PS4 External Hard Drive NOT Recognized NOT Working [Fixed]
Many PS4 users complain that their PS4 external hard drive is not recognized, thus not working on their PS4. They try to connect their external hard drive to PS4, but the PS4 system won’t recognize it, and the PS4 external HDD won’t work. This is just a pesky situation for which many users seek a permanent fix.
Many reasons may lead to this situation and prevent the PS4 system from recognizing your external hard drive. Moreover, the PS4 external hard drive might suddenly stop working and is no longer functional on the PS4, no matter how often you try connecting/disconnecting it to your console.
As a PS4 user, you need to know that there are various reasons that cause the PS4 external hard drive not to work. And depending on the cause of the problem, the solution varies from user to user.
Sometimes the cause of this problem is as simple as changing the USB cable of the PS4 external HDD, and other times the situation is difficult to the extent that you have to buy a new external HDD.
PS4 External HDD Not Working Error Messages
When the PS4 system has trouble recognizing the external hard drive, it will show up some error messages on the screen that indicate this problem. Sometimes there will be no error message; you realize that your PS4 external hard drive is not working because it does not show up on the screen.
Many users get an error message that states: “The USB storage device is not connected“. Other users don’t get any message, no matter what type of external storage they try to connect to the PS4. It’s just that the PS4 system no longer responds to the external HDD connected to it.
So, if you’re getting that error message, most of the below methods will help. But if nothing works, please scroll down to the bottom of this article and visit the recommended page. You’ll find additional tips and more details on this specific error message there.
As for this article, you’ll learn why your PS4 external hard drive is not working, the possible reasons, and how to resolve this issue entirely.
Symptoms of PS4 External HDD Failure
Many non-savvy PS4 users with a problem with their PS4 external hard drives cannot distinguish between PS4 software issues and mechanical hard drive failures, particularly when using a relatively new PS4 external hard drive.
Common symptoms of PS4 external hard drive failure
- Failure to Mount or Recognize
- Excessively Loud Operation
- Clicking, Whirring or Grinding Sounds
- Disappearing Files or Folders
- File Corruption Error Messages
- Extremely Slow Drive Access Times
Distinguishing PS4 External HDD Failures from Software Issues
In many cases, PS4 users are unsure whether they cannot access their PS4 extended storage due to permanent mechanical failures or minor PS4 software problems. The safest action is to turn your PS4 external hard drive off and get a professional data recovery evaluation. Still, several simple, non-invasive steps can be taken to verify that your data is completely inaccessible.
Attempt to use your hard drive on another PS4 console or attach it to a PC to check if it is recognized. Connect the hard drive to the computer directly (not through a USB hub). Replace the connecting cable with a new one, making sure to use a USB or FireWire product that the manufacturer has approved. These steps should restore your data access if small issues prevent your disk from mounting.
Why PS4 External Hard Drive isn’t Working?
Let’s first thoroughly diagnose the issue before suggesting a solution.
Did your PS4 external HDD work before for a while, then stop working and no longer recognized/showed up? Or did this happen initially, and you never got it to work? Answering this question helps you find the right way to fix this issue.
PS4 External Hard Drive Not Working Since The Beginning
If you have tried connecting the external hard drive to PS4 and it wouldn’t get recognized in the first place, you need to ensure the following things.
- Make sure the external hard drive is NOT defective/damaged. You can only confirm that when you connect it to a computer. If the computer has no problem at all recognizing it, and it works fine there, check the next point. Yet, if it doesn’t work even there, it means you might want to replace it with another drive.
- Is your external hard drive compatible with PS4 standards? In many cases, the external HDD is incompatible so it won’t work. Verify it’s compatible before moving on with this test.
- The external HDD must connect directly to PS4 via one of its USB ports. Connecting an external HDD to PS4 via a USB hub prevents PS4 from recognizing it. This also applies to hub USB external hard drives. PS4 system won’t recognize such drives at all.
- Only one storage device is allowed simultaneously. The PS4 will only recognize one external storage drive simultaneously. If a drive that has been previously formatted for external storage on the console is connected, it will not format a second drive. It will not recognize a previously formatted second drive.
- The PS4 external hard drive must have a wired connection (i.e. not wireless). PS4 system won’t recognize/support wireless external hard drives.
- Is PS4 system software up-to-date or are you still using the older version? If you haven’t updated the PS4 system software to the latest version, please do it today. Later, check whether this resolves the problem or not.
- Use another USB port. This helps in some situations.
So, let’s dive into some details and elaborate on each point.
Connecting PS4 External HDD to a PC
The best way to do that is when your PC is off, then turn it on while the PS4 external HDD is attached. It’s also possible to perform this test while the computer is on and operating. You have to expect a notification message that indicates that it has been well-recognized and is now ready for use. Something like this:
If you don’t get this message for any reason, go to “My Computer” and look up the drive there.
Don’t worry if the drive’s file system is not recognized; you can easily fix that by formatting it. The most important part here is that your PC has recognized the drive and not labeled it as defective. See the image below:
This error message appears when a defective USB device connects to the PC. If this is what appears to you, you probably want to dispose of the external HDD and get a new one.
PS4 External HDD Compatibility
PS4 recognizes all healthy USB storage devices connected to it, whether they are compatible as extended storage or just as backup/mass storage.
For example, we all know that USB 3.0 connectivity is essential to use the external HDD as extended storage. But, if you connect a USB 2.0 device, PS4 will still recognize it but won’t allow you to use it as extended storage. You’ll get an error message saying: “Cannot format this USB storage device as extended storage“.
So, if PS4 doesn’t recognize the drive at all, it indicates that a serious problem is going on. But let’s check the next test.
Connecting the External HDD via a USB Hub
The external drive cannot be connected to the console through a USB hub; it must be directly connected to one of the USB ports on the PS4 or PS4 Pro. Otherwise, PS4 won’t recognize it at all and thus won’t work.
On the other hand, you may use a USB hub to connect other USB devices to PS4 with no problem.
Stay Up to Date
Ensure that your console is running the latest version of the system software; in some cases, that helps in fixing errors related to recognizing external hard drives and other devices.
Now, if the external hard drive passes all these three points, yet it is still not recognized nor working, you have to suspect the PS4 console. If you can, connect it to another PS4 and check whether it works. This is the best test you can do in this concern before trying to fix your PS4. Otherwise, if that’s not possible, follow the instructions below to fix that issue.
PS4 External HDD Was Working Fine Before
If the external hard drive worked flawlessly on PS4 before it stopped, you must confirm it hasn’t been defective. You can do that by either connecting it to a PC or, preferably, another PS4. If it doesn’t show up, or the PC recognizes it as a defective device, you’ll need a replacement.
But if it’s recognized on other systems without an issue, the problem is then with your PS4. You have two options to work around this situation. But before that, try first to turn off PS4, switch off electricity for 1 minute, unplug the external hard drive, and now turn on PS4 and let it run without an external hard drive.
Afterward, turn off PS4 again, connect the external hard drive to it while it’s off, and turn on PS4 while the external HDD is connected. This may help in this situation. If that doesn’t work, try one of the methods below:
- Rebuild the PS4 database.
- Initialize PS4
Rebuilding PS4 Database
When rebuilding your Sony PlayStation 4 database, you’re essentially organizing your Database of content and maintaining your PS4 to ensure it performs at its best. The Rebuild Database option does a defragment to the PS4, which can solve a host of issues on the PS4, free up some much-needed space, speed up your console, and fix problems. The Rebuild scans the drive and creates a new database of all content, thus cleaning the disc drive.
Benefits of Rebuilding PS4 Database
Corrupted data on PS4 can cause many performance issues and might hinder PS4 from recognizing the external hard drive. Rebuilding the Database will handle the corrupt data and restore the performance of PS4. It is the easiest, safest and fastest solution when PS4 has issues.
How to Rebuild PS4 Database
To initialize a complete rebuild of the PS4 Database, you first need to start Safe Mode.
Safe Mode allows you to boot up your PS4 and access various options to troubleshoot issues with your console. You should only use these functions if you’re following a guide because you can lose game data if you don’t know what you’re doing.
- Switch off your PS4 using the power button on the front of your console.
- Hold the power button and listen for two beeps (this takes approximately seven seconds).
- Ensure that your PS4 controller is connected via a USB cable. Please turn it on. You’ll now be presented with the following options.
- When presented with the Safe Mode menu, you’ll see the option to Rebuild Database.
- Choose option #5 and press’ X’ to Rebuild the Database.
- Wait. Don’t panic. Your screen will go black, and it could take hours for the Database to rebuild, depending on how much data you have on your PlayStation 4. Do not turn the console off during this process.
- Once the PS4 restarts, your Database has been cleaned. You won’t lose any data during this process. All it does is reorganize your files and clear up your memory.
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Initializing PS4
Before we begin, you should know that initializing PS4 wipes the console’s hard drive completely and even removes its system software. It’s the last resort when a software glitch stops your PlayStation 4 in its tracks, particularly when booting up or when you want to ensure the console no longer has your data on it.You should back up any data you want to keep, such as images and video, to an external device or the cloud. To back up data using the cloud, you’ll have a PlayStation Plus account.
You’ll also need to download the complete package of PS4 system software on a computer and store it on an external storage device. (Please visit this official page to learn more on how to download that software and install it properly after initialization)
To initialize PS4, you must access the Safe Mode . To do that, follow the steps below:
- Turn off your PS4 using the power button on the front panel. The power indicator will blink for a few moments before turning off.
- Once the PS4 is off, press and hold the power button. Release it after you’ve heard two beeps: one when you initially press and another 7 seconds later.
- Connect the DualShock®4 controller with the provided USB cable and press the PS button.
Now, select option 7 [Initialize PS4 (Reinstall System Software), and you’re all done.
Once initialization is complete, you have to update to the latest PS4 system software version before anything else. Don’t install any additional games/apps before fulfilling this step.
Afterward, connect the external hard drive to PS4 and check whether it works.
Nothing Worked Yet?
It is probably a serious hardware issue if none has worked for you to overcome this problem. It’s either your game console or the external hard drive. If you verify that the external hard drive works fine on another system, it’s the PS4.
Now, if you have already initialized PS4 and updated it to the latest software version, yet the issue persists, you need to seek the help of a technician, as this is a hardware issue that you can do nothing about it.
Additionally, you may want to read the comments below, as some users suggested beneficial solutions for this case.
The USB storage device is not connected
If this is the error message you get, and nothing of the above methods works, please visit this page for more details.
Questions & Answers
How do I get my PS4 to recognize my external hard drive?
To get the PS4 system to recognize your external HDD, you need to make sure first that the USB cable, PS4 USB port, and the external HDD all are working and intact. If so, the problem is with the PS4 system software; you need to initialize it and reinstall it from scratch. (Read more details in this guide)
Why is my extended storage not working PS4?
There are several reasons why the extended storage won't work on the PS4, such as a damaged USB cable, malfunctioning PS4 USB port, a corrupted PS4 system software, and even a defective PS4 power supply. You can tell us your problem, and we'll try to fix it for you.
How do I fix a corrupted external hard drive on PS4?
Fixing a corrupted PS4 external hard drive can be easy or hard, depending on the level of corruption on the drive. Several reasons promote this situation, and you must try every possible way until you find the relevant fix. If you want further assistance on how to fix a corrupted PS4 external hard drive, please contact us.
Why is my PS4 not reading my external hard drive?
The PS4 cannot read the external hard drive due to various reasons, including a corrupted PS4 system software, a corrupted external HDD or a malfunctioning USB port. If you need further assistance with your problem, please do contact us.
Hey, I use Seagate 2TB Hard drive for Ps4 games to play on Ps5… Everything worked great for 5
months and suddenly it won’t connect
The following are possible causes of an external hard drive not being recognized by your PS4: There is no wired connection to the external hard drive. The PS4 platform does not support external hard drives. Another external storage device is connected to your PlayStation 4.
When I plugged the hard drive into my PS4 today, it wasn’t recognized. It has never been an issue before, but for some reason suddenly the PS4 doesn’t recognize it. Even though the small light on the hard drive that indicates it is attached is lit up, when I go to Settings – Devices – USB Storage Device, it claims it is not linked. It can’t be the hard drive or the connection because I inserted it into my laptop and it also detected the hard disk. I tried to find solutions, and I followed the advice from the majority of websites by repeatedly reconnecting the hard drive, turning my console off and on, and even rebuilding the database, but it was ineffective.
1). Restart your PS4.
2). To make the PS4 operate without any external devices, unplug the external hard drive and switch it on.
3). Restart the PS4 and attach the external hard disk. Step 4: Switch on your PS4 once more. Now your PS4 should be able to use the external hard drive.
HDD works with PC and it’s in exFAT format and worked before on ps4. I already backup ps4 before but now HDD is not recognized by ps4.
Probably you need to initialize the PS4 and reinstall the system software. Also, make sure the USB ports are fully clean. Even little dust can impact its functionality.
All of a sudden my 2tb external hard drive stopped working. I tried to format it on my PS4 but my PS4 shuts off for a while. When I turn it back in it says the usb device is unsupported. When I try to format it again, it doesn’t seem to work. Even after I did a full reinitialisation, it’s still It working. I connected it to my pc but when I go on my computer and on my usb hard drive, my pc says not responding so I have to close the programme. I don’t know what to do because the blue light on the hard drive is flashing but nothing seems to work
Hi Ali,
You need first to disassemble the external hard drive and get it out of its enclosure. You better then connect it internally to your PC, but if you can’t, just cram it inside another USB enclosure and try again. Most of the external HDD problems come from the enclosure or USB cable.
Hi, I bought a desktop Seagate 8tb SSD but the system won’t recognize it, I’ve tried everything except rebuilding the database cuz my power button’s broken from a fall, Lol. I have a 4tb one which has worked fine but i bought this one cuz it was out of space. Help!
Hi Miguel Villegas,
Have you verified your external hard drive is actually working on a PC? Also, can you tell us your drive’s model number so we can further help you?
I was playing red dead 2 when all of the sudden the game froze. I restarted my ps4 and all of the games that were on my external hard drive were locked (external hard drive is still on, but not reading).
My External Hard drive powers up when plugged in but doesn’t read for some reason. The usb can connect my wireless mic when the usb is plugged in, so I’m stuck.
Most probably it’s a problem with your PS4 system software. Some essential files got corrupted. I strongly recommend that you initialize the PS4 and reinstall the PS4 system software from scratch.
Anyone know why my hard drive just suddenly stopped working on my ps4 I works fine on my PC
It seems there’s a power issue with your PS4 console, especially if it’s an old one. You have to either take your PS4 console to a repair shop to figure out what exactly the problem is, or just upgrade the PS4 internal storage to an SSD. Why SSD? It is more flexible when dealing with power issues that your PS4 motherboard is most probably undergoing.
Followed all your instructions to get my PS4 to recognize my external hard drive, rebuilt, unplugged, turned off, turned on without, external is recognized by my PC when plugged into the PS4 light is on…..any suggestions.
It seems that your PS4 system software is corrupted. Have you tried to initialize the PS4 and reinstall the PS4 system software from scratch?
Not yet, will that delete all my data, PS+ account info, library, etc
Yes, but this might be imperative in your situation. Since your external HDD is healthy and works properly on a PC, it means there’s a problem with your PS4 system software.
what will be the status of the games I’ve purchased online? will I be able to access them again? It’s a lot of cash. Are they saved online? is my account connected to the PS4 IP address?
Since your account on PSN is active, you can easily access them and redownload them without an issue. And no, your PS4 is not connected to an IP, rather to an account.
“The USB storage device is not connected. (CE-37857)” I can’t reinstall system software – Option 7 because is says I need to have a USB storage loaded with update 8.50 and I can’t save it to a usb because it won’t recognize one…..I’m going to throw out the window.
You should connect the USB storage to a computer (not to your PS4) and download the full system software package. Have you done that already?
No, but I don’t see the point, it won’t allow option 7 to activate without a USB connected, and it won’t detect a usb…I’ve tried 3.
Can you please read this article? It seems you have problems with the USB ports, that’s why.
my 4tb external storage isn’t being recognized anymore. when i plug it in the light comes on but isn’t being detected as being plugged into my ps4
have you tried connecting it to a PC to check whether your PC recognizes it or not? This is the very first step you have to make before performing any other test.
yes i checked it on my laptop it’s recognized
Then it’s the PS4 system software. some of its data is corrupted. What you should do here is to FULL initialize the PS4 and reinstall PS4 system software from scratch. This should resolve that issue.
to reinstall system software from scratch i need to be in safe mode to do so right? if so thank you and i’ll do it right away
Yes you are right, and you are very welcome.
If you can do a small favor for us: once your problem is resolved, can you confirm that here so our readers have more confidence in that solution? Thanks
yes i can
which option reinstalls the system software
Last one #7
i don’t have a drive to do so
That’s a problem. Waiting for you to get a drive 🙂
ok i’ll have to buy one later today
Wow man, what kind of humans are you? You answer instantly like robots 🙂
Wish you a good luck.
Mines is working it was fine yesterday until 10 pm and now it won’t read at all
have you tried connecting it to a PC to check whether your PC recognizes it or not? This is the very first step you have to make before performing any other test.
It doesn’t come up on my PC and when I touch the cord for the drive it pops up on the PS4 and it stop working I can’t play none of my games
It’s a common issue with external hard drives, especially the cheap ones. The USB bridge of the external HDD enclosure or part of it has some sort of loose, or maybe the USB cable needs a replacement. You need to test several things before finding out what’s causing the problem.
I brought a WD external Drive and I’m going to try another cord to see if that’s the problem
Yes and I hope that will work. You can also disassemble the external hard drive and make sure everything is well seated. You can try this while the external hard drive is connected (preferably to a PC) in order to make sure whether there’s a problem with the USB bridge or not.
I damaged the cable that came with my Seagate PS4 external drive. I bought what I thought would work as a replacement cable but the PS4 doesn’t recognize it. Help.
Connect it to a PC first and check whether it’s recognized there or not. If it is possible also to check it on another PS4, that would be even better. That will help figure out whether it’s the cable or something else.
My extended storage isn’t working ive tried disconnecting and reconnecting it and its still pops up with a error code.
It’s either the PS4 system is having a sort of data corruption or that your external hard drive is malfunctioning.
To check the PS4 system, you need to use another USB storage device and connect it to the PS4. Check now whether it works properly or not. If not, you will need to initialize the PS4 and reinstall system software in order to get it working again.
If yes, the problem is most probably in the external hard drive itself. You will need to format it on a PC in order to get it working again.
Hello,
I was hoping you could help me with my problem. A few weeks ago I downloaded and applied update 8.5 while my external hard drive was not plugged in, and when I tried to plug it in to use my games, the PS4 would not recognise it. I found your very insightful website and tried to follow all the steps without success unfortunately.
The USB ports work fine, the extended hard drive is relatively new and hasn’t received any abuse, I can recognise it on my PC, I tried formatting it to NTFS, ExFAT, FAT32 and I fully formatted it (no quick format) but it still doesn’t detect on the PS4. I tried rebuilding the database on my PS4 with no success either.
I assume the last step is to fully initialise the PS4, but I was hoping you could help me before that? I tried contacting the playstation support on Twitter, but they appeared to be unhelpful.
Thank you
Hi Henri,
Welcome to our website, and we are glad you trust us to help you.
Unfortunately, you should have fully initialize the PS4. Why? Because after the update, system file conflict might occur and cause your external hard drive driver to no longer work, thus disabled.
This type of conflict is caused by an installed application/game that has compatibility issues with the new system software version.
There’s a trick that would work sometimes (not always) to overcome this issue without the full initialize, which is to clear CMOS data.
If you have tried that with no avail, you have to full initialize the PS4. After this operation is done, before you install any game/app you need to first connect the external HDD to the PS4, and hopefully it will get recognized and will work properly this time. After that you can install whatever you want, but be careful. After each install check whether the external hard drive works or not.
Hello,
sorry for the late reply, I fully initialised my PS4 and after it was done (which was rather quick, took 5min somehow?), I plugged my external drive and again was presented with “The USB storage device is not connected”. I don’t feel comfortable with clearing the CMOS data but I don’t think it’s the issue.
I don’t know what to do at this point, I looked up the playstation’s website for repairs but it’s broken lol. Do you think if I buy another external hard drive the problem will persist?
Hi Henry,
5 minutes does not seem like you have done a full initialization. You have to go to safe mode and pick option #7 (initialize PS4 and reinstall system software).
Your external hard drive seems fine, don’t waste money on a new one. The problem is with the PS4 system files and you must reinstall it.
Hello,
Thank you for your response, after my last message I did a full initialisation with no success. However something weird happened and while my external drive was plugged in but not detected, after maybe 15min it appeared connected but I couldn’t format as the PS4 thought it wasn’t connected (?), and after a bit it disconnected again.
In the end I bought a can of compressed air and a new cable for my drive and after cleaning the USB ports and plugging the new cable my drive now functions normally (???), I don’t know if it’s the cable change or cleaning the USB ports.
anyway, I want to thank you for your help and time!
Great to hear that. It appears it’s the cleaning of the USB port. Remember it already worked fine on a PC, so it must be the PS4 USB port.
I would like to thank you for your feedback, it will surely help others understand this issue better and offers another solution for this problem.
Hello, I have used a 1TB External storage device now for over a year. Over a month ago I had a Warzone rage session, and accidentally yanked the PlayStation, causing it to hang by the wires connected to the back. The external hard drive connected to the front via one of the usb ports was dropped/pulled out in the process, and it landed on wooden floor. Afterwards, I re-plugged it into the console, and one of two things would happen every time. First, it would say it needs repairing, I would attempt to, but it wouldn’t repair, no matter how far along the repair it got. Second I would need to reformat it, I would try, but sadly it would just clear it, and then give me the error code CE-30005-8. This error I have come to learn it is a disk error, what does that have to do with it not being able to be used as an extended storage? Anyways, eventually I give up and get a new one, a compatible Seagate 3 TB external hard drive(requires alternate power), and luck would have it, it worked, and I re-downloaded all the games I had on my previous one. One day I needed to move the console, so I turned it off and unplugged it like I used to do with the other 1 TB extended storage hard drive. Assuming that after I returned the console, it would work properly again. I was mistaken, and when I turned on the console the next morning, I received a pop up saying I would have to format it as extended storage… but… it is? Anyways, I tired to reformat it again as such, knowing that it would delete my games again, but I didn’t care anymore, this was getting old. So when I tried, not a single time a bar of progress would show up, only a message saying CE-30005-8… IT’S NOT EVEN A DISK ISSUE WTF. Anyways, so now I have rebuilt the data base, attempted the turn off console and disconnect it for awhile method, and am currently going to try and reuse the old 1 TB storage, which so far is surprisingly working, but my console is acting really slow. I’m scared of what is happening to my console, could you explain to me what is happening or even give me advice if the 1 TB messes up again, I don’t think its a USB issue, it could be, but I’m not sure, what do you have to say all knowing PS4 Storage Guy?
Hi Kelso, and welcome to our website.
According to your description, there might be some loose/failure in the PS4 USB port through which you connect the external hard drive.
Have you tried connecting the external hard drive to a different USB port? This is an essential step to better diagnose the problem.
Please do that and tell us the result so we can help you further.
I have tried a different port, and got same result. But, after a day of using the old one, it seems to be working properly, had to reformat it twice, but its working. Since I looked up, and found that both are compatible with ps4 systems, what do you think the problem was, and do you think it is going to happen again?(also thanks for the quick response and welcome 🙂
You’re always welcome.
Yes, I think there’s a sort of damage happened to the PS4 USB card. Unlike PS4 Pro, the standard PS4 has only two USB ports connected to the SAME USB card, therefore no matter what port you use, the error will still occur. Your PS4 needs a technician to test and diagnose the USB card and figure out what causes this issue.
So far, you can keep the external hard drive connected to the PS4 and don’t try to touch it or move it. This shall hopefully help until you get the opportunity to visit a technician or buy PS5.
Okay, thanks!!!
What do I do if my ps4 isn’t reading the hard drive but when I connect it to a pc it reads it perfectly. Would I need a new cord or????
It seems your PS4 USB port is malfunctioning.
Why won’t my brand new hard drive format as extended storage even though it reaches both requirement?
Does the PS4 system recognize it in the first place? Please provide us with more details so we can further help you.
My drive was working fine for about 6 months and my ps4 froze, so I left it on for a little bit to see of it will unfreeze itself, came back to it and some error happend and my drive stoped working, there is no light that comes on but it makea a beeping sound and sounds like its running when I plug it in
have you tried connecting it to a PC to verify it’s working fine or not? This is an essential step to make.
hi,
I have a 2tb seagate hardrive that work perfectly fine before and now when i go into USB storage devices, it says “the USB storage device is not connected”. i have done the electricity isolation on the ps4 and restarting and and p[lugging it back it and the database and it still deosn’t work. It works perfectly fine on the computer and other devices but not the ps4 anymore :/ should I get the hard drive checked by a technitian?
kind regards
No you don’t. This happens when a file conflict or a data corruption occurs in the PS4 system. You need to full-initialize the PS4 in order to fix this issue.
Seagate 4TB Game Drive – PS4 keep buzzing cant get it too work I game on it need help
You need to format your external hard drive.
Hello. I have another extendet hard drive which is toshiba canvio 1tb and ps4 slim recognizes it and works perfectly. This hard drive is a brand unknown to me and is 2 tb. I think there is a specific update file that is placed by the pc on the extendet hard drive so that the ps4 slim can recognize it. If you can tell me any download link. I will be grateful to you. Because I decided to try everything. Greetings.
Well, then it’s a compatibility issue. The PS4 system software doesn’t have the relevant driver for that particular external hard drive.
What can you do? Well, nothing but use a well-known brand.
Hi my external hard drive was not recognized by ps4 slim. I updated ps4 to the latest version, turned it off for 5 minutes, formatted the hard drive on a computer to exfat, moved it to another usb, checked for errors and the hard drive is excellent. Hard drive just shows that it is turned on and ps4 does not recognize it without any message or indication that it is connected to ps4.
What to do ?
Greetings
You have first and foremost to verify that your console doesn’t have any problem with recognizing USB devices in general. Please try to connect a USB flash drive to your PS4 slim and check whether it works or not. If it doesn’t, it means the problem is with the PS4 system software or it can be more serious that it’s a hardware defect.
Just check and come back and tell us what you found in order to help you further.
Rebuild data base it worked. It recognize my external hard drive thanks.
Hi, I’m having an issue with my Seagate 4TB external HDD. I keep most of my games on there ((probably a bad habit) and also use my PS4 to stream movies or shows through the Internet Browser app when I get done playing games at night.
Lately, the site I use has been giving me problems such as long loading times or stopping during the middle of an episode. When that happens, I usually Clear Browser History, go to the Settings, Delete Cookies and Clear Website Data. Most times, it clears up the problem. Didn’t seem to do the trick the other night. Froze the PS4 and I think I had to either unplug the power cord or hold the power button to turn it off.
Now, the external HDD isn’t registering. Not giving me an error code, but when I go to USB Storage Devices, it says it’s not connected using either port. Checking Storage just counts the System Storage, no External Storage. There were ! Marks all over the games that were stored there, obviously not letting me play them.
I did a few troubleshooting items, turning the system on unplugged External HDD, turn off, plug in, turn on again. Tried checking it in a PC, but I’m not too familiar with them and it didn’t look like it even came up. I tried on my Mac, got nothing. I also did the reset in Safe Mode and Rebuilt the Database. All that did was take away all the games from the cross media bar that were from my External HDD. Pretty frustrated and at a loss as to where to go from here. Do I need to pick up a new one?
Notes: -Got my Seagate 4TB External HDD about 3 or so years ago. Only dropped a couple of times onto carpet, none within the last year.
-PS4 is a 500 GB version from 2015, the Star Wars: Battlefront bundle.
-Kept in an exposed and airy place, near a window that’s usually open when playing it.
Hi Victor,
Apparently the problem is in the external hard drive. There might be a sort of damage in the external HDD that makes it behave that way.
In many cases it’s the USB bridge that connects the hard drive part to the USB cable. It might be damaged. You can ensure whether the hard drive part of your external HDD is damaged or not by connecting it internally to a PC/MAC. That’s the best way to figure out whether it’s damaged or not.
If it still doesn’t work and the system can’t recognize it by any means, it means you need a new external HDD.
Hi, I bought a Seagate 2TB external HDD, and formatted it in exFAT so I can watch movies with my PS4. The external HDD is connected, the PS4 can read it and it’s not formatted as extended storage. However it does not read any files from the HDD. I thought PS4 can read exFAT format, or is this wrong?
additional notes:
– PS4 Pro
– PS4 Software most updated
– Media player most updated
please help
Connect the external HDD to a PC and check whether it can view the files or not. According to your description, the external HDD might be affected by a virus.
The files can be viewed perfectly with both Windows & OSx. only in PS4 it’s not showing. already runs antivirus and it’s clean.
Then it’s the PS4 system software itself. There might be some file conflicts within the system. The easies thing you can do is to full initialize the PS4.
I recently switched my external storage from 1 USB to the other. Now it beeps and wont recognize the device. My other PS4 will not recognize it either. Did I blow the device?
Yes, an electrical short has occurred for some reason within the USB connection and your external hard drive went on the fritz. In most cases it’s just the USB bridge that’s affected while the hard drive itself is safe. You check that yourself if you use a new external HDD enclosure. Use a cheap one that costs you $7 or so. Check this one for instance.
If the external HDD doesn’t work still, it means the insider HDD is defective and must be replaced.
Hy there!
I am having this issue with my WD my passport ultra 500GB external with PS4, while it is connected and working fine it keeps giving this message in the middle of using “An external storage device was not disconnected properly” but the message keeps appearing even though i connect and disconnect it properly following the steps.
Kindly help
This seems to be a systematic error. Tell me first, when that message appears, you are still able to use the external HDD or not?
Yes i am able to use it anywhere except the ps4, its working perfectly fine in my. Laptop without any error. But the error appears while starting a game and when i am downloading a game it appears right in between
If it is possible, use another external HDD with your PS4 and check whether it works fine or not. You can use a USB flash drive as well.
If it works fine, the problem is with your WD external HDD, it most probably suffers from bad sectors and must be formatted. Otherwise, it’s a conflict within the PS4 system files and it requires a full initialization.
So just a couple hours ago i was playing BO4 that’s installed on my harddrive from Ps4 itself, now i decided to play RL that’s on my External Harddrive Seagate 2TB.
All of a sudden ps4 reacted slow than after couple minutes it went back to normal speed and now my Seagate can’t connect to my PS4 eventho my seagate is ‘active’ cause the white ligth is there.
It does the same on my PC.
What does this mean?
There seem to be bad sectors on the external hard drive, because, according to your description, bad sectors cause such a situation. You have to take a backup of your external HDD content then perform a FULL format on Windows. This shall fix the problem.
On the other hand, I always recommend using an external SSD for PS4 instead if you’re a serious gamer.
I hadnt used my ps4 for a month maybe more and last night I turned it on and my external HD wont work,says it needs usb 3.0 to work,why all of a sudden is it saying this etc,I assume since it use to work it is 3.0 and for sum reason isn’t now,I’m lost,plz help
A hard disk may be having problems or completely unable to read some of data after some time of being left powered off, and even when it is powered on.
The magnetic fields employed are not strong enough and the material is not able to contain them long enough. It mostly does but not always due to various imperfections in the material and/or the way it was written at the time.
What you have to do then is to connect your external HDD to a PC and completely format it. This will rectify the system file on the external HDD and get it back to work, hopefully.
My seagate is a 4 tg the pc reads it but says it needs to format it and ps4 won’t read it at all anymore ive initialized and updated the ps4 ,I don’t know what else to do
You have to reinstall the PS4 system software from scratch (a clean copy). This should resolve the problem. If not, you have to full format the external hard drive, as it might suffer from bad sectors or corrupted system files.
Hello need help with my external Seagate Hard drive. I plugged it into my pc to use it and then decided not to do so.
Now here’s the problem: The playstation recognizes it and every thing, even when i go click on the BUP Portible under USB Storage Devices, it says i have 156 KB of used space on it. But when i go to any application stored on it, it has an excalmation point. And because of that it’s saying that the hard drive the game is on is NOT currently connected to the playstation.
so for what ever reason my Play Station cant access the stored Data on the Hard Drive?
That can either a programmatic error in the PS4 system, of that your external hard drive suffers from bad sectors that causes this system conflict. You need to full format (not quick) the external HDD in order to rectify it. This article may help you.
My 500gb external harddrive is unrecognized by the ps4, just bought it, worked for like 3 weeks then i kept having to save data onto system and delete game and reconnect the hard drive, happened like 3 times in one week where i just had to uninstall and reinstall everything on the harddrive and now it happened again but it wont even give me the option to format as extended storage at all, ive shut off unplugged everything and system is up to date.
Apparently the external HDD is defective, and most probably it’s the USB bridge that causes errors. Try to use a new USB cable, and if it didn’t work, try to use a new external HDD enclosure.
Hi, so I’ve done several of the steps above since my PlayStation won’t recognise my external hardrive. So. I put it into my laptop and that recognises it fine. But I CONSTANTLY get this error on PlayStation. I only recently rebuilt the database and its already happened again! I just don’t know what else to do.
This is a common error in the PS4 system caused by system file conflicts. What you have to do is to full initialize the PS4 and re-install the operating system.
Usb 3.0 maxone storage “cannot be used. Try disconnecting it and then connecting it again” This happens like every week to where I have to uninstall and reinstall every game I have saved to the hard drive. Is there any way to fix this?? It’s brand new and I want to know I didn’t waste my money.
Most probably your external hard drive suffers from bad sectors. Try first to perform a FULL format on it then use it again with your PS4. This article may help you.
Hello, I just received a 2TB Seagate Game Drive I had shipped to me from Walmart.com, I format and setup everything just fine. I set a list of games that I previously purchased from PS Store to download and leave the room. I come back to an error message that says it wasn’t properly turned off and that it may corrupt files and steps on how to properly shut it off, etc.. I then noticed all the games weren’t downloading anymore and the drive wasn’t being detected. I unplugged it and plugged it back in, the light came on but it still wasn’t being detected on my PS4. Then I go to my brothers room and test it on his PS4 to see if I can get it to work, I plugged it up and this time no light nothing going on with it. I panicked, rushed into my room tried to plug it up to see if i can get the light going again.. idk. *Face palm* And long story short its like its completely fried or something because it no longer has any “life” to it. And I’m stuck and need answers please. Thank you.
Hi,
Apparently your external hard drive is defective. Luckily, in most cases the defect in external hard drives is only in the USB bridge that configures the external HDD with the USB connection. You have to disassemble the external HDD enclosure and use a new one. This should fix this issue, hopefully.
Hi. I’ve been using a WD Elements SE 1TB external hard drive for my PS4 for about a year now and last night when I turned on my PS4, the external hard drive was not being recognised. I followed the instructions about powering off and on the PS4 and when that didn’t work I tried rebuilding the database. I tried to connect my external hard drive again after that and it still isn’t being recognised. I have half of my games downloaded on the external hard drive and half downloaded on my PS4 so I would really like to be able to fix the problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi Ben,
Have you tried to connect the external hard drive to a PC to make sure it’s not defective? Please do and tell me the result.
Have a seagate external harddrive, and only use it for ps4. Have had game since 2014 nd harddrive for about 2 years. All of sudden not recognized. Hooked up to laptop and it says its connected and working fine. Hooked to my ps4 nd also a different ps4 and it didnt work.Dont know what to do.
Try to change the USB cable. Sometimes a simple and tiny electric shock in the cable (because it’s slightly damaged) can prevent the PS4 system from recognizing it. Please come back if that doesn’t work for further assistance.
Hi,
Brandnew WD Elements 2TB not being recognized by ps4 (updated software etc)
– a flash drive was and STILL working (4gb)
– the brand new 2TB WD recognized by laptop
– already rebuilt ps4
Not sure why, that’s weird. We usually advise of initializing the PS4 to fix such a rare problem.
So after alot of messing around I was able to get it to work by just plugging it into my computer. And pulling itup in disk management
Thanks for your feedback. I am glad you could work around this issue.
I want to use a Seagate BUP Portable 4TB as extended storage. I have not formatted it yet, but when connected it shows me 1KB in use / 206.5MB…but the drive is 4TB… What’s going on there? I do have some data on there right now which I’m not afraid to lose in formatting as I’ve backed it up elsewhere, but I don’t understand why the PS4 wouldn’t even recognise the actual size of the drive.
It happens due to file system corruption on the external HDD. Formatting it shall fix that error.
Hi, it’s me again. Just to update, it was the damn cable. I just switched with another USB 3.0 and the PS4 recognised it, repaired it and it seems to be working just fine. Thanks.
You’re welcome. I am glad you have figured out how to fix it.
Hi. So I´ve been using a Seagate 2TB Game Drive for my PS4 slim for the past 2 years as an extended storage, had no problem whatsoever. I actually had it installed with a hub, and still had no problems. I have mostly all of my games installed there. So I turned it on a while ago, and it didn’t recognise it, I restarted the PS4 and connected it directly to the USB port and it detected it, but it tried to repair it and it couldn’t, said it had to be formated.
So, I restarted again and switched port, it tried fo repair it again several times to no avail. That’s when I had te brilliant idea to rebuild the database, so I did. When it turned back on, all the games I had on my HDD were now gone, as if I’d never even downloaded them. And now, it wont even detect the hdd so I can’t even try to format it!!
I connected the HDD it to my PC and got the error message of death: “USB device not recognised. The las USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned…”
So, any suggestions? Thanks in advance, and btw, sorry for bad english/grammar, English is not my native tongue.
have been using a toshiba 500 GB for months now and 1 day it just did not work anymore. it wont recognise it on my pc either and the error code is CE 37857 0
Apparently you need a new external hard drive.
Thanks a lot for your response,
I can’t attach the error screenshot here because I don’t find any attachment button on this page but the error is described as below:
CE-41888-9
This device cannot be used. Try disconnecting it and then connecting it again.
Some times it’s ok and some times I receive the error again. (I have to disconnect and connect my HDD multiple times)
I tried different solutions including
Trying 2 different external hard drives
Trying different USB 3.0 cables
Formatting HDD using computer
Restoring PS4 default settings
but the problem is not solved.
I also tested my external HDD with my friend’s PS4 and everything’s working fine.
I’m really confused about this problem and don’t know what to do.
Please help me.
Hi again Mike.
If you’re getting error (CE-41888-9), it implies that you have a hardware issue with the PS4. Most probably the USB port you’re using to connect the external hard drive through is defective. Try switching it to the other port. If this doesn’t work still, it might be the whole USB card in your PS4 that got defective. In both cases this needs a technician to fix it.
Hi.
I hope you are doing well
My external HDD is western digital – my passport ultra and it supports USB 3.0
My HDD model is listed as compatible ps4 external hard drives in your article about ps4 compatible HDDs but when I connect it to my fat ps4 and select format as extended storage, it says your had is not supported.
How can I solve this problem?
Thanks in advance
Mikael
Hi,
It’s surely supported. But first, can you please send me a screenshot of the error you’re getting so as to be able to sufficiently help you.
Hey there. Yesterday night I was playing a game I have installed on my MyPassport 2TB External drive and it fell off my PS4. It landed on the carpet and didn’t sound like I broke, but when I plugged it back in it’s not showing up. I check the usb storage device under settings and it says no storage device is connected. I have tried plugging it a computer and i can find the device on there either. It’s still running and it’s light still comes on but won’t recognize. What should I do?
Hi,
Try to disassemble the external hard drive to parts, then assemble them again. Hope this will fix the problem.
Hey there! I am trying to reformat my new external hard drive to my ps4 yet its saying im not meeting the requirements. Error code (ce-41901-5)
Even though I am using all the correct requirements! Any help would be awesome.
Most probably you have to initialize the PS4. Please check this post for additional details.
Just got an error message of (CR-37857-0) USB Storage Device is not connected. BUT IT IS I have updated this via my PC there is no fault and I can see all my downloaded content on my PC that is 56 games 🤦🏼♂️ Please help me guys or I will have to send it to Sony
Does this happen only with that specific external hard drive, or with just any USB device? Try connecting a USB flash drive and see whether it works or not. Also, try switching between the ports. If nothing works, it means the PS4 USB connection has failed and needs fixing. You can try to first full initialize PS4 and restore system software. If it doesn’t work still, you’re console then is suffering from a serious hardware failure and only a technician can fix it.
I just got a seagate ultra slim 2T external hard drive and it’s formatted in exFat and the light comes on but the ps4 doesn’t pick it up. It just says there’s nothing connected.
The PS4 system files are corrupted, you have to initialize the PS4.
I had recently disconnected my Passport external storage device and plugged it back in and it tells me I have to repair it when i try to go and click on use this storage device under USB storage devices so when I do try and repair it it stops and says that I have to format it but its already formatted and when I hover over the device and click options button nothing shows up.
Most probably your external hard drive has become defective. Usually this happens due to the existence of bad sectors on the drive. The only way to fix it is to connect it to a PC and perform FULL format. If you have data that you don’t wish to lose, you can use a cloning software to clone the external HDD content to your PC hard drive or any other storage medium, then format the external HDD. Afterwards, restore the clone file on the external HDD.
I connected my WD portable hard drive to my ps4 but it says it can’t be formatted. Although it meets the requirements listed.
Connect it to a PC first and perform a FULL (not quick) format, then try it again.
Hi , i have a Segate 2tb , and i cannot format him as a external on ps4 , im having this error CE-30005-8 , in PC works , but in ps4 cannot fomat , help me please
The PS4 system after a long time of use will need to initialize and start with a fresh installation, because due to lots of file processing, things might go wrong, it’s exactly like a PC. That’s why I keep telling our readers to initialize PS4 at least once annually in order to avoid issues with the system and keep it always healthy and error-free.
So basically you need to FULL initialize the PS4 and reinstall the system software.
Additionally, since you’re getting Error CE-30005-8, you better check this article for more details.
Recently bought a Toshiba Canivo Basics 1Tb external hard drive. When I plugged it in with the cable provided, the PS4 would not recognise it. When I plugged it in with one of the USB cables I have lying around it recognised it, but it comes up with the CE-41902-6 error message whenever I try to format is as extended storage. The box for the hard drive states it’s a USB 3.0 and it’s only 1Tb in size. my only guess is that I need a USB 3.0 cable, but I’m not particularly familiar with the different types of USB cables and don’t want to waste money on something that won’t work
Looked through some of the comments and decided to plug the hard drive into the other USB port, It’s now working. I guess this was a waste of time, but thank you for your help regardless.
Hi there,
It was not a waste of time, some users will surely benefit from your experience. Thanks for enriching this article with a new story.
How do i format the device?
just connect it to a PC, and let it recognize it. The steps are similar to that of formatting the PS4 internal HDD.
Hello I read all the comments I hooked up my seargate 4 tbsp to a computer it says working fine but will not pop up on my ps4. I also plugged it into another ps4 and it’s still not able to be read what could he the issue? The hard drive does turn on and u can hear the disk movment.
The file system of the external hard drive is damaged/corrupted. You can do nothing here but format the external hard drive.
My External hard drive has been working fine for a few months. Then today my PS4 won’t find it connected. When i plug it in the light turns and the hard drive makes this beeping sound.
Try to first connect it to a PC, will it recognize it?
Hello, I recently disconnected my external drive (without safely removing it) and put it into my computer looking for photos from my ps4 but it didn’t recognize it. so I put it back into my ps4 to do a fix and it is saying i need to reformat the drive. I think ill lose all my games and i am not sure whats next.
I see there’s still a possibility to rescue the data on your external HDD. On the other hand, I assume you’re using this external HDD as a backup storage, not as extended storage, right?
Anyway, whatever it is, since the PC couldn’t recognize the external HDD, it means there is a serious failure going on. Most probably it’s the USB bridge of the external HDD that converts the SATA interface into USB. It seems broken and needs replacement. You can go to any computer repair shop beside you and check it yourself there, and ask them for an external HDD enclosure. It costs around $10.
I’ve formatted my hard drive on my pc but it still doesn’t work on my os4. Can u help me?
That means your PS4 System is corrupted and you have to full initialize it with reinstalling the system software from scratch.
Recently, my hard drive has been giving an alert that it had been removed incorrectly even thought it never had been, and then asks for the hard drive to be repaired, it’s never been removed and I have no idea what’s wrong with it.
Also, every now and again it pops up that the data for a game has been corrupted and that it needs to be deleted and downloaded again but can just be booted up again and work totally fine
The external HDD is undergoing some bad sectors that cause this problem. Connect it to a PC and perform a FULL format for it. To learn how to do that, please visit this page.
Also, I didn’t know if I needed to clarify, it’s a western digital easy store 4tb drive
Hi Codey,
It doesn’t matter. Almost all hard drives have the same fundamental architecture. So what works for a brand is supposed to work for all brands.
Hey i have a seagate game drive for ps4 2tb i played a game like 1hour ago and i turned my ps4 back on and it said the device can not be used.
So i retried like always by turn back on my ps4 and i started to hear a beeping noise comming from my seagate. I putted in my laptop it is still beeping but my laptop could find the drive help please
I think the USB bridge of the external HDD is malfunctioning. You need to buy a new external HDD enclosure (it won’t cost you more than $10). I recommend this one
Today I got on to play jak 2 and it said cant start app so I looked at the error code and it says to reinstall the game I got to my external HDD it disappeared and says less than one gig and its wanting me to format it before today I had about 60 free gigs also my pc is stupid and wont load the storage device up not even when I first bought it… almost all of my games i play are on there and somehow 60 gigs got used up and it wont repair like normal if the power goes out I’d rather not have to format it and i know it’s only doing this because the less than 1 gig left thing because the ps4 wont let you start a game unless there is a certain amount of free space open
My ps4 cant read my HDD. It used to disconnect because I’m guessing it went into rest mode, but it always gave me the option to repair it but now nothing. I’ve tried to shut it down disconnect and reconnect USB hdd cable, bought a new cable and it still says USB not connected. My laptop reads it fine
That means your PS4 system is corrupted and you have to full initialize it with the re-installation of the the system software.
hi i have a big problem and i need your help my hdd was working correctly until yesterday . it was connected and working fine. when i disconnected it and connected it again, i saw this message “this device cannot be used. try disconnecting it and then connecting again” now it my big problem for 24 hours please help me i confused and im nervous for my games.
Is it possible to connect it to another PS4 first for the sake of diagnosing the problem? If not possible, can you please connect another USB device to your PS4 and check whether it recognizes it properly or not?
I cannot really know where the problem is until I do several tests on the external HDD and the PS4 itself. So, do your tests and tell me the results so I can better help you with your problem.
What if the external hard drive doesn’t show up on another PS4 is the problem fixable on the hard drive can I get the games/ saved progress of or is it just trashed
You can remove the hard drive from its external enclosure, and put it inside another enclosure. In many cases the external hard drive stops working because the USB bridge that connects the hard drive interface to the USB port goes out of action. You can also, after disassembling the external hard drive, connect it internally to a PC and see whether it works or not.
Hey , I had connected a 1TB hard disc to my PS4 slim & it was working fine for a year until last week!! I have a big game in it ( RDR2) & I don’t want it to be deleted !! Is there any option I can do to ge the ps4 recognize my hard disc ?
Have you connected it to a PC and checked whether it’s recognized there or not? This is a must-do test before discussing other solutions.
Oh ok , will try it soon !!! But does it delete the game in it ? I mean when I check it in the PC?
No, it doesn’t
Hi I have a seagate 4tb now I know my system is a little old I have had it since late 2013 and I have had the issue where my system will lose the signal to my controller and then when I go to turn it back on it just flashes I have replaced the receive in the system and the problem continues and now my extended hdd will not connect it lights when plugged in to the system I have even checked it on my pc and it comes right up with no problem and my PC even says it is in proper working order can you possibly help me solve both issues or maybe set me on the right path in my opinion I would say the system is just starting to lay down and die on me lol I just don’t know what else to do
This issue often happens by time, even to computers. All you need to do is to initialize PS4 and re-install PS4 system software. The issue will most probably be resolved.
So I decided not to read everything here sorry, my 4tb external which was working, has possibly taken a small knock, not sure if it’s that or just that it’s been disconnected ‘unsafely’.
The ps4 now doesn’t register a usb device at all.
Connect the external hard drive to a PC or another PS4 and check whether it gets recognized there or not. If it does, your PS4 simply needs to initialize. Otherwise, the external hard drive itself needs maintenance or it has been damaged/defective.
My Seagate storage device stopped working my blue light still comes on when I connect it to my PS4 but it doesn’t say is connected at all it’s also not registering on my PC does that mean I have to get a new one
Probably the USB bridge/adapter is damaged, not the hard drive itself. If you can, go disassemble the external hard drive and connect it internally to a PC or via another external HDD enclosure. That way makes you sure whether the hard drive is damaged or not. If you’re not savvy enough to do that, ask someone for help.
If you have done that and the PC still doesn’t recognize it, here you need a new replacement.
I have a Seagate HDD it worked fine for over a year then it stopped working. When I went to devices under settings and chose USB Storage devices I get a message that says “The USB storage device is not connected.” I plugged the HDD onto my laptop and it says it does not have any issues. I rebuilt from safe mode and still same results. Do I need to have HDD plugged into PS4 when rebuilding. If I need to initialize will I be able to recover my game files from online storage? I
moved all system storage to cloud.
You don’t have to rebuild the database while the external hard drive is connected to PS4. You can just do it without that. And yes, if you have taken a backup of your system storage via the Backup & Restore utility in PS4, you can easily restore the data after initialization.
I purchased a new 3.0 USB cable and was able to get the PS4 to acknowledge the HDD. When I tried selecting USB storage device it said system wasnt compatible so I tried formatting the PS4 said Cannot format (CE-30005-8)
Most probably you need to initialize PS4. That’s a common conflict in PS4 operating system, and initialization can fix it.
My Seagate 2tb external hard drive was working fine until about 2 days ago. It now says USB device not connected even though it is. It’s recognised on a PC and says working properly. I’ve tried another USB normal memory stick in the USB slot and that worked ok. I tried the power off method but nothing. I tried the rebuild database but still nothing (not the full reset). I’ve got lots of saved data and games on there. Any way I can save it elsewhere and any idea how I can get the device working again? Thanks.
There seems to be a system file conflict that causes this issue and prevents PS4 system from recognizing extended storage devices specifically, not just any USB storage. If you want to be more sure, connect another USB storage device as an extended storage (not as a mass storage), and see whether PS4 recognizes it or not. If it does, then problem then is with the external hard drive itself (which I don’t think so, though). Do your tests before accusing anything. If you confirm that it’s the PS4 system itself, you better initialize PS4 and install PS4 system software from scratch. This should fix it. Make sure to store your game saves externally before doing this operation.
I’ve bought a 1 tb wd (my passport) external hard drive.I formatted it in ps4 without any problem but when I downloaded a game on it,it wouldn’t load so I had to remove the disc.Actualy I tried other games too but neither of them would work.After that I formatted the hard drive with pc and again I plugged it to ps4 and formatted it but again games wouldnt load.what should I do sir?
Most probably the PS4 database is corrupted. Try to rebuild PS4 database and it should work. If not, initializing PS4 and reinstalling PS4 operating system should do the job perfectly.
I’m having many problems with my 2Tb extended storage device. I’ve realized that I need to format it again on my PS4 to fix a lot of my problems but when I go to Settings –> Devices –> USB Storage Devices, it says,” The USB storage device is not connected.” I’ve connected it to my PC and it connects fine. What do I do?
This is a sign that your PS4 needs to initialize.
I have my usb storage device plugged in and it says no usb is plugged in andd ive rebooted my ps4 multiple times and still wont work
Does it work on PC? If yes, you need to initialize PS4 and update it then to the latest version.
So my Seagate 2tb hard drive wouldn’t be recognized when I would plug it into a PS4 yet the light would turn on. I plugged it into a laptop and it worked fine. What should I do
Your PS4 needs to initialize. This should fix this issue.
No I turned off the ps4 while waiting your response and I contacted Sony and they told me that if it say to format I have to format.
So I turned on my ps4 to format it and it say “repairing the external storage device” then it worked normally and is still working properly
That’s quite nice. Hope you won’t face that problem again.
I’ve been using a seagate 2Tb external hdd for about half a year but since 1 week my ps4 stop suddenly reading it while I am playing borderlands 2 (which I recently downloaded and still updating).
It says connect an external storage device and I can’t reach any game. It happened many times and every time I remove the external HDD and reattach it and the ps4 repair it, but I don’t think it is the solution. It happen only with borderlands 2, I can play the other games as well and nothing happen.
(It started first when I put my ps4 in rest mode while downloading borderlands 2, and there is some corrupted files in it)
If it happens only for one game, then the game is not installed correctly, or it is causing conflicts with other apps/games.
Re-downloading the game and re-installing it should fix that.
Thanks I will try
You’re welcome. Please come back with your feedback in order to enrich this article with more experiences.
Do you have any link to a website that concern all the ps4?
It was going well from when I deleted the game until last night, I put it rest mode to make an old update but when I came 5min ago to check if it finish it was stuck in rest mode so I kept pressing the power button until I hear a beep then I turn it on and it told me that the ps4 wasn’t disconnected properly, and to disconnect the extended storage I must go to settings then it ask me if I wanted to repair the extended storage and it repair it.
It kept didn’t reading my external HDD (even after I repaired it) so I restarted the ps4 and it told me: “the external storage device is unsupported” so I went to settings –> devices –> USB Storage devices and I choose the external HDD and it told me (format as extended storage)
P.S: if you want some picture about my last comment where I can send them?
I think the external hard drive is corrupted and is suffering from bad sectors that caused some data loss.
Have you formatted it again as extended storage?
I have been using the same external hard drive and usb cable for months with no problem. A few days ago I lost power during a storm while playing. Now my ps4 won’t connect to the storage device. I did all the trouble shooting recommended including reformatting the entire drive and now it won’t meet the conditions. It is directly connected, has 3tb of storage on it, and I am using the same usb cord that it previously accepted yet it says I do not meet the conditions.
Have you initialized PS4? If not, go do that and update it to the latest version before installing any game/app. Afterwards, try connecting the external HDD and it should work.
That’s alright, thanks for the help.
You’re welcome
🙁
Apologies for the late response. Last night I started developing an illness and it lasted with me until this moment.
I can’t tell if my PC is detecting it. Nothing new shows up, nothing disappears. I think it might just be a lost cause.
Ok, now I see that your external hard drive is the reason for all this (innocent PS4!). You can just make your last step and connect any external storage device to your PS4 and verify whether it works properly or not. If it does, the external HDD is surely the reason.
For some reason the only way I can see the responses is by commenting
Because they are pending for approval. You have to wait until I release them.
I am very sorry, sometimes when I refresh, the responses don’t show up. I will try fixing it using the computer.
don’t worry, it’s ok.
I have tried formatting to another PS4 and it said “error USB 3.0 not connected” then never showed up again.
Aha, now things are getting clearer. The external hard drive might be the culprit.
And I don’t exactly know what to do when I plug it into my windows 10 laptop. The light for it comes on, it runs, but I don’t know if my computer is noticing it.
Go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management
You’re supposed to see the external hard drive there, but not fully recognized. Do you see it?
I don’t know if you got the last comment I made, but I’ll mention this.
I haven’t activated the hard drive on another PlayStation just checked to see if it would detect it and yes it did. I might end up having reformatted to a different PlayStation, and see if my PlayStation can see it.
This is not supposed to help. If your external HDD is well recognized on another PS4, it means the problem is with your PS4, not the drive.
Anything besides the Hard drive and flash drives, is working, charging cords, anything else that uses a USB port and can function using the PS4 does, but I don’t have a Flash drive or other form of USB storage device at the moment. So I still need to test out the flash drive bit. I don’t get any error messages. And yes, I have tried both ports numerous times. It just sits on the screen saying the “USB storage device is not connected”
Thanks for the help.
You have to try another storage device to determine exactly where the problem is. If it doesn’t work, it means the USB card on PS4 is partly malfunctioning/damaged. Even if other devices like headphones or controllers work still on the USB ports, that doesn’t mean it is fully functioning.
This is an essential test to perform if you want to make sure what’s really wrong.
My 4 tb Seagate worked for a little over half a year, fell from about a 1.5 feet. Still turns on, works on other PlayStations just not mine. Noted, the PlayStation also fell from the same height, albeit very slowly and both landed on a semi soft surface. I got a new cord thinking that was the original problem. I was really wrong. When I look at the ways you list to fix them. None of them seem like they would work and a few I have already tried. So, PS4 system is most likely the issue, but how do you think I could fix that?
I’m going to try backing up my saved data, to online storage. Then re-initialize it, I saw you told someone else to do that. Hope it works.
Yes, most probably it’s the solution you want.
Initializing PS4 should fix that.
Sorry for the late comment, but so far hasn’t worked. It still won’t notice it. Can’t be the USB ports since they still work for other cords, and just for confirmation, yes the cord for the drive works, as I have said, it has worked on other PlayStations but not mine.
You need to update to the latest version of PS4 system software once you finish initializing. I think you have forgotten that.
Once you update, turn off PS4, then connect the external HDD to it, then turn it on. Hopefully this will work now.
It is fully up to date, made sure of that before I responded again so I wouldn’t burden you with more questions. But, if it all possible, it might be an internal software error, that can’t be reset through initialization. I don’t think that’s possible, but IDK anymore.
That’s quite strange! And no, you’re not burdening me or anything. I am pleased to help.
Let me understand this point. You said earlier: “Can’t be the USB ports since they still work for other cords” You mean other connected devices work fine through the USB ports?
Have you tried switching between the ports then? Try another port and see if it works there. Also, try connecting a USB flash drive to your USB and see what happens.
Lastly, is there any specific error message you get for this case?
Answering these questions properly will give me a better insight on figuring out where the problem is.
Hi!
Was hoping someone could help please.
I have an original PS4 (model #CUH-1000A) and replaces the original 500 GB HDD with 2TB Seagate drive.
This new drive has worked well for the last year or so.
However today I got the CE-34335-8 error message.
Checked the HDD was fitted properly but still got the error message.
Swapped the original 500GB back in (which used to work fine!) drive and still got the error message.
I know suspect it’s not an HDD issue but the PS4 hardware’s.
My question is if I buy another PS4 (new or perhaps 2nd hand) *of the same model* can I swap out the new one’s HDD with my 2GB HDD and (*assuming it’s not a faulty HDD*) just be up and running?
Or do I have to reinstall the 2GB by d/l the latest update file and reinitializing etc etc?
Sorry for the long post just want to give as much detail as possible!
Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks 🙂
If you’re going to use another PS4’s HDD on your new PS4, even if they are both the same model, you must initialize PS4 and install all your games/apps on it again. Otherwise it won’t work.
Understood.
Thanks so much for the answer!
Love the site btw. Lots of useful info here. Thank you again 🙂
You’re very welcome anytime. This site was made to help you and others 🙂
I have 2tb drive hooked it up and moved my games to it. Now when I turn on the external comes on but the playstation doesn’t read it.
What can I do cause I downloaded my games to it and if it deletes them I’m screwed cause I bought them and downloaded from ps network
Try to initialize PS4, this resolves 99% of the issues.
So just yesterday my PS4 was using the external harddrive by Seagate flawlessly. Today it stopped working. The light is on when the device is plugged in but the PS4 wont let me connect to it. The external device is actually beeping when it is plugged in. I tried connecting it to my PC but I couldn’t access it. Do you by chance know the problem?
This is a common problem. In all cases you can’t access it via PC because it’s fully encrypted by PS4 system. But what I care most about is: does your PC recognize it once you plug it in or it acts like nothing is there, or that a defective drive is connected to it?
If it recognizes it as a normal new external hard drive, the problem is with your PS4. 99% that your PS4 needs to initialize due to program conflicts occurring within it.
Hey, I have a seagate external storage for my ps4. It stopped working out of the blue during a gaming session but the light on it is still saying it’s receiving power and is plugged in. I’m not great with technology and am not too sure what to do. I let the system update, I unplugged everything and let it just sit for a while, it’s just not detecting the storage device anymore. What do I do? Is the problem with my PlayStation or with my external storage? I have the Sony PlayStation 4 slim
Hi there. It can be either one, but often the problem comes from PS4 itself due to some program conflicts. If you have everything backed up, I strongly advise to initialize PS4 and then, as the next step, update to the latest PS4 system software version. Now, try to connect the external hard drive again and check whether it works or not.
Another solution can be also to connect your external hard drive to another PS4 (if possible). This will show you definitely which one is the reason for this situation.
Another solution also is to connect your external hard drive to a PC, and check whether it recognizes it or not. If not, this is a bad omen that your external HDD is the culprit.
If you need further assistance with your issue, please come back with the updates of your case.
I have a Seagate 1 TB hhd and it worked for months and then just stopped working on my ps4 but when I hook it up to my computer it works just fine what step should I take next to get this to work on my ps4. I have tried to format it on my pc and cant seem to figure out how to format it on my pc but when i hook it up to the ps4 it says theres nothing in the USB slot I know both of the slots work when I plug my controller in it charges just fine
Well, this is usually caused by a core conflict in PS4 operating system. You need to initialize PS4 and it will work again for you.
My son has been using an external hard drive on their PS4 for about a year and a half now. This morning, I unplugged the PS4 (with the hard drive connected) to put him on a videogame time out for a while. When I gave it back and he plugged everything back in, the external hard drive started beeping and the PS4 wouldn’t recognize it. We tried connecting it to a different port, to my computer, etc. Same thing: beeping and not recognized.
I’m assuming that the hard drive has probably failed at this point. Here’s my question: If I get a new one, and he reinstalls the games that were on that hard drive, will he have lost all of his progress? Or is there some way to recover that? I don’t mind buying a new hard drive, but I’m feeling terrible about him losing what he’s done on the games. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
Game saves are placed on the internal hard drive, and cannot be stored on the extended storage. So, if you get a new external hard drive, he can continue from where he ended.
By the way, before buying a new external hard drive, try to fix the current one. In many cases the error occurs with the USB bridge that connects the hard drive with the USB cable. This might become faulty and needs replacement. If you’re not savvy enough to ensure that, take it to a technician and make sure that the hard drive is the faulty part before buying a new one. This will save you money and efforts and it is worth to try.
I have been using a 4tb seagate hdd for the pass year and it has work fine but over the pass month I get an error at the top of my screen that the external hdd is not Recognized. When I restart the ps4 the hard seems to work OK for a week or 2 again but then I get the error again. I have formated the hdd on a Pc but the issue happens again
This can happen because PS4 operating system is undergoing some program conflicts. Initializing PS4 and installing a clean copy of PS4 system software will usually fix this problem. If not, the problem then is with the external hard drive. Since it works for a while then shuts down, it can be the USB bridge that is failing to operate, not the hard drive itself. You can check its health by connecting it internally to a PC and run some diagnostic software like Hard Disk Sentinel. If you’re not savvy enough to do that, take the external HDD to a technician to check it for you.
Hey I got Seagate 4tb ps4 usb storage device the like come on when I plug it in to ps4 but it won’t Recognize it or show it’s connected it’s been Corrupted an it won’t show on my ps4 or the pc or I just can’t find it to erase the corrupt data
If your PC cannot recognize it, it means you have a serious problem with the external HDD. In some cases, the problem stems from the USB bridge that connects the hard drive to the USB cable. You can verify that by dismantling the external HDD enclosure and pulling out the hard drive then connecting it internally to a PC and check whether it recognizes it or not. If you’re not savvy enough to take this action, a technician can help you diagnose it and reveal the real source of problem.
so my internal hard drive doesnt work for my ps4 no more, so i bought a external hard drive and when i plug it in it still says (CE-34335-8) which is cannot access system storage.
The PS4 operating system cannot start up from an external hard drive. You need to replace the internal hard drive with a new one.
Hi I have a 2tb seagate that has worked for about a year but today it just says that it has a capacity of 144.000 TB ! I can’t use it anymore because it goes over the 8TB limit but it is still a 2TB hard drive but for some reason it detects a massive empty space of 144.000TB how can I fix it ?
This error is usually caused by a serious hard drive failure. Most probably your external hard drive is defective and must be replaced.
Hi whenever I try to format hard drive it loads then says an error code. How do I fix this
Have you checked it first on a PC? If it works fine there, then your PS4 needs to initialize. This might happen due to a system conflict.
Hi, I just bought a Seagate 4TB backup plus hub external drive.
I have formatted it to exfat via the ps4 itself and when I try to format as extended storage I am given an error saying my drive needs to be usb3.0 (it is) between 250GB and 8TB (it is) and directly connected to the ps4 (it is though it has a separate ac plug not sure if that’s a problem)
Aside from that I don’t understand why it won’t format to extend?
In this article we stated that HUB external hard drives are not compatible with PS4 as an extended storage, whereas it can work fine as a backup storage.
I have a seagate 4tb external hard drive, it has worked fine until recently. One day I turned on the ps4 and it wasn’t reading the external hard drive so I unplugged it and plugged it back in and it worked fine. This happened a bunch of times but now it won’t read it. Says it’s not plugged in. The light is on and if I leave it plugged in for a while it says usb hard drive not compatible. At this point it recognizes the hard drive but says it needs to be formatted I’ve tried to reformat it but it goes for a while then gives me an error code ce-30016-0. Any help you can give me is much appreciated, thank you.
This is a conflict occurring within PS4 operating system caused by some incompatible game/app. What you can do is to initialize PS4, then update to the latest version of PS4 system software update as the next step. Now, connect the external hard drive and check whether it works or not. In more than 90% of the cases this would fix such an issue.
Please give us your feedback on this solution.
So I’ve been using a MyBook 25Da with my PS4 for awhile now. I turned my PS4 on this morning and it says my hard drive isn’t connected. This happened before and I all had to do last time was re-initialize my PS4 and it started working again. This time it still isn’t working even after initializing. Any thoughts? I have connected it to my pc and it is working.
After initializing PS4, have you installed the latest update? .. You’re supposed to do so directly, as a second step, then connect the external hard drive. Don’t install any app or game until you verify that the external HDD is well recognized.
My Seagate external hard drive powers up but says it’s not connected how can I fix that
Most probably your PS4 needs initializing.
My PS4 says that the device’s file system is unsupported, and the only way is to fully format it. But it has atleast 1 tb of data and my laptop doesn’t even recognize it. So I can’t backup my data. Need help
Initialize PS4 first and update to the latest PS4 system software version. This is supposed to fix the issue. If not, come back and we’ll suggest some solutions related to backing up your external hard drive.
My PS4 is telling me that my external hard drive can not be supported even though I’ve been using the same one for the past 2 years, I haven’t had any problems with it and now it’s acting up
hi sir
good day,
today i used one of my friends external hard driver WD on PS4 and after adding as external storage the PS4 system as asked quick format or something i cannot recall.
i quickly removed the external hard drive now it cannot be detected on my laptop.
just need to know if the data is there or not and can it be retrieved by any means.
The PS4 external hard drive is fully encrypted and the data cannot be detected by a third party system. Only PS4 system can detect the data.
Hello, I have problems with a Seagate PS4 Game Drive of 1TB. When I connected it for the first time I started to synchronize and from one moment to another it appeared that I have 144115.2TB of capacity, and my PS4 does not allow me to format it. I have restarted the console and I have not achieved anything. I also tried to connect it to the PC and although it does recognize it, I do not have the option to format it. I have the screenshots but I do not know how to pass them. I need your help, the Game Drive is completely new and has not dropped water or fallen.
Hi,
You have to return the external hard drive. It’s defective. When you see any storage device is read with a very huge capacity, know for sure it’s defective.
My seagate 4tb hd has worked well for quite some time. Now, however, the PlayStation won’t recognize when I’ve plugged it in straight to the playstation. The light turns on, but the console doesn’t react to it at all. If plugged in for an hour or so, it’ll give a message saying that this drive is not supported by PlayStation, even though it worked fine before. I’ve plugged it into the computer, and the same problem arrises.
Excuse me, can you elaborate more on the reaction of your computer to the external hard drive? What exactly happens?
So I was playing a Fifa game and my brother disconnected my 2 tb Seagate external HD and I tried to connect it back and just didn’t recognize and all I hear is beeping noises.
Beeping noise indicates hardware failure. Most probably your external hard drive has been damaged. But before judging, connect it first to a PC and see whether it gets recognized or not. On the other hand, if you can check it on another PS4 that would be even better.
Mine is doing the same thing and it won’t connect to anything, I’ve tried my ps4 and my pc and nothing is working
Accordingly, your external hard drive is defective. It’s possible that the USB bridge is out of action and the hard drive itself is healthy. If you can, dismantle it and remove the hard drive from its enclosure and connect it directly to a PC. Check now whether it works or not. If not, then it is dead.
My husband and I have 2 ps4’s and I believe one is a ps4 slim with a Seagate backup plus 4tb. It showed up on my pc but, that’s it. It’s not recognizing the extended storage device even when it is plugged in. Please help. We can’t get anything on our ps4 like Hulu, etc.
Connect your external hard drive to the other PS4, does it work fine? If yes, your second PS4 needs to initialize. Mostly this is the solution to go for. Otherwise, come back and give us your feedback in order to help you further.
Seagate expansion 2 tb was working great but one day it ade some beep voice and ps4 did not recognized it I connected it in laptop and the same happened laptop could see that something was pluged in but could not recognice and the window did not popped in my pc
Your external hard drive is defective. I am sorry to say that. It’s either the USB bridge or the hard drive itself. You need a technician to check that for you.
My PS4 is not recognizing the external storage device. We were using it this morning and transferred the PS4 to another TV and now it says it’s not plugged in??? Help!
Have you tried it on a PC to check its health? Probably your external HDD is defective and needs replacement. If it works fine on a PC, the problem then is with your PS4. Eventually, if none works with you, you need to initialize PS4.
Hey! I have a seagate slim 1tb that I’ve used for my ps4 for months now and had no issue with saving games and game data on to it. Since the last ps4 update if I’ve tried to use a game or app that was saved on to the hd it says it can’t find the app data and that I have to uninstall an redownload it again. I have now tried to download a game on to the hd but it says that it cannot use this device and that it requires a usb 3.0 (which I’m guessing mine isn’t). How can I upgrade my hd to a usb 3.0 and will it cost anything?
Hi Sophie,
Since Sony first released the support for external hard drives to use as extended storage, it announced that it had to be USB 3.0. So, rest assured that your external hard drive is USB 3.0, because you could already used it in the past for saving games.
As for the issue you’re facing now, it seems there’s a system conflict occurred that stops it from properly recognizing your external hard drive. The only solution you can try is to initialize PS4, then immediately install the latest update after the completion of the process. Afterwards, try to connect the external hard drive again to your PS4, and check whether the issue has been resolved or not.
i can’t see my comment nor the reply.
The comments are moderated on this website until the approval of the webmaster. So, you need some time to get them published.
So i bought this Seagate 2TB plugged in with a cable and it has started beeping as of late and not being connected to the ps4. what should i do?
Connect it to a PC first and verify that it works fine. If so, the problem then is with your PS4. Follow the instructions on this article. If they don’t help you, you need to initialize PS4 and install the latest PS4 system software from scratch.
Just bought a HDD 3.0 2TB plugged in playstation and does not let me use as storage says it has to be 3.0 has to be 250gb min and 8TB max which it is and plugged directly to ps4 which it is I have plugged it in the PC and formatted it there as well I need help asap.
Read this post, it may help you. If not, the only solution you have then is to initialize the PS4.
I have updated PS4 version 6.50 today…after that…the system said I can’t connect to my external hard drive storage. I can’t access any games stored inside the external hard drive. I didn’t have any physical damage for the hard drive. And I tried to connect to PC…I still can’t recognize my external hard drive. Is that the issue after I install the new PS4 version?
Yes, this issue happens a lot when updating to a newer version. You have to initialize PS4 and update it to the latest version, then re-install all your games.
is Fujitsu external HDD compatible for Ps4? usb 3.0 with 5gbps speed
If it supports USB 3.0 and is larger than 250gb, then yes.
its 3.0 by default and has backward support dor for 2.0 and 1.0. thebox says
So yes, it’s compatible with PS4
I accidentally yanked the lead out of my 1tb seagate whilst playing a game it kicked me off and then I tried reconnecting it but it will still not show up as a device on my PS4 or Mac it has the light on the seagate to show there is power but it will not recognise my extended storage
If you connect it to another system (MAC, PC or preferably another PS4) and your external hard drive is still NOT recognized, it means it is DEAD and needs replacement.
Mine has worked fine for multiple months now and all of a sudden it is saying that the hard drive is unsupported. It is a seagate 4tb
If possible, connect it to another PS4 and check whether it works fine or not. Otherwise, connect it to a PC and see if it’s recognized there.
Once you verify that it’s not faulty and working fine, the problem is with your PS4 then. You need to reinitialize your PS4 and things will go right with you.
Uhm I kinda want to keep all that data… does it all go away or can I just re-downlead it?
Game saves, screenshots and trophies will be lost and are not downloadable unless you back them up to your cloud storage on PSN. On the other hand, you can only back up your game saves on an external USB storage device.
The light on the storage lights up but my ps4 says there’s no usb storage connected. It’s brand new too so I’m not sure what up with that
Your PS4 needs to reinitialize. In 99% of the cases this resolves the problem.
What does that do to the ps4?
It resets your console to the original factory settings (Just like the first time you’ve turned it on). That means also all your stored data will be entirely deleted.
What if I dropped my external hard drive or something and my ps4 doesn’t recognize it and the seagate is beeping
Most probably a physical damage that can’t be repaired.
So i followed your instructions i perfomed reinitialization for the ps4 now it shows on the system but it wont let me format i moved it to my pc and followed your instruction to format but this is the weird part its not showing in disk management to format it but i can see the hard drive showing up on my computer in devices and printers so i clicked on properties and this is what i found(Device SCSI\Disk&Ven_Seagate&Prod_Game_Drive_PS4\000000 was not migrated due to partial or ambiguous match.) at this point i think something is broken in there and might have to purchase a new one
Yes you are right. Most probably your external hard drive needs replacement
I have been using an external hard drive for well over a year now, and it works great, except that I have to repair the device any time its wire is even SLIGHTLY bumped. With the wire for the EDD being so short, this was hard to avoid. After replacing the wire with a new one, the PS4 does not recognize the EDD even exists. Only the wire was changed… not the EDD. The EDD shows it is getting power from the PS4, but the PS4 does not recognize it. How do I get it to recognize it?
Connect it first to a PC and see whether it recognizes it or not. If it’s possible to connect it to another PS4, that would be much better also.
If it’s well recognized, then your PS4 needs reinitialization. Otherwise, the problem is with the cable itself that doesn’t properly fit for the external hard drive.
Please check it as I have told you and come back with your feedback.
my seagate stopped working yesterday out of the blue i plugged it into my laptop is says its working fine but on my ps4 the light doesnt come on and its making a beeping noise i tried restarting ps4 with it plugged and nothing happens i tried to look up on your article on how to format on a pc but it doesnt really show the method
If your laptop shows that the external hard drive works fine, most probably your PS4 needs to reinitialize. You can locate the source of problem by connecting your external hard drive to another PS4 (if possible). If it works fine, then surely your PS4 needs reinitialization. Otherwise, it needs a slow, full format on PC.
In order to perform the full format thing, just connect your external HDD to a PC, right-click on it and choose “Format” from the sliding menu. In the “format options” on the bottom, make sure the “Quick format” option is not checked. Now, click “start” and the process will take place.
Hey! So, I’ve gone through almost all the comments on this post and I am still stuck.
I have formatted the WD Elements 1TB external hard drive by every way possible except one.(the full slow low level format, after 2.5 hours it was still like 3-4% completed, very very slow, so I cancelled it).
P.S. Will this really solve my problem? I don’t want to waste all this time to format it only to fail. Also if I do format it this way, what should be the allocation size? How much time will it take to actually do this for 1TB? Is there any other way which is faster?
I have done chkdsk(healthy drive), looked for bad sectors(none found), formatted it with command prompt to exFAT (quick), right clicked on drive and then formatted it.( After formatting it with cmd, exFAT option appeared. )(quick)
Gone to disk management, deleted volume and then formatted it to exFAT.
Went to PS4, got recognised, it was using it as USB Storage device, unable to format it as extended drive. Clicked options button and then formatted it again to exFAT only to fail.
Used tape to cover the middle two USB pins to force 3.0. Failed again as PS4 never reads the drive and light on external drive blinks slowly.
What should I do?
I think you should know it is not a new drive, I used to store my data on this before, I deleted all the useless stuff and moved the worthy stuff to my other 500GB Seagate Expansion Drive (external) and have performed all this on this Seagate external drive too. Guess what? I FAILED.
P.S. There are a lot of questions in my post, please answer all. The only thread which is alive in 2019! You’re my only hope.
Hi there,
Your external hard drive is apparently defective. The full format process takes between 15-20 minutes only on a 1tb drive. But when it takes that long, it means there’s a serious hard drive failure/malfunctioning. According to your description, most probably it’s the drive’s motor that’s not spinning properly.
In order to be totally sure about the source of the problem, try to copy 1gb file from/to your external hard drive on a PC. If it takes way too long, your drive is dying and needs replacement. (The average time for transferring 1gb file is 1 minute only). If the process goes fast flawlessly, try to transfer larger multiple files simultaneously (say 10gb). You should eventually realize then that the external hard drive itself is deficient.
Please come back with your feedback on this solution so that may others benefit and you get further assistance if needed.
Hey had bought a seagate usb 2.0 did not work so bought a hub at best buy so I could put the memory in the hub which was a 3.0 usb worked like a charm.
Hey anyone who has a 2.0 usb, it can be used just need to buy a hub that is usb 3.0 my seagate 2tb hard drive was a usb 2.0 went to best buy bought a hub that worked on a usb 3.0 changed out the the brains hard drive memory (Stat) in the hub that was a usb 3.0 works like a charm.
Never heard about this tip before. It’s totally new to me. Thanks for sharing. May someone benefit from it.
PLEASE HELP. Got a 6Tb seagate usb3 external. Firstly I could back up my ps4 and not download games to it BUT NOW the ps 4 won’t even pick up the external. I have tried restarting the ps with external plug in and nothing. I have tried reformating from pc and tried ito in the ps and still nothing. Can some one please tell me what next. I’m pulling my hair out. A friend has the same external and has no problems.
You only need to reinitialize PS4 and things will go fine with you.
i have two discs and i play with my friend on two separate ps4s at my house and i moved a game from a external hardrive to the other ps4 and it said that it will delete fallout and i said ok but when i put the disc in the 2nd ps4 it says it need the external hardrive and when we put it in we can play but on the other ps4 it requires the external hardrive aswell . my hypothesis is that they both are on the hardrive . i need help with this plz send help as soon as you can
It’s not a surprise to me that this has happened. As for the first console on which you were originally playing the game, the PS4 system learned that the game files were on an external storage, and when you try to play the same game from the disc, it will keep requiring the external storage on which the game was installed. What you can do is to uninstall the game from your PS4 then reinstall it from the Disc. This should resolve this issue on the first PS4.
As for the second console, PS4 system prevents fully copying a game to another console with the same license. That’s in order to stop piracy. You will always need the original external hard drive to play the game, or just buy a new license.
Ughhhhh I’m just going to count it as a loss thanks for responding
You’re welcome
I am always running out of storage space on my PS4, which means I have to either delete unused apps or saved screenplay videos in order to update apps. I have a 1TB external HDD I can connect to the PS4, but I don’t want to format the HDD and use it as external storage. I’m just wanting to get my 60GBs of saved videos from my Capture Gallery. However, every time I try to copy even one short video clip to the “USB Storage” it says I need to create more space. The catch is this: the videos are less than 1GB each and I have around 650GB free on my 1TB external HDD. When I go to “Storage” in settings, it says my HDD only has 200MB available. Do you know why it would say so much less than my laptop does? Or how I can fix this? Once again, all I want is to extract my saved capture gallery videos to create more space.
Most probably your external hard drive is formatted with either FAT32 that consumes lots of storage space or NTFS which isn’t recognized by PS4 System. If it’s NTFS, PS4 will only recognize the preserved system storage space that’s formatted in FAT32 and limited in 200mb for each 1tb. The only way to resolve this is by formatting the external hard drive.
Thanks, that’s what was wrong. HDD was formatted with a 200mb partition. I had to connect to my MacBook, remove the partition through Terminal (it was pretty simple; followed a youtube video), and then when I reconnected it to my ps4, the ps4 formatted it to ExFat in about .2 seconds. Now I can pull saved videos from Capture Gallery and upload them straight to my MacBook (and still use my HDD for storing things from my Mac). Best,
Colton
Thanks for telling us about your experience. I truly appreciate that. May this help someone resolve their problem.
So I wont even be able to get my saved content off of it
You can only if it works. You will be lucky if you connect it to a PC and it’s well recognized there. You will need then a disk clone software to back up your data.
My ps4 all of a sudden wont recognize my Seagate 2tb external hard drive. When I plug it into my ps4 it makes a beeping noise I’ve never heard before
Your external hard drive is suffering from a serious deficiency. You better consider a quick replacement for it.
My ps4 isn’t recognizing my external hard so I went and bought a brand new and that’s not working either I don’t understand why all of a sudden my external hard drive isn’t working but it worked a few months ago???
Most probably it’s the system software that needs maintenance. The best solution is to reinitialize the PS4 and reinstall the system software. That shall hopefully work, unless you have a serious USB connection failure in the PS4 motherboard.
Hello, I have an External WD hdd that has been formated to FAT32 and was working as media hub perfectly on my PS4 until yesterday. Now when i go on the media player app it’s telling me to connect a USB storage all of a sudden. The drive is working perfectly well, I checked on my pc and PS3. Could you please enlighten me on what the problem is?
Hi. Usually this issue is caused by application conflicts within PS4 system. If turning off PS4 then booting it up doesn’t fix the problem, you need to reinitialize the PS4. This will most probably resolve this problem.
Hi. Usually this issue is caused by application conflicts within PS4 system. If turning off PS4 then booting it up doesn’t fix the problem, you need to reinitialize the PS4. This will most probably resolve this problem.
Hi, i hope this is still alive… i’m having issues with the PS4 Seagate GameDrive 4tb one day i got home and my PS4 was stuck on flashing orange light.. i had no internet at that time (like actually no isp, not that i had no service)… so PS4 wouldn’t turn on or off… holding down power button did nothing… searched online.. only recommendation was to unplug the PS4… i did, now my drive is not recognized by the PS my PC picks it up as GameDrivePS4 but after a couple of seconds (about a minute) it just goes to USB not recognized (Set Address Failed). Please help.. i’m just out of my warranty and stuck with an unusable 120$ paper block.. Thanks in advanced!!
Most probably your external hard drive is suffering from bad sectors. You have to perform a FULL format on a PC on it.
It doesnt let md format it, PS4 doesn’t see it, pc sees it for 30 to 60 seconds and then it goes as Unknown USB device, disk management doesn’t pick it up nor This PC, i booted up Ununtu amd also can’t see it there, i actually checked and i still have a couple months left of warranty, i submited an RMA request, thanks anyway.
You can check it on DOS mode, if this problem persists, then your external hard drive needs replacement.
I didn’t exactly used DOS but when i went into Ubuntu’s terminal which is like DOS “fdisk -l” showed only my HDD and my SSD no external or any other type of drive
Ah yes. Then your external hard drive is malfunctioning. Get a replacement for it.
Hi, I have recently bought a 2TB external hard drive to use as extended storage but my PS4 will not recognise it, it is currently formatted the FAT32 and has been previously formatted to exfat both have been full formats but the PS4 will not recognise the HDD. Should I reinitialise the PS4 if so will this wipe all the data I have??
Firstly, check whether this external hard drive works properly or not by connecting it to a PC. If it works, then your PS4 needs reinitialization. And yes, reinitializing your PS4 will wipe all stored data. So make sure to take a backup before carrying out that process.
I was playing madden on my playstation and noticed that my Seagate 2 TB hard drive was about to fall off of my ps4 so i moved it slightly and that caused it to kick me out of the game and say “to start the application, connect the extended storage device it is installed on…” however it is connected and when i try to set it up as extended storage it says that it doesnt meet certain standards even though it does and also says that the capacity is 144115.2 TB
Since the PS4 system couldn’t determine the actual capacity of the drive, most probably your external hard drive needs maintenance.
Try first to connect another external hard drive (or a USB flash drive) into PS4. If it does successfully recognize it and correctly determine the actual storage capacity, then it’s the hard drive that causes the problem. Probably bad sectors. You have to check that on a PC.
If the new USB storage device connected to PS4 is not well recognized, your PS4 needs reinitialization.
Additionally, you can further test your external hard drive by connecting it to another PS4 (if possible) and check whether it works fine or not. This will dramatically help you determine the real cause of the problem.
hi I have a 2tb game drive Seagate hard drive and It wont show that its plugged into my ps4 it works perfectly fine on my laptop I’ve reset my system didn’t work,ive turned off my system and it didn’t work I don’t want to reset my whole system to were I have nothing.what can I do?
I am sorry to say that if your external hard drive works fine on a PC, some conflicts are occurring within the PS4 system that prevent it from recognizing the external hard drive. Try first to rebuild PS4 database after deleting newly installed games/apps and updating PS4 system software to the latest version.
If that doesn’t work, the only solution in this situation is to factory reset PS4 (reinitialize PS4). After successfully accomplishing this operation, you have to directly update to the latest system software.
Additionally, if it’s possible, connect your external hard drive to another PS4 and check whether it works or not.
Well I plugged it in to the Mac but this won’t recognise it will it because it is formatted to the PS4? I’ll give dragging and dropping something onto it a go and if that doesn’t work then I’m not sure if it does work connected to laptop. If I format it on laptop will that format it to use on PS4? Surely it won’t.
Plus I can’t find an option to format it via Mac anyway so maybe it’s not working on it.
Scrambled my head all this I specifically bought a PS4 compatible HDD so I don’t have this issue.
Maybe my lads dropped it and not saying so it is broke. We’ll see I’ll try figure it out first.
The light comes on HD so cable is working surely, sometimes it’s flashed sometimes it’s solid. 🤷🏼♂️
I am sorry, but I can’t help you with MAC, as I use Windows OS. Yes, the external hard drive is totally encrypted by PS4, so you can’t use it on another system. BUT, even though it cannot be opened without a format, other systems (Windows for example) would recognize the drive and show its icon.
If you happen to format the external hard drive on your MAC, probably it will work again on PS4, you can give it a try. Otherwise, the best test you can do is to connect it to another PS4 (if possible) and check whether it works there or not. If it does, then you have to factory reset the PS4. If not, you have to check it first on a PC/MAC and verify it’s not dead yet. If verified, you have to perform a FULL format to eliminate any potential bad sectors that cause this issue.
Hope this helps.
So…I’ve been following these posts as same is happening to me. I’ve plugged the HD into my new MacBook and it just says ‘remote disc’ with no details how do I know if it works?
Granted I need to learn how to use a MacBook too, but, should I reinistialise the PS4 and see if it’s that?
As quite a few others have said it has worked for so long and now suddenly doesn’t.
If you verify that your external hard drive is working fine on either another PS4 or just a PC/Mac, then the problem is surely within PS4 system itself, due to some conflicts that have occurred. Usually reinitializing PS4 can totally resolve that problem.
Hi. I’ve been using an external WD My Book (4TB) for months now. Have majority of my games installed on it. Just recently my PS4 stopped recognizing it. Just says there is no storage device connected. The light on the hard drive works. I’ve tried to disconnect and reconnect with no progress. Any tips?
Have you tried it first on a PC and check whether it works or not? Additionally, if it’s possible to check it on another PS4 that would be much better.
Once you confirm it works properly, then it’s the PS4 system that causes the problem. Try to either rebuild the PS4 database or, if doesn’t work, to factory reset PS4 (Reinitialize PS4). In most cases this will fix that error.
I will try on my pc and see if I can find another PS4. I will get back to you with my findings. Thanks in advance!
You’re welcome. Please if you’ve got this problem resolved, come back and tell us your experience. This will help many people who encounter the same problem. Thanks.
So it would appear that my computer reads the External Drive just fine. I cant access anything obviously because of the formatting the PS4 did prior. I have to re-initialize the PS4 itself now?
Yes, 99% of the causes of this error is due to some conflicts PS4 system undergoes that prevent it from recognizing the external hard drive connected to it. After reinitializing, head directly to update the system to the latest version before trying to use the external hard drive.
Just wanted to update. Reinitializing my PS4 has worked and gotten the system to read my hard drive again. Thanks again for all your help!
I am glad that you’ve eventually fixed that error. May your experience help someone with the same case. Thanks to you as well.
The hard drives model number is WD-18L12FN. I don’t have a PS4 yet, I have been trying it on a friends to make sure it will work before I buy one myself so I can’t send through a picture of the error message at this stage.
When I plug the hard drive in it comes up with WD my book 25DA media (which is the portion of the hard drive that can’t be erased) and that the USB device needs to be a minimum of 250GB and maximum of 8TB
I see now what your problem is. You have a NAS external hard drive, not a regular one. Your external hard drive model is: “WD 8TB My Cloud“, right? NAS storage devices are NOT supported by PS4. We have already stated this in the PS4 Compatible External Hard Drive List.
So I have a seagate 4tb harddrive and for about a year now it would work fine for awhile but out of the blue it would say that it’s been disconnected improperly and that I need to repair it and usually I would do that and it would work fine but now it’s to the point to where I’m the middle of watching a movie it stopped working and said that I need to plug in the device that my application is housed on, won’t even give me the option to reapair either and I plugged it into my computer and it said it was running fine the light is on when I plug it in but my PS4 will not register that it’s plugged in anymore. Please help.
If it is possible to connect your external hard drive to another PS4 to check whether it works there or not. Most probably it will work fine.
Usually such a an issue is fixed by either rebuilding PS4 database or factory reset PS4 (Reinitialize PS4). The latter will delete all stored data on your internal hard drive, so be careful and take a backup.
If none works with you, please come back for more suggested tips.
I have a 8TB WD external hard drive that I am trying to connect to watch media through the media player, but the PS4 will only recognise the smallest portion on the hard drive that can not be erased. How do I get it to recognise the data I have stored on there? Or is the hard drive not supported for PS4?
Hi there,
Please provide me with the model name and number to be able to better diagnose the problem.
Hey, great and insightful forum!
I have a Seagate PS4 2TB Game Drive and my system recognized it as a usb device. However, when I try to format it as extended storage, I get the error code CE30005-8. Any suggestions?
Hi, and thanks for the compliment.
That means the format feature of the PS4 system is not working properly. You can verify that by trying to format another external hard drive (if possible). If the same message comes up, it means you either need to rebuild PS4 database to fix that error or fix the PS4 internal hard drive.
If rebuilding the database doesn’t resolve it, try to format the internal HDD of PS4 after connecting it to a PC. You can do that either by directly connecting it via SATA cable, or just buy an external hard drive enclosure and connect it externally to a PC. There, you can perform two operations: CHCKDSK or FULL format. both will fix any error found on the hard drive that impact its functionality.
If you have any other question, please don’t hesitate to come back and ask.
So my new external hd has been in for only a week. Hardly enough time to get all my games on it and my ps quits out on me by not shutting down properly and making me eventually have to hold reset and power just to get it to shut off. Finally the next day i turn it back on and of course… You guessed it. I must repair my ext. Hd to use. So i read this… Nobody had any valid info so i chose to turn off my ps4 correctly again and then turned it back on. This time it says it is repairing my hd. It did and the games still had the exclamation marks on them so i tried one anyway… It took a minite but it played so atleast that is a positive note. No unplugging of any sort was needed and believe me… If i had to reformat and redownload all the games again i would not do it. Because this will happen again. It is a better bet to just get an 8tb internal if possible… Is it? Or is 2tb max? Anybody know because i might still go that rout in the future. My ps does that stupid sheet all the time and its a brand new pro so wtf. Lucky me i guess… And yes… First i bought the seagate 8tb hd plus hub but was able to return it to staples for full refund even after opened so this isnt my first visit through here to read all of these so i hope this helps someone. Have a great and wonderful day everyone! FeeLzSoLoPhAt @ psn
Thank you Brandon for telling us your experience that might help someone here having the same problem.
Expanding the PS4 storage by upgrading the internal hard drive is a more reliable solution than going for external hard drives. If you have a PS4 Pro, the maximum compatible internal hard drive available is 2tb. If you like an SSD, the maximum size is 4tb, but it is way too expensive.
I got a portable hard drive from amazon but when I plug it in my ps4 it can’t read it i don’t know what to do
Please provide model name and number.
Can you format hdd using the ps4? Thanks
Yes, it’s possible with the latest PS4 software update.
My HDD is connected but my PS4 does does show that it is connected. Please help me fix this. After I fix whatever the issue is how do I get my games back that I downloaded off PlayStation Network on to my hdd. I did already plug it in to a PC and the PC confirmed that the drive was working just fine.
It seems your PS4 system needs to be reset to its factory settings, as it undergoes some internal conflicts. Make sure to take a copy of your game saves and all other files that you can back up, then perform the factory setting reset.
Additionally, don’t forget to unplug the external hard drive during the process. Once the process is complete, turn off PS4, connect your external hard drive, plug the external hard drive into PS4 and finally turn on PS4 while the external hard drive is connected.
Please come back to us if that doesn’t work for you in order to suggest other solutions.
Please I need help with my external hard drive. I turned on my ps4 and I got a message saying I need to repair the device and when I select repair it didn’t work and I got another message saying I need to format it and I got a error message saying I can’t format it then it says the connection was lost but it’s still plugged in now I kept rebooting and trying different methods and now the light is turned off on the hard drive
Hi Fernando,
First off, you have to verify the drive’s health before taking any further step. Please connect it to a PC and check whether your PC recognizes it or not. If your PC recognizes it, come back to us and I will walk you through different methods to fix that issue.
I bought a seagate backup plus hub and my ps4 is saying that it cannot format
It’s not compatible with PS4. Have a look on this post.
So my drive, like others, worked for a long time then suddenly stopped being recognized today. WD My Passport 2TB. Here’s what I have: USB ports are working on my PS4, controllers charge, phone connects and charges, other storage devices connect. Unfortunately I don’t have access to another PS4 to try it out on. Also, my PC recognizes the drive and says it’s “working properly” BUT when I bring up the disk drive management menu, it does not give me a prompt to try and format the drive and it won’t show up in the “My PC” menu. Is there anything I can do now besides getting a new drive? I also am not comfortable with trying to rebuild my PS4 database nor do I wish to reset to factory settings. I can always just redownload m games as all my save game management is saved to my system storage. Just wondering if I had any other options you may know about? Thanks!
I understand why it won’t show up in the “My PC” menu because it’s fully encrypted by PS4 system. But what I don’t understand is your inability to format it. Maybe you’re doing it wrongly?
Please check this article to learn how to properly format your external hard drive on Windows.
If none works, you may need a third party utility such as EaseUS Partition Master. It’s a free, yet powerful hard drive formatting software.
Hope that helps you fix your issues.
Ok I was finally able to format it to ExFAT, however now I am getting error code CE-41902-6 when trying to format as an extended storage device. it says that I need 3.0 usb connection, at least 250gb and meets these requirements. I’ve read elsewhere that it could be the cable? Again, thanks for the help and responses!
Yes, unfortunately PS4 USB ports have serious issues with dealing with USB 3.0 connectivity. Usually this problem occurs with PS4 Standard and rarely with PS4 Pro. That’s mainly because Sony was not planning, in the first place, to support extended storage until numerous users complaints of the absence of this feature and Sony yielded eventually.
Anyway, changing the cable can most probably resolve the problem.
i unplugged my passport from ps4 and then plugged it back in and it doesnt have any of my files, it says 50kb/1.78Tb
Did you use your external hard drive as a backup storage or extended storage?
Mine will not even light up when it is plugged in. The PS4 shows no indication that it is even connected. Any tips?
Connect it first to a PC, does it light up or not?
My 2TB external hard drive was stolen , I had 2 games on it. I bought another external hard drive reformatted it. On the the game I play it gives me the message. To start app. Connect extended storage device it is installed on. …… I dont have that hard drive also I have a lot game time invested. I can see my weapons and gear on my phone app. Just went let me play the game.
If your game saves are still available, you can easily fix that problem by re-installing those games on a new external hard drive.
My harddrive connects but won’t let me format on my playstation and don’t have a PC but it’s definitely compatible with my system but for some reason I can’t see the used space
Either your PS4 system needs to be reset to factory settings, or you need to update PS4 system software to the latest version, or your hard drive has bad sectors and needs to be fully formatted on PC.
Firstly I wanna thank you for the comprehensive information posted here! I have came across many comments to which you mentioned that leaving the extended hdd plugged in may lead to electric shock and deem the hdd unreadable.
I would like to know if I have to safely disconnect the extended hdd every single time before turning the ps4 off or can I leave the extended hdd plugged in? -As in turning the ps4 off with the hdd plugged in and switching it on with the hdd remain plugged in. Is this advisable? Or would it be safer to just safely unplug it when i am done gaming?
My concern is
1. leaving it plugged in may lead to the electric shocks you mentioned
2. safely disconnecting hdd every time may spoil the usb drive of the ps4
Hi Han,
Thanks for your nice compliment, I appreciate it. It suffices you to just safely remove it using the “Stop using this extended storage” button before powering off your PS4. This will do the job perfectly and maintain your external HDD lifespan.
But there’s a problem here when PS4 starts up. Just like computers, the power supply may mistakenly send a high voltage electric shock to the USB ports once the system boots up. Although this is rare, but it happened to a few guys who lost their external hard drives. Though, you have made a valid point here concerning spoiling the USB ports. So, what I can suggest in this regard is that you use a USB extension cable (it’s very cheap, may cost you less than $2) and keep this cable connected to PS4 USB port, while you connect your external hard drive via this cable. That way, if something is going to spoil, it’s that cheap cable (this happens after using it hundreds of times).
If you’re not very convinced, you better then go to an external SSD. They are shockproof devices that you can fully trust here.
I just bought a seagate extern hardrive for my ps4 1tb it works great and now i start up my ps4 and he find it i will format it and he gives error this usb drive cannot be ussed soo and i see by the memmory of the ďrive stands now 144 thousand tb it is complete flashing is someone have this problem too before ? O tried restart and reconecting but nothing works
Can you please send us some screen shots of the messages you get on your PS4 so we can better help you. Thanks
Probably a long shot but here we go. Toshiba External HDD stopped working on a friend’s PS4. Turned out to be a bad PCB Board. I replaced the board and plugged it in to my laptop. Laptop recognizes it as a media drive, says it’s functioning correctly. Now, tested it on MY PS4. Works just fine on my PS4, got the error message that it was disconnected properly from the system and blah blah blah. Cool. Repaired it on my PS4 and it works just fine on my PS4. Connected it to HIS PS4 and it says nothing is connected. Okay, restart, nothing. Full power down, nothing. I take MY external HDD and his system recognizes it immediately. So on my PS4 his HDD works with both ports, his cord, my cord, and a spare cord. On his PS4 his HDD isn’t recognized with either port, his cord, my cord, or the spare core. On his PS4 my HDD works with both ports, his cord, my cord, and the spare cord. Why won’t HIS PS4 recognize the drive but any other device I connect it to does?
I think PS4 system has accidentally disabled the driver related to that external hard drive due to a former bad experience, so it won’t recognize it at all after that. Now, even if you buy a new external hard drive from the same brand and model, it will still NOT recognize it for that reason. This happens sometimes due to some hidden errors in operating systems.
What you can do about that is to reset PS4 system to factory settings. If it doesn’t work, try to re-install the whole PS4 system software. I think this will work.
So even if I backed up all of his data, reformatted his HDD, then tried to reinstall it I’m looking at a 50/50 it still wouldn’t be recognized?
I cannot assure you that, but most probably NOT. According to my experience, this is an error in the PS4 system itself, not the external HDD. The driver responsible for recognizing that particular external hard drive has been disabled and won’t be activated unless you reset PS4 system to factory settings or install PS4 system software from scratch.
As well as what I just said if I were to get the hard drive you recommend would I get the pc one if we’re to use it on ps4?
Yes, the PC type is what I meant.
Thank you for the advice! And you’re sure this drive would 100% for the ps4?
Yes I am. Just read the reviews on that drive on Amazon and see how many guys said it worked well for them on PS4.
I bought a Seagate 1TB BACKUP PLUS USB 3.0 SLIM – STDR1000100 and I it also showed up as 144115.2TB on the ps4. I was wondering if this product even works on the ps4 and if not what product will. Should I return it and buy the same hard drive? Is it a defective drive? Please respond ASAP as I am trying to return it before the return date expires
Hi there,
It was reported by some users that this drive didn’t work well with PS4, I cannot really verify that, but you better avoid it then. If you want my advice, go for WD My Passport 1tb External HDD.
My sons 2tb Seagate external drive stop working. I did everything I read formatting the whole ps4 and it still doesn’t rec8gnize the external drive. Now my son lost all his info on his games and I’m really upset. I just bought it like 2 months ago, I will go tomorrow to game stop and see it I can get a new one…..
Before you dispose of the external hard drive, can you confirm that it really doesn’t work at all? Connect the external HDD to a PC and see whether your computer recognizes it or not. If it does, you’re still have a good opportunity to recover the lost data. Just do that and tell me if it works or not.
My storage device came unplugged while i was moving my PlayStation from different rooms and now that i plugged it back in while system was still off and after i plugged it in it says there is no device connected and my PlayStation beebs i don’t what that means
Connect your external hard drive to a computer first and check whether it’s recognized there or not. If it does, come back to me and I will provide you with solutions.
My seagate ps4 game drive 2tb is not getting recognized when I plug it into my PlayStation. The light will not turn on either on the gamedrive. My computer will detect it but not my PlayStation.
You either need to update the PS4 system software to the latest version, rebuild your PS4 database, or just reset it to factory settings.
If none works with you, please come back to us and we’ll provide more solutions.
Does resetting factory settings make me lose my saved data?
yes it does. Everything will be deleted. So take a backup first
The light on my hard drive is completely off,and it also says it is not connected so it won’t let me access my saved games,what should I do?
Pull it out from the external enclosure and connect it to a PC. If it doesn’t work either, your hard drive has completely died and you must prepare for the funeral.
The best way is to just use online storage I’ve found,, far less complicated lol, as I am lazy, but hard drives are great for those special ps ims from ur special someone,hehe
Online storage is too limited and doesn’t suit one that needs 1tb+ storage capacity. Plus it has its own drawbacks that hold back many users from authorizing it as their first option.
I have the Seagate 5TB external hard drive. One night i was playing my game when my cat ran by and accidentally disconnected my cable that connects to the USB. (It happens all the time to me so it’s nothing new to me) Every time before this, I would always just plug it back in, and it would just repair so I can use it again. Well I’ll plug it back in, the light will turn on (solid blue light) but it keeps saying “USB not connected”. Connecting it to my computer though WILL recognize it. I have a friend hopefully coming over tomorrow with his PlayStation so I can try connecting to his console. But for right now it’s not connecting at all anymore and I lost access to around 15 different games.
Check your USB port on PS4, it might be damaged. Try to connect your external hard drive to the other port and see whether it works or not. If not, turn off PS4 and remove the power cable from its socket. Wait 30 seconds, connect your external hard drive to your other USB port, and connect your PS4 power cable plug to its socket again. Now, turn on PS4 and see whether it recognizes it or not.
If not, probably you need to perform a “bad sector” diagnose on your external hard drive. Download SeaTools and install it on your PC, then perform a full maintenance on your external hard drive. Hope this will eventually fix the problem.
I have just bought a Seagate 2tb hdd and I got it formatted and loaded games on it, started playing red dead redemption 2 and after a few hours my ps4 froze up and I held down the power button until it reset and not it tells me my hdd needs to be repaired, I have tried numerous times to repair it and it worked one time so I tried to move my games off of it and the ps4 started moving the game then it said it stopped and I got a message saying it was disconnected improperly. I plugged the hdd into my laptop and it works fine, but when I click on properties I can find the tool tab to run the error check. I need help.
Download SeaTools to fix any error in your Seagate external hard drive. It can immensely help in your situation.
Restart the ps4 normally, reformat the expanded drive, delete any notifications on the update and then continue to redownload latest update. If this doesnt work go to safe mode by holding down the power button then select rebuild database and go from there. Most likely doesnt have anything to do with the harddrive the ps4 system tends to mess up in the middle of its updates
Thanks for these tips. May that help someone. Much appreciated.
Same thing as Kevin happened to me but the light won’t turn on on the hard drive
Either a faulty drive or a faulty USB cable. Connect it to a PC and check whether it works or not.
I have a 2TB Seagate External Hard Drive, PS4 compatible, and it worked fine for a little while, now it tells me, it won’t load due to needing to be USB 3.0, which it is! It tells me CE-41902-6
I hooked it up to my PC, and it shows it’s working fine, I plugged it into the PS4, swapped out USB cables, always plugging into the ports directly, have my PS4 updated, and still getting this error.
Hi Rob,
Try to turn off your PS4 completely (shut down), unplug the power cable of PS4, and finally connect the external hard drive via the other USB port. Make sure you connect it tightly and the USB connector is fully crammed inside the port. Make sure also the second end of the cable is properly fixed into your external hard drive USB port.
Now restart your PS4 while the external hard drive is connected to it. Does it resolve your problem?
Hi, so my 1TB external storage randomly stopped working. But it turns on, won’t let me format. I connected it to my pc and it said “working properly”. But it still won’t work? Also when I go to volumes nothing shoes up about the capacity etc. Then I pressed populate and now my extended storage is beeping like crazy
Hi Jade,
Can you check again your external hard drive on your PC? This time go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management. Tell me whether it shows up there or not.
I got it to work last night, formatted the storage, then tried downloading 2 games. One of them kept freezing, so I decided to try and delete the game. But my whole system would freeze.
The extended storage still beeps and it makes this weird “creaking” noise (best way I could describe it).
My system tells me to format the extended storage, when I go to do so. It says “usb storage device is not connected”
Most probably this happens due to an electric shock that your external hard drive was subjected to (Maybe you didn’t safely remove it from PS4). You have to perform a FULL format (not quick format) on a PC. The FULL format would override the bad sectors and make your hard drive usable again.
Try this full format tip and tell me whether it works or not.
It gives me an error code “CE-300022-7” could you possibly help me know what the problems is?
Try implementing the tip illustrated in my previous comment to you. Hope this would fix your problem.
My extended hard drive had came unplug by accident while my PS4 was on now it won’t show up at all on my PlayStation what do I do?
Initializing PS4 should fix that, hopefully.
Hi, I need some advise please. My son took my external HDD (Lenovo 3.0 1TB), saying he needs to move files from his Play Station (or something to that effect. As you can imagine, I got my external hard drive back and now I cannot access my files from a PC.
Is there a way I can save my data, before doing a full format? I’m quite desperate, I have all my work stuff on that device 🙁
Hi Tumelo,
I am afraid that your son did a grave mistake by formatting your external HDD on PS4. That’s because PS4 system ask users to format the external hard drive with a special file system that works only on PS4 before they are able to use it.
If your son fell in this grave mistake, you’re not in a good situation then.
There’s a solution here that might work (the possibility is not too high, but there’s still a hope though). You get a data recovery software to recover all your lost data. This article might help you find a good FREE data recovery software that might help.
Thank you…
You’re most welcome
Hey, just purchased a Seagate 2T and connected it to my 1st gen PS4. I did this while the 1st disc of the RDR2 was being copied or installed. The PS4 didn’t recognize the HDD during this time. After the installation was done, and after I connected and disconnected the HDD several times, I restarted the PS4 and it recognized the HDD, but it said that it should be formatted as external storage (or something like that), so I clicked the only option that was available (“yes”), but nothing happened. I restarted the PS4 again and this time, it didnt recognized it anymore. The little blue light is not coming up anymore, although it feels that the drive is working if I touch it. If I connect it to a PC, I dont see the drive in the computer folder, but I if click the option remove the USB, then it says “safely remove Game PS4…”. But it doesnt gives me the “you can safely remove…”. The light doesnt come up in the PC anymore either. Any thoughts?
Hi Rob. We need to perform several tests in order to identify the problem. This situation is either caused by a serious defect/failure by the drive due to the existence of bad sectors, a corrupt file system, or because of a faulty USB cable.
Let’s try the easiest test first. Connect your external HDD to a PC, and go to Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage. Do you see your external hard drive there?
If you can find it there, the problem is easy to fix. The file system is just corrupted and you need to perform a FULL format (not quick) in order to fix this problem.
Check that and come back if this doesn’t solve your problem. I still have several things for you to try.
I recently just bought a seagate 2tb external usb hard drive. It works perfectly, ps4 reads it and all, but when I wanna download a new game, it says there isn’t enough room on the system storage, but I have the application location set on the external storage so that future games get downloaded there, but it still says not enough room in the system storage
If you have properly set up your external hard drive as an extended storage and this message then shows up, then most probably it is an error with the operating system. Reset PS4 to its factory settings and this should fix your problem. If not, come back and I will suggest some more solutions.
hi, i have used a seagate hdd for about a year (2tb) and reticently it keeps disconnecting. it doent on my pc or laptop (i checked) so i baught another hdd a tosihiba 500gb and this too is doing the same thing and this is brand new so it must be my ps4/usb ports right? i only ever have my hdd plugged in and my ps4 dual shock controller or my phone charging would thi some how effect it?
Yes, most probably it is your PS4 USB port. But to be totally sure, try to connect a USB flash drive to it and see whether it’s recognized or it. If NOT, then yes, it is defective.
As for your other question, the answer is NO. This will have no effect.
My PC recognizes my external hard drive and my PS4 usb port works fine (i put some screenshoots from the ps4)
Ok good. Can you run Check Disk on your external hard drive through your PC? Probably there are some bad sectors on your external HDD that need to be fixed. Please check all the boxes in the Check Disk screen.
So, i was playing Spider-Man and the game crashed, so next thing i do is close the game but the entire system get crashed for a minutes and now ps4 wont reconice my external hard drive what can i do?
Oh, this is a dangerous situation. I hope your USB card was not burnt, because this action usually (not always) happens when a serious hardware failure occurs.
Anyway, let’s first diagnose the problem.
First, connect your external hard drive to a PC and check whether it recognizes it or not.
Secondly, connect a USB device (e.g. flash memory) to PS4 USB port, and check whether PS4 system recognizes it or not.
After that, come back with the result to give you further instructions.
Is it any way to fix a defective external hard drive?
No way! (read previous reply)
I have a seagate game drive for PS4 and just recently my system is saying that it doesn’t support the external usb I checked my device in settings and it being read as having 144115.2TB of capacity this can’t be right because yesterday this wasn’t happening.
Turn off your PS4. Unplug the external hard drive. After 3 minutes connect the external HDD and turn on PS4. Does PS4 system recognize it?
It still reads it as having 114115.2TB of capacity
(CE-41901-5)
Oh sorry! I read it 114115.2GB not TB. I know now what’s the issue. Your external hard drive is defective. Probably was subjected to water or high degree of heat.
Take a last step and connect it to a PC. If it doesn’t work properly there, then I am right.
It still reads the same
Yes, that means I am right. Your external hard drive is defective my friend and you need to dispose of it.
What’s the best replacement device for it? One that won’t over heat.
For gaming purpose the regular PORTABLE external hard drive is not recommended. You need either a desktop external hard drive or an external SSD (too expensive).
As for a desktop external hard drive, I recommend WD 4TB Elements Desktop External Hard Drive.
While playing the black out beta to black ops 4 my system suddenly crashed. It was not responsive and I had the external 2TB hard drive plugged in. I wasn’t forced to unplug the system entirely but upon restarting the Hard drive wouldn’t read and would beep
beeping is usually caused by a failred device connected to your system. Try to unplug the external hard drive, turn off electricity on PS4 after you shut it down, and finally boot up your PS4. Tell me whether this fixes it for you or not.
So I’ve been using a seagate ultra slim 2tb external hard drive for a little while now for about a couple of months to a year. A decided to update my ps4 because I haven’t used it in a while. When I turned it on the ps4 everything was working fine, then when I updated it, the external hard drive was no longer turning on and I’ve restarted my ps4 multiple times, I’ve tried to connect it to my computer and it doesn’t recognize either. I’d like to be able to use it because I have a lot of important game files on the external hard drive. I can’t even extract the game files and move them either since my ps4 can’t tell that I have the external hard drive connected.
Try to connect it to your PC then go to control panel -> Administrative tools -> computer management -> storage -> disk management. You’re supposed to find it there as an unknown storage device format.
If you have found it, it means your external hard drive is still working. If not, then try to dismantle your external hard drive and pull out the hard drive and connect it directly to your PC via SATA connection (Not via USB).
If it works fine, that means the USB bridge of your external hard drive is malfunctioning and needs a replacement. If it doesn’t, then most probably the hard disk itself has been damaged.
Hi there,
I recently bought a Seagate 4TB Expansion HDD with USB 3.0
I hooked it up to my PS4 (original not Pro so there are only the 2 USB ports in the front), formatted the Drive and then proceeded to move all my game files over from the PS4 to the Drive as my PS4 storage was almost full and not running optimally. After 3-4 days (the Drive was never unplugged or bumped, the PS4 was shut down after every use) when I turn the system on I get an error symbol beside all my games and I can’t play them, even with the disk for that game in – “To start the application, connect the extended storage device it is installed on” – the Drive is clearly hooked up and turned on but my PS4 claims there is no device connected. I have since removed the Drive and plugged it into my PC, all tests showed that everything is working fine on the Drive. I don’t want to lose all my data!! Please help
Hi there,
This kind of problem has happened lots to PS4 users. You may have success in resolving it by doing the following:
1- Rebuild PS4 database. If it doesn’t work, then..
2- Reset PS4 system to its factory settings. If not, then..
3- Re-install PS4 system software or update it to the latest version.
Make sure that your external hard drive is unplugged while carrying out any of these processes.
Tell me if this has fixed your issue. I have some other solutions in mind as well.
Hi there, sorry but how do you “rebuild” the PS4 database? Also my system software is up to date.
I also have 2 “free-to-play” games downloaded directly to my PS4 (fortnite, dead by daylight) and would like to hopefully not lose them by resetting to factory settings.
Thanks.
As for rebuilding PS4 database, watch the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPwCsfD06Mk
As for resetting PS4 system, it will delete all your data. So make it the last option if you don’t have a means to backup your games externally.
Okay thanks, I’ll try that tonight.
If it makes any difference, I tried plugging my hard drive into a friend’s PS4 (original not pro) and it had no problem recognizing the drive. Does this mean the USB ports on my PS4 are both fried somehow? Or should I still do the Database Rebuild
That’s possible also but rarely happens, very rarely. Try to connect a USB flash stick and see if your PS4 recognize it as a backup storage. If not, you probably have a serious issue with the USB connection. You can’t tell yet anything unless you restore the factory settings. This will surely reveal the truth about this issue. Most of the times the USB connection malfunctions because of program conflicts. So just do these steps and tell me what you get.
By the way, you can backup your PS4 hard drive if you connect it to a PC using any cloning software.
Hi my hard drive just wont recognise to my ps4
First, connect your external HDD to a PC and check whether it works or not. Then, Make sure to update your PS4 system software to the latest version. Now, connect the external HDD to your PS4 and restart it. If it still doesn’t recognize it at all, then the problem might be in your PS4 USB connection. It may be damaged or malfunctioning which requires that you take it to a technician.
Hey so my brothers ps4 hdd stopped reading and I put 2 of the old storge and I put my 4tb in and it still said not reading the hdd what should we do?
Hi. Most probably it is the USB connection of your PS4 that has failed to work. To make sure about that, try to connect different USB devices to your PS4 and check whether they work or not. Something like a USB flash drive. Once this is confirmed, you need to take it to a technician to fix it.
Hi can I use a seagate 8T Backup + Plus Hub
Hi. No, it is not possible. PS4 doesn’t support hub drives. Check this article for PS4-compatible 8tb external hard drive options.
My PS4 stopped reading my Seagate 4 TB drive after 4 months of working fine and gives me a “USB device not connected”. My system is up to date. Unfortunately I’m unable to access a PC so I can’t check or do anything to the hard drive.
You must verify first that your external hard drive works well before taking any other step. That’s only possible if you connect it to a PC. But there’s another solution that might work. Try to unplug the PS4 power cord and keep it unplugged for 305 minutes, then turn on PS4 while your external hard drive is attached to it. Check if this works for you or not.
This was happening to me but I solved it! Check the ps4’s power cord. Plug it in, unplug it do whatever to reset it and it should work.
I appreciate your contribution to help others overcome this problem. May this help someone.
Hi I bought a 2TB sonnics external hard drive for my ps4 but It worked fine on my Mac but my ps4 wouldn’t recognise it so I decided to return it and get a 2TB Seagate hard drive but same again it works fine on my Mac but my PS4 won’t recognise it. The light on the seagate is on but it never flashes and both the hard drives had usb 3.0 my ps4 is like 3 years old so I don’t know if I need a new ps4 or not.
Hi there,
Probably you need to first download the latest version of PS4 System Software Update and install it. Afterwards, connect the external hard drive to your PS4, then restart it. If it doesn’t recognize it, try to use the second USB port and see if it works. If the same problem occurs, then most probably it is a hardware failure in your PS4.
I just bought a WD 1 TB passport external drive. Connected to PS4 ok. Formatted ok for extended storage. When I try to move games to it, even just one, it starts then seems to hang for hours making no progress. I don’t get any error messages.
try to rebuild PS4 database and tell me if this fixes it or not.
I did that plus a full slow exFAT format from my pc. Formatted on the ps4 as extended storage. Game copy makes a lot of progress, then PS4 shuts off.
Then it’s the internal hard drive is dying. It’s not reading data properly.
I always recommend that PS4 users upgrade their internal hard drive because it’s worthless.
Try to pull out the internal hard drive of PS4 Pro and connect it to a PC, and go diagnose it with error check. If you find nothing, then you have to perform a FULL format. Because mechanical hard drives decline by time and they need a full format every year or two to restore the lost performance.
Make sure to clone your hard drive on PC before doing the full format thing.
Hope that will work for you
My Seagate 2 tb external hard drive stopped working when my PS4 froze and I had to unplug cable to reset. Wouldn’t recognize usb after that. I eventually shut down ps4. Unplugged the power to it and let sit for a few minutes off completely. Reboot and plug and and the repair worked. Hope this helps someone.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I have approved your comment in hope it might help someone.
Did it make your seagate start beeping?
Thanks for letting me know, at least it’s nothing that will cost me out of pocket. Is there a way of finding out if Sony is aware of this issue? Thanks again for the help.
You’re most welcome Ron.
Hello,
I have a 3TB Seagate Free Agent Go Flex Desk external HD. My PS4 is updated to 5.55. Used the HD with no issues and was able to copy games with no problems. HD was unplugged for a couple of weeks and when I went to plug it back in I started having issues. First the PS4 wouldn’t recognise the HD at all but after a reset I got it to at least recognise the device. Then when I went to format the HD as external storage it tells me that it can’t format this HD this way because it’s not a USB 3.0 or higher (even though it is and it recognised it before). I ended up clearing out my HD completely (had my computer guru do it – he checked for errors, etc…and everything checked out perfectly), so now the HD is back to it’s original “out of the box” condition (my PC recognises it with no problems and using a 3.0 slot). I again plugged in the HD and attempted to format as extended storage and still get the same error message.
The only thing I haven’t tried is a new USB 3.0 cord, but I don’t want to waste money on a needless cord if there is another fix for this.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi Ron,
A new USB 3.0 cord won’t help you since your external HDD is working fine on your PC. What you can try is that you format the external HDD using exFAT file system then try to connect it again to your PS4, then tell me what happens.
I was able to format the HDD using exFAT no problem but when I tried moving games to the HDD I get the message that the HDD needs to be formatted to extended storage, so I choose the option to format as extended storage and I get the same error stating the HDD needs to be USB 3.0. Still stuck.
Then most probably it’s a compatibility issue with PS4 operating system. You can do nothing but to wait for a new release of PS4 system software update, as many users are having the same problem as yours.
Hi, i have a seagate 2TB PS4 external storage. I downloaded a game update and after that it crashed. PS4 crashed, harddrive crashed, i try to connect it to pc but wont connect. it starts up and light is on but nothing happens. what do i do ?
Hi Daniel,
Dismantle your external hard drive connect it internally to a PC. If it does not work either, your external HDD is dead. Otherwise, it’s your USB bridge that needs to change, and you have to buy a new external HDD enclosure (costs you around $8).
Hi. Is there a guide on the dismantle part? And its like a week old since i bought it. Is it really this trash?
It’s very simple to the extent that it doesn’t need a guide. Just unscrew the external hard drive enclosure and pull the hard drive out. Then connect it internally to a PC to check if it works or not. If this is not possible to you, just take it to a technician and he will check it for you.
And it is not just about the external hard drive itself. Probably it is good, but there was an electrical short occurred when it was connected to your PS4 that caused the whole problem.
Hello,
for some reason I unplugged my hard drive from my Ps4 and left it unplugged for about 4 days. When trying to plug it back in, my Ps4 doesn’t recognize it yet the light was turning on. After trying again, the light stopped turning on. I tried to plug it into my PC but it does not get recognized either, so I am not able to do a full format. My Ps4 is up to date and since January my hard drive has been working fine, yet the one time I unplug it it malfunctions. I have a ton of games on the hard drive and do not want to re-purchase as it is expensive enough to have 1. Help.
Hi Emma,
Probably it is the USB bridge in your external hard drive that failed. You can do one thing to identify the real problem. Dismantle your external hard drive and remove its enclosure. Take the bare hard drive and connect it to a PC internally. Most probably it will work. If it does, then go but another external hard drive enclosure (costs around $8) and you’ll be fine then.
Hope that resolves your problem
Okay so the external hard drive was instantly working on our other PS4. I don’t have any other USB flash drive to use on the one that spazzed out. According to my research we aren’t the only ones to be having this issue with the PlayStation 5.55 update. So I’m unsure as to what to do?
I’m not sure if it’s PS4 Software Update 5.55 that caused the problem or it is a hardware issue with your PS4 USB card, although most probably it is the latter.
Try to do a clean installation of PS4 System software from scratch (download the full installation package). If that doesn’t work, then you most probably have a serious hardware issue with your PS4 USB card.
But I strongly suggest before you do that to connect any USB storage to your PS4 (you can connect your phone to PS4 as some brands can be recognized as storage devices). Tell me then what you get.
Hello, my husband has a ps4 (one of the older ones it’s at least 3 years old) and we recently had an issue with the new PS4 system update 5.55. After finally getting the system to reboot we had to do a complete factory reset. We had our external hard drive plugged in when the system freaked out. Anyway, like I said we got the system back up and reset. Now it is no longer reading our Seagate Game Drive for PS4 2TB. I am unsure of what to to do. when I hook the HD up to my laptop it says the drive if functioning properly. Please help.
I’d like to add that the seagate drive was bought 4 months ago.
That doesn’t matter unless you’re asking about warranty. The warranty won’t help you if it works properly on another PS4.
This problem seems common among users. They all do the same mistake, keeping the external hard drive connected to PS4 for too long which may cause electrical shorts to either the USB card of PS4 or to the external hard drive itself.
It’s likely that your PS4 USB card has malfunctioned due to an electrical short.
Please do the following things to precisely allocate the error source:
1. If possible, connect your external hard drive to another PS4 and see what it says. This is highly recommended.
2. Connect another external storage device to your PS4 (USB flash memory can work also). See if your PS4 will recognize it or not.
Do these two things and tell me the result.
Hi again, sorry for the confusion about your reply yesterday. I assumed the reply would show up in the forum. Your help is very appreciated:-) I ran an error check on the HD thru the PC and it came up with no errors detected. I won’t be able to hook it up to a friends system for a least a week. I will be out of town. If you have any other suggestions in the meantime I will be keeping an eye out for them and will let you know when I can try it out on my friends system. Thanks!
You’re welcome and don’t worry, I like to help.
You know what I’m afraid the most about your case? that the USB card has failed/burnt due to the so long use of it. You said you kept your external hard drive connected to your USB for so long then this happened. If my guess is right, then you have to take your console to a technician to replace your USB card.
Do one last attempt. Connect ANOTHER external hard drive to your PS4 and tell me what happens. Does it work fine or not?
Hi, When I woke up this morning I had trouble with my external HD. I left everything plugged in all night, nothing was disconnected but there was a message saying that the hd had been disconnected incorrectly. Since then I have not been able to get it to work. The light is on that shows its receiving power from the PS4 USB port but it says it’s not connected. I have switched ports and connected it to a PC that says the device is working properly and restarted the PS4 3 times. I have been using this since January. It’s a Seagate Game Drive for PS4 with 4TB. Any suggestions would be appreciated….
Hi there,
If your PC could recognize it properly, then most probably it’s a system error from your game console. Try to reset your system to default settings and tell me what you get.
Hey, thanks for the speedy reply…just got a chance to reset to default settings and I am still getting the same message that says the USB storage device is not connected.
Ok then. Probably a bad sector or a system file error from your external hard drive. Connect your external hard drive to your PC, and perform an error check and let your PC fix all errors on your device.
Do that and tell me what you get.
Hi I guess my reply from earlier didn’t go thru. …I reset to default settings and there was no change. It still says that there bnb is not a storage device detected….any more thoughts???
I already replied to you my friend. I said to perform an error check on the drive. Read my previous reply.
But see, let’s better diagnose the problem.
Do you have any friend who has a PS4 also? If yes, let him try your external hard drive on his console and let’s see if it works or not.
I am trying to figure out where the problem exactly is.
My usb hd has worked for a while but then it stoped working all of the sudden and it says it’s on but won’t let me connect them together
Most probably a defective device. Connect it to a computer and check it yourself whether it’s a hardware error or just system file error.
I got a new 3.0 USB cable like instructed and I still get the error of “Device is Unsupported” for my Seagate hard drive! PS4 will not allow format. What can I do to fix this?
Do you have a USB-Hub based external hard drive? If this is the case, it will never be recognized by PS4. You may want to look at the PS4 Compatible External HDD list.
Gone through the whole process of new drive installation and at the point of plugging my old drive into the ps4 in hopes of using backup and restore data saved back to the old drive from PC to recover all my applications. PS4 insists I format the drive to make it suitable for extended storage when I try to locate restore data on it. Thing is the drive was formatted in exFAT on the computer so I could move the restore data back onto the old drive. If I do the PS4 format and then bring it back to the PC it’s my guess that the PC will want to format it in order for me to be able to recognize the drive and move the restore data onto it.
I know there is something obviously wrong about what I’m doing here but I don’t see it.
FIXED
User error here. When I put the backup data back onto the old drive from the computer I failed to start the folder structure with a “PS4” folder. How did I figure it out. I went to do a restore on the drive from the PS4 in it’s new state. When it didn’t prompt for a format I knew something was up. I went to restore that backup and saw the new backup but not the old. I then plugged the drive into the computer gain to compare old save -vs new save. Saw the newly saved backup had an extra folder level at the very top. The “PS4” folder. So I removed the newly saved PS4 folder and newly saved backup then created a new PS4 folder and simply dragged the old backup data into the that thus allowing PS4 to find what it would be looking for during a restore process. I understand that to use the external drive after the restore has been used from it to update the new 2TB internal that It will require a PS4 format. All is well. Hope everything works smooth for everyone out there doing their upgrade and they remember to take you time and hopefully the answer will show itself. Thanks