I believe defragging my PS3 HD is important

[bigblockchev]

I believe defragging my PS3 is important because I have had zero GTAIV problems as of yet and I have decided to share a tid-bit of info on how I may have accomplished that. Considering I've done nothing but play GTAIV since the 29th. uh huh, yeah...

Two days before purchasing GTAIV on April 29th from my local Best Buy store I took the time to defrag my PS3 HD. I've been defragging for many months and have yet to read a single post about it, anywhere.

So here goes...

The PS3 filesystem (FAT32) is extremely subjectable to fragmentation. The first time I discovered this method I freed up 20GB on my PS3 and I deleted nothing.

If your not aware, the PS3 has a Backup Utility in the Settings-->Systems Settings Menu. Doing a backup requires an external HD formatted to FAT32. Performing a backup will backup "everything" on your PS3 to that external HD. I have not lost access to anything I have ever done on the PS3 side.

The next step is to FORMAT. This is where I have lost Linux installations. Do this at your own risk. I personally have not run Linux on my PS3 for many months so, No, I can't promise your linux will be accessible.

When you format your HD be sure to make the same selections to maintain your partitioning scheme. (Not confirmed yet but I've seen the Backup Utility remember the partition layout and restore it as such)

Now it's back to the Backup Utility but this time you will select "Restore". Select your backup on your external HD and the restore begins. Typically this takes 45-60 mins.

Once complete your PS3 reboots and you will have loads of recovered disc space. Not only does this alleviate disc space but it re-alligns all your DATA properly for quickest access.

I own 12 popular top-rated titles for the PS3 and have never had a slowdown or bad experience to date.

To avoid confusion the issues with GTAIV concerning online play are probably not related to this. I am old-school and will finish single player before multi-player but I jumped online today and have had zero problems like usual.

I hope this helps others streamline their PS3 systems.

[pdxubaru]

The filesystem of the PS3 internal HDD is not FAT32. As far as I can tell, the PS3 doesn't have fragmentation issues.

[raze88]

Yeah, can't be FAT32 because of the hugeass installs from some games. I think FAT32 can only hold 4GB/file.

[Furyous]

If i'm right, the filesystem is a derivation of ReiserFS. I think too that it s useless and maybe dangerous to do it like you have done, you should try to install linux to see if everything is ok, and never do it again, maybe..

[CJPC]

Originally Posted by Furyous If i'm right, the filesystem is a derivation of ReiserFS. I think too that it s useless and maybe dangerous to do it like you have done, you should try to install linux to see if everything is ok, and never do it again, maybe..

The technical name for it is the CellFS, however whats interesting about ReiserFS is that Sony used it before, BBNav anyone?

[bigblockchev]

I am not trying to prove a point here. Don't take this the wrong way. I do want to discuss the evidence I have concerning the results I've had on the PS3 if anyone is willing.

Furyous do you mean I should discontinue using the backup and restore process? I do not believe it to be dangerous. What concerns me more is why I can gain 20GB back on my HD by performing a backup and restore and albeit I gain back less space each time this is a process I have done numerous times.

I do agree that it is unlikely for a device such as a PS3 to have an old filesystem but it does act like it. On 12-11-2007, 10:12 AM on these very forums an individual by the name of Nemesis posted a message containing the following information.

subject: ps3 hdd file system and details direct from sony message: hi all this is taken directly from the official playstation website help chat with a engineer........dont ask ere goes, hope it helps sum1 names have been changed for obvious reasons steve.......me ps3 nemesis james.......ps engineer there is sum bs stuff first but ya no! James : Hello steve. Welcome to PlayStation Chat, how may I help you? steve: i have a couple of questions i need answering steve: no 1. how do i install psx games so that i dont scratch or damage the cds as i cant get them any more in the shops <snip snip> steve: can u help me with some ps3 hardwhare questions James : Yes steve: cool steve: the ps3 hdd will it be recognisable by pc running ( vista sp1 ) as this update allows pc's to recognise EXFAT file systems but if not what file system does the ps3 use James : Are you referring to Media Sharing? steve: no im refuring to the actual file system that the ps3 uses on its hdd as i was looking thru the various forumns and i came across a thread stated that divx would be playable on the ps3 via a update to the firmware .....but what file system does the ps3 use on its hdd James : The hard drive is formatted in FAT32 steve: if that is the case how is it that games and blu-ray game data can be saved on it when fat32 has a limit of 4gb file size James : Because there are no game data save files that would take up more than 4GB steve: no not the game save file but the game install data file do James : When you install a game onto the PS3 hard drive it does not install the entire game, just certain information which will allow the game to run more smoothly than if all the data was being read from the disc. Also this enables the auto-save feature on some games James : There are no game data files over 4GB steve: are right i was wondering it didnt make sence 2 me steve: will we have access to the xmb via an update soon or not James : Do you mean access the XMB via the PC steve: no that would be a disaster for sony as it might leed 2 piracy no i mean thru th ps3 as in being able to install ps1 ps2 games on hdd via other os or by other means

Sorry if I should have just linked to this msg on these forums. In case it got lost I can post the entire posting.

What do you guys think?

[CJPC]

Well, simple. Take your PS3 Hard disk drive, and pull it out. Stick it in a PC, use any decent hex editor on sector view.

See none of that plain text? Thats because it is not FAT32. Now, the file system as we all know is encrypted, and custom. In fact the system cache partition OF the PS3's hdd IS FAT32, but the actual storage areas are CellFS.

Now, its surely possible that the CellFS is just an encrypted FAT32 partition, but HIGHLY unlikely for quite a few reasons. 1, FAT32 is clunky and old. Two, Take the PS2 HDD, not FAT32 at all, a file system similar, and ReiserFS. Finally, with the system itself, its quite dumb for them to use FAT32 for actual data, the system is so secure, they would not make said mistake!

[Transient]

Also, you can't copy a video file larger than 4GB to a FAT32 drive, but you can copy any size video file onto the internal drive. The Sony tech support agent quoted above either misunderstood the question or is misinformed.

Personally, I don't see that doing the backup/restore method is going to cause any harm. If you feel it helps and makes things faster, go right ahead.

Note that real defragging does not normally recover disk space. Try defragging a FAT32 drive and you'll have the same space before and after. In this case, I imagine some temporary files are not included in the backup.

[bigblockchev]

I did not consider temporary files but you make a good point. I assumed that temp files should be dealt with right after install and be cleaned up.

Owning this revolutionary PS3 and losing 20GB of disk space over time (first 6 months) was not something I expected to ever see.

Is the filesystem messy? Are Sony's actions messy? Can my user actions be that messy?

Maintaning your PS3 HD with the backup and restore method does deliver improvement though.

[CJPC]

I have 2 theories as to why this increased space. One - the first time you did it, the linux partition was intact, then it was deleted. Two, although this is not very likely, the cache partition was cleared, but it isnt 20gb big! So I am voting #1!