YTPerfectParadox Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Hey guys as we all know the PS4 can support external hard drives now and i have had a bit of trouble with mine so i just wanted to offer a possible solution to anyone who has the same problem. I searched and couldn't find any other topics on this but i don't generally start topics or search so i apologise if its repeated information Basically i set up my 2TB external hard drive the day the patch released and after moving all my games to it and putting 123 other games from my library on download to it, after 2 days of using it problem free i turned my PS4 on to be given the message "the device cannot be used, try unplugging and plugging back in" (i dont have it in front of me so language may differ). As you can imagine i was quite pissed since absolutely everything was now stored on there. In the device settings it sheds details giving the error code that it needs to be USB 3.0, despite the fact that it is. I experimented with finding a solution and just wanted to share it incase anyone else has the same problem. Obviously unplugging and plugging back in or resetting did not fix the problem, and the problem persisted for days. what fixed the problem for me was to 1. turn the ps4 off 2. unplug the hard drive 3. turn the ps4 on 4. once booted, plug the hard drive in You will see a hard drive loading icon in the top right corner recognising that it is now being read. If you had anything downloading to the hard drive before this error DO NOT click on downloads until the icon disappears or the data will be lost and the download will restart. I still contacted Sony to get their thoughts and they recommended i rebuild the database (you can google how to do that). There's probably not many with this specific problem as its likely a hardware compatibility issue of some sort but since there's little to no support for this feature since its so new i thought id share some methods since they may help in other cases too. Hope this helps someone in need 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateak Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 3 hours ago, Terarded said: Hey guys as we all know the PS4 can support external hard drives now and i have had a bit of trouble with mine so i just wanted to offer a possible solution to anyone who has the same problem. I searched and couldn't find any other topics on this but i don't generally start topics or search so i apologise if its repeated information Basically i set up my 2TB external hard drive the day the patch released and after moving all my games to it and putting 123 other games from my library on download to it, after 2 days of using it problem free i turned my PS4 on to be given the message "the device cannot be used, try unplugging and plugging back in" (i dont have it in front of me so language may differ). As you can imagine i was quite pissed since absolutely everything was now stored on there. In the device settings it sheds details giving the error code that it needs to be USB 3.0, despite the fact that it is. I experimented with finding a solution and just wanted to share it incase anyone else has the same problem. Obviously unplugging and plugging back in or resetting did not fix the problem, and the problem persisted for days. what fixed the problem for me was to 1. turn the ps4 off 2. unplug the hard drive 3. turn the ps4 on 4. once booted, plug the hard drive in You will see a hard drive loading icon in the top right corner recognising that it is now being read. If you had anything downloading to the hard drive before this error DO NOT click on downloads until the icon disappears or the data will be lost and the download will restart. I still contacted Sony to get their thoughts and they recommended i rebuild the database (you can google how to do that). There's probably not many with this specific problem as its likely a hardware compatibility issue of some sort but since there's little to no support for this feature since its so new i thought id share some methods since they may help in other cases too. Hope this helps someone in need What was the brand of the external? Just for reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YTPerfectParadox Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 On 23/03/2017 at 5:04 PM, skateak said: What was the brand of the external? Just for reference. i used a drive i already had so dont have the box but 'WD My Passport' is printed on the drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakerboy_2 Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 (edited) This method doesn’t work for me, i got the message ‘This device cannot be used. Try disconnecting it and then connecting it again.’ And I tried restarting my PS4 and tried your method aswell but the message keeps on popping up again, any ideas? EDIT: I also tried reconnecting it like they suggestew but that didn’t work either Edited February 22, 2018 by freakerboy_2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_like_therest Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I have this issue as well for either my usb stick or the external, however both are still able to read, play and transfer so it is just a minor annoyance. I made the mistake of putting music on my usb and for the external it was when I hooked up a psvr 1st. I have one of those cooling stands so, the external has to take one slot while my usb stick and charging cords take the stand ports. Then my cooling stand or psvr takes the 2nd usb on PS4 On 3/24/2017 at 10:05 AM, Terarded said: i used a drive i already had so dont have the box but 'WD My Passport' is printed on the drive WD is Western Digital, pretty good company. I think it shows up if you hook it up to pc. You didn't by chance do that and upload something to your drive did you? That can also cause the error and not be read as once its partitioned for PS4 it can't be used as storage for movies or music from pc. You might need to reformat if you did. Reason number 4 drawbacks: http://www.ps4storage.com/ps4-extended-storage-format/ Other reasons: http://www.ps4storage.com/ps4-external-hdd-not-recognized/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnLucky9C Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 I Just Reformatted My 2TB Seagate Hard Drive And It Works Now But If It Happens Again I Just Rebuild The Data Base Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnLucky9C Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Thanks This Worked My Bruh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnLucky9C Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I Did It But Is It Gonna Tell Me That I Cannot Use The Hard Drive Again Tomorrow!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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