PS3 with ext HDD

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stevonz

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#16595 18-Oct-2007 10:32

I want to migrate and/ or play some media (mp3's, avi's) from a portable USB HDD on my PS3. I am having issues here since the PS3 isn't recognising any data. I see from the help files that 'An appropriate USB adaptor (not included) is required to use storage media with some models.' But I can't find any accessories that appear to cater for this...

Has anyone successfully managed to connect an external media device (via USB) to a PS3 to retrieve mp3's/ avi's?? Is there any limitation on the file system (NTFS/ FAT32) utilised?? I have created folder MUSIC, PICTURE, MOVIE in the root directory... but still no joy.

Cheers, Stevo

chiefie

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#91468 18-Oct-2007 10:37

I think it has to be FAT32 as it is more common (and accessible than NTFS). I do know PS3 support external HDD via USB, it boils down to what filesystem format is being used.

AnswerBag.com: Can the playstation 3 connect and play media from a USB hard drive?

Playstation.com Board: portable usb hard drive for ps3? - Have a read at the reply, I think the poster meant to say "NTFS" instead of "NTSC"... simple foolish mistake but funny.

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AmooMan

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#91477 18-Oct-2007 11:14

I think you can do what yr after if you run Linux on that PS3.
You can dual boot into Linux or standard OS

stevonz

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#91496 18-Oct-2007 12:44

So... if the HDD is NTFS can I change this to FAT32 with something like acronis disk director WITHOUT loss of data??? There is around 200GB of data on this, which I don't really want to loose.

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#91499 18-Oct-2007 12:51

Yeah it should be pretty safe. Partition Magic or True Image (i think?) can convert without destroying data.

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bazzer

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#91507 18-Oct-2007 13:18

I haven't tried it to know for sure, but I think you'll find the PS3 can't play avi files (apart from Motion JPEG, not what you had in mind I think). You can either stream and transcode on the fly from your PC, transcode to a format PS3 supports (http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html) or install linux and play them through that (haven't done that myself yet either).

stevonz

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#91516 18-Oct-2007 13:42

bazzer: I haven't tried it to know for sure, but I think you'll find the PS3 can't play avi files (apart from Motion JPEG, not what you had in mind I think). You can either stream and transcode on the fly from your PC, transcode to a format PS3 supports (http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html) or install linux and play them through that (haven't done that myself yet either).

Uh oh... this was one of my selling points to the wife to agree to getting the PS3... shhhh!

Convert to MPEG-4 then I guess, unless I install linux (never done that before) - anyone got a simple how-to guide for this?

bazzer

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#91520 18-Oct-2007 13:52

I know, it would be great if it did. I don't know if there'll be an easier way sometime soon. I don't think it's too hard to install linux on the PS3, they designed it so it's possible. There's a few guides around, Yellow Dog Linux is the "official" distribution. If you haven't got too much on your PS3 HDD then it's the ideal time to try it. I think you need to reformat/partition the HDD to install another OS and give either 10GB to the OS or 10GB to PS3. Hopefully you have an HDTV?

I might try it this weekend and let you know.

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stevonz

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#91637 19-Oct-2007 08:24

bazzer: Hopefully you have an HDTV?

Why do I need a HDTV? The PS3 doesn't require this... and works fine on my CRT. In the future I plan to get a new TV with HD, but with a perfectly working 29" CRT TV I cannot see the point. I don't even have any HD content apart from 1 PS3 game (won here on GZ).

Update: answered my own question: Composite (yellow RCA jack) is not supported as the resolution is too low...

bazzer

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#91650 19-Oct-2007 09:30

As you said, composite is fine for PS3 generally but wouldn't really cut it for Linux (I guess you'd get 640x480?). Having said that, I think I read somewhere that you can pass some options for low-res or something, but it wouldn't be as useful. Maybe it's not the right solution for you, but it might be OK. If you'd only be using it to watch avi etc you might not need the higher resolutions. Might be worth looking in to?

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#91687 19-Oct-2007 11:56

Ok, So I assume you also have most of your media on your home PC, or you can easily put it back on.

What you need, is software that will convert your AVI's on the fly to a MP4 format your PS3 can play.

This will work over DLNA.

The software is called TVersity, and you can get it FREE from http://tversity.com/

You will need a pretty beefy PC to handle any Hidef stuff, But as you are just using a SD tv, most Pc's should be fine

stevonz

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#91692 19-Oct-2007 12:41

cheers matey... will take a look!

stevonz

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#92020 23-Oct-2007 10:26

TVersity did the business!

I found that I could also transfer files from PC/ Ext HDD connected to PC to the PS3. TVersity converted the files on the go and I can watch directly from PS3 whenever - really happy, wife happy, everybody happy!

AmooMan

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#92025 23-Oct-2007 10:32

lol we are glad yr happy :)

Im going to buy a PS3 soon.. so might get some tips off ya when it arrives