PS3 HDD REPLACEMENT GUIDE
I own a PS3 like a lot of people do and I found that my 40GB drive was just about full. As BF3 is out in just over a month, I decided to upgrade my drive with a much larger one.
I initially visited this video as it was pretty helpful in telling me how to back up my old saved files & profile from the old drive. I took out my old drive and put in the new one. Everything was going fine. However, it all came unstuck when I turned my PS3 on to find that I had this message.
The error message presented was:
“cannot start – the correct hard disk not found”
Once again, Google was my friend, yet I had to search a number of different sites to actually find out what i needed to do to get my PS3 up and running again.
So to save you the same drama I had, here’s a list of steps that you’ll need to take to upgrade your PS3 and get it up a running again. As a warning, I’m not a Sony tech so take the advice below at your own risk.
STEP 1. Buy a new Hard Disc Drive for your PS3. Upgrading the HDD will not void your warranty, however, Sony makes it pretty clear that you the consumer take full responsibility when upgrading the HDD, so don’t go crying to them if something doesn’t work.
The HDD must be a 2.5” internal Serial ATA HDD. They come in flavors such as 120GB, 250GB, 500GB & 640GB. I’ve heard of guys going to 750GB and even 1TB, but the general feeling is that 640GB is about the biggest you can go to without running into other issues. I went for 500GB 5400rpm model with a 3.0GB/sec Interface. Sony doesn’t recommend a 7200rpm drive as a replacement so I wouldn’t go there. Oh and Parallel ATA drives are not supported so DON’T buy one of those.
STEP 2. Back up your old stuff BEFORE installing the new hard drive. The easiest way to do this is to find/buy/borrow a FAT32 formatted external Hard Disc Drive and save all of your old files on your OLD HDD (the one thats in your PS3 still) to the external drive. This means that you’ll be able to restore all of your info back on to the new HDD after installation. To save your old stuff to the external HDD, connect the external HDD via a USB cord to the front of your PS3. Next go to the SETTINGS menu on your PS3 – then BACKUP UTILITY. There you will be presented with three options.
Back Up
Restore
Delete backup Data.
Select the BACK UP option. If you’ve connected your external HDD correctly, the PS3 should see your external HDD. Press x and your system will begin copying everything from your PS3 HDD to a portion of the External HDD.
If you’ve got a full PS3 drive like I did, this may take upwards of an hour so go do something else.
STEP 3. When the transfer is done, you’re ready for surgery.
First off, unplug your PS3 from the wall and remove all the cables front and back while you’re at it.
Next you’ll need a Phillips screw driver. Turn the PS3 on its side and gently take off the plastic HDD cover off the side. There you’ll find a blue screw which you need to be firm but oh so careful in removing. Videos are better than words so here’s a pretty good vid of a kid going through the process and removing the HDD and installing a new one on his PS3.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-O0N0tzNSM[/youtube]
Okay so now you should have removed your PS3′s OLD HDD and fitted the new one in its place. Don’t try and force anything. The new HDD should fit as snugly as the old one did. If it doesn’t, you’ve fitted the new HDD wrong.
STEP 4. Connect the power cord to your PS3 again. Reconnect your HDMI/AV cord from the back of your PS3 to your TV. Also connect a PS3 controller via USB cable to one of your USB ports on the front of the PS3. Turn on the PS3.
STEP 5. Now if you’re lucky, the PS3 should recognize your new bigger better HDD, in which case it’ll begin to format the new drive. After that happens, the OS should reinstall and all you’ll have to do is reconnect your External HDD, navigate back to the SETTINGS/BACK UP UTILITY part from before and hit RESTORE. That’ll then install all your old data from the OLD PS3 HDD to the NEW PS3 HDD.
However…
STEP 6. When I turned on my PS3, I got the following error:
“cannot start – the correct hard disk not found”
STEP 7. Don’t panic. Turn off your PS3 and read on.
Apparently this error happens a bit nowadays when people install a new HDD in their PS3. My understanding is the latest system software for the PS3 is currently larger than the internal PS3 Flash memory is, and part of the PS3′s OS is now stored on the HDD. Meaning that when booted up, the PS3 can’t retrieve the latest operating system because you’ve just removed the old HDD. It also can’t find it in your new HDD you just installed because that is still blank. Hence it thinks the new HDD is the cause, flashing the ‘correct hard disk not found’ error to show.
STEP 8. You now need another way of getting the current PS3 operating system on to your new HDD. So you’ll be needing a desktop/laptop with a decent internet connection for this next part.
Open your internet browser, go here and click on the ‘Related System Software’ link. At the time of this article, the latest is 3.72 and is found here.
Download the latest software and save it to your computer. It should be named PS3UPDAT.PUP
STEP 9. Save this downloaded file to a USB drive or again to your external HDD. I prefer a USB drive for this part but its your choice. Save the file on the external HDD or USB drive. Create a folder named PS3 on the external/USB drive. Then inside this folder create another folder named UPDATE. Finally, save the file you’ve just downloaded named PS3UPDAT.PUP inside the UPDATE folder.
The file structure on the drive should now be PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP
If it isn’t done this way, the PS3 won’t find it and this next part won’t work.
STEP 10. Plug the USB drive or external HDD into a USB connection on the front of your PS3. Also plug in a PS3 controller via a USB cord.
STEP 11. Next, turn the PS3 on and hold your finger on the power button until it beeps TWICE. At this point you need to select the ‘PS3 System Restore’ option (thanks Brendan).
STEP 12. A screen of text should now come up telling you need to connect your controller via a USB cable. As you have done this, press the PS button in middle of your connected controller.
STEP 13. You’ll now get a wall of text on screen that will inform you that its time to reformat the new HDD and then, re-install the PS3′s operating system on to your new HDD. From memory, you need to press ‘START’ AND ‘SELECT’ on your connected PS3 controller at the same time to get everything installing correctly – the main thing is you need to follow the instructions onscreen to the letter.
STEP 14. Your PS3 should now begin updating itself. This will take a while so go and do something else.
STEP 15. Your PS3 should restart itself or the PS3 will prompt you to restart it via the plugged in controller.
STEP 16. After restart, the familiar PS3 menu should now appear. Plug in the external HDD that has the information from your old HDD. Navigate to the SETTINGS/BACK UP UTILITY part from before and hit RESTORE. That’ll then install all your old data that was on the OLD PS3 HDD to the NEW PS3 HDD.
STEP 17. Hey presto. You should now have all of your old saved files & information from your old HDD on the new HDD in your PS3. Congrats.
89 Responses to PS3 HDD REPLACEMENT GUIDE
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You can share my ramblings if you like :)
Brilliant! I was trying to replace my old 80GB PS3 drive with a 128GB SSD and got stuck at that “correct hard disk not found” error! This was the only correct solution I’ve been able to find. Thank you!
Yeah Sony makes it easy to install a new drive, yet its no easy task any more to format/install the OS. Happy to be of help.
Mate I bought a 640gb 7200rpm Samsung hdd to replace my 40gb today, was so flip’n excited and then got the same stupid message. Spent hours on the phone to a friend while we tried to figure it out but to no avail.
Finally after reading page after page on forums found a link someone posted to this and I really can’t thank you enough. You saved me a lot of pain and suffering I thought was turning to a waste of money….
Happy to help Braydos.
OMFG THANK YOU!!!!! \^o^/
i was about to give up!!!
i thought i bought the wrong type of HDD >.< and gonna need to buy a new one
i thank you for this! this really….Really helped me ALOT now i have more space on my ps3
No probs Dast – happy to help.
it didn’t work for me. the safe mode didn’t come up at all just show the correct hard disk not found message instead.
I didn’t access Safe Mode either.
Holding down the button so it beeps twice should be enough to set you on the path to format the new drive and reinstall the OS, provided you’ve loaded the latest firmware on to a USB drive and have plugged it in to the front of the PS3.
Which part are you getting stumped on?
I have been searching for hours about this. So far all your steps have worked and I am now installing my backup. Thank you. You are the man!!!
No probs Clev. Happy to help :)
You just made my day a whole lot better. Sony should really update their firmware to give proper instructions on how to do this so people don’t have to Google for it!
Thanks mate.
I guess it isn’t very important to them, after all, most new PS3′s come out with massive HDD’s now so I guess they figure people will just buy a new one than go to the effort of replacing the drive.
Glad I could help.
Thank you so much. I’m thankful I found this as I was just about to give up and resort to buying a new PS3. Everything has gone according to plan so far, I am currently undergoing the restore step and it’s lookng very promising. One thing for people to note, once turned the system on at step 11 the option you need to choose is ‘PS3 System Restore’. In order to receive the wall of text.
Again thank you!!
Happy to help Brendan. Will add in that message to the above.
Cheers
Thank you very much, this was REALLY helpful!
I could not find support for this problem anywhere else online.
Legend!
No probs Navin. Happy to help.
Just wanted to say that finding a link to this article saved me from spending my birthday ripping my hair out trying to get my new hard drive to work correctly.
Huge thanks man.
Understand your frustration – Sony really should have a universal guide out there about what to do. Happy to help.
thank you soooo much!! this along with this website:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APtkJHWbWX8&feature=related for visuals on replacing the hard disk and what to do after the “cannot start – the correct hard disk not found” problem was resolved and this website: http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/pc_update/index.htm for the ps3 update, I was able to finally fix the issues. my ps3 with my new wd scorpio blue 500 gb hard disk is now restoring my back up files. thanks again, I searched hours trying to find exactly what I needed to do and your website came to my rescue!
happy to help Michael.
THANK YOU! I just bought a Seagate Momentus XT and spent half the day researching to find out why it wasn’t being read by the PS3. Jumpers didn’t make a difference (I even tried bending the pins). This is my 2nd HDD upgrade, and I didn’t have to do this last time. I wish Sony mentioned it SOMEWHERE on their site, they completely ignore this crucial step, so you’re literally a savior to people like us.
Glad I could help.
I Couldn’t do it. After Pressing The Power Button and beeping twice the menu didn’t come. I am about to give up.
Hi Marcelt, did you have the PS3 firmware loaded on to a USB drive and inserted into the front of the PS3 as per step 10?
dude thankyou so much! the first time this came up i actualy took it back and asked, turns out that the harddrive was actualy corrupt (1 in a million lol) so i bought a new 750gb , said the same thing so i trouble shooted it, couldnt find anything, i actualy looked up the error message on google images thats how i found your website. thanks alot anyway haha your a legend!
No probs Nathan. Glad you got the info you needed :)
Thank you, your advice spared me from any dramas.
No probs Dallas, happy to help.
Thanks alot, I tried everything even paid someone to format into fat32 cause that’s what one site said, out off all the help topics and websites i looked into, your the only one to help, Sony couldnt even help. Thanks a million.
Quite incredible that Sony hasn’t addressed this issue still. Happy to help Zane.
I kinda got pissed one evening and spilled the good stuff on the hard drive. Now I get the message and im wondering if the hdd is stuffed or not. Took out the hdd to let it dry. Does that message mean the hdd is cooked or is the data just corrupted and just reinstall the OS?
Hi Werner, it could be that the liquid has gotten into the drive and caused the error, after all, if the drive isn’t working any longer, the system won’t be able to retrieve the PS3′s OS.
Do you have a friend with a PS3? perhaps you could grab their PS3′s hard drive, put it in yours and see if it boots correctly? If it doesn’t, perhaps the liquid got a little further into your system…
Thanks a lot for the help mate, I appreciate the work you did in putting up a decent tutorial. Cheers!
Happy to help.
I love u!!!!!!!
Ha. Happy to help.
I have problems with step 11. When I finish this step, my PS3 show the same message “Cannot start. The correct hard disk was not found” in a black screen, even when I have the USB connected to my PS3. Please help me.
Hi Edward,
Are you absolutely sure you’ve saved the PS3UPDAT.PUP file correctly on to your USB drive as per step 9? If you haven’t, the system won’t recognise the update and the same old HDD error will show up.
Hi Masterexit,
Yes I’m sure, I even use 2 different USB drives. Oh, I skip something. When I put my new HDD into my PS3 it began to format the drive, but at the end of it the system run a message like “Your disk wasn’t formatted correctly” or something like that, and then my problems began. Can this be the problem?
Yeah thats probably the issue. As I mentioned, I’m not a Sony tech but it sounds like the PS3 has only done a partial install of the system software. Easiest thing to do is to probably completely wipe your NEW HDD, reformat it as a FAT32 drive and start over. Theoretically, you haven’t ruined your new HDD, you’ll just need to start over. Hope that helps. Question: if you put your OLD HDD back into the PS3, does your PS3 start as per normal?
Great info, but on this step:
STEP 12. A screen of text should now come up telling you need to connect your controller via a USB cable. As you have done this, press the PS button in middle of your connected controller.
Pushing the PS button does nothing and I am stuck on this sreen and I don’t have another controller to try.
Sorry late coming back to you. Did you get it sorted?
Pure genius! This is the best advice on upgrading a 40gb PS3 PAL EVER!
Thank you, it worked no probs. I am now enjoying a 500gb Ps3 and have had no gaming issues in the past year!
No probs. happy to help.
Thank you a lot you saved me from a big problem:)old 80gb was full and ı had to move on a 640gb,your instractions worked like charm.thanks again:)
Happy I could help.
your a lifesaver mate, was trying for days to do this! Awesome guide thanks so much
No probs mate.
Thanks for the info. I only recently found out about my ps3′s low memory when i tried to download playstation home for the first time. My question is, is there a way to upgrade to new hard drive without using external hard drive? Id hate to buy external hard drive for one time use
Hi there, without getting preachy, you should be backing up your PS3′s HD to an external HD fairly regularly anyway. Otherwise in the event your PS3′s HD fails, all that information you had on there (game saves, Tv’s or movies) will be lost.
Hi, Basically your directions are correct, I ran into another issue though where my back up would not restore everything correctly. After searching all over I found that if you have any DRM content on your PS3 drive (themes, dlc, or game saves for certain games like Heavy Rain) then the backup works properly but the restore fails. I believe you have to de-activate your old hard drive before removing it then authorize the new drive with PSN before doing the restore. I have not tried it, but from what I read this seemed to be the case. I failed miserably at the time so I postponed it again until I get another drive and the time. Anyhow, great directions thanks for posting!
Thanks Alonso. I never had to do that, but then again, I didn’t have any DRM material on my old drive. How do you authorize the new drive with PSN? Is it as simple as signing in to the playstation network and it recognizing the new drive?
Hi masterexit, i am using an 120gb hard disc, planning to replace it with a new 500gb hdd found your post very helpful, i just wanted to say recently i was installing fifa 13 i was having free sace of 16gb and the game was 9gb of fifa13 to download but yet the message appears insufficient storage space even thou i have doubled the game space for now, how it must have happened??? any ways ur post was useful thanks for the good help.
Sorry Namit,
Wish I could help you there but I’m not sure why it shows insufficient space when there’s clearly enough. Hope you’ve got it sorted by now.
hey dude – really helpful guide – i’ve followed everything to the letter and while the PS is updating from the USB i’ve received the message…
“The Data is corrupted (8002F225)”
I’ve downloaded the PS3UPDAT.PUP file again to a different USB and the same message has appeared – any thoughts would be very much appreciated…
Regards Joe
Hi Joe,
That’s a weird error to get. I know that the 3.56 firmware will not allow you to supply the .pup file via USB, but 3.72 was fine for me. What firmware version were you using?
hi i just bought a 12gb ps3 and got a 1tb hardrive the bloke at the shop said was the righte ne, but when i put the hdd in the ps it wil format then it say s error on the rebulid?? and carnt finsh??
Hey Luke,
I think a 640Gb drive is the largest you can go too. Well thats my experience anyway.
hey followed your steps to a T and when i put in a game, it wont read any disc, the icon in the top right corner just spins…..any ideas? i actually upgraded to a 1tb i have had others that have done 1tb with no issues
So the system reinstalled fine and you’ve got all your old files from the old HDD on to the new HDD? Have you tried to install a brand new game and the same thing happens? I have an inkling what the issue could be but need you to answer the above.
Brilliant!! finally got it to work for me, thanks a ton!
Nice one :)
Installed a 1T on my son’s slim PS3 and used your instuctions to get it to work. You’re the man!!
Happy to help termlimits
hey.. your info was good.. but when the update is complete, my screen turns black w/o any texts… can you help??
Umm that might be your system resetting to a lower resolution. See if you can plug your old composite cable back in and turn the system back on. Does the Ps3 menu appear then?
I keep getting the “Cannot start. The correct hard disk was not found” even when I still have the External HDD connected and my controller when I try to go into the Recovery Menu. Hope you can still help!!
Same here! when i try to get on the recovery sistem the ps3 dont get me there, still tell me cannot star etc. help please
So you’re saying that the PS3 restore menu doesn’t come up at all when you hold down the ps3 button twice alex?
Okay try using a USB stick instead of the external HDD. Load the ps3 update file on to that as per this file structure:
PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP
Yes bro. i can’t go to the recovery menu.
I have a 40 GB hand drive and I’m wondering what hard drive should use?
As per Point 1 above: Anything that is a 2.5” internal Serial ATA HDD. I used a 500Gb version but you’re welcome to use whatever you need.
When I go to re-install the OS to the PS3 it gives me a message ‘No applicable update data was found. I backed up the data from the old hard drive to an external hard drive. But when I look at the file it shows as PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP/201301120225 instead of PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP……How can I fix that?
Dude can’t thank you enough, this worked for me when upgrading my HDD, Big love from Brighton UK.
i got a new hard drive cause the old one i had went bad. i followed all instruction the update is put on the flash drive correctly when i go to install it though n it goes to format the hard drive i’m getting “an error occurred during the format operation. (8002F271)”
Me too! Help
See my reply to your issue below Jesse.
Thanks alot! I just installed SSD drive and got same error that JayPee had but I used 2 thumbdrives and was successful. Thanks again
Hi, there I did everything but the problem is, i cannot access the recovery mode, it just give me the same message ‘cannot start, the appropriate system storage was not found’
Brilliant man! The thumb drive worked like a charm. I was afraid my PS3 would be useless. This actually worked for an error where it wouldn’t find the system software (4.31 now), went like a charm. You’re a lifesaver!
Happy to help.
Thank you for the easy guide i just upgraded to my old laptop 250gbb hd and everything seems to running smoothly.
cheers again
Good stuff.
That’s worked with me very well
Thank you very much
Glad I could help.
Help! Keep getting the error has occurred during the format operation! Wtf don’t know what to do
Hey there Jesse,
Most likely there is an issue with the data on the USB Stick.
The update either did not download properly, or the file system is not correct. I’d probably lean toward the latter. Make sure your USB is formatted as FAT32 – NOT NTFS.
Also, when downloading the update form the website, try a wired connection from the modem to the PC/Mac.
Hope that helps.
Great guide!
I managed to change successfully the old PS3 80GB hard drive to the new 500GB WD Scorpio Blue. This saved me a lot of time.
Thanks