Ok… So ive been working on getting any of my three WD My Passport 1TB USB 3.0/2.0 to play on my new PS3 160gb for a while now. I have read alll the forums i can find, purchased a powered USB hub (Belkin) formatted my HDD’s to FAT32 using about 5 different programs, logical, primary, named the partition, no name etc… I also named the folders everything in the dictionary. I cant seem to get this to work. its not the HDD’s or the hub or the cords. (they all work wonderfully on my PC) i think maybe im missing a set with the PS3 or the formatting of the HDD’s. Please Help…
i have heard people using upwards of 3TB external HDDs. As far as the smartware goes yes it did come installed on it. since it has been formatted to FAT32 the software has been removed. Even with the software gone the HDD still works perfectly on my windows 7 PC formatted to FAT32
There is a VCD on the Smartware drives containing the Unlocker if you set a password. It’s normally hidden if you aen’t using the password. That possibly could be blocking things on the PS3 Send PizzaMatrix a PM mentioning this thread he’s pretty sharp on that kind of stuff.
Joe nailed the right answer: The Passport’s VCD is likely to prevent the drive from working on a PS3, this is because the drive tends -not- to use generic USB drivers for compatibility and instead it uses a proprietary SES driver for performance and interaction between the password system and the drive on a computer.
Also the USB hub can play against you since even if it’s self-powered it is likely to prevent a clean connection if it can’t handle the drive’s firmware (And is even worse if your PS3 is the Slim version, having even more power issues).
The only Passport you can try as a safe bet is the Passport AV since it is the only one sold listing PS3 support on the box, and from my own experience I can recommend you the new model of the Passport Studio (The one with a black top and a silver body) that comes without encryption. This Passport works on my Wii (Which gives even less power than a PS3) so it should work for you as well. Also Elements Portable are the general norm since they are clean drives with no features bound to the firmware at all.
soooo basically I have $300 worth of paper weight hard drives when it comes to usability on a PS3. Bummer. I guess ill just go buy a powered desktop driver since they are cheaper and ill avoid 1/2 these issues. Thank you both for the tremendous help you have provided me.
