Mount external usb drive as internal ps3 drive?

[TechGeek990]

Is it possible for someone to code a homebrew program like Jaicrabs firm loader but instead of mounting the usb drive as dev_flash and the real flash as dev_flash0 mount the usb drive as dev_hdd0 and the real hdd as something else. then in theory when you download the latest update from the web on ps3 it would download and decrypt the pup onto the mounted usb drive.

Then it just the matter of decrypting the data on the usb drive using the ps3 hdd decryption method to get the unencrypted flash of the latest firmware version then use Jaicrabs program to run it and get online without updating the actual flash! Is this possible?

P.S. I would try this myself but I lack progamming know-how let alone programming for the ps3

[sa420]

i was thinking about the same thing, but my hopes in mounting usb0 as hdd0 were to see if we could get the ps3's normal format util to format the usb external drive with the same filesystem as internal drive. I'm looking into NZHawks mountpoint manager now to see if it might be possible, if so i've gotta get my hands on another usb drive to mess with. Has anyone tried this?

[TechGeek990]

I have a couple of usb drives to test with but i just was hoping if jaicrab can mount usb as dev_flash then it should be feasible for him to tweak his firmware loader to mount usb as hdd0. then format the mounted usb hdd0 with the ps3 format utility. then go to system software update and choose update via internet and the ps3 finds the 3.50 update data and starts downloading it.

As soon as the ps3 finds the latest software update via internet it starts downloading before you even click ok to update. but instead of clicking ok let it idle there downloading the update but instead of it being stored on the internal drive its loading to the mounted usb hdd0. Once data activity stops on the mounted usb hdd0 disconnect the usb drive with the data still on it.

the ps3 would problably freeze because it thinks you removed the internal hdd. then use the hdd decrypter to decrypt the ps3 formated usb drive and retrieve the unencrypted update data! if someone could code a homebrew program to mount usb as hdd0(i have no clue how) i would gladly test it for them. at the very least we could have an external drive formatted by the ps3 to allow backups with files larger than 4gb. P.S. sorry for long post

[GrandpaHomer]

Umm - isn't the downloaded UPDATE.PUB decrypted AFTER the initilal reboot?

[TechGeek990]

I'm not sure but it still would be useful to mount usb as hdd0 so we could format the usb drive with the ps3 filesystem for games with files over 4Gb wouldn't it?

[GrandpaHomer]

I'm not sure but it still would be useful to mount usb as hdd0 so we could format the usb drive with the ps3 filesystem for games with files over 4Gb wouldn't it?

Two small "issues" with you idea though:

1. This "internal" hard drive would need to be formated initialy but if you'd redirect internal one to it PS3 will actually loose part of it's FW and all the files etc so I doubt you'd be even able to format it in a first place - it would most probably reboot and then try to reinstall missing part of FW from USB storage - the same way it happens when you replace / upgrade your internal hard drive. You can indeed try to format the hard drive internally first and then attach it via USB afterwards but I seriously doubt PS3 would even recognize it this way - respectivelly the external SATA - USB enclosure would be most probably not able to handle it at all.

2. Even if you'd manage that - every time you'd swap the "internal" hard drive on USB it will mess up with your system / seting etc.

And - if you'd jsut try to copy files accross - then the external hard drive must be format in FAT32 and we're back again on square one.

Not really sure how much consistent would be your PS3 after repeated messing with it like that ...

[LikWidCheeze]

I'm about a week into ps3 stuff but humor me I have a somewhat brute method.

When I bought my ps3 last week, it was at 3.40 firmware so I updated it to 3.41.. thumb drive so as the pup get's installed, why not run xyz update then as the ps3 reboots before it actually installs the firmeware take it out and read the drive?

Guessing the drive is encrypted though correct? "I haven't read up on everything yet"

[TechGeek990]

where does the ps3 store the downloaded update data on the internal harddrive? Is it stored on a seperate hdd partition we can't even access through ftp file server. the reason i ask this is i went to update via internet and it said update version 3.50 was availble but instead of clicking ok i just let it sit there idle because the ps3 was already downloading the update and when all harddrive activity stopped i switched the switch off in the back without cancelling the update.

i was at the click ok screen still, booted the ps3 in jailbreak mode and ran the ps3 ftp server from blackbox but could'nt find anything. no updat.pup or otherwise on hdd0 but the blackbox ftp server showed hdd0 and a hdd1 but i could'nt access the hdd1. could that be some system partition reserved for storing the update before the reset and flashing of the new firmware to the nand?

[LikWidCheeze]

That makes sense as "They" aren't going to make it easy.

[TechGeek990]

the best solution would be to have 2 ps3's one for online and one offline for homebrew. I usually don't play online but i like to chat with friends and purchase psn games on PSN. this was just me trying to speculate on a way to get the firmware for 3.50 and load it on usb and access PSN and download demos and purchase PS Store games.