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Home Entertainment:

Upsize your PS3 hard drive

By James Yu, GameSpot.com
08/04/2009



 

It doesn't matter if you have the 20GB, 40GB, 60GB, 80GB or even the 160GB PlayStation 3--you can always use more storage space. All that available harddisk space quickly disappears once you start downloading games, demos, and HD videos. Fortunately, Sony has designed the PS3 to allow console owners to perform their own hard drive upgrades. You can go out and select your own hard drive instead of being forced to buy an official first-party harddisk accessory. However, giving console owners that freedom means aspiring upgraders will need to know how to select the right hard drive upgrade and the proper installation technique.


Harddisk manufacturer Seagate supplied us with a 160GB Momentus 5400.3 for our upgrade.

The first step to replacing the harddisk is going to the store or visiting an online retailer to pick up a new harddisk. The PS3 is compatible with just about any 2.5-inch SATA notebook harddisk. The physical size of the harddisk is important because it has to fit the PS3's 2.5-inch drive tray. As far as storage capacity goes, it doesn't make sense to go through the trouble of upgrading unless you go big: We're talking 250GB, 320GB, 500GB or even 1TB.

Once you have your upgrade drive, the next step is to backup the data on your current PS3 hard drive to an external storage unit. You can skip this step if you aren't attached to your music, videos, and game saves, but most of us will probably want to save all that information. The PS3 has a built-in software backup utility that can copy the PS3's hard drive contents to an external storage device, such as a USB thumb drive or a Memory Stick. The removable storage device must use the FAT32 file system in order for the PS3 to recognize it. If you have an external hard drive that's formatted in NTFS, you can use the Disk Management utility in Windows to reformat the drive, but you'll need to create partitions on large external hard drives because Windows can do only FAT32 on drives 32GB or smaller.

Tags: removable storage, external hard drive, FAT32, video, console
 

 
 

    Talkback
virtualess says...
Good article.

Here are some questions I believe some other PS3 owners would like to find out:

1) Would there be a drop in access speed if larger size is used? Say 250GB vs 160GB?
2) For all games that are purchased online (like fLow) and other demo games, would they be backed up? I read somewhere else vaguely that this is so but would be confined to the unit of PS3 you are using.
3) Is there a good and practical software that convert DVD movies (personal) to the format that PS3 play (and ditto for PSP)?

 
 
seanthediceman says...
If you bought something in the play station store then you can just find your history of downloads in the PS store and click on it to download it again. Your only limited i think 5 times to do this

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Georgester says...
I don't have a PS3 and I'm interested in the new 40Gb so I'd be interested to know too. But I think

1) I think it depends on the RPM of the HDD.
2) I think you would need to back it up too. I think if you backup the hard disk, everything saved goes with it. I'm not too sure.
3) You can play DVD movies on the PS3. But I don't really know any freeware software that would do it although there are a few good shareware (trial before pay) software that can for the PSP. I don't know about the PS3 on that.

 
 
litford says...
i'm just wondering if this will void my warranty?

 
 
azpunkguy says...
You won’t void your warranty, not will the size slow down the access speed I recommend that you go with a 7200 RMP drive 200 or 250 GIG, spend the money and you wont be disappointed, I'm not! You can find these drives at tigerdirect.com or other online sources. Follow the directions here and everything will work out great!

 
 
mlfcrash says...
I am wondering, I ordered a 320GB 5400 rmp HDD will there be a noticeable difference in performance then the current 20GB HDD, or a HDD w/ 320 GB 7200 RMP?

Thank you
~Mark

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L3371 says...
The heat output of a 7200rpm drive will increase over 5400rpm as will the heat from a 250Gb over 160Gb.
Anyone tried a Solid State Drive in their PS3 yet?
I am looking forward to purchasing the new 256GB SSD as there is nearly no heat and the read/write times are nearly half that of standard HDD. Power consumption is also reduced.

 
 
Oroz says...
Use a External Harddrive and install yellow dog linux or just use a Max Drive 160 HDD its easy and u can take it off and use it with your Windows to move MP3, moves ect around easy fast and u dont have to use Linux if u dont want to. and its not bad for around $160us www.play-asia.com...

 
 
MARCMICH says...
How, or can I use external hardrives? I just purchased a cavalry 500 gb usb External hardrive. The ps3 didn't recognize it. I really don't know much about "partitioning" as I'm afraid that in the format stage I'll erase the ps3 hardrive.

 
 
Venazard says...
I have some questions.
1). Will all the games I've downloaded still be in my account? After all I don't want to have to repurchase them.
2). Where would I be able to purchase a 250GB Hardrive & for how much in U.S. Dollars?
Any help would be nice. Thank You.

 
 
Venazard says...
Another question. Will any brand that fits the correct size of 2.5 inches work or are there any specific brands that will only work? Thanks

 
 
skullpr says...
Hey everyone, first off I would like to congrats on a nice and simple step-by-step explanation on the HDD swap. I got a PS3 a few months ago, and I've been searching a lot to change my HDD and install another OS as well. Now, I'm no expert but what I've learned so far (and I'd appreciate any corrections) is:

MARCMICH
I have a Seagate 500GB HD, and it doesn't detect it either. If I'm not mistaken it has to be NTFS format. You can look it up in google.com (ntfs for ps3), maybe that will help.

VENAZARD
About the downloaded games you can download them to the same platform up to 5 times, without having to repurchase. You can find prety descent prices at newegg.com, and there are 7200 RPM drives at tigerdirect.com. The make of the HDD doesn't matter as long as its 2.5" and its a SATA drive.

Hope that helps you, any corrections will be greatly appreciated.

 
 
hodriver says...
IN RESPONSE TO virtualess' QUESTION CONCERNING CONVERTING DVD VIDEO TO PS3 COMPATIBLE VIDEO FILE FORMATS:

I'm not at all familiar with the codec support profile of the PSP. However, I do know for a fact that the PS3 supports the DivX/XviD codec. This means that anyone interested can simply take a ripped DVD and convert it to an *.avi file for streaming or local playback on the PS3; and it can all be done with freeware to boot!

First and foremost, you'll need a utility for backing up/ripping DVDs. It has been my experience that the freeware application, DVD-Shrink, is the most intuitive and feature rich application with which to do this. However, I've not seen it available for download for some time now. You may want to see if it's floating around anywhere as a torrent; although I'm certainly not suggesting you take that as a first option. DVD-Decryptor is an acceptable alternative but lacks the compression functionality of DVD-Shrink (to my knowledge).

Next, you'll want to find a suitable freeware utility to transcode your video to DivX or XviD. Luckily, one can nowadays easily convert video to DivX using the freeware utility Dr. DivX from DivX labs. This utility allows one to convert a variety of formats to DivX video with either original Dolby Digital audio (AC3), or compressed MP3 audio; although I suggest MP3 encoding be avoided due to A/V synchronization issues that tend to arise with DivX/XviD encoding and playback.

Then, once you've successfully re-encoded your new video, change the file extension of the new DivX file from *.divx to *.avi to avoid unnecessary complications that can arise from DivX's stupid attempt at making their format appear special and proprietary. Just for the record, this is suggested because not all software media players will recognize a *.divx file as playable; even though the only difference between a *.divx DivX file and an *.avi DivX file is the extension.

Last, you'll want to open the newly re-encoded file to assure that it's playable. I suggest trying to play it with Windows Media Player; simply because all Windows PCs will have it installed and it's a decent media player. After that, you'll just need to get it to the PS3. You can burn it to a disc (CD/DVD), write it to a memory card, copy it to a thumb drive, or my favorite, stream it to your PS3 on your home network with a UPnP server. However, the UPnP media server is an entirely different discussion.

I hope this answers your question, even though I failed to offer an equivalent option for the PSP.

 
 
Xtensha says...
For Ripping DVDs you can also use a tool called Handbrake, it is on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Works really well does copy protected dvds, has presets for PS3 and PSP along with a number of other ones so you don't need to know all the tech stuff equally you can do custom profiles if you do know what you are doing, Great support forums and best of all its free :-)

Google: Handbrake

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THECHEF714 says...
I RECENTLY INSTALLED A 250G INTERNAL HDD ..... IT WORK'S FINE.
THEN I GOT A ENCLOSURE FOR THE 20G THAT CAME OUT OF THE PS3 TO USE IT AS AN EXT HDD
BUT THE PS3 DON'T SEE IT...?????

WHAT'S UP WITH THAT !!!!!!

 
 
Meno says...
I believe any USB hard drive has to be a FAT32 partition to work with the PS3.

FYI: Windows will only let you create a 32gig (or smaller) partition. That's 32768m.

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SlaveToPS3 says...
I am installing a 320 Toshiba this week. I don't have an external HD but I do have 3 8MB Sony Memory sticks. Can I transfer all my videos and images a little bit at a time? If not can I somehow use my Sony laptop to store the data? What else can I do?
PLEASE HELP!!

 
 
seanthediceman says...
Well you could always transfer the data onto your memory stick and keep on putting the data into another storage device such as your home computer. You would just have to keep downloading data onto your memory stick. The only thing is that if a piece of data such as a game around 1200mb wont fit on a 8mb memory stick. Best bet is to buy a flash drive with at least 2gb (20$) and keep on bringing data from that onto your home computer. When you get your new hardrive installed just put the data into your memory stick or a flashdrive then put your data, piece by piece back into your new hardrive. It doesnt cost as much as going out and spending 150$ on an external hardive when you could just simply go back and forth to your computer with a flashdrive.

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seanthediceman says...
Well you could always transfer the data onto your memory stick and keep on putting the data into another storage device such as your home computer. You would just have to keep downloading data onto your memory stick. The only thing is that if a piece of data such as a game around 1200mb wont fit on a 8mb memory stick. Best bet is to buy a flash drive with at least 2gb (20$) and keep on bringing data from that onto your home computer. When you get your new hardrive installed just put the data into your memory stick or a flashdrive then put your data, piece by piece back into your new hardrive. It doesnt cost as much as going out and spending 150$ on an external hardive when you could just simply go back and forth to your computer with a flashdrive.

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striderhayasa says...
forgive me if this has been mentioned before but, PS3 formats internal drives in its own format, external drives must be formatted in Fat32 or the PS3 won't see it. if an internal drive is put into an external enclosure, it's a safe bet that the enclosed drive has to be reformatted as Fat32. WinXP can reformat any size drive if you use a utility called "swissknife"(?) without the retarded 32GB partitions. OSX can reformat any size drive to Fat32 as well. Just use disk utility-select the drive-select "ms-dos" as the new format-erase the drive-wait 30 minutes or so (it took 30 minutes for my 500GB external) done.

Hope this helps

@SlaveToPS3 I believe you can. as long as you have a usb reader for the memsticks. if that doesn't work, most thumb drives will do. even an IPOD should do nicely as the ps3 only sees it as a usb device. if all else fails, just get a cheap external drive.

 
 
gtoddf says...
I thought that this might be doable. The PS3 is really more of a console-PC hybrid. Now to attempt a dual boot Fedora/Windows XP with Grub...

 
 
seanthediceman says...
I myself would prefer installing Linux Ubuntu onto your PS since the PS3 is based off of Linux OSes. It is said that Linux runs great on Play stations. you could also run Linux yellow dog but you would have to be quit familiar with command prompt to use yellow dog so I would stick with Linux Ubuntu.

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lostbrothertwo says...
i have a question?.i hav been waiting for my 80 gb ps3 for so long now and i decided to buy a 40 gb ps3 instead.i hav a 60 gb at home but it isnt workin anymore.so can i take out my 60 gb hardrive and put it in my 40 gb ps3?email me please at certifyer01_10@hotmail.com

THANKYOU!!!

 
 
bubagump says...
Hello,
I am thinking of uprgading the hardrive in my playstation 3. From what I read, I need a 2.5'' SATA drive.
Can i take out the hard drive inside my 320gb Simpletech portable hard drive and put it in the PS3? Is the drive in the portable unit a SATA drive?
thanks

 
 
emmo says...
Is there a reason for the 500Gb limit? Are there no .35" drives with greater cap[acity? Or is it a system limitation?

2nd question, related to external drives - isn't there a file-size limit on FAT drives? Or is that only a Windows limitation?
Copying avi's from my C: to an external FAT drive, I hit a limit of around 4 to 5Gb.
Given that avi's from my camera are around 13Gb per hour, that's a fair limitation.
Can anyone provide clarity around this?

 
 
Xtensha says...
the limit is that no 2.5 inch drive comes in a larger size then 500 GB currently.

Fat does have a limit so no its not a windows limit but earlier versions of windows used Fat so those versions suffered for it.

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GGCAN says...
@emmo...I wondered too and then found this and it works great:

www.compuapps.com...

Also to some asking about replacing one of their other harddrives...take the PS3 one out and compare them.
If they both are the same size, it will work.

 
 
merihkolat says...
yea umm i have no clue wat the hell im suppose to do i added 10ogb or something like that to my ps3 but the thing is that it wouldt let me use it. it told me to format my old the 40gb and then reinstall the system then idk wat im suppose to do after

 
 
GGCAN says...
@merihkolat


I'm wondering from your comment, why you would add a 10 GB harddrive, when you already had a 40 gb harddrive ?

What this illustration is showing is that say you have a 40 gb harddrive....it says you should go to a higher size, not downsizing from a 40 gb to a 10 gb.

I would suggest if you have a 40 gb harddrive you at least install an 80 gb harddrive or higher than an 80 gb harddrive.

You will then be able to use the system and it will not give you the message you are receiving.

Remember, if you have a 40 gb harddrive, you want to install something larger than 40.

If you have an 80 gb harddrive, you want to install a harddrive larger than 80 gb.

If you have a 20 gb harddrive, you will install one higher than 20.

You should not install a harddrive that is smaller than the current one in the PS3.

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mggcr says...
I haven't much experience..

SATA

There are SATA, SATA-300, SATA-150...

Are there any difference in compatibility for the PS3?

Or it should be plain SATA?

 
 
Chisolm2 says...
I just bought a 320gb seagate, the ps3 says "cannot start. The correct hard disk was not found." It never gives me an opportunity to format or anything. What should I do?

 
 
Chisolm2 says...
Nevermind, I pulled the hard drive out, reinserted and restarted, works like a champ now!

 
 
dbudhoo says...
i just bought a 250 gig one. I got to the step where you're supposed to unscrew the casing from the old drive and put it on the new one. Problem is, i think i broke 2 of the screws and now can't get the covering off of the casing for the old drive. What do i do? Can i put the new drive in anyway or...?

 
 
clayremy77 says...
if you stripped the screws what you need to do is to get a set of long nosed pliers.

a leatherman utility tool works best.

lay the pliers flat against the casing and use the pliers to grab the sides of the screws. grip tight and slowly turn.
the screws are in very tight but once you break them free they turn very easily.

i used this method before i even touched the screws to break them free, just to make sure i didnt strip them myself.

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seanthediceman says...
Your going to need to buy a special drill bit. This means you need to get those old screws out and replace them. There is a drill bit that will drill into the screw and screw it out.

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Meno says...
Ulead Video Studio and Pinnacle Studio both have PSP output modes.

 
 
sticks says...
Hi all, Could someone tell me if the following will be able to be installed into the ps3 as a hardrive. It's a "Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 500GB 2.5 SATA Hard Drive OEM" Would I be able to replace this with the old harddrive inside the ps3 (which is 80GB) with this one & would the ps3 format it ok or would I have to format it beforehand?? Appreciate your comments.

 
 
sticks says...
Hi all again, Was also reading about this drive but wasn't sure if it would fit in the PS3 for it's physical dimensions . Could someone let me know if this fits as I wouln't mind a Terabyte of harddrive capacity...

Seagate 7200.11 Barracuda / 1 TB / 3.5" Internal SATA Hard Drive

 
 
GGCAN says...
@ sticks

The PS3 only uses 2.5 " laptop drives...the one you specified in your post states it's a 3.5 " so it's too big.

 
 
GGCAN says...
@ sticks

Your previous post about the 2.5 " 500 GB drive appears it would fit.

I would take out the one in your PS3 and before you buy the 2.5 " one, I would just compare that they are the same size.

As for formatting, most likely the HDD is not formatted the way the PS3 wants and you would most likely have to format it before hand.

 
 
markhere says...
Please can someone HELP me - I have done everything i am meant to do installing a new Hard Drive i have even tried different hard drives but each time i boot up the PS3 with a new hard drive in it comes up i dont have the right application software on the system - What do i do as the hard drives blank odviously i have evn tried downloading the system software onto a memory card and installing it that way but that dosent work either.
Any advice Pleaseeeeeeeeeee

 
 
Xtensha says...
@markhere: I had the same problem but the system firmware worked for me however not at first. I loaded it onto a USB stick and nothing. Found out you have to place it in a bunch of folders on the memory card. It is on sonys website but you have to look for it. From memory it was something like ps3 the another one but can't remember sorry. Did you place the firmware in these folders ??

 
 
markhere says...
Cheers Xtensha Someone in another forum last night informed me that you have to place the file you download in a folder called UPDATE and that folder has to be within a folder called PS3.Thanks for all your help

 
 
Reprezenta says...
If i upgrade my hdd will i be able to play psone and ps2 games on what used to be a 40gig ps3?Need help?
please reply to lilwillandhisniggaz@yahoo.com will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 
 
GGCAN says...
@ Reprezenta.

When and if you upgrade your PS3 HDD it has nothing to do with the backwards compatibility.

If your PS3 has backwards compatibility (bc) it will still have bc after you install a larger HDD.

 
 
GGCAN says...
Forgot to mention though.....if the PS3 never had backwards compatibility before you installed a bigger HDD, installing a larger HDD will not give you backwards compatibility.

That's completely separate from the HDD.

 
 
seanthediceman says...
yes that is completely separate. Its the lens reader that gives you backwards compatibility not your HDD.

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VincentBlaze says...
ok i was wandering if you can get the larger hard drive and just use taht for like music and keep the other hard drive for the games without messing nething up...would that work?

 
 
VincentBlaze says...
i was also wandering if you could use an adaptor and hook that up to the hard drive and hook it up 2 the ps3 so u can hav the hard drive there without taking out the original hard drive of the ps3

 
 
seanthediceman says...
Actually you can buy a USB external hardrive and save all your music and vids on that. You would just have to make sure that you save all your music and vid files on the external hardrive then find them on your hardrive. The only thing is the data will have to run through a USB cable which is slower than upgrading your hardrive.

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wanderings says...
Anyone know if these steps would apply to a CECHL01 model? The official sony site doesn't include that model # with thier instructions on how to upgrade.

 
 
Iago says...
My main concern is downloading again my purchased software. I do not have any way of saving the content on any exturnal hard drive or any other way of saving the content. However I do not want to lose the software I have already bought. I believe this question has already been asked, but I would just like some clarifacation.

Thanks in advance

 
 
michaelcatalano says...
I added a 500GB Seagate and some of my games pause briefly every 10 to 15 seconds. I have not tried many games, but rub-a-dub is really bad. I did install the jumper to limit the drive to SATA 1.5 before installing the drive. Anyone else with this problem?

 
 
Gifted1 says...
See am not good on this!!! hahaha
Good tips and i still need help!
First i have plans of buying a new PS3...
- WHAT CAPACITY SHOULD I BUY for the PS3?
Then am thinking of getting a 500GB 7200RPM hardisk as replacement for the one in the PS3 coz am a hardcore gamer.
- Do i still need to format that in NTFS or FAT?
- How do i do that?

 
 
Xtensha says...
Yeh well even if you are a hardcore gamer the 80gig should be heaps. You only need to seriously consider upgrading the HD if you are going to use it for your movies and mp3s etc.

If its just for game saves the 80gb will last you for a while.

 
 
GGCAN says...
@Gifted1...

I swapped in a 320 GB harddrive into mine and have used about 100 GB so far.

If you're a hardcore gamer as you say, Xtensha mentioned to get the 80 GB,

However, if you plan on saving music, videos, PS3 themes, movies, etc to your PS3, then a 320 or a 500 GB harddrive would be better.

As for your question, No...the PS3 will reformat the drive to what it needs....as the above example shows and says:

"Turn on the console and let the system format the new drive. "

Only if you decide that you want to copy your old saved games from the old harddrive to the new harddrive would you have to reformat to FAT.

There's a site that will let you copy a utility to do the formatting as well at:

download.cnet.com....

 
 
lee3564 says...
HELP ADVICE NEEDED - Followed instructions untill i re-boot up the Ps3 with the new HDD in. However get the following msg
"System software cant run correctly. Press the PS button to try and restart the system. If you cant restart system, the systen partition of the hard disk must be reformatted and reinstain system software. Insert storage media that contains update dater of version 2.70or later then press start and select buttons together" The new HDD is a western digital 250gb SATA. Pls HELP !!

 
 
Xtensha says...
lee3564 the answer is above in the comments already

 
 
lee3564 says...
Hi Xtensha yhe ive seen a comment about it but still not 100% sure how to go about it and dont want to mess things up as im still a beginer !! Could you or someone else reading this PLEASE explain step by step what i need to do. Much appreciated !!!

 
 
Xtensha says...
You can't really mess it up now as you have already done the risky stuff. I can't remember it all step by step as I did it months ago but like below.

Steps in brief:
Go to your local playstation website and download ps3 firmware
Save firmware to memory stick or USB harddrive (use folder structure as outlined on playstation website)
Turn on ps3
When u get your error message insert memory stick or USB hard drive with firmware on and in correct folder structure and press ok

If u have done it correctly should install and work

 
 
lee3564 says...
Thanks for that. All sorted now. All up and working.
Your a star !!

 
 
Xtensha says...
Glad you got it working lee3564. Thanks for letting us know as its always good to know you helped :-)

 
 
Gifted1 says...
Thank you all!

 
 
bbaker187 says...
Ok i need to upgrade my hdd (only 4gb of 60 left). Im probly gonna get a 320gb. And i was wondering wat the format had to be for my ps3 to recognize it. Also i i get the 320gb whats the max rpm it should be; so i dont overheat my ps3?

 
 
jmmagat says...
I have a couple of questions:

1)When I replace the hard drive, do I need to download the PS3 Firmware and install it all over again?

2)Does the hard drive have to be 5400RPM or can it be faster?

For anyone who knows the answer, please email about it. Thanks!!!

 
 
michaelcatalano says...
1)When I replace the hard drive, do I need to download the PS3 Firmware and install it all over again?

2)Does the hard drive have to be 5400RPM or can it be faster?

jmmagat
1. No, it is still there but you need to back up your current hard drive if you want to save thing like demos, movies, music...

2. Can be 7200rpm but I heard they run hotter and could cause heat problems.

Hope this helps

 
 
totality911 says...
Looking for some answers, hope somebody can help me here.

I tried upgrading my PS3 drive to a SATA 320 gig internal hard drive, but because I screwed up the whole process took longer than it needed to. I backed up my saves to an external hard drive, but when I went to restore them, it got to 100% then told me the data was corrupted, meaning i had to reformat my new hard drive again. this happened each time I tried it.
It seems the saved data on my external hard drive has been corrupted? Im just wondering, would i be able to put my old 60 gig hard drive back in and back up all my saves again and start from the beginning, or will the PS3 try to reformat my old drive when I put it back in again, causing me to lose the saved data on that?

Is there a way to fix the corrupted data on my external drive? I hope somebody can help me with this, it's driving me up the wall.

 
 
kratosgodslayer says...
If you have an old PS3 hard drive and you put it into a new PS3, will you still have to format it?

 
 
Xtensha says...
@kratosgodslayer

I saw somewhere that if you are swapping your old PS3 hard drive into the new PS 3 Slim you have to re-format.

Not sure if this would be true if just swapping between similar models

 
 
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