PS4 and External USB3 Hard Drive

[#1]

Has anyone here managed to get a PS4 to recognise an external USB3 Hard drive.

I need to take a backup of the PS4 in order to upgrade its hard drive.

I have formatted the USB drive exFAT as suggested but it isn't being recognised by the PS4.

Any help gratefully received as it's doing my head in.

[#2]

What type of device are you using @Strat?

My son has one of these and it works both in XBox, PC and PS4.

[#3]

@Anonymous It's one of these and I'm beginning to think I should have researched a bit more.

[#4]

http://techland.time.com/2013/09/04/yes-the-playstation-4-supports-external-storage-but-theres-a-cat...

[#5]

It's USB powered and the thought just occurred, is it not getting enough power from the PS4 to work even though the led is lit.

Maybe I need a split lead and a separate power supply.

It works ok on the PC although I am unable to 'eject' it.

[#6]

Thanks @30FTTC06 I am aware of that limitation but the external drive is only for backing up the old PS4 drive before it's removed and replaced with a larger capacity one.

The Grandson has a 500GB version and it's full.

[#7]

Ahh I see, sorry about that, We have an external HDD plugged into our Wii U which is a seagate 2TB.

I just bought a card reader the other day which wont work when plugged in.... I assume USB3 etc..

Remove and clone I guess then.

[#8]

A thought - could you copy everything from your Grandson's drive to the new one and then use it as your transfer device

[#9]

@Strat - I suspect you're right regarding the power so maybe one of these will help.

[#10]

@Anonymous I was just looking at one of those cables on Maplin as there's a shop in town

I noticed the drive you linked to has an external power socket and it got me thinking.

@Oldjim I'm not sure quite how that would work and prefer to keep things as simple as possible but thanks for the suggestion.

The only shining light I have in the back of my mind is that if it all goes pear shaped I will have the original PS4 drive to slot back in.

Off to the bus stop then....

[#11]

Back from shopping and that was a waste of time.

The cable I looked at in Maplin's site was an online only deal and they didn't stock it. Took the tram out to PC World and I might as well have asked for a Flux Capacitor for all the use they were.

I bought another USB 3 to micro USB 3 cable just in case the supplied one was faulty but with the same results.

I have dug out an old WD Book Live 500GB USB drive, formatted it exFAT, plugged it into my PS4 and it works.

[#12]

What a waste of your time, especially PCW I know the feeling only too well, they're as much use as a handbrake on a canoe at the best of times. Maybe you could order the one from Amazon as a just-in-case and if you get it maybe you can use it to back up the new HD.

[#13]

Thanks @Anonymous

I have now ordered one from Amazon plus a couple of other things I had in a wish list.

[#14]

When you say it lights up can you tell if it spinning? (Should be able to feel when holding it)

Oh and what's that about not being able to eject the drive from your computer? Maybe that has something to do with it or are you simply stating Windoze procedure of only having "safely remove hardware" rather than some eject button to click.

[#15]

I can feel and hear the drive start up when plugged into my PC or my PS4.

When it's plugged into my PC and I click 'Safely Remove Hardware' it is listed but not clickable so I guess it's behaving as a USB connected hard drive rather than a USB memory stick....which I suppose makes sense.

Correct me if I'm wrong.