I have this same issue... I just purchased a nice Samsung 1tb G70 Evo and have plugged it in and get the error code to plug in a drive with the 4.89 update.
I' ve formatted a 4gb thumb drive to fat 32, made the PS3 Folder, then went into the folder and created an UPDATE folder, then pasted the pup, file.
I plug the drive into the ps3, I press and hold start & select. It checks for the drive and then reports 8002F225
A serious error has occurred, contact technical support for assistance.
I've tried this with another USB drive, only 1gb in size , formated to fat32 same error.
It's the same error code. I've pressed the PS button to restart, and it goes back to the same screen.
When I put in the old hard drive, I am able ot use the ps3 and access everthing.
Currently i'm doing a full system restore and then will try to swap drives. Anyone know the ix to this:?