Mysterious PS3 eSATA adapter promises massive HDD storage
by Majed Athab 
{ Feb 3rd 2009 at 4:45PM }
Sure, there are other ways of getting massive amounts of bytes onto the PS3. One can simply swap in a new internal 2.5" SATA into the system, or even just hook up any old USB hard drive with little hassle; however, the latter won't give the same transfer speed as an eSATA. From the looks of it, the PHE-01 also comes with an additional four USB ports. Still, there isn't much else we know about this product or if it is even commercially viable ... or real. Maybe it's a leaked prototype perhaps? While we ponder this, you can check out more images of it at Gemaga.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
vahdyx @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:05PM
It's looking pretty hoaxy to me, but if it's real I still don't think I'll buy it.
I'd rather buy a big internal HDD
bboston7 @ Feb 3rd 2009 7:31PM
The advantage of this is that you could use 3.5 inch drives which are much cheaper. They also allow faster RPMs with less worries about heat.
NineT9 @ Feb 4th 2009 1:06AM
think a lot of people fail to see the signficance of this, so let me go over a few thigns:
With being able to use eSATA this means:
*Ability to use any size HDD (Western Digital & Seagate just announced 2TB Internal HDD's, which means we'll see 2TB Externals with eSATA ports)
*Faster 3.5" HDD (2.5" aren't that fast)
*The new eSATA drive can be formatted to NTSF (Which means no more limitation on file character length, and file size... For example: No need to split up your MKV Files into 4GB)... Currently internal PS3 HDD's are formatted to NTSF, compared to USB drives that are formatted to FAT32 (yuck)
Currently, the PS3 internal 2.5" hdd is limited to:
500GB Maximum HDD Size
Slow RPM
2.5" is a lot more expensive then 3.5"
Anyway, this is really good news for those wanting a Media solution for their HIDEF playback
Rickdiculous @ Feb 4th 2009 2:22PM
@NineT9
"*The new eSATA drive can be formatted to NTSF (Which means no more limitation on file character length, and file size... For example: No need to split up your MKV Files into 4GB)... Currently internal PS3 HDD's are formatted to NTSF, compared to USB drives that are formatted to FAT32 (yuck)"
Any drive can be formatted to fat32. I just formatted an external 1.5TB Seagate drive to fat32, with ONE partition (using Fat32Format). Currently, the PS3 DOES NOT use fat32 as the file system. I've taken my harddrive out of my PS3 and connected it to a Mac (which has read capability for NTFS) and an XP machine (which obviously has read/write capability for NTFS). I would mount on neither, using every tool I could find (Swissknife, etc.) The forums I've read said some have had luck forcing their PS3 drives in Linux, but some haven't. USB drives comes formatted as Fat32 so they it will have native read/write support on Mac and Windows. The Seagate 1.5TB external drive I formatted did not show Mac support on the box. It shipped formatted as NTFS. The advantage of the eSata connector would be for speed and price, NOT file system.
Rickdiculous @ Feb 4th 2009 2:23PM
Correction:
"Currently, the PS3 DOES NOT use NTFS as the file system."
Aaron @ Feb 4th 2009 3:02PM
This seems like a good product if you use your PS3 as a stand-alone media computer.
The PS3's prowess as a media machine is one of the biggest reasons I got a PS3 instead of an XBOX360. I've experimented with using external USB drives and increasing the internal drive size, and the best bet I've (personally) found was to stream your media over Ethernet from your Mac or PC. Even 100-base-T is fast enough for HD content.
FAT32 drives -- the format required for external USB storage on the PS3 -- have a filesize limitation of 4GB... which isn't enough for many (most?) 1080p HD movies. Stream them off your computer instead and leave the small internal hard drive in place. Just make sure your storage solution is formatted in HFS+ (Mac), NTFS (Windows), or EXT2/3 (Linux) to handle larger filesizes.
NineT9 @ Feb 4th 2009 5:20PM
@Rickdiculous
I think you misread my post :D
I know you can format any External Drive to FAT32, as you said, thats how they all are when you purchase them
As far as NTSF as the default file system, are you sure the internal hdd is formatted to FAT32? I'm 90% sure its not (I could be mistaken)... obviously any drive you plug in the USB port will be FAT32, but im pretty sure the internal drive is NTFS...
I'll believe you if you say your right, but i could have sworn i read different
(Also another benefit would be video thumbnails if you used the esata port :D, off topic sry)
eXtraVert3d @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:06PM
I suppose this could come in handy... I've wanted to upgrade my 80gig for a while now, but losing that BC would just kill me.
p.flynn2 @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:11PM
just buy a capacious 2.5" sata hard drive from any online computer parts retailer, I suggest newegg. you dont have to give up any backwards compatibility to get a bigger hard drive. sony allows you to replace the supplied hard drive at any time without voiding your warranty.
Game_playa @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:27PM
How would replacing hard-drives lose you BC?
eXtraVert3d @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:47PM
I would lose BC because the 80gig model comes with PS2 emulation software preinstalled on the HDD.
Game_playa @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:56PM
What??? LOL, it's built in to the system, NOT the HD.
Doomstryker @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:59PM
The backward compatibility software is stored on the firmware of the system and NOT the HDD. I helped friends with 80gig upgrade their HDDs without loss of BC. I upgraded mine but mine is 60gig which has the EE chip.
Check the internet and you will see many people have upgraded the 80gig models without any loss of BC. Please check your facts before spreading misinformation.
eXtraVert3d @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:07PM
Damn well this is good news! Sorry if I sent anyone astray with misinformation, I had always heard there was simply a separate partition installed on the HDD that contained all the emulation software. Seems this isn't the case - thanks for setting me straight.
Doomstryker @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:12PM
Cool man. Sorry if I sounded too harsh. Didn't want people to think they couldn't upgrade their HDD if they had the 80gig version because I think that one of the best thing you can do for your PS3 is upgrade the HDD.
Doomstryker @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:19PM
Duplicate entry, other one I forgot to hit reply:
to eXtraVert3d
Cool man. Sorry if I sounded too harsh. Didn't want people to think they couldn't upgrade their HDD if they had an 80gig version. I think that's one of the best thing you can do for your PS3 is to upgrade the HDD. Especially if you're a gamer and enjoy listening to music or watching movies on it.
PSN: slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 3rd 2009 8:27PM
if it was on the hard drive, surely they could just give it to everyone which hasn't happened obviously so there...
p.flynn2 @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:09PM
mildly useful
jasch1n @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:15PM
Great.
I just hope it doesn't cost too much.
The nice thing about this is that you can add storage without having to do the whole backup/restore dance, it appears...
Popfrogs @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:19PM
This is cool for a few reasons. First, you take the HD out and there goes some of the heat that's generated internally. Second, you can have up to (and maybe even over) a terabyte of fast storage. Laptop hard drives like the PS3 ship with are anything but fast and it's rare to see them in a 7200rpm variety. However, if you really want to go all out, a kit like this could team up with a 10k or even 15k rpm drive. Load times would be laughable.
p.flynn2 @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:30PM
I have an hitachi travelstar 7k320 hard drive in my ps3. load times are "laughable" as you have so put. it is a 7200 rpm hard drive that has the same power requirements as 5400 rpm hard drives. did I mention that it has 298 gigs of space after format?
having a 10k or 15k rpm hard drive in a ps3 is pointless. the firmware (operating system) is not stored on the hard drive, rather in some kind of solid state memory on the main board. boot times are not affected by hard drive selection. the read rate of a 7200 rpm hard drive is more than adequate for the ps3.
perfect solution: buy a 7200 rpm 2.5" sata hard drive and put it in your ps3. choose any size you would like. then, buy an external hard drive that plugs in via usb so you can easily transfer media from computers to the ps3.
I personally just got a huge internal hard drive and either copy content over dlna or stream over dlna.
Popfrogs @ Feb 3rd 2009 8:47PM
"having a 10k or 15k rpm hard drive in a ps3 is pointless. the firmware (operating system) is not stored on the hard drive, rather in some kind of solid state memory on the main board."
That doesn't matter at all, I was talking about load times, not boot times. Booting is negligible. Loading games, particularly hard drive-based games, will see a real improvement from a faster drive.
Also I believe LaCie and some other vendors make raided external hard drives with an ESATA interface. They could also be used with this type of bracket.
The only drawback I see here is the silly design requiring you to stand the PS3 up on one end. Looks like it's too bulky to leave your PS3 horizontal, which is probably how most people have theirs oriented.
Flicky @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:32PM
So it's powered via USB ? Is there enough juice via USB for a 3.5" HDD ? And if the USB ports are off when the PS3 is off, how does this affect the boot sequence ?
Dark_Rabbit @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:51PM
no, i think it attaches through where your internal HDD would be.
nakedatthecomp @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:07PM
I've used an external 3.5" HD powered by 2 USB cords, it worked fine... and as for the boot sequence, the OS isn't stored on the HD
Flicky @ Feb 3rd 2009 7:54PM
" I've used an external 3.5" HD powered by 2 USB cords, it worked fine... and as for the boot sequence, the OS isn't stored on the HD."
My main drive is a 3.5" 500GB drive in a PC case connected via a SATA cable. My PS3 will not boot unless that drive is powered up AND powered up prior to starting the PS3.
vDopey @ Feb 4th 2009 9:21AM
From experience, the 3.5" drives need more current than provided by a usb socket..
They turn on but cant spin the drive, Ive tested this before loads..
The funy thing is why isnt the internal sata power port used ? The 2.5" is powered with the new power port, so why not just extend that out with the esata port..
Gigabyte Motherboards provide an sata power to 4 pin convertor for their sata ports, same sort of thing could be used here with the external drive.
The usb cable is only for the 4 port usb hub that comes with the stand as well, I doubt its for power.. They dont explain how they supply power, but the caddy that plugs into the sata port also plugs into the sata power port..
Fliicky do you run an extra PSU to give the 3.5" drive power aka the PC case ?
Has anyone actually used the included power connector for the 2.5" drive ? Might have to test this out later for myself lol..
Flicky @ Feb 4th 2009 5:56PM
"The funy thing is why isnt the internal sata power port used ? The 2.5" is powered with the new power port, so why not just extend that out with the esata port.Gigabyte Motherboards provide an sata power to 4 pin convertor for their sata ports, same sort of thing could be used here with the external drive."
I'm using the Xecuter HDXT PS3 Hard Drive Xtender. I wish it did include an external power port. Got a link to this convertor ? I'd be willing to hack an Xecuter HDXT board to try it out.
"Fliicky do you run an extra PSU to give the 3.5" drive power aka the PC case ?"
Yes, I'm using the PC power supply. Overkill, I know.
Toby @ Feb 3rd 2009 5:48PM
ZZZZzzzzz. Where you journos been???? This is old hat. This solution has been available since early last year - minus the USB hub and necsity to use USB power. The Xecuter HDXT. I got one delivered to me last week, havn't been bothered to use it yet as I've currrently no need for the extra capacity but believe me when the need arises I will Terabyte that biaaaatch! If you prefer a horizontal PS3 placement like me this really aint going to be much good.
THEAMAZINGLEAF @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:09PM
I also have a 320gb (298 after format) but then i added a 500gb EXTERNAL MY BOOK HDD, it works great for holding all my 400+ MOVIES/VIDEOS/TV SHOWS but now it's almost FULL so i gonna go get another. This time a 1TB (1898GB) POOR xbox with their PITIFUL 120GB
Popfrogs @ Feb 3rd 2009 8:49PM
Sounds like you should offload the storage to a DLNA-enabled Windows box on your LAN. I stream everything to mine so the precious 60GB is only PS3 stuff.
TVersity is actually really good now and PlayOn is rumored to be fixed now.
Doomstryker @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:15PM
Cool man. Sorry if I sounded too harsh. Didn't want people to think they couldn't upgrade their HDD if they had an 80gig version. I think that's one of the best thing you can do for your PS3 is to upgrade the HDD. Especially if you're a gamer and enjoy listening to music or watching movies on it.
Jay @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:49PM
Is it true that if you connect an external HDD to a PS3 via USB you are severely limited in what you can put on it? For instance, you cannot load PSN games, mandatory install data, save data etc, only your own images and CD-ripped music? If so, and unless you wanted to put your entire music collection on it, what is the point of this?
p.flynn2 @ Feb 3rd 2009 8:46PM
this is true: game data and installs is stored on your internal hard drive. the utility of an external hard drive is virtually limitless storage for media. One of the best features of the ps3 is its ability to play virtually all video formats (no mkv - srry anime fanboys). basically what this does is allow you to download, buy, or rip as much video content as you want and have it at your fingertips playing on your nice big hdtv.
sony also incorporated great photo album support and recently released a cool photo app that sits on your XMB. you can plug in an external hard drive that you store all of your photos on (if youre a photographer) and, again, show them off on your nice big tv.
best part about usb hard drives is that you can also plug them into pretty much anything else. well, except xbox 360's.....
basically what this comes down to is: limitless storage of any file type you want.
joshua_w @ Feb 3rd 2009 6:51PM
I hope this is real. I'd LOVE to get a 2TB drive connected to my PS3.
rollntider @ Feb 4th 2009 10:22AM
you can always back up your hard drive and restore it...
LordAbsu @ Feb 3rd 2009 7:21PM
Heard you can't re-download the songs you've bought off the SingStore (SingStar). If your HDD dies, or if you swap it out for a fresh new one, you'd have to RE-PURCHASE them altogether.
Seeing as how my wife has sunk untold billions into the Store -- well, not really, but you get my point -- replacing the HDD is not an option. Something like this would be PERFECT for me.
p.flynn2 @ Feb 3rd 2009 8:49PM
i believe you are able to back up game data to a usb hard drive before swapping out internal hard drives. i could be mistaken, however with protected content such as purchased songs from singstore or for rock band or guitar hero. it is a good question.
what I am pretty positive about is that you cannot transfer bought movies from hard drive to hard drive.
can anyone chime in on this? perhaps ask ps3faboy has answered this or maybe this is prime material for them.
Angel Mass @ Feb 3rd 2009 10:28PM
Ill aim to add it a 1 Tera hard disk to this cupcake
batman @ Feb 3rd 2009 10:50PM
yeah no thanks. first of all i lay my ps3 on its real bottom, not standing up on its side. second, i already have a 320gb internal hdd installed. third, even if reasons one and two are forgotten, chances are this little thing will be quite costly thus meaning that simply buying a new internal hdd would probably be cheaper anyways.
nice looking stand though. hahahahahah
C-Onor @ Feb 4th 2009 3:32AM
so...this would increase the amount of storage space on your ps3? anyone know by how much?
vDopey @ Feb 4th 2009 6:11AM
Its not an extra sata port, its the internal sata port moved external. Its not genuine "esata" but still.. Its a good idea
vDopey @ Feb 4th 2009 9:27AM
also looks very similar to:
http://www.4gamers.net/sonyp3.htm
the bottom stand for the ps3..
vicheous @ Feb 4th 2009 6:44AM
I have one almost like this! I don't use it anymore, i used one over a year ago with a 750Gb PC HDD.... THIS IS OLD NEWS!
vicheous @ Feb 4th 2009 6:43AM
I had one almost just like this a year ago!! THIS IS OLD NEWS
I used mine with a 750Gb PC Hdd almost exactly one 1.5 years ago!
jasper @ Feb 4th 2009 8:39AM
yes u can m8, i've upgraded mine to a 320gb internal drive and re-downloaded all my singstar songs,
JaffaBoy @ Feb 4th 2009 11:08AM
Hold on, am I reading this right...all this does is route the sata cable to an external drive?
Why not make the stand deeper and allow the hard disk to be plugged in there, with a power supply to run the hard disk... would be a much cleaner option than what it looks like here in that all it does is route the sata connection out of the back (check the images on the linked website).
BestInShowBrian @ Feb 4th 2009 1:30PM
JaffaBoy: I was thinking the same thing. The lack of documentation muddles facts, but one image suggests precisely that option (or someone slipped the wrong prototype in there by mistake?) Consider the difference between these two images:
http://www.gemaga.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-image-suck/images/39f52e1ca48ce3a295b258ace1aac08a/189234_1.jpg
http://www.gemaga.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-image-suck/images/39f52e1ca48ce3a295b258ace1aac08a/189234_5.jpg
I just wish they were offfering a more "horizontal" option. I hope it's cheap.
JaffaBoy @ Feb 4th 2009 2:24PM
Well spotted BestInShowBrian, that 2nd image does indeed indicate an internal drive!
Have my PS3 vertically so would be just right for me... will be keeping an eye on price
Jonathan King @ Feb 4th 2009 12:35PM
Does anyone know if there is a limit to the size of 3.5" HDD that the PS3 will recognize?...someone said that the 2.5" limit was 500gb...will PS3 recognize over 750gb...can anyone confirm?