Hacking Can multimann backup to internal HDD? (and related questions)

[Elliander]

I am getting in a new first generation PS3 soon (official firmware 3.55) and have been reading through many guides and have decided that I ultimately want to install "Rogero CEX-4.30 v2.05", but the guides say I need Multimann first to backup the NAND which apparently needs another CFM first.

The guides all say I will need to have a USB hard drive for Multimann, but to be honest my budget will be tapped after this and my external hard drive is dedicated to my Wii. Since the PS3 will have over 500 GB available space on the internal hard drive couldn't I simply use the internal drive exclusively? Or do I absolutely need to use an external drive for some reason? (I don't mind putting the internal drive in a hard drive enclosure to connect it to the PC if that is the only issue.).

I know I will eventually run out of space considering how large a single PS3 game can get up to so I would also like to know if I could eventually use both, or at a later time move games from the internal to external hard drive. (and on that point, how exactly do I handle games larger than 4 GB? For example, God of War III will take up 35 GB, most more than 8 GB)

(I am planning on following this guide *snip* after looking at a few)

Something else I am not clear about is if a CFW PS3 can stream PS1 games to a CFW PSP 2000, and if I would be able to load PS1, PS2, and PS3 games from the PS3 with CFW. And also if I could simply move my old PS1 backups onto the PS3 and expect them to work without digging through the attic and reripping everything and hope they aren't too badly scratched.

 

[Originality]

External USB is recommended for convenience, but not strictly needed. Even a 2GB flash drive would work for downloading updates and installing packages.

Most games (I forget if all games) will work on internal drive. Some even require the internal drive. If you don't want to use an external drive, you will need to use the FTP functions to transfer games directly to the internal drive.

I don't know about PS1 backups since that's a relatively new feature that I've yet to explore.

 

[Elliander]

I bought a cheap 16 GB flash drive just in case. So even if I store nothing on the flash drive, I could use it to more quickly apply updates?

Also, can a USB hub be used for multiple hard drives on the PS3? Or at least be able to use both the back USB ports for hard drives? And how large of a USB hard drive can I use? Since PS3 games can potentially go as high as 50 GB that is a bit of a concern. (Or up to 100 GB if they go Dual Layer!) I know I will likely end up upgrading the internal hard drive to over 1 TB eventually, but with such large game files I know I will run out of space eventually.

I checked on my old PS2 games in the attic, and it looks like they are in pretty good shape. I know most PS2 games are under 4 GB, but I know some can be larger. Would I be able to rip the game in the PS3 even if the game is larger than 4 GB? And what if a disc is too badly scratched to re-rip? I would I take a larger than 4 GB file and move it to a hard drive to be used? Is there a program to split the ISO or something?

(Note: my PS3 has hardware compatibility with PS2 games. The main reason I bought a first generation is because I have way too many PS2 games to want to loose support for, and since my PS2 was stolen years ago I haven't been able to play outside of emulators which were too slow.)

 

[trumpet-205]

You need more expensive external powered USB hub. Regular USB hub won't work as it cannot provide enough power.

Also, last time I checked multiman can only rip PS3, DVD and Bluray movies (later two in encrypted format requires you to decrypt on a PC). I don't recall it has the ability to rip PS2 games. Surely you can rip PS2 games on your PC right?

 

[mechadylan]

(I am planning on following this guide *snip* after looking at a few)

Wow, Cyan's guide (and all of it's incarnations) really gets around: http://gbatemp.net/threads/multiman-beginners-guide.291170/

Anywho, how big is your Wii's ext HDD? Is 500GB big enough? This suggestion might be a lot of work, but if money is an issue you should consider it. Replace your PS3's internal HDD with a smaller/cheaper one (160GB or so.) Get a USB enclosure for the the 500GB and use that for your Wii. Use your Wii's ext HDD (I'm assuming it's around 1TB) and reformat it for your PS3.

 

[Elliander]

You need more expensive external powered USB hub. Regular USB hub won't work as it cannot provide enough power.

I figured as much when I noticed how all the official USB hubs seem to plug into two USB ports at the same time, but if powered could the CFW read from more than one drive? I know the Wii can't, but that's not as big of an issue since the PS3 has larger game files to worry about.

Also, last time I checked multiman can only rip PS3, DVD and Bluray movies (later two in encrypted format requires you to decrypt on a PC). I don't recall it has the ability to rip PS2 games. Surely you can rip PS2 games on your PC right?

That would be no problem for me, but that brings me back to the issue of what to do with PS2 games that are larger than 4 GB. Is there a tool to split the ISO in a way that it can read both together as if one file? Like how with the Wii backup managers files are split into segments?

Wow, Cyan's guide (and all of it's incarnations) really gets around: http://gbatemp.net/threads/multiman-beginners-guide.291170/

Thanks for that link! I must have missed that one. Looks more complete too!

Anywho, how big is your Wii's ext HDD? Is 500GB big enough? This suggestion might be a lot of work, but if money is an issue you should consider it. Replace your PS3's internal HDD with a smaller/cheaper one (160GB or so.) Get a USB enclosure for the the 500GB and use that for your Wii. Use your Wii's ext HDD (I'm assuming it's around 1TB) and reformat it for your PS3.

My Wii's external HDD is 1 TB, and when Gamecube loading became enabled that pretty much filled it up. My desktop has a 3 TB hard drive, but that is full too. I know I will eventually buy another external hard drive for the Wii, but I am sorta paranoid about data loss so pretty much put into storage hard drives instead of repartitioning just in case. (that paranoia saved my data many times). So really I just want to get things working for now with the internal until I can afford to get a new 4 TB each for the Wii and PS3.

The internal HDD is 640 GB, but that just means I have just over 500 GB usable. I am planning to eventually change for a solid state internal drive that is smaller if heat becomes an issue, or a 1 TB internal of heat isn't an issue.

EDIT: Also, looking at price comparisons, they all cost around the same regardless of capacity. A 1 TB costs 70.00, a 500 GB costs around 70.00, 320 GB costs around 60.00 and a 250 GB costs around 50.00. Oddly, I could only find 100 GB that cost over 100.00! (around the same as a 100 GB solid state). I can't justify buying a lower capacity, when the highest capacity is so cheap.

For solid state a 256 GB costs around 250.00 and a 128 GB costs around 125.00 so I wouldn't go that route unless heat became a very serious problem.

 

[Originality]

I personally use a 1TB Samsung external drive for Wii and PS3, since it only uses a single miniUSB to USB cable for data and power. For games I play frequently, I copy them to my 250GB HDD. For others, I transfer between the external drive and my storage drives as necessary (I've got 3TB and 2x1TB in my PC, 2x1TB in my NAS, and 3x500GB in my brother's PC, along with 1.5TB hotswappable and another 1TB external).

...I need another 3TB storage drive sometime...

 

[mechadylan]

The internal HDD is 640 GB, but that just means I have just over 500 GB usable. I am planning to eventually change for a solid state internal drive that is smaller if heat becomes an issue, or a 1 TB internal of heat isn't an issue.

The last time that I checked, there were no 1 TB internal hdds that could fit inside a PS3. The reason being that the max height that is supported is 9mm and all 1TB notebook SATA hdds are 12mm. Apologies if this is no longer the case. I personally went with a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 750GB 5400RPM. Way back when, it was ill-advised to go with a 7200RPM internal as there was occasional "audio chirp" when playing certain games off of the internal.

 

[Elliander]

The last time that I checked, there were no 1 TB internal hdds that could fit inside a PS3. The reason being that the max height that is supported is 9mm and all 1TB notebook SATA hdds are 12mm. Apologies if this is no longer the case. I personally went with a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 750GB 5400RPM. Way back when, it was ill-advised to go with a 7200RPM internal as there was occasional "audio chirp" when playing certain games off of the internal.

1.) The size of the PS3 hdd is 2.5" 9.5mm (not 9mm)
2.) Here is a 1 TB HDD. 2.5", 9.5mm, 8 MB Cache, 5200 RPM. It costs less than 80.00 when you count shipping. So ya, it's thankfully no longer the case. The only reason I didn't buy it is because the PS3 I bought included more than I need this minute, so I will likely hold out until a 1.5 TB becomes available.

EDIT: Funny side note. A refurbished is for sale for around twice as much as a new one. That tells you a great deal about how quickly prices drop.

Good to know about the higher RPM issue!

 

[mechadylan]

1.) The size of the PS3 hdd is 2.5" 9.5mm (not 9mm)
2.) Here is a 1 TB HDD. 2.5", 9.5mm, 8 MB Cache, 5200 RPM. It costs less than 80.00 when you count shipping. So ya, it's thankfully no longer the case. The only reason I didn't buy it is because the PS3 I bought included more than I need this minute, so I will likely hold out until a 1.5 TB becomes available.

EDIT: Funny side note. A refurbished is for sale for around twice as much as a new one. That tells you a great deal about how quickly prices drop.

Good to know about the higher RPM issue!

...and good to know about the 1 TB drives. Obviously, it's been a while since I tinkered with my PS3. I might be jumping onto the Rogero CFW bandwagon myself sometime soon so I'd like to hear how your mod goes.

The only game that was ever brought up that audio chirped on a 7200 was FFXIII. This is of course back before split games and it could only be played from the internal. I don't think this issue was ever addressed with multiMan or any other app as it is directly related to the PS3 hardware itself.

 

[Elliander]

Can you explain how to split games? That's one of the few things I am still confused about, because obviously I can't just move a file over to an FAT32 partition without splitting it first. Is there a guide somewhere that can show me how to do that with oversized PS2 and PS3 games? And honestly, I prefer a 2 GB file limit anyway so I'd apply that to most PS2 games if I could.

I'm really glad that CFW came out. I was about ready to bite the bullet, go the hard mod route, and take an official CFW just for full compatibility. I'm still very nervous about it. It looks like it will be more less user friendly to mod than the Wii was. I will likely spend most of spring break working on it.

An observation: IF a 7200 RPM drive doesn't provide any real increase in speed for loading games, and produces more heat, it seems like even without the chirps it wouldn't be worth going for.

 

[mechadylan]

Can you explain how to split games? That's one of the few things I am still confused about, because obviously I can't just move a file over to an FAT32 partition without splitting it first. Is there a guide somewhere that can show me how to do that with oversized PS2 and PS3 games? And honestly, I prefer a 2 GB file limit anyway so I'd apply that to most PS2 games if I could.

I'm really glad that CFW came out. I was about ready to bite the bullet, go the hard mod route, and take an official CFW just for full compatibility. I'm still very nervous about it. It looks like it will be more less user friendly to mod than the Wii was. I will likely spend most of spring break working on it.

An observation: IF a 7200 RPM drive doesn't provide any real increase in speed for loading games, and produces more heat, it seems like even without the chirps it wouldn't be worth going for.

MultiMan will split the games onto an ext HDD automatically if you are moving them from the internal or ripping them. The split games will show up on multiMan with a "SPLIT" label and the cover art will be in black and white as opposed to color. I don't know how that would work on a PS2 game.

As for the 7200RPM drives, I think you are absolutely correct. The bottle neck for transfer speed is on the PS3 side and over heating maybe a side effect (as is overheating) of a faster drive.

 

[Elliander]

MultiMan will split the games onto an ext HDD automatically if you are moving them from the internal or ripping them. The split games will show up on multiMan with a "SPLIT" label and the cover art will be in black and white as opposed to color. I don't know how that would work on a PS2 game.

As for the 7200RPM drives, I think you are absolutely correct. The bottle neck for transfer speed is on the PS3 side and over heating maybe a side effect (as is overheating) of a faster drive.

I was able to find a solution here. Looks like there is a program to split it on the PC side.

Here's another question: If the PS3 can stream games from a computer, could it stream from a network hard drive? For example, if I got a big Network Hard drive (like one of those 15 TB I know I will never afford) could it stream the game using a network function even if the hard drive is NTFS?

And speaking of streaming: If one person is playing the PS3 at home, and I stream from it a PS1 game to a PSP between classes will that work? What if more than one PSP wants to connect to the same PS3?

 

[tbgtbg]

The last time that I checked, there were no 1 TB internal hdds that could fit inside a PS3. The reason being that the max height that is supported is 9mm and all 1TB notebook SATA hdds are 12mm. Apologies if this is no longer the case. I personally went with a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 750GB 5400RPM. Way back when, it was ill-advised to go with a 7200RPM internal as there was occasional "audio chirp" when playing certain games off of the internal.

Someone on another board was always going on about how you could get a 1TB HDD in the PS3 so long as you physically did something or other to the drive bay in the PS3 to make more room for the drive. I wasn't about to try it, though!

Sounds like the issue is moot now, though.

 

[Elliander]

Someone on another board was always going on about how you could get a 1TB HDD in the PS3 so long as you physically did something or other to the drive bay in the PS3 to make more room for the drive. I wasn't about to try it, though
Sounds like the issue is moot now, though.

Interesting concept. I would never go so far either unless someone already did it successfully - and did so in a way that did not obstruct air flow or create a dangerous amount of heat.

Sounds like the issue is moot now, though.

Oh, that kind of issue is never moot Now that there are instead 1.5 TB at the 12 mm size, well, let's just say the grass is always greener I would be content waiting.

 

[mechadylan]

Someone on another board was always going on about how you could get a 1TB HDD in the PS3 so long as you physically did something or other to the drive bay in the PS3 to make more room for the drive. I wasn't about to try it, though!

Sounds like the issue is moot now, though.

There were a few tuts floating around a few years ago from people that jury-rigged a SATA cable from their internal's port into a 1TB HDD but frankly, I'd never try it. I'm generally a "function over form" kinda guy, but these frankensteined attempts looked god-awful. OT, I saw this link on another post here: http://www.tortuga-cove.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4336 and am seriously considering making the jump from kmeaw CFW 3.55 to Rogero 4.30 v2.05 myself.

 

[Originality]

I've made the jump to Rogero 4.3 v2.04 (too lazy to switch to 2.05). Apparently PSN works but I'm staying offline until I hear more stories of people getting banned or not.

 

[trumpet-205]

Someone on another board was always going on about how you could get a 1TB HDD in the PS3 so long as you physically did something or other to the drive bay in the PS3 to make more room for the drive. I wasn't about to try it, though!

Yes you can use 1TB HDD on PS3, but it must have a height less than 9.5 mm. Most 2.5 hard drive with space 500 GB and above are 12.5 mm tall, making it impossible to fit inside PS3 drive bay.

Alternatively, you can grab a SATA to eSATA cable and eSATA docking station, then you can use even 3.5 hard drive.

I've made the jump to Rogero 4.3 v2.04 (too lazy to switch to 2.05). Apparently PSN works but I'm staying offline until I hear more stories of people getting banned or not.

I'm using Rebug 4.30.1 and so far I can access PSN just fine. I think you will be fine, just don't connect to the Internet during gameplay.

 

[mechadylan]

Yes you can use 1TB HDD on PS3, but it must have a height less than 9.5 mm. Most 2.5 hard drive with space 500 GB and above are 12.5 mm tall, making it impossible to fit inside PS3 drive bay.

Alternatively, you can grab a SATA to eSATA cable and eSATA docking station, then you can use even 3.5 hard drive.


I'm using Rebug 4.30.1 and so far I can access PSN just fine. I think you will be fine, just don't connect to the Internet during gameplay.

This has already been addressed by OP. No worries, I didn't know about it either.

1.) The size of the PS3 hdd is 2.5" 9.5mm (not 9mm)
2.) Here is a 1 TB HDD. 2.5", 9.5mm, 8 MB Cache, 5200 RPM. It costs less than 80.00 when you count shipping. So ya, it's thankfully no longer the case. The only reason I didn't buy it is because the PS3 I bought included more than I need this minute, so I will likely hold out until a 1.5 TB becomes available.

EDIT: Funny side note. A refurbished is for sale for around twice as much as a new one. That tells you a great deal about how quickly prices drop.

Good to know about the higher RPM issue!

 

[Originality]

I'm using Rebug 4.30.1 and so far I can access PSN just fine. I think you will be fine, just don't connect to the Internet during gameplay.

...which is exactly what I want to do. I want to use the online features (and DLC) of Disgaea 4. But since I'm not certain about if its "safe", I'm just staying offline. For now.