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pierolinux
May 29th, 2009, 10:56 AM
Dear all,
I recently bought a new Playstation 3 (PS3). My goal was (and still is) to create an all-in-one set top box for using linux and playing games and the PS3 looked to be the right console for me.

I upgraded the internal HDD to 320Gb and used the PS3 OS to create a partition for my Ubuntu installation but... SURPRISE! I can only use 10Gb for Linux!

I have visited many forums to understand if I can get rid of that limit, but I did not find any solution. Reading here and there I discovered the PS3 partition is encrypted and cannot be expanded/shrinked using parted or similar software.

Now, an idea is crossing my mind, but before starting I was wondering if anybody tried it and if in your opinion it is feasible. Here it what I'd do:

- Plug the original 80Gb HDD into the PS3
- Use PS3 to format it and create a 10Gb partition for linux
- Extract the HDD, plug into a HDD usb case
- Dump the 80Gb HDD onto my 320Gb HDD
- Manipulate the 320 HDD and expand the 10Gb partition till the end of the disk

Expected result: 70Gb partition for the PS3 and 250Gb for linux.

Do you think it would work? Please do not post answers like: "Why you want to do that?" or "Buy yourself a real PC". I already have a PC :p but I am a real geek and I want Linux on my PS3 also ;)

Thank you for your feedback

AE000
June 3rd, 2009, 06:35 PM
If it doesn't work you can still use your 80Gb drive and format the 320Gb HD.

I would like to do something similar, do you know how to restore backup data from the PS3 after making the partition? (I guess you didn't have any because your system is new).

Sorry I can't provide any help to your issue.

Alex.