Let's talk about the uncomfortable size issue

jawgee

jawgee

CAGiversary!
PS4 hard drive size, that is...

I don't feel like I have a lot of games for the PS4 yet, but here I am, trying to figure out how to fit my next game install onto my original 500GB HDD.

If I upgrade the internal drive to say a 2TB (I think that's the largest 2.5" drive currently compatible with the PS4), I'll lose any phantom games I've already downloaded.  And at some point down the road, I'll be facing the same problem.

Is there any way to clone+expand (to use the full size of the new drive) the PS4 hard drive using a partition software tool or by using one of those USB docks that have the clone feature built into the hardware?

If the above isn't possible, how about using a SATA cable to connect to the internal PS4 SATA connection and run it out to an external 4TB+ SATA drive?  Yes, it would look fugly, but I remember being able to do it with my PS3.

Option 3...using an external HDD via USB to run games from.  I'm guessing that's a "no" since the external would have to be formatted to FAT32 and FAT32 can't deal with files larger than 4GB.

The final option would be to manage my hoarding compulsion and deal with my max hard drive space issues. :(

 
LOL the thread title sounds like something else and made me chuckle. I feel for ya man but you gotta work with what you have. ;)

In all seriousness, yeah 500GB is small considering Sony wants us all on digital format as they make more money that way. That said, when PS3 and 360 launched they had puny last gen hd so this is the price you pay for early adoption. My question to you is why on earth you need more than 2TB? I mean I now have two go to games and four more I cycle through occasionally and I find that that many at one time is a little much. Why not just download them again later when you want to play? Or buy physical copies. I've been going 50/50. The larger games I try to buy disc copy and smaller games I buy digitally for the most part. It works great for me.

Also, most games I play I don't ever want to replay after a few years. Those I do are of the masterpiece variety(I'll keep the disk) or niche games like Minecraft(digital of course and small in size.)
 
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I host a lot of gaming parties and I like to have a large selection of games on hand...just trying to be a good host. :)

Another option that I saw on another CAG post would be to replace the internal drive but keep the old drive and use it as an external.  Would I still be able to play games off of it that way?  Would it keep the integrity of the phantom digital games so that I could continue to play them?

 
I don't think the PS4 can run games off an external drive. Your only hope would probably be the eventual *gasp* jailbreak.
 
It can run games off an external. However, you need to run a cable from inside the ps4 to the hdd. Basically you would be just moving the hdd from the inside to the outside. No way to use both.
 
It can run games off an external. However, you need to run a cable from inside the ps4 to the hdd. Basically you would be just moving the hdd from the inside to the outside. No way to use both.
 
Phantoms are goners.

Interesting theory on cloning than expanding though. If it works I may upgrade my HDD. I'd be weary of Sony using a propitiatory filesystem though that use normies don't have access to.

Using a external HDD with a sata connection may work you'd still lose your phantoms.

So in short, idk. be a guinea pig and let me know the results!

 
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Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I did some research since my last post and found a couple of folks using an external eSATA drive enclosure connected to their PS4s via an eSATA-to-SATA cable.  Here's one dude with a 6TB connected to his PS4!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Gm5TiR93Q

I had an email conversation with Cavalry tech support, Cavalry being a maker of USB/eSATA hard drive docks.  While I have several docks already, I did not have the right combination I was looking for (dual dock with eSATA connection with built-in RAID).  After Cavalry confirmed the specs on one of their docks, I purchased the last one from Amazon and got it in today.  So...stay tuned for some experiments! :)

Here's what I plan on testing:

  1. Connecting a single and dual (1TB & 2TB) drives to the PS4 via SATA/eSATA; I'm assuming dual drives will have to be set to RAID0 in order to work, if it works at all.
  2. Connecting original PS4 500GB hard drive via USB while using a newly formatted 1TB drive (via eSATA) to see if I can run my installed games from the original drive (including phantoms)
  3. If step #2 works, attempt to copy game installs from original drive to new drive and vice versa and attempt to play copied games. (doubt this will work)
  4. If step #1 works, attempt the same experiment except one of the drives will be the original PS4 drive.  If this works, this will allow phantom games to survive while also adding to the available hard drive space.

I will back up all game saves to the cloud before doing anything.  From reading this site, the original PS4 drive can be re-attached without losing anything.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/691087-playstation-4/69429669

Attaching the same drive to a different PS4 will not work, however.  I imagine there's some hardware key tied to the hard drive or game installs that only allow it to be used on the drive that the games were installed on.  This might be a good thing as it may allow the drive to be recognized via USB as a valid PS4 game drive, but that's probably just a pipe dream...we'll see.  Wish me luck!

 
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What SHOULD'VE been done with both the One and PS4 just loading both systems with 64 gb. of flash memory so the disc games would cache that data instead of installing it to the HDD.

 I know this doesn't fix buying the game digitally but that would be a problem even if Sony offerred a bigger hard drive.  There's only a 2 TB. max internal laptop drive right now I believe.  2 TB. won't cut it if Sony was smart enough to make sure the PS4 supports BDXL because we WILL need it down the road.

The only way we'd get a fix is if Sony contracted out a larger  HDD to be built for the PS4.

 
[quote name="jawgee" post="12302271" timestamp="1417816342"]Thanks for the feedback, guys. I did some research since my last post and found a couple of folks using an external eSATA drive enclosure connected to their PS4s via an eSATA-to-SATA cable. Here's one dude with a 6TB connected to his PS4!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Gm5TiR93Q

I had an email conversation with Cavalry tech support, Cavalry being a maker of USB/eSATA hard drive docks. While I have several docks already, I did not have the right combination I was looking for (dual dock with eSATA connection with built-in RAID). After Cavalry confirmed the specs on one of their docks, I purchased the last one from Amazon and got it in today. So...stay tuned for some experiments! :)

Here's what I plan on testing:
  1. Connecting a single and dual (1TB & 2TB) drives to the PS4 via SATA/eSATA; I'm assuming dual drives will have to be set to RAID0 in order to work, if it works at all.
  2. Connecting original PS4 500GB hard drive via USB while using a newly formatted 1TB drive (via eSATA) to see if I can run my installed games from the original drive (including phantoms)
  3. If step #2 works, attempt to copy game installs from original drive to new drive and vice versa and attempt to play copied games. (doubt this will work)
  4. If step #1 works, attempt the same experiment except one of the drives will be the original PS4 drive. If this works, this will allow phantom games to survive while also adding to the available hard drive space.
I will back up all game saves to the cloud before doing anything. From reading this site, the original PS4 drive can be re-attached without losing anything.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/691087-playstation-4/69429669

Attaching the same drive to a different PS4 will not work, however. I imagine there's some hardware key tied to the hard drive or game installs that only allow it to be used on the drive that the games were installed on. This might be a good thing as it may allow the drive to be recognized via USB as a valid PS4 game drive, but that's probably just a pipe dream...we'll see. Wish me luck![/quote]
Ok, now I want to do this but not yet, I still have lots of space and the price of hard drive capacity always drops with time. Hopefully Sony doesnt patch to somehow prevent this.

How do you transfer all your files to the new HD?
 
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ApolloSupreme said:
Ok, now I want to do this but not yet, I still have lots of space and the price of hard drive capacity always drops with time. Hopefully Sony doesnt patch to somehow prevent this. How do you transfer all your files to the new HD?
Click to expand...
That's one of the drawbacks. You can only transfer saves and non-game files. You could do it to a USB drive or to your cloud and then download them to your new drive once it's formatted by the PS4. All of the game install files need to be re-installed via disc or re-downloaded from the PS Store.

One of the things I want to test is to see if I can get around the re-installation part by either RAID-ing the original drive with a new drive or using the old drive via USB. Hopefully, I'll have some answers for you by the end of next week.

 
I tried a 2TB hard drive it wouldn't recognize the update file after trying and trying I gave up and sent it back. I have since just started doing more stuff on my Xbox One. I bought a 3TB external for that and it has a ton of space left like 2.4 so looks like this go around I'll just use my PS4 for exclusives.

 
blume3 said:
I tried a 2TB hard drive it wouldn't recognize the update file after trying and trying I gave up and sent it back. I have since just started doing more stuff on my Xbox One. I bought a 3TB external for that and it has a ton of space left like 2.4 so looks like this go around I'll just use my PS4 for exclusives.
Click to expand...
Are you able to use that 3TB external drive to store game installs? If so, the XBONE has a leg up on the PS4 in that category.

 
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