Re: Sony makes me angry (Also 3DS launch thread).

[MinisterofDOOM]

If nothing else re-install old hard drive, delete your saved games and everything thing else but the videos and back up then.

I tried to do that. When I put it back in the PS3 it gave me the whole "OS cannot boot, must reformat and reinstall" message you see when you first install any un-PS3-formatted drive. Save games were a non-issue as PSN plus lets me back them up to the cloud.

I'm sure this is a pointless question, but does the PS3 hard drive have any type of standard connectors or file system? With the right cables you can hook up a naked hard drive to a computer to retrieve files.

PS3 uses a standard 2.5'' (laptop) SATA drive, so that was exactly my plan. Unfortunately I couldn't get Windows to play nice with it for some reason. I could get it to recognize the drive, but not mount it as a volume. No idea why.

I would imagine you of all people here would have at least one extra internal HDD laying around. If so, you could easily use something like this:

http://www.apricorn.com/product_detail. ... mily&id=39

All my (spare) HDDs are crammed into my desktop...four total. I had planned to use one of them for the backup via Windows (plug in the PS3 drive, copy and paste files, simple but time consuming). But as I indicated above, I couldn't get the PS3's drive to play nice with Windows. And when I put it back in the PS3 to see what I COULD manage to ferry back and forth using small flash drives the PS3 drive would no longer boot in the PS3 itself. REALLY frustratingly, when I put the new PS3 hard drive back in (I'd had the PS3 installing the OS to it while attempting to back up the original drive in an effort to save time) it booted right up with no problems.

So it's not like I didn't TRY to make backups. The way I did it simply didn't work.

[C-Kwik]

Is it that installing a new drive and OS on the new drive invalidates the old drive and its OS install? Kind of like the way a recovered XBOX live account will not work on the XBOX it was on before? If so, it seems to me like the only way to get the old drive to work would be to reinstall the OS which would likely wipe the data (which won't accomplish what you need). I suspect if this is indeed the case, you would have to manipulate some stuff in the firmware where it identifies the new drive with the info for the old drive (which may not be possible/practical for a lot of reasons). Sounds like your SOL. It sucks, but it sounds like you assumed Windows could read the data off the PS3 while a quick search seems to indicate otherwise. s*** like that has happened to me as well. Live and learn I guess...

[Rex]

I discovered recently that video content purchased through iTunes is only DL'able once as well. Though (I think) it can be transferred to another device you have "authorized". Was there no "back up" process to allow you to back-up/restore the content?

I've dealt with this tons of times and it's not as bad as it seems, you can authorize up to 5 machines to play the content back, and you can put it on any Apple device that has been synced to one of your authorized machines. If you use up all 5 autorizations and no longer have some of the machines authorized(or just don't need them to be) you can De-authorize all accounts, then re-authorize only the ones you need to be. I hate DRM, but at least Apple lets you work around it, they were also nice enough to let me re-download about 60 songs that I lost during a PC crash last year.

I'm aware for the 5 authorizations and only music and Apps are re-download-able, video content is not.

I discovered recently that video content purchased through iTunes is only DL'able once as well. Though (I think) it can be transferred to another device you have "authorized". Was there no "back up" process to allow you to back-up/restore the content?

There's a backup process, but we're talking about gigabytes of data here. I'd need an external USB HDD for that, and I don't have one.

At this point doesn't everyone have a USB HDD?

I feel your pain, but it seems like there was a back-up process that could have "saved" your movies for you. I still despise Sony in some ways.

On a slightly related note, I'm going to be entering the "phatbox" user world in the next week and I'm hoping I don't run into any huge anti-piracy issues.

[MinisterofDOOM]

At this point doesn't everyone have a USB HDD?

Nope. Between my computers I have 6 INTERNAL hard drives, and they're networked. Why would I bother with external storage? One of my internals is dedicated specifically to backups.

[C-Kwik]

Why would I bother with external storage?

For situations like this?

[HashiriyaS14]

WORDS WORDS videogame systems that aren't the 3DS WORDS WORDS

Huh? 3DS?

Midnight Launch this Saturday!


What's this about hard drives? Bah!

[flohtingPoint]

At this point doesn't everyone have a USB HDD?

Nope. Between my computers I have 6 INTERNAL hard drives, and they're networked. Why would I bother with external storage? One of my internals is dedicated specifically to backups.

Externals cost literally nothing. You can get like a TB or so for a bit over 100. I have four external drives filled with crap I dont want cluttering my computers (media, VM's, etc) and one dedicated just to be hooked up to my PS3.

[MinisterofDOOM]

WORDS WORDS videogame systems that aren't the 3DS WORDS WORDS

Huh? 3DS?

Midnight Launch this Saturday!


What's this about hard drives? Bah!

I'd be excited about the 3DS if there was ONE SINGLE GAME launching with it worth the plastic it's packaged in. Launch titles for 3DS are astoundingly bad. I'll be waiting until there are actually some games I want to PLAY on the console before I bother with it. I'm really looking forward to owning one, and I'm looking forward to a lot of the non-launch games, but buying a console without any games is just silly.

Why would I bother with external storage?

For situations like this?

Which has happened once. Ever. Yeah. Definitely throw money away on a thing I'll use once. Ever. Great idea.

[JsickZ32]

i upgraded the HDD in both of my ps3s too. i only lost 2 movies that i had downloaded a long time ago so it wasnt bad. oh and btw your pc wont read your old ps3 HDD because its in a different format and you need a special program to read and format it so you can re-use it.

[Jesda]

I still play Simcity 4. When it gets too hectic, I revert to Simcity 3000.

[C-Kwik]

Which has happened once. Ever. Yeah. Definitely throw money away on a thing I'll use once. Ever. Great idea.

I was being mostly facetious, but you could just buy a cheap external drive enclosure ($20) or that device I mentioned before and throw any of the drives you have on it. Not saying its ideal, but lose $50 vs spend $20...

[HashiriyaS14]

I'd be excited about the 3DS if there was ONE SINGLE GAME launching with it worth the plastic it's packaged in.

I'm a HUGE Ridge Racer fan, have been since the original Playstation.

I have roundabout every version of the game in both NTSC-US and NTSC-J, including special boxsets (Jogcon R4 box!), any associated peripherals (Negcons in both colors w00t), etc.

Suffice it to say, I'll be purchasing Ridge Racer 3DS.


I also really like Pilotwings games, and I feel like anything like that involving lots of spatial orientation is going to show off the 3D, which reviewers have confirmed. I also feel like SFIV is sort of a no-brainer.


Won't lie though, most excited about Kid Icarus. Wish that was out at launch.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I'd be excited about the 3DS if there was ONE SINGLE GAME launching with it worth the plastic it's packaged in.

I'm a HUGE Ridge Racer fan, have been since the original Playstation.

I have roundabout every version of the game in both NTSC-US and NTSC-J, including special boxsets (Jogcon R4 box!), any associated peripherals (Negcons in both colors w00t), etc.

Suffice it to say, I'll be purchasing Ridge Racer 3DS.


I also really like Pilotwings games, and I feel like anything like that involving lots of spatial orientation is going to show off the 3D, which reviewers have confirmed. I also feel like SFIV is sort of a no-brainer.


Won't lie though, most excited about Kid Icarus. Wish that was out at launch.

Kid Icarus is definitely one of my most-anticipated 3DS games. It had better be good. Pilotwings is fun, but not fun enough to sell me a console. And Lego Star Wars III will likely be fantastic, but Lego games work best on big consoles. As for Street Fighter...I don't do fighting games. I can enjoy them from time to time, but spending money on them is not gonna happen. Except Primal Rage. If they did a Primal Rage remake, I'd be all over that. Why hasn't it happened?

[HashiriyaS14]

[Empty V]

Sorry to hear of your plight. Just another reason my most of my friends and myself boycott Sony. But for some reason all of us have PS3's. Why not DL and stream through your PS3 or XBOX? I got an Apple TV 2 weeks ago and Netflix on it is amazing. It's basically the same as streaming through a console but a better interface. No DRM to deal with and your account is good on all systems (I think).

[joe603]

I really don't like using my PS3 for movies...I only use it for shows that my Direct TV DVR screws up recording...like a House episode the other week.

I did rent one movie on the PS3 and it was supposed to be hi def and DD 5.1...it was just stereo. Just use my DVR instead. Not waiting for downloads is better anyway imo.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I don't have cable or satellite. No DVR, no service to use the DVR for. I use my PS3 for Netflix and DVD/bluray and that's 100% of my TV's non-gaming use.

[themadscientist]

I still buy DVDs and CDs. Dey mine, I can't lose them to an "upgrade."