PS3 and the Passports

I have read through the forums, and am just putting together all the information from previous posts, and some of my own experiences of using the 1T Passport with the PS3.

I’m a fan of instructions that have a “tl;dr” section, so I’ll skip the basics and just throw that section up:

  1. FAT32 is a must, and the software on WD site is more than adequate.

  2. Logical drive is all that is necessary, if it will be a dedicated backup for the PS3 (mine is).

  3. The PS3 *DOES NOT* have the necessary power to activate the drive from a single USB port; trying this will result (likely) in damage to your drive. So,

  4. A powered USB hub is a must.

Most of these are already on the forum, however a few are not. Also, they are not in one place. Hopefully this will at least save the next console gamer from almost throwing out their new Passport.

Post Scriptum: Mabkay’s sticky is relevant to console users, and that was what saved my drive from the dump. Funny enough, I almost plugged it into the powered HUB, but decided that it is better if the Passport is powered off, when the PS3 is off. So, Passport goes into the PS3, blinks and clicks… and fails. So, many thanks to your detailed post Mabkay :slight_smile:

I purchased a Passport to use with my PS3, was not aware that the unit need to be formatted in FAT32. I didn’t even know about the different type of formats until I got into the community and gathered more information. Thank you for your post, it was sure helpful. Hope it helps others as well!