How to do a full format on a PS3 hard disk
The purpose of this guide is for repair and troubleshooting of numerous PS3 issues. While the PS3 does have multiple
utilities that claim to do a full format, none of them actually do full formats. Because of this, many issues that can easily be fixed with a
full format get diagnosed as hardware issues, resulting in large and unnecessary repair costs.
This process will require a Windows desktop PC...there are methods for doing this with a Mac or Linux desktop as well, but if you have Linux, you already know how to remove a partition table and if you have OSX, just use the Apple Partition Map option.
-The first step is to remove the PS3 hard disk from the console.
-The next step is to connect the drive to the PC. To do this, you must turn off the PC and open the case. If you do not have any free ports or SATA cables, you can usually use the data and power cables from your DVD drive. If you have a laptop, you can get USB converters cheaply online.
-Once the PS3 hard drive is installed in the PC, start the system.
-Once windows has started, you want to open up the command prompt as Administrator.
-Type "diskpart" into the command prompt and hit ENTER.
-Type "list disk" into the command prompt and hit ENTER.
-This will produce a list of all your hard drives. You can usually identify the drive by size. You will need the disk number for the next step.
-Type "select disk X" where "X" is replaced with the drive disk number, then hit ENTER
-Type "clean" and hit ENTER.
-Type "create partition primary" and hit ENTER
-Type "select partition 1" and hit ENTER
-Type "active" and hit ENTER
-Type "assign" and hit ENTER
-At this point, windows will probably give you a pop-up offering to format the drive. It is generally a good idea to format the drive at this point just to make sure that it does not have any massive physical problems. You will want to to a "Full Format", not a "Quick Format".
-Type "exit" into the command prompt and hit ENTER
-Type "exit" into the command prompt and hit ENTER
Once these steps are done, turn off the PC, remove the drive, reconnect your DVD drive if you disconnected it, and then slide the hard disk back into the PS3.
-Now you will have to format a USB drive with FAT32.
-Create a new folder on the drive called, "PS3" (all caps).
-Open this folder and create a new folder inside of it called "UPDATE" (all caps).
-Find the PUP for whatever firmware you were running before your issues and copy it to the "UPDATE" folder.
-Rename the PUP file to "PS3UPDAT.PUP" (all caps).
-Remove the flash drive from the PC and plug it into the PS3. Plug a controller into the PS3 as well.
-Start the system and follow the prompts, if there are no hardware issues and there is nothing wrong with your USB drive, then the system should reinstall itself, often fixing multiple problems.