HOW TO CONNECT EXTERNAL HARD DISK TO PS3

i found a lot of incomplete information. thats why i am creating this. feel free to copy  these steps into any forums  or guides you want to. i just wanted to help.

steps are below..

1. connect external hard disk to computer

2. install software called EaseUS Partition Master. download free version. no need of any paid version.

3. open software and open partition manager

4. your external hard disk should be here. if you have not previously formatted it, do it now. this will erase all data in the hard disk (duh..)

5. in the external drive, it should say unallocated space (or something like that). right click and choose create partition

6. it will ask for settings. CHOOSE THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS AS I TELL YOU. DONT ALTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

SIZE OF PARTITION SHOULD BE LESS THAN 192 GB.

FORMAT SHOULD BE FAT32

and finally,  AND MOST IMPORTANT, CHOOSE PARTITION TO BE LOGICAL. NOT PRIMARY. MANY GUIDES FORGET THIS STEP. ONLY LOGICAL PARTITIONS ARE DETECTED BY PS3s.

7. select apply changes and after about a minute, it says done.

8. connect to ps3 and enjoy.. :)


if any one has any doubt, put as a comment. i'll try to answer when i'm free..


some faqs for this..
Q: why this software. what about partition magic or norton's shitty partition manager?
A: it has option to create logical partition easily. technically, you can create a logical partition using windows disk management. but its easier this way

Q: why less than 192gb?
A: its complicated. but its most liable to work in these settings. i just wanted to give a brief setup. u can experiment with  more settings. gud luck.. but a 192gb setup is most preferred by the ps3's hardware programming.

Q: i cant see anything in my hard disk?
A: u have to create folders inside for the system to recognise. first create a folder called PS3. inside, for videos, create folder called VIDEO. i guess u get the idea. another easy way is to press triangle on hard disk and select "display all" in the ps3. its actually easier

Q:can i have more partitions?
A: sadly no, the ps3 recognises only one drive. so cram everything into the one partition only

Q: how safe is data in the drive?
A: unless power failure occurs during data transfer, its pretty safe.