºC	20 dBA	CECH-30xxA
		MK3276GSX	320 GB	5400rpm (1/2)	8 MB	SATA-300		2.0 ms	5.55 ms	12 ms	12 ms		0.9 A	0.55 W	1.5 W	1.5 W		55 ºC	20 dBA	CECH-30xxB

Notes: Toshiba drives have a sticker that says "do not cover the breathing hole", but despite that it is stickered shut (simular to the smaller right one here) which makes it more prone to failure.

• Meassure units conversions:
  • Watts = Amps * volts (or... Amps = Watts / Volts)
  • There is no conversion formula between "bels" (sound power) and "dBA" (sound pressure)... are different meassure concepts and cant be compared

PS3 models missing in the table above (waiting for reports, please help to complete the list)

• CECHMxx 80GB <--- Toshiba MK8052GSX, or fujitsu MHZ2080BH, or hitachi HTS542580K9SA00 ?
• CECH-25xxA 120GB <--- toshiba MK1265GSX ?
• CECH-25xxB 250GB <--- toshiba MK2565GSX ?
• CECH-40xxA 12GB <---- internal flash storage (no HDD)
• CECH-42xxA 12GB <---- internal flash storage (no HDD)
• CECH-42xxB ??GB <---- ?
• CECH-42xxC ??GB <---- ?
• CECH-43xxA 12GB <---- internal flash storage (no HDD)
• CECH-43xxB ??GB <---- ?
• CECH-43xxC ??GB <---- ?

• The CECH-25xx was originally shipped in "premiun" bundles with etras (move edition, etc...) with HDDs of capacity: A=160GB or B=320GB, but few months later sony made a price cut campaign, they started shipping it as a basic console (without extras) and the HDD capacities was reduced to A=120GB or B=250GB. This makes a total of 4 different HDD models for CECH-25xx, by now the table above only contains info about 2 of them

Harddrive Speed Tests

This speed tests are only orientative because was made in PC's with different motherboards, and the results can be different in a PS3

Speed Tests (PC)

Brand	Series	Model	Windows															Linux
			[HDtune]						[HDtach]				[ATTO]			[PassMark]		[hdparm -Tt]
			Min. (MB/s)	Max. (MB/s)	Average (MB/s)	Access (ms)	Burst (MB/s)	Link	Average (MB/s)	Burst (MB/s)	Access (ms)	Link	Write (MB/s)	Read (MB/s)	Link	Score (rating)	Link	Cache read (MB/s)	Disk read (MB/s)	Link
Fujitsu	MHW	MHW2040BH	14.3	46.1	34.3	17.7	100	[1]	28.2	28.5	21.8	[1]			N/A	215	[1]			N/A
	MHZ	MHZ2080BH	13.6	61.8	46.0	18.3	72.2	?				N/A			N/A	324	[1]			N/A
		MHZ2160BH	33.4 20.6 15.4 31.7 6.7	68.2 26.2 63.4 63.1 63.5	54.3 24.9 50.4 50.5 46.1	17.2 17.9 17.4 17.3 19.3	75.2 20.5 75.7 75.2 71.5	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]	57.3	77.3	17.3	[1]	66444	64450	[1]	337	[1]			N/A
Hitachi	Travelstar 5K160	HTS541640J9SA00	15.2	48.7	38.8	17.1	91.3	[1]	40.5	116.3	17.1	[1]			N/A	254	[1]			N/A
	Travelstar 5K250	HTS542580K9SA00	22.1	44.3	34.4	17.4	77.0	?	36.0	?	16.9	?			N/A	247	[1]			N/A
	Travelstar 5K500	HTS545012B9SA00	36.5	79.2	62.0	20.2	99.9	?				N/A			N/A	377	[1]			N/A
	Travelstar Z5K500	HTS545050A7E380	45.6	103.5	80	19.9	137.7	[1]				N/A			N/A	646	[1]			N/A
Seagate	Momentus 5400.2	ST96812AS	12.9	40.2	32.2	15.8	83.4	[1]				N/A			N/A	235	[1]			N/A
	Momentus 5400.3	ST980811AS	20.9	41.8	33.1	15.9	89.4	[1]				N/A			N/A	236	[1]			N/A
	LD25 SATA	ST920217AS	2.0	30.9	23,9	21.0	100.9	[1]				N/A			N/A	167	[1]			N/A
		ST9402115AS						N/A				N/A			N/A	186	[1]			N/A
	LD25 5400.2	ST940210AS	21.0	30.6	27.2	18.5	22.8	?				N/A			N/A	230	[1]			N/A
Toshiba	MKxx52GSX	MK8052GSX	6.6 9.7	61.2 27.5	46.0 24.3	18.1 19.1	87.3 24.7	[1] [2]				N/A			N/A	323	[1]			N/A
		MK1652GSX	16.9 31.2 20.5	61.8 61.8 61.8	49.5 50.2 47.2	18.1 18.7 18.1	73.0 73.3 76.7	[1] [2] ?	50.6	151.8	18.1	?	57604	61077	?	326	[1]			N/A
	MKxx55GSX	MK1255GSX	24.8	72.4	52.9	17.6	74.3	[1]				N/A			N/A	458	[1]			N/A
		MK2555GSX	26.3	76.4	40.9	19.5	116.5	[1]				N/A			N/A	402	[1]			N/A
	MKxx65GSX	MK1665GSX	45.9	93.8	74.6	16.8	203.6	[1]	77.3	242.6	16.7	[1]	97969	97259	[1]	518	[1]			N/A
		MK3265GSX	43.5	88.0	67.8	17.1	184.5	[1]				N/A	88446	76586	[1]	476	[1]			N/A
	MKxx76GSX	MK1676GSX	46.0	96.7	76.6	16.2	206.6	?				N/A			N/A	514	[1]			N/A
		MK3276GSX	23.7	87.7	65.3	17.6	89.2	[1]				N/A			N/A	519	[1]			N/A

• There is no HDD speed test tool for PS3 GameOS, in PS3 OtherOS/linux hdparm can be used for a simple speed test
• There is a Speed Tests (PS3) table in Talk Page ready to include this speed tests made in PS3, feel free to add your results or/and copy the whole table here when needed

Internal Harddrive maximum capacity

When talking about compatibility is important to keep in mind the PS3 firmware could be partially "broken" by using a large capacity, most specifically the filesystem manteinance functions that are the resposibles to run the filesystem checks (and repair the posible filesystem problems if needed), the filesystem manteinance functions runs in the background while on XMB (periodically?), and additionally the PS3 firmware runs a "filesystem check" under 2 conditions: after a firmware crash (in other words, after a shutting down the device without the proper filesytem "unmount"), and when we use the option 3 from Recovery Menu named 3. Restore File System
There are some harddrive capacities (in between 1TB and 2TB) where the PS3 formats it correctly, allows to install games, and could potentially run fine for a few months but "breaks" the filesystem manteinance functions. In this case what happens is every little filesystem error (caused by firmware freezes/crashes or interrupted file transfers from FTP/USB) are going to stay forever in the filesystem gets cummulated with other filesystem errors up to a point where the whole filesystem collapses and you are welcomed with a warning screen where the only option is to format it (in other words, is imposible to restore it). When this happens you lost all his contents, and the last hope to recover some files from it is by using the "EID root key" to decrypt his contents in a PC

Capacity				Formatting	Filesystem check	Notes
Sectors	Bytes	GiB	GB
1,677,721,600	858,993,459,200	800	~858	Yes	Yes
1,887,436,800	966,367,641,600	900	~966	Yes	Yes
1,953,125,000	1,000,000,000,000	~931	1000	Yes	Yes	Your typical 1TB SSD
1,992,294,400	1,020,054,732,800	950	~1020	Yes	Yes
2,013,265,920	1,030,792,151,040	960	~1030	Yes	Yes
2,019,557,376	1,034,013,376,512	963	~1034	Yes	Yes
unknown						The exact limit where the filesystem check functions gets broken is unknown
2,020,081,664	1,034,281,811,968	963.25	~1034	Yes	No
2,023,751,680	1,036,160,860,160	965	~1036	Yes	No
2,034,237,440	1,041,529,569,280	970	~1041	Yes	No
2,044,723,200	1,046,898,278,400	975	~1046	Yes	No
2,097,152,000	1,073,741,824,000	1000	~1073	Yes	No
2,147,483,647	1,099,511,627,264	1024-(1 sector)	~1099	Yes	No	32bit integer limit
2,147,483,648	1,099,511,627,776	1024	~1099	Yes	No
3,221,225,472	1,649,267,441,664	1536	~1649	Yes	No	emer_init performs HDD check and throw error if capacity is higher than this exact value.
unknown						The exact limit where the formatting functions gets broken is unknown
3,907,029,168	2,000,398,934,016	~1863	~2000	No	No

Harddrive info From software

Harddrive info in Flash

• In NOR flash

Offset(h) 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
    
00F201F0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................
00F20200  00 00 00 01 48 69 74 61 63 68 69 20 48 54 53 35  ....Hitachi HTS5
00F20210  34 31 36 34 30 4A 39 53 41 30 30 20 20 20 20 20  41640J9SA00     
00F20220  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                  
00F20230  20 20 53 42 32 41 38 31 53 4B 48 33 4E 36 55 53    SB2A81SKH3N6US
00F20240  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................

• In GameOS

See DeviceID ext_nor_flash

Harddrive info in xregistry.sys

In path: dev_flash2/etc/XRegistry.sys

The entry: setting/system/hddSerial contains the "HDD model" + "HDD Serial"

PC tools: PS3Utils in linux or xRegistry.sys Editor 0.75 in windows

Harddrive info from SCSI/atapi commands in GameOS

Normally on PC, you would use:

sg_logs SCSI LOG SENSE -t command

See also:

• http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/disc/manuals/Interface%20manuals/100293068c.pdf
• http://linux.die.net/man/8/sg_logs

For PS3, see also HV SCSI Commands and LV2 sys_storage_Syscalls

Not much specific to hdd temperature on ps3 in gameos documented yet

Harddrive encryption

PS3 uses XTS-AES-128 to encrypt the internal HDD drive on SLIM consoles and AES-CBC-128/AES-CBC-192 on PHAT consoles.

Good paper about XTS-AES: http://ntnu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:347753/FULLTEXT01

XTS-AES-128 means that there are 2 keys of size 128bit actually, the one for tweak encryption and the other for data encryption. Both keys are different on each PS3 console and can be easily dumped e.g. with modified sb_iso_spu_module.self. These 2 keys are sent to ENCDEC device which performs HDD encryption/decryption. HDD keys are NOT stored in EID4.. On PHAT consoles the only data key is used with zeroed IV.

Currently i'm able to decrypt my PS3 HDD on PC and i can also talk to the ENCDEC device without isolated SPU modules.

To be able to talk to the ENCDEC device, you have to extract 2 AES-CBC keys and one magic e.g. from sb_iso_spu_module.self . First, the 2 AES-CBC are used to establish a secure session between the host and the ENCDEC device. The host and the ENCDEC device exchange 2 random numbers and derive a session key from these random numbers. The session key is then used to encrypt the actual command sent to the ENCDEC device from the host. A command can e.g. set ATA keys.

Dumping ATA keys (128bit tweak and 128bit data key) is easy, i did it on PS3 Linux with my spuisofs driver and a modified version of sb_iso_spu_module.self. ATA keys are passed as parameters to this module and i just copied them with MFC DMA to PPU memory and stopped the execution of the SPU.

Firmware harddrive tools

Format Utility

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/formatutility.html

Backup Utility

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/backuputility.html

About not-backuped files

Savegames in PS3 format and trophies are linked to the console/user by using their PARAM.SFO... if you look in this table Requirements for HDD contents in their respective columns, the critical param_keys that needs to be taken in consideation when importing/exporting to another account or console are: ACCOUNTID, ACCOUNT_ID, PARAMS, and SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM There are several scenarios for importing exporting in the same or other console, between accounts, between registered and not registered PSN accounts, etc... One scenario that deserves a mention because the simplicity is when you replace the HDD, your account is not registered in PSN, and your PS3 uses a NOR flash

PS3 accounts not registered in PSN use an account id filled with zeroes (that's normal, and is taken as a real number by the system), and trophies are only linked to ACCOUNTID !!!. If your source and target accounts are not registered in PSN you can simply paste the old trophy folders in the new account (dev_hdd0/home/<any_user_id_here>) in your new HDD and "rebuild database", that's all. You can use the same "trick" to transfer trophies between accounts in the same or other console if none of them are registered in PSN (yes, all the PS3 CFW users of the world not registered in PSN can share their trophies just by copy-pasting files)

For gamesaves the ACCOUNT_ID is also used, but like explained above (because in this example the source and target accounts are not registered in PSN) this is not a problem, the problem here are the contents of PARAMS and SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM

Actually, are not a problem in all cases because chances are high that all values matches, but usually what changes is the "User ID" assigned to the account the first time it was created (you know... this 00000001 folder that was assiged to the first user you created inside dev_hdd0/home/<user_id_here>/), This number is a counter that always increases (even when you erase users it will not decrease) is stored inside xregistry.sys, and inside the gamesaves in the PARAMS

Probably you need to change this number to match the new account, so after replacing the HDD and creating a new account, it's a good time to keep this account number 00000001 and modify all the saves to match the 00000001 inside their PARAM. The other known values inside PARAM doesn't need to be changed (because we are importing/exporting in the same console, so "PS3 console ID" is the same)... you only need to change this when moving the save to another console

All this tasks are simple edits in the PARAM.SFO file... you could even make it with a hex editor if you are used to .SFO format, to simplify it you can use some .SFO editor (one that allows to change this values) or one gamesave editor

Trophies and PS3 saves are protected by .PFD files so in case you modified one of the .SFO, then you need to "update" the list of protected files inside the .PFD (because PARAM.SFO is always in the list). When you update the .PFD the new PARAM.SFO is added to the list and this makes the whole gamesave folder/files "valid" and ready to be copied in the PS3. You will also need to "rebuild database" at the end of the process

The PFD "update" is one of the commands inside "flatz pfd tools", it returns some info about the protected files inside the table with an "OK" at the end of each line when everything is fine.

• Notes
  • Part of the contents of PARAMS and SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM are still unknown, (it's awesome how some people that uses/codes savegame cheat apps are still ignoring this... and I'm not talking about flatz, his purpose was to break the .pfd security to unlocking/transfering protected user files between legit offline accounts and no cheating purposes) --Sandungas (talk) 02:40, 28 January 2014 (EST)
  • About NAND or NOR consoles... xregistry.sys contains "Account ID" and "User ID"
    • Is PS3's with NOR xregistry.sys is stored in "Virtual flash" (a partition in HDD)
    • In the case of NOR when replacing/formatting the HDD you are deleting the file, so is generated at next boot (and filled with the user info the first time you create a new user, that will be assigned the "account id" 00000001). This is not bad, actually is a good way to "cleanup" the xregistry.sys because the PS3 will generate a "fresh one" from scratch (usually xregistry.sys contains lot of areas marked as "not used" from old users that was erased, other old data, the annoying user counter that always increases, and even errors)
    • Is PS3's with NAND xregistry.sys is stored in "NAND flash"
    • In the case of NAND when replacing/formatting the HDD you keep the file with the old users info, the user counter increasing, etc... i dont know a good/efective/simple way to regenerate it --Sandungas (talk) 02:15, 28 January 2014 (EST)

Data Transfer Utility

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/transferutility.html

Harddrive replacements, modifications, expansion parts

Replacing the internal harddrive

For compatibility, if you have a SATA-300 (sometimes called SATA-II or SATA2) or SATA-600 (sometimes called SATA-III or SATA3) harddrive, you should sometimes set the harddrive via jumper to enforce the slower SATA-150 speed, instead of default 3 Gb/s of SATA-300 / 6Gb/s of SATA-600.

Step-by-step guide

1. Download the FULL version of FW you currently have on the old harddrive and put it on a USB Mass Storage Device formatted with FAT32 in \PS3\UPDATE\PS3UPDAT.PUP
2. If you wish to transfer your installed games, savedata, DLC/PSN, /Photo, /Music, /Video, bookmarks etc. you can use Backup / Restore BEFORE you exchange the harddrive. You’ll need a FAT32 formatted External Drive for that (with enough free space). The backups will be stored in \PS3\EXPORT\BACKUP\ in a subfolder with the backupdate/time as name and in there several DAT files (archive.dat, archive_00.dat, archive2.dat and archive2_[4GBSPLITNR].dat etc.) This same drive can be used to store the FW mentioned earlier)
3. Disconnect the LAN/UTP cable and remove all discs from the BD-drive, to disable the possibility that another firmware gets downloaded/installed
4. Power Off the PS3 (disconnect the power cable) and open the HD tray (left/bottom) to exchange the original 2.5″ drive for the newer/larger/faster one (remark: use max. 9.5mm height drives).
   • Remark: The screws which are used to mount the internal hardisk in the PS3 HD-tray are made of soft aluminium. Use a good fitting screwdriver, or you’re bound to abuse the “X” bithole and must resort to flat pliers to get the screws out.
5. After everything is in place, insert the USB Mass Storage Device you prepared earlier and power ON the PS3. The new HD is detected and the PS3 wants to format it. Select YES and wait until format is finished. After that you can select Update to select the FW on the USB Mass Storage Device (in case it didn’t already do that automaticly after format).
6. After succesfull format and installation of the System Software / Firmware, reboot and check in XMB System Information to see which FW is currently used and how much is usable for the XMB.

• Note: Copy-protected saved data cannot be restored. Also, saved data that has been restored may not be usable in some games. Trophies are not backed up by the XMB Backup Option!
• The above semi-guide is also readable in the PS3 Owners Manual Knowledge Centre: Can I upgrade the hard disk drive (HDD) inside my PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system? and PS3 User's Guide :: Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility

Economic contemplation

Type	€/GB	%
3.5" 7200 rpm HDD	0,048	90.6
3.5" 5400 rpm HDD	0,049	92.5
2.5" 5400 rpm HDD	0,053	100
2.5" 7200 rpm HDD	0,061	115.1
3.5" 7200 rpm SSHD	0,071	134
2.5" 5400 rpm SHDD	0,076	143.4
2.5" 1TB SSD	0,358	675.5
2.5" 7200 rpm SSHD	N / A	N / A
3.5" 5400 rpm SHDD	N / A	N / A
3.5" 1TB SSD	N / A	N / A

Exchanging the internal drive to a 7200RPM model doesn’t do much for your loading times (shaves off a second or 2), hybrid SSHD are a bit more future proof while still lowcost, but upgrading to SSD/Flash Drives is almost insane considering the prices you pay per GB. Any modern larger drive is always faster than the older default smaller drive. Some people are arguing that SSD/Flash Drives produce "much less heat" but consider this: a very good/efficient one uses 5V 0.35A 1.75 Watt while a harddrive uses 5V 0.85A 4.25 Watt. A difference of 2.5W less on a total of 225Watt is not something you would see prominently back on your electric bill or thermometer.

Note

There is even report of SDD's sometimes having a negative impact on performance, compared to the original PS3 harddrive. Example: Corsair CSSD F240GBGT BK - which seem to have 4KB sectors (cause?)

Because of the low price/ high storage capacity I personally always go for SATAII/300 7200rpm drives (if internal, maximum height is 9.5mm, 12 or 12.5mm doesn’t fit) and if modified to external via eSATA you can even use cheaper/faster 3.5″ drives (but you’ll need them to have their own powersupply because the internal PS3 powersupply can’t power that safely).

Original vs Replacement Drives speed comparison

Original vs Replacement Drives speed comparison

Harddrive	Interface	RPM	Size	Model	Seq.read	Av.Read	Burst.Read	Accestime
Original 2.5"	SATA1 150	5400	60 GB	Seagate Momentus 5400.2 ST96812A S	25 MB/s	24.4 MB/s	28.5 MB/s	17.4ms
New (A) 2.5"	SATA1 150	5400	160GB	Samsung HM160HI HH100-06	70 MB/s	54.9 MB/s	115.4 MB/s	22.4ms
New (B) 2.5"	SATA2 300	7200	500GB	Samsung HM500JI 2AC101C5	95 MB/s	71.5 MB/s	219.3 MB/s	21.4ms
New (C) 3.5"	SATA2 300	7200	2TB	Samsung HD203WI 1AN10003	115 MB/s	85.6 MB/s	252.5 MB/s	23.6ms

Replacement Internal HDDs for PS3

Old table

Replacement Internal HDDs for PS3

Brand	Model	Size (GB)	Interface	Cache	RPM	Height	Comments
Samsung	Spinpoint M2/HM201JJ	200	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M2/HM251JJ	250	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M5/HM121HI	120	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M5/HM160JI	160	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M5/HM250JI	250	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M6/HM251JI	250	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M6/HM320JI	320	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M6/HM400LI	400	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M6/HM500LI	500	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7/HM120GI	120	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7/HM161HI	160	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7/HM250HI	250	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7/HM320II	320	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7/HM400JI	400	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7/HM500JI	500	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7E/HM251HI	250	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M7E/HM641JI	640	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint M8/HN-M101MBB	1000	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	First 9.50mm 2-platter 1TB
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM080HJ	80	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM081HJ	80	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM100JJ	100	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM101HJ	100	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM120JJ	120	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM121HJ	120	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM160JJ	160	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM161JJ	160	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM200JJ	200	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP2/HM250JJ	250	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP4/HM250HJ	250	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP4/HM320HJ	320	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP4/HM500JJ	500	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MP4/HM640JJ	640	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MT2/HM100UI	1000	SATA-300	8MB	5400	12.5 mm	will NOT fit without modification!
Samsung	Spinpoint MT2/HM750LI	750	SATA-300	8MB	5400	12.5 mm	will NOT fit without modification!
Samsung	Spinpoint MU-X/HM160HX	160	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MU-X/HM251JX	250	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Samsung	Spinpoint MU-X/HM320JX	320	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9160314AS	160	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9160412AS	160	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9250315AS	250	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9250410AS	250	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9320325AS	320	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9320423AS	320	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9500325AS	500	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9500420AS	500	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9640320AS	640	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9750420AS	750	SATA-300	16MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Seagate	ST9750423AS	750	SATA-300	16MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD10TEVT	1000	SATA-300	8MB	5200	12.5 mm	will NOT fit without modification!
Western Digital	WD10TPVT	1000	SATA-300	8MB	5200	12.5 mm	will NOT fit without modification!
Western Digital	WD400BEAS	40	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD400BEVS	40	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD600BEAS	60	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD600BEVS	60	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD800BEAS	80	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD800BEVS	80	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD800BEVT	80	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1000BEAS	100	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1000BEVS	100	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1200BEAS	120	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1200BEVS	120	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1200BEVT	120	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1500BLFS	150	SATA-300	16MB	10000	26.1 mm	will NOT fit!
Western Digital	WD1600BEAS	160	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1600BEVS	160	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1600BEVT	160	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1600BPVT	160	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1600BEKT	160	SATA-300	8MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD1600BJKT	160	SATA-300	8MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2000BEAS	200	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2000BEVS	200	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2500BEAS	250	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2500BEVS	250	SATA-150	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2500BEVT	250	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2500BPVT	250	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2500BEKT	250	SATA-300	8MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD2500BJKT	250	SATA-300	8MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD3000BLFS	300	SATA-300	16MB	10000	26.1 mm	will NOT fit!
Western Digital	WD3200BEVT	320	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD3200BPVT	320	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD3200BEKT	320	SATA-300	8MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD3200BJKT	320	SATA-300	8MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD4000BEVT	400	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD4500BLHX	450	SATA-600	32MB	10000	26.1 mm	will NOT fit!
Western Digital	WD5000BEVT	500	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD5000BPVT	500	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD5000BEKT	500	SATA-300	8MB	7200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD6000BLHX	600	SATA-600	32MB	10000	26.1 mm	will NOT fit!
Western Digital	WD6400BEVT	640	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD6400BPVT	640	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD7500BPVT	750	SATA-300	8MB	5400	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD7500KEVT	750	SATA-300	8MB	5200	9.50 mm	-
Western Digital	WD7500KPVT	750	SATA-300	8MB	5200	9.50 mm	-

for a more updated table with 1TB 2.5" SSHD's, see Psdevwiki.com/PS4 Harddrive page

Internal SATA to External drive/cradle

You can also convert the internal SATA to an external eSATA port, to which you can connect a eSATA cradle or eSATA harddrive. Example of such a cable : http://www.cutedigi.com/images/sata_2_esata_cable.jpg

More solutions are listed here: Solutions for swapping / externalise the harddrive

CECH-40xx : External harddrive expansion for internal storage

• Vertical Stand with Storage attachement (CECH-4000A only)
  
• Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Mounting Bracket (CECH-ZHD1)
  
• Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Mounting Bracket including 250GB drive (CECH-ZS1)
  

CECH-4000B only : Internal harddrive

5400rpm Hitachi hard drive

• Z5K500 HTS545050A7E380 (500GB)
  • http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?&p=6490194#post6490194
• Z5K500 HTS543225A7A384 (250GB)
  • http://i.techrepublic.com.com/gallery/6388515-850-563.jpg
  • http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/WT1Sj1ESQygqXbLy.large

• 

  CECH-4000B only : Internal harddrive

• 

  Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Mounting Bracket
  CECH-ZCD1

• 

  Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Mounting Bracket - box
  CECH-ZCD1

External storage

The PS3 also supports external harddrives connected to the USB port (identified as USB Mass Storage device) using only FAT12/16/32 file systems format. File systems like UFS/UFS2, EXT3/EXT4, which are natively used on internal harddrive cannot be used on external on a non-modified system. You can format it to any size up to 8TB *, which is the theoretical drive size limit of FAT32. There have been verified success of 2TB external harddrives working with the PS3. The whole drive needs to be formatted into a single 2TB FAT32 partition using special software tools like fat32format.exe that can handle large drives. Note that FAT32 supports a maximum file size of 4GB.

*FAT32 restrictions:

• max amount of files: 268,173,300
• max filesize: 4,294,967,295 Bytes
• max cluster size: 32K practical, 64K with high incompatibility (PS3 and Xbox360 will accept it, but most applications will not).
• max sector size: 512 Bytes (4096 sectorsize is not compatible)
• max amount of clusters per volume: 268,435,445 (2^28)
• max volume size because of cluster limit: 8,796,093,022,208 Bytes (~8TB)
• max volume size because of compatibility: 2TB-1 @ 512B sectors, 32KB allocation unit or 4TB-1 @ 512B sectors, 64KB allocation unit (not recommended) / absolute limit would be 16 TB for 4096 byte sectors, which is incompatible with PS3

performance consideration: with a 8TB volumesize, the file allocation table itself will be 1GB, not really practical (it is 256MB at a 2TB volumesize, which is still a lot larger than ps3 memory thus negatively impacting on performance).

Tools, HDD manufacturers support webs, Documentation, etc

Diagram of Hard Disk Drive Manufacturer Consolidation
List of defunct hard disk manufacturers

Sometimes you just need to be sure that harddrive is still working in crisp condition. All harddrive manufacturers have special low level diagnostics tool for that purpose.

Low level diagnostic tools

• • Seagate SeaTools (also Samsung)
  • Maxtor PowerMax (currently Seagate)
  • Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic
  • Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (currently Western Digital)

• Some of this wikipage is also in User Manual (e.g. Page 36 and further: CECH-2001A_2001B-2.85_2.pdf)

HDD Manufacturers support and info webs

Fujitsu

http://storage.toshiba.eu/cms/en/support_services/faq.html (fujistsu storage products model numbers)

M=fujitsu, H=HNfamily, Z=series, 2=2.5", 040=40GB, BH=interface

Hitachi

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/newnum.htm

http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/pages/main?OpenDocument

http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/productfamilies/Travelstar

H=HGST, T=Travelstar, S = Standard, 54=5400rpm, 16 =topcapacity, 40=model capacity, J=Generation, 9=9mm form factor, SA=sata150 (or E3 = SATA 3Gb/s), 8=Feature code (8MB cache), 0=Unique code

Seagate

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/204763en#notebook

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/206431en?language=en_US

http://www.seagate.com/support/internal-hard-drives/consumer-electronics/ld25-series/

http://www.seagate.com/support/internal-hard-drives/laptop-hard-drives/momentus-laptop/

ST=brand(seagate) 9=form factor(2.5") 6=size(60GB) 8=cache(8mb) 12=identifier AS=interface(SATA)

Toshiba

Toshiba Europe Products - Client Hard Disk Drives: http://storage.toshiba.eu/cms/en/hdd/hard_disk_drives/index.jsp#

http://storage.toshiba.com/storage-services-support/documentation/data-sheets

http://storage.toshiba.eu/export/sites/toshiba-sdd/media/products/datasheets/mk****gsx_datasheet.pdf