PlayStation 3 harddrive disk access

Bounkass

Hi I'm new at the forums, and I'm starting to get interested in Linux.

I have a problem with one of the PlayStation 3's I have... One has YLoD'd on me, and the motherboard is unrepairable broken. And the harddrive disc contains 3,5 years worth of gaming. Quite a few games are almost platinum... Here is a picture of the motherboard:

I would like to beable to access the harddisk drive (which is locked to the motheboards serial number) and copy all of the games saved content to a USB stick so I can copy all the files back ona new custom fully refurbished PlayStation 3.

On the internet I read that that could be possible with Linux? Does anybody know how to do this? Or can anybody do it for me with the right licensed tools? I am willing to pay.

- Ben

woboyle

So, your mobo let the smoke out (looking at the big blob over the pins makes me think so)? Bummer! Anyway, it depends upon what file system the system uses. There are a LOT of tools on Linux to access various file systems, but I have no experience with the PS3 and what it uses. However, I expect that it can be done.

Bounkass

woboyle wrote:

So, your mobo let the smoke out (looking at the big blob over the pins makes me think so)? Bummer! Anyway, it depends upon what file system the system uses. There are a LOT of tools on Linux to access various file systems, but I have no experience with the PS3 and what it uses. However, I expect that it can be done.

Hi rubbeman, thanks for your reply.

There was too little solder paste (edit: and solder) on the motherboard when I removed the solder. My own stupid fault.

Anyway, you think it can be done? Can I run Linux from a disc, instead of reinstalling my whole computer? And, where can these tools be found?

I'm sorry, but Im a total newb when it comes to Linux and other OS's besides Windows and Xross Media Bar (PlayStation 3's OS)...

mfillpot

You are in luck, I researched this for a friend last week.

The PS3 uses an encrypted fat32 filesystem to secure the data on the hard drive, which means that unless you can find a way to decrypt the data with the mobo key then you will not be able to recover the data.

Bounkass

mfillpot wrote:

You are in luck, I researched this for a friend last week.

The PS3 uses an encrypted fat32 filesystem to secure the data on the hard drive, which means that unless you can find a way to decrypt the data with the mobo key then you will not be able to recover the data.

Yes, I presumed it's all encrypted, and I knew that it's FAT32 formatted. But the question was, how do I access it, and backup the files? Like I said, I'm a total noob when it comes to Linux, let alone encrypting and hacking etc.

mfillpot

In the case of my friend he was able to replace the burned out chip on the mobo and copy all of his files using his existing system to an external HD before the system fried his solder work. With all of the threads I have read on the subject there are no hints as to what encryption mechanism is used, only that it uses the mobo code for decryption which is used in the MBR of the disk.

In most cases using Linux based distro will allow you to open, recover of copy files from the HD of a failed system, but this is an exception only because it is using an unknown encryption mechanism. If you can find out what encryption algorithm it uses then maybe we can help, but at this point I have been unable to locate that information.

Bounkass

mfillpot wrote:

In the case of my friend he was able to replace the burned out chip on the mobo and copy all of his files using his existing system to an external HD before the system fried his solder work. With all of the threads I have read on the subject there are no hints as to what encryption mechanism is used, only that it uses the mobo code for decryption which is used in the MBR of the disk.

In most cases using Linux based distro will allow you to open, recover of copy files from the HD of a failed system, but this is an exception only because it is using an unknown encryption mechanism. If you can find out what encryption algorithm it uses then maybe we can help, but at this point I have been unable to locate that information.

Well, there was this guy on the internet who made a program to decrypt the PS3's HDD. He made his own program to dercryt a PS3's HDD. So somebody knows? He even released this program on the internet. I downloaded it, but I haven't got the chance to test it out yet. I don't even know what the program exactly does. All I know is is that it's calles 'PS3 HDD Studio 2.08' and it decrpyts your HDD or something.

mfillpot

Once I put in the name of the app I was able to find it and download it, however it is for windows only and I do not have a ps3 so I cannot test it. Please test the app and tell us if it has given the expected results.