Ok, in front of an actual keyboard now.
If people are finding this thread helpful, I'll put up a summary.
In retrospect, I should have taken some pics. I've found some here that will have to do instead
Changing the hdd is super easy, here's how it goes on the model I have:
Step 1: Unplug the PS3 from power, TV, network, etc and put it upside down on a nice working surface .....
Then
You open a little flap to expose a screw. Undo the screw.
That lets you remove the little plastic plate covering the hard drive (it's the bit with all the Blu-ray, CD, DVD, Dolby, etc logos).
You pull the bracket out using the handy little handle on it
Undo the 4 screws to take out the old hard drive, insert the fresh one and put the screws back
Then do everything else in reverse: Put the drive bracket back in the hole it came from, put the face-plate back, put the screw back in and close the little flap.
Before changing the hdd, you can back your existing data up to an external hard drive. The drive must be FAT32, and have sufficient space. The backing up and restoring is the most tedious part of the process. My initial backup that failed was 150GB and it took 9.5 hours or so. Now it was about 35GB and it took about 1.5 hours for backup or restore.
To back up, go to Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility > Back up
I would advise making more than one backup in case the first one gets corrupted. If you have a PlayStation Network account, you can also sync your trophies before changing the hdd just in case, and if you have PS+, and you've been backing up your save games to the cloud, then there is even less risk of loss.
To restore your data once the PS3 is back up and running, it's the same thing, just instead of choosing back up, choose restore. But to get it back up and running with the new hdd might require one more step, detailed in the next post.
Ok, so once I had backup up my old drive, and then swapped it out for a new drive, I switched on the PS3, and got this screen
What this means is that I had to download the latest system software to install onto the new drive. Details here
You can get the update from the system software update page
You can put it on a CD, HDD, Flash stick, etc. I put it on a Flash stick. Basically, make a folder on the root called "PS3", and another one in there called "UPDATE" (note: all caps), and save the file (called "PS3UPDAT.PUP") in there. It was about 200MB.
Start up the PS3 with a controller connected with a USB cable, and when you see the message above, insert the flash stick, and press Start and Select at the same time to start the installation. Just follow the prompts, accept EULA's etc to format the drive and install the PS3 system software.
Once the installation is complete, you'll need to go through the first time setup (username, date/time, time zone, etc), this isn't important because you're going to restore your backup anyway, you just need to get the system running normally.
Once you get the normal XBM, you can restore your backup: Connect the external drive that you made the backup on, then go to Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility > Restore. Select the backup and follow prompts, and wait for it to finish.
My main worry in choosing a hard drive was that there is no list of supported hard drives, only that it should be SATA, 5400RPM, and a 2" (laptop) drive, 9.5mm high. I got a new thin drive from Seagate that is only 7mm high, and I was worried about if it would work....
It works perfectly. The screw holes and connectors are all in the same places, it's just a couple mm shorter, but that comes off the top, so everything still lines up nicely. You just shouldn't get the 12mm thick ones, because they won't fit in the drive cage.
So far the new drive seems to have fixed my problem, and I've doubled my storage space as well, which is awesome. I had a nice long session of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance last night, which was giving me plenty problems before, and it didn't freeze or stutter even once.
Awesome,thanx matt.
I have MGRising,playing that on Xbox.Got free DLC on Xbox Live where you can play as Jetstream and Blade wolf.
Another cool place to buy games/codes >>https://www.g2a.com/r/kofdelight
My Ps3 blu ray laser is dead and it costs 1500 to repair dont know if it is worth it considering ps4 out.
if you only use your ps3's Blu ray drive for games think about going digital and getting ps+
you will be able to sell your games that you currently have on disc and perhaps only have to buy one or 2 of them digitally if you want to play them again. But ps+ will keep you busy enough with new games.
Yes you have a very good point will look into it the only problem my favorite game is gt6 and digital version is not that hot according to the web lol.