Topic: External HDD support is finally coming!!

What does everyone recommend I should get for my external? I am looking for something affordable.

@iSillyBoiJudas Well at this point we are not sure which ones we can use until Sony says something.

With that said I am looking at this one

http://www.frys.com/product/8437648?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I am just waiting to hear if it will work with the PS4.

Having read the official blog, it seems any USB3.0 external HDD will work up to 8TB and, like I said, they ALL work the same way! They can't say that the Seagate doesn't work if ALL other external USB3.0 HDD's work. I really don't know what the difficulty is in this. Its not like they can say only a specific model or size works - Its like the internal HDD - they only stipulated that it had to be SATA 2 and 2.5" because they ALL work the same way! Sony will not give a recommended model, in the same way they don't recommend a specific TV. They are not 'specific' - i.e only work with certain devices/OS etc. Its not like trying to put an Xbox disc into a PS4 but more like TV's in that if the connection is right and fast enough to transfer data, then it will work. You don't need to buy a 'specific' USB stick that only works with PS4 and you won't need to buy a specific external HDD tat only works with PS4 - they are 'generic' and can be formatted anyway.

As long as its USB3.0 and up to 8TB, it will work!!!

Yeah, I don't see why any USB3.0 external HDD wouldn't work. I don't need one right away since I all ready upgraded my HDD but will more than likely still be getting one.

@FullbringIchigo @BAMozzy Thanks, but that's my main concern. I have one 2TB Transcend Portable External HD I've been using for almost three years which is still working fine. I also have two USB Flash Drives of the same brand which I hardly use anymore but one of them has issue copying/transferring files now for some reason. And yeah, I did look after them by not unplugging, drop or bash them about. Which is why I'm wondering if I should invest in a 8TB or go with lower one.

@WanderingBullet to be fair i highly doubt you will need one that big, unless you plan on buying EVERY PS4 that's released so i would go with a smaller one maybe about 4TB or something

plus it will be cheaper

Noob question: the internal HDD of the original PS4 can be used as external HDD once put in a USB 3.0 case? I don't understand if the USB 3.0 is a matter of hard disks or if it just refers to cable and connectors...

@andreoni79 it's the transfer speed mainly

@andreoni79 USB3.0 has a much greater transfer rate than USB2.0 and SATAII (the way your internal HDD is connected in your PS4). What this means is that when the Hardware needs to read information off the HDD, it can read the information fast enough. USB has many uses, like charging devices for example, but in this context, its most important attribute is the high speed data transfer capability.

@FullbringIchigo Yeah, I've decided to get the 4TB capacity but I'll wait till the patch is out then only I'll try to find one with a reasonable price.

Just curious but Portable HDs won't work, right? It needs to be the one that requires an adapter? The one I'm using currently is actually a Portable HD.

Thanks, but I still don't understand if the old PS4 HDD put in a USB 3.0 case would work...
Which spec define a USB 3.0 HDD? Some of its internal components or just the connectors and cables used to connect it with a compatibile device?

@andreoni79 It should work! There is NO reason why it won't AS LONG AS ITS A USB3.0 CADDY.

All external HDD's have an 'internal' HDD with a SATA connection inside and use USB to link that HDD to a device. A lot of people bought an external HDD, split it open to remove the HDD from insde, swap that with the internal of the PS4 and put the original PS4 drive back inside the case of the external.

All an external HDD is, is just an 'internal HDD' with a case built around it. Some may have a power supply to spin the mechanical drive whilst others may draw power through the USB from the device its connected to but they are all going to have a 'mechanical' drive (unless you buy a SSD) that's no different from the drive you already have in your PS4 in essence.

If you open any external, inside is a drive that's exactly the same as an internal. Some drives, like Seagates Back up Plus Fast, use 2 drives to speed up the read/write times (using two drives simultaneously means that they can virtually double the read/write times) but generally, they have either a 2.5" or 3.5" internal HDD inside.

All the USB does is transfer the data between the HDD and the device and in some cases also power the device too. Its not that different from what SATA does inside the PS4 but as devices don't have a SATA port, the USB is doing this job.

Perfect, thanks. For some strange reason my brain didn't like the idea that it was all related only to a simple cable! It sounded to good to be true.

Ok I apologize for the noob question but how do I go about formating it when I first get it?

@Tasuki Both the pendrive I use for backup and the new internal HDD were formatted automatically.

Normally, if its not pre-formatted, as soon as you plug it in you will be asked. I don't know how Sony will go about it though. The other thing, if its like Xbox, you can't use the External on any other device. Of course you plug it into other PS4's and sign into your account to access it but you can't have half for PS4 content and half for Xbox or PC content for example

if it comes pre-formatted with windows NTFS (as most seem to do these days), the PS4 will ask if you want to format it. otherwise, you can pre-format it with ex-FAT from linux/MacOS/windows and the PS4 should recognise it.

@KratosMD I was wondering the same as I can use it right now. In fact I had to delete Fallout 4 now to make room for a Patch for Overwatch . Pretty soon I am only going to have just the following games on my PS4 Diablo 3, Black Ops III, Modern Warfare Remastered, Overwatch, Lego Dimensions, and a handfull of smaller games. This is getting quite ridiculous this gen.

@Tasuki yeah i need it to, i do have room for a few more small games but for some reason IF i go below 50GB then the system starts to play up with long load times, crashes and shut down problems (the 3 beep problem mainly)

i have at least 10 games i can't play right now, surly the Beta has been going long enough?

hurry up Sony we NEED this

@KratosMD yeah i just saw that on facebook, posted a link to Sammy about it

full information about the upcoming update can be found here https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2017/03/08/ps4-system-softwar...