PS3 Question

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DjShadow

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Topic # 24595 28-Jul-2008 21:19

Can the PS3 read off more than 1 removable storage device at once?
e.g if I got a USB hub and pluged in say 2 1Tb HDD's, will it be able to read both drives through the same connection? (the hope of this idea is that Sony improves the DivX codec to play all DivX content so I got no problem playing anything)

NZtechfreak

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Reply # 152305 29-Jul-2008 09:20

Good question, I don't know the answer.

EDIT: OK, a quick google tells me that the USB hub will work, however it may need to have its own power source in order to supply enough juice to connected drives.

An alternative is to use TVersity as a media server and simply connect the drives to your PC - that also solves all playback problems since TVersity transcodes on the fly... I use WMP11 as a media server and convert to Auto-GK's XVid codec, which the PS3 handles fine.

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rb85

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Reply # 152316 29-Jul-2008 09:48

Techfreak is right.

Your best option is a media server.

Tockly

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Reply # 152340 29-Jul-2008 10:44

I also agree... Streaming media is the way to go.

I have a Vista PC with WMP 11 and 2TB of disk and I stream everything via wifi.

Works really well. Have found a couple fo things that wouldn't play, but nothing major. They were fairly odd ball things.

AmooMan

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Reply # 152377 29-Jul-2008 12:15

I will try using 2 x USB 2GB keys
I should get a chance tonight to test that out on my PS3 and see if they both work when plugged in at same time..

Will report back..

NZtechfreak

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Reply # 152399 29-Jul-2008 13:12

I'm nearly 100% certain they will, but that won't exactly help the OP as they will use less juice than external HDDs I would think. Since he mentioned that he is having incompatibility problems then TVersity is the best solution here I think.

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DjShadow

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Reply # 152506 29-Jul-2008 19:24

I've looked at the media server option using both WMP11 and TVersity
I've found since the DivX update to the PS3 firmware, when I try to use WMP as server the PS3 seems to pull the data through in
divx format and I get the error saying "format not supported", when I try TVersity I notice it does transcode the video to mpeg2 but given the link between my laptop and the PS3 is wireless via an access point the picture can be a little bit unstable.
I have e-mailed Sony directly asking about better Divx support but they couldn't really answer the question, a look at google also I notice a few others are asking the same question too.
The idea I had about hooking drives up to a USB hub then into the PS3 was for when Sony does improve Divx support and I wouldn't need the laptop on to stream video data.

NZtechfreak

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Reply # 152508 29-Jul-2008 19:34

The DivX thing is a little weird alright. Some play, some don't. I generally don't have much trouble, but I had a weird thing happen with Auto-GK DivX encodes. I did a few to test them, they worked fine, then I set up a worklist with a few more and none of them worked - even though the settings were identical. Now I use Auto-GKs XVid codec and all is well. Strange though...

For me the main problem I have is the lack of proper subtitles support. Would be nice if I didn't need to hardcode all the subs...

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AmooMan

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Reply # 152516 29-Jul-2008 20:03

Turns out my 2nd memory stick has stopped working.. so i cant help out with testing sorry..

Good luck anyways

DjShadow

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Reply # 152539 29-Jul-2008 20:48

I'm sure I read somewhere one of the things the PS3 doesn't play AC3 audio in Divx (5.1 surround)

Nightwyrm

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Reply # 152540 29-Jul-2008 20:51

Personally, I've had no issues with TwonkyMedia. There is a small license charge but is a small install, small-process service, and I've streamed a couple of HD-quality avi files wirelessly to the PS3 without issue. Haven't had to add any codec packages to my PC either.

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DjShadow

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Reply # 152549 29-Jul-2008 21:03

thing I miss with upgrading from xbox 1 to PS3, i had it chipped and I was running XBMC, it could play anything and it was handy.

EvilSteve

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Reply # 153618 2-Aug-2008 16:38

You wont or shouldnt need a powered usb hub to hook up 2x1tb hdds to the ps3 as i imagine these drives are 3.5" drives in enclosures which have to be externally powered anyways.

If your using 2.5" drives in enclosures then maybe it would be a good idea to get a powered hub, ive had pc's and hub's disconnect my 120g external when i plug in my 80g external.

Its all going to depend on the drives and enclosures u use, if your going to use a hub tho, check out the mA rating on the power brick that comes with it, if u want to be able to use all the ports for drives then your going to want a 2A plug (500mA x 4 ports)

lchiu7

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Reply # 153636 2-Aug-2008 17:28

From memory the PS3 doesn't support NTFS so you are going to have to format the 1Tb drives as FAT32. Then I am not sure if there is a partition size limit for FAT32. Finally in FAT32 no file can be larger than 4G.

Food for thought I guess

The media server is a better idea. I have used Tversity as others have noted and it works fine most of the time.

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