PS3 PS3 Jailbroken HDD UPGRADE HOW?

Let's clarify some things first because You are nearly to lost. :)

There are three ways for migrating data from one HDD to another:
  1. automatic via System Backup Utility (official, for all consoles)
  2. automatic via HDD Exchange Utility (official, but only for debug kits and retails converted to them)
  3. by hand via FTP
  4. by hand via file manager on PS3
  5. by hand via file manager on PC
Road no.1 is most time consuming because it encrypting and compressing, in majority already encrypted and/or compressed data, through USB 2.0 and not as ready to use environment but as archives which must be unpacked in the same way but opposite, by the console, during restoring process after new HDD replaced and formatted. So imagine it as copying Windows, packing everything into eg. *.zip, then installing Windows on new HDD and unpacking this archive. As You can see, it is horrible waste of time.

Road no.2 doing the same but instead creating archives, it already copying data to ready to use environment.

Both 1 & 2 doesn't backup trophies and restoring licenses. Road 1 in addition will restore almost nothing on different console (because IDPS key is different which is used for encrypting protected archives). Road 2 cannot be used on another console because HDD is encrypted by per unit keys.

Road no.3/4/5 depends of user choice, and without encryption and compression layers because it is just copying choosen by user files from A to B.

Road 3 is not reliable because FTP isn't reliable. It hangs and break files because freezing in the middle of operations if You have plenty of files. It is server side issue and no one know why occuring and how to fix it. So if your transfer failed, then remember to again send files on which hangs because they are corrupted and needs to be send again overwriting corrupted by fine. Very tedious and annoying.

Road 4 means You need copy data to USB. But AFAIR, NTFS and exFAT support is read only, and FAT32 cannot stores files larger than 3.99GiB. Maybe things has changed, I dunno TBH. exFAT would be perfect if stable and writable.

Road 5 means connecting PS3 HDD to PC and copy data (so this means also decryption HDD on fly is mandatory, and by special apps like PS3 HDD Reader or using bswap16-ecb). Then placing new HDD to the console, format it, and then restoring by hand data from USB or via FTP (You can on PC but UFS2 support is not trustworthy, it is FreeBSD filesystem, and Linux kernel have only basic functionality for it, on other hands, FreeBSD have lack of tools needed for converting Endianness and decryption).


Choose Your poison. :D
 
Xayn said:
I was reading some comments from people said they bricked their ps3 just by putting in a new hard disk. Would that be because they failed for install the proper FirmWare.. Via USB and the same Ver of MM and WM? All being 4.90 atm?
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You can not brick your console by changing the HDD. They simply failed to install the proper FW after putting the new HDD.
 
You don't need to use the same fw. It doesn't matter as long fw package isn't in patch form or it isn't GeoHot CFW. There was few bricking CFWs but all are the past with early 3.55 era (eg. Waninkoko v1).

And yes, it is not possible to brick console by installing fw alone (except above reasons like fw which breaking something). However, if FAT32 on dev_hdd1 is broken, it can drown in boot loop until You fix it or format HDD.
 
Xayn said:
proper FW, meaning Official FW? via usb? And then you would need to re-JB?
Click to expand...
It means any FW that a regular system update would've accepted.
  • If you were on CFW or DB prior to changing the HDD you can install any type of firmware. If you immediately install CFW (or DB) again you will keep your jailbreak. If you install OFW (or HFW) you will need to jailbreak again (unless said OFW is version 3.55 or lower).
  • If you were on OFW or HFW prior to changing the HDD then immediately installing CFW will not be possible. You have to install OFW or HFW first and then do the jailbreak to switch to CFW, unless the OFW you had before replacing the HDD was version 3.55 or lower, in which case you can immediately install CFW and you don't need to jailbreak.
  • In both cases, you cannot install a firmware version lower than the one you had before changing the HDD. For instance, if you had Evilnat 4.89 then you can reinstall the same version or install 4.90 (which is the latest as of the time of writing this) but you cannot install 4.88 or prior. If you want to downgrade you have to first install a CFW of a version the same or higher than the one you have, then toggle the QA flag and downgrade.
 
Understood and thank you for you insight on the matter.

I was reading that there was a way to use a 2TB SSD, but they used Linux and I was wondering if there was a windows way to achieve same the game goal?
 
It is asking for troubles. If for some reason fschk needs to be done, then poof, You will stuck in boot loop. Safe capacity is 1TiB. But good luck with following random internet advice's. :D

There is hdparm for Windows but not reliable. In PS3 HDD Decryption Helper, I put script for automatize process (in Tasker script; for this task, You don't need decrypting or mounting anything; "Change maximum size of HDD" option). Take in mind that some UEFI and/or Linux distros, automatically lifting HPA region set.
 
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IMO Ubuntu have strange and not intuitive interface (Unity, now Gome 3), Knoppix is oriented to education and based on Debian, so don't have many user quality of life, let's say, improvements. The best idiot-proof distro which I personally using too is Linux Mint. Have normal classic look and all shit copied from Gnome3/Windows 10/11 can be easily disabled.
 
Berion said:
IMO Ubuntu have strange and not intuitive interface (Unity, now Gome 3), Knoppix is oriented to education and based on Debian, so don't have many user quality of life, let's say, improvements. The best idiot-proof distro which I personally using too is Linux Mint. Have normal classic look and all shit copied from Gnome3/Windows 10/11 can be easily disabled.
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I was suggesting those because they run off the DVD and you don't need to install them if you don't intend to use Linux regularly.
 
All Linuxes You don't need to install and all works from disc, usb etc. Majority of distributions are build in a way to allows it boot in so called live session which means, it works from above media or fully copied to RAM. ;)
 
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