Harddrive

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File:CECHC04 NAND-system.jpg.JPG
Most of the system software is on the harddrive, without one you get this error instead of XMB


Harddrive

  • Internal : 2.5" SATA with several partitions
  • External: USB Mass Storage device, supporting officialy only FAT12/16/32.

Internal harddrive

The PS3 uses a SATA (SATA-150) controller that has a maximum transfer speed of 1.5 Gb/s. All current PS3 models come with 5400RPM drives. The GameOS partition is an UFS2 256-bit AES-CBC/AES-XTS encrypted file system with a sectorsize of 512 bytes (4096 bits).

Because the GameOS partition is perconsole 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 perconsole encryption, hence emptying the drive)
  • to read data out in Linux, BSD, Windows, Mac OS X (there are ways to mount it readonly, but it would still be encrypted and bruteforcing all 2^256 keys would take more time then your lifetime).

Model info

SKU Manufacturer Model Size Seek Cache Transfer Speed Interface Passmark HDtune HDtach ATTO Comments
CECHAxx Seagate Momentus ST96812AS 60GB 12.5ms 8MB 31.2 MB/s SATA-150 236 min:19.7 MB/s, max:39.0 MB/s, average:31.2 MB/s, accestime:16.9 ms, burst:90.5 MB/s, CPU usage:3.7%
CECHBxx Seagate LD25 Series ST920217AS 20GB 16ms 2MB 23.9 MB/s SATA-150 171 min:2.0 MB/s, max 30.9 MB/s, average:23,9 MB/s, accestime:21.0 ms, burst:100.9 MB/s, CPU usage:0.8%
CECHCxx Seagate Momentus ST96812AS 60GB 12.5ms 8MB 31.2 MB/s SATA-150 236 min:19.7 MB/s, max:39.0 MB/s, average:31.2 MB/s, accestime:16.9 ms, burst:90.5 MB/s, CPU usage:3.7%
CECHExx Seagate Momentus ST980811AS 80GB - 8MB 41.4MB/s SATA-150 240 min:23.6 MB/s, max:53.2MB/s, average: 41,4 MB/s, accesstime:12.5 ms, burst:96.4 MB/s, CPU usage:10.7%
CECHGxx Seagate LD25 Series ST9402115AS 40GB 16ms 2MB - SATA-150 182
CECHHxx Seagate LD25 Series ST9402115AS 40GB 16ms 2MB - SATA-150 182
CECHHxx Hitachi Travelstar 5K160 HTS541640J9SA00 40GB 11ms 8MB 38.8 MB/s SATA-150 261 min:15.2 MB/s, max:48.7 MB/s, average:38.8 MB/s, accesstime:17.1 ms, burst:91.3 MB/s, CPU usage:2.0% average read:40.5 MB/s, burst read: 116.3 MB/s, accesstime:17.1 ms, CPU utilisation:7%
CECHJxx Seagate ST940210AS 40GB 14ms 2MB 27.2 MB/s SATA-150 234 min:21.0 MB/s, max:30.6 MB/s, average: 27.2 MB/s, accesstime:18.5ms, burst:22.8 MB/s, CPU usage:10.5% / read speed:34.8 MB/s accesstime:16.6 ms, burst:88.1 MB/s
CECHJxx Fujitsu MHW2040BH 40GB 12ms 8MB 30.0 MB/s SATA-150 214 max:38 MB/s, min:18 MB/s, average:30 MB/s average read: 28.2 MB/s, burst read:28.5MB/s, accesstime:21.8ms, CPU utilisation:3%
CECHKxx Fujitsu MHZ2080BH 80GB 12ms 8MB 46.0 MB/s SATA-300, PMR 311 max:61.8 MB/s, min:13.6 MB/s, average:46.0 MB/s, accesstime:18.3ms, burst:72.2 MB/s, CPU usage:5.2%
CECHLxx Fujitsu MHZ2080BH 80GB 12ms 8MB 46.0 MB/s SATA-300, PMR 311 max:61.8 MB/s, min:13.6 MB/s, average:46.0 MB/s, accesstime:18.3ms, burst:72.2 MB/s, CPU usage:5.2%
CECHLxx Hitachi Travelstar 5K250 HTS542580K9SA00 80GB 12ms 8MB 34.4 MB/s SATA-150 226 min:22.1 MB/s, max:44.3 MB/s, average: 34.4 MB/s, accesstime:17.4ms, burst:77.0 MB/s, CPU usage:1.2% average read:36.0 MB/s, accesstime:16.9ms
CECHLxx Toshiba MK8052GSX 80GB 12ms 8MB 46.0 MB/s - 326 min:6.6 MB/s, max:61.2 MB/s, average: 46.0 MB/s, accesstime:18.1ms, burst:87.3 MB/s, CPU usage:15.0% / min:9.7 MB/s, max:27.5 MB/s, average: 24.3 MB/s, accesstime:19.1ms, burst:24.7 MB/s, CPU usage:4.9%
CECHMxx - - 80GB - - - -
CECHPxx Fujitsu MHZ2160BH 160GB 12ms 8MB 46.1 MB/s SATA-300 PMR 245 min:33.4 MB/s, max:68.2, average:54.3 MB/s, accesstime:17.2ms, burst:75.2 MB/s, CPU usage:1% / min:15.4 MB/s, max:63.4 MB/s, average:50.4 MB/s, accesstime:17.4ms, burst:75.7 MB/s, CPU usage:10.0% / min:31.7 MB/s, max:63.1 MB/s, average:50.5 MB/s, accesstime:17.3ms, burst:75.2 MB/s, CPU usage:3.8% / min:6.7 MB/s, max:63.5 MB/s, average:46.1 MB/s, accesstime:19.3ms, burst:71.5 MB/s, CPU usage:8.6.8% / min:29.3 MB/s, max:60.2 MB/s, average:46.4 MB/s, accesstime:21.9ms, burst:81.1 MB/s, CPU usage:2.4% / min:27.8 MB/s, max:60.2 MB/s, average:46.9 MB/s, accesstime:17.4ms, burst:66.3 MB/s, CPU usage:1.3% average read:57.3 MB/s, burst read:77.3 MB/s, accesstime:17.3ms, CPU utilisation:6% 66444 KB/s / 64450 KB/s
CECHPxx Toshiba MK1652GSX 160GB 12ms 8MB 48.7 MB/s SATA-300 PMR 341 min:16.9 MB/s, max:61.8 MB/s, average:49.5 MB/s, accesstime:18.1ms, burst:73.0 MB/s, CPU usage:4.8% / min:20.1 MB/s, max:61.9 MB/s, average:48.7 MB/s, accesstime:18.0ms, burst:72.8 MB/s, CPU usage:4.1% / min:31.2 MB/s, max:61.8 MB/s, average:50.2 MB/s, accesstime:18.7ms, burst:73.3 MB/s, CPU usage:3.9% / min:20.5 MB/s, max:61.8 MB/s, average:47.2 MB/s, accesstime:18.1ms, burst:76.7 MB/s, CPU usage:?% average read: 50.6 MB/s, burst read: 151.8 MB/s, accesstime:18.1ms 57604 KB/s / 61077 KB/s
CECHQxx Fujitsu MHZ2160BH 160GB 12ms 8MB 46.1 MB/s SATA-300 PMR 245 min:33.4 MB/s, max:68.2 MB/s, average:54.3 MB/s, accesstime:17.2ms, burst:75.2 MB/s, CPU usage:1% / min:15.4 MB/s, max:63.4 MB/s, average:50.4 MB/s, accesstime:17.4ms, burst:75.7 MB/s, CPU usage:10.0% / min:31.7 MB/s, max:63.1 MB/s, average:50.5 MB/s, accesstime:17.3ms, burst:75.2 MB/s, CPU usage:3.8% / min:6.7 MB/s, max:63.5 MB/s, average:46.1 MB/s, accesstime:19.3ms, burst:71.5 MB/s, CPU usage:8.6.8% / min:29.3 MB/s, max:60.2 MB/s, average:46.4 MB/s, accesstime:21.9ms, burst:81.1 MB/s, CPU usage:2.4% / min:27.8 MB/s, max:60.2 MB/s, average:46.9 MB/s, accesstime:17.4ms, burst:66.3 MB/s, CPU usage:1.3% average read:57.3 MB/s, burst read:77.3 MB/s, accesstime:17.3ms, CPU utilisation:6% 66444 KB/s / 64450 KB/s
CECH-20xxA Toshiba MK1255GSX 120GB 12ms 8MB 52.9 MB/s SATA-300 PMR 395 min:24.8 MB/s, max:72.4 MB/s, average:52.9 MB/s, accesstime:17.6ms, burst:74.3 MB/s, CPU usage:8.3%
CECH-20xxA Hitachi 5K500 HTS545012B9SA00 120GB 11ms 8MB 62.0 MB/s SATA-150 ?363? min:36.5 MB/s, max:79.2 MB/s, average:62.0 MB/s, accesstime:20.2ms, burst:99.9 MB/s, CPU usage:3.2%
CECH-20xxB Toshiba MK2555GSX 250GB - - - -
CECH-21xxA - - 120GB - - - -
CECH-21xxB - - 250GB - - - -
CECH-25xxA - - 120GB - - - -
CECH-25xxA Toshiba MK1665GSX 160GB 12ms 8MB 74.6 MB/s SATA-300 min:45.9 MB/s, max:93.8 MB/s, average:74.6 MB/s, accesstime:16.8ms, burst:203.6 MB/s, CPU usage:11.4% average read:77.3 MB/s, burst read:242.6 MB/s, accesstime:16.7ms, CPU utilisation:1% 97969 KB/s / 93858 KB/s
CECH-25xxB - - 250GB - - - -
CECH-25xxB Toshiba MK3276GSX 320GB 12ms 8MB 68 MB/s SATA-300 516 min:41.9 MB/s, max:89.6 MB/s, average:68.0 MB/s, accesstime:16.8ms, burst:143.2 MB/s, CPU usage:1% Crystal: Seq R/W: 88.61/87.61 MB/s, 512K R/W: 33.91/36.79 MB/s, 4K R/W: 0.451/0.987 MB/s, 4K QD32 R/W: 1.043/1.016 MB/s
CECH-25xxA - - 120GB - - - -
CECH-25xxB - - 250GB - - - -
CECH-25xxB - - 320GB - - - -
CECH-25xxA - - 160GB - - - -
CECH-25xxB - - 320GB - - - -
CECH-30xxA Toshiba MK1676GSX 160GB 12ms 8MB 72.4MB/s SATA-300 min 46.0 MB/s, max: 96.7 MB/s, average: 76.6 MB/s, accesstime:16.2ms, burst206.6 MB/s, CPU usage: 1%
CECH-30xxB Toshiba MK3276GSX 320GB 12ms 8MB 68 MB/s SATA-300 516 min:41.9 MB/s, max:89.6 MB/s, average:68.0 MB/s, accesstime:16.8ms, burst:143.2 MB/s, CPU usage:1% Crystal: Seq R/W: 88.61/87.61 MB/s, 512K R/W: 33.91/36.79 MB/s, 4K R/W: 0.451/0.987 MB/s, 4K QD32 R/W: 1.043/1.016 MB/s

The maximum size of the internal harddrive that the PS3 supports is 1TB (TeraBytes)

note: this seems untrue as there are several people posting pictures of their external to internal drive mod with a size of 2TB

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

Internal Harddrive info in NOR

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  ................

Replacing the internal harddisk

For compatibility, if you have a SATA-300 (sometimes called SATA-II or SATA2) 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.


Step-by-step:

  • Download the FULL version of FW you currently have (tip: see here) on the old harddisk and put it on a USB Mass Storage Device formatted with FAT32 in \PS3\UPDATE\PS3UPDAT.PUP
  • If you wish to transfer your savegames / installed games, trophies, DLC/PSN etc. you can use Backup / Restore BEFORE you exchange the harddisk. 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)
  • Disconnect the LAN/UTP cable to disable the possibility that another FW (3.50) gets downloaded
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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.

The above semi-guide is also readable in the PS3 Owners Manual.

TIP(s)

Exchanging the internal drive to a 7200RPM model doesn’t do much for your loading times (shaves off a second or 2) and 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 argueing 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 back on your electric bill or thermometer.

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

Harddisk 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

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 -

Encryption

PS3 uses XTS-AES-128 to encrypt the internal HDD drive.

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.

External storage

The PS3 also supports external harddrives (via the USB port) using the FAT32 file system format. Files 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.

** note: this seems untrue, because when >2TB drives have hit the market, no screenshots of >2TB external storage are known

Low level diagnostic tools

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.

User manual

Some of this wikipage is also in User Manual (e.g. Page 36 and further: CECH-2001A_2001B-2.85_2.pdf) and Knowledge Centre: Can I upgrade the hard disk drive (HDD) inside my PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system?

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