The PS5 is the latest generation console at the moment, offered by Sony that promises to deliver an immersive next-generation experience. However, as with all consoles, there are a few issues that may result in a bad experience for certain owners. In this guide, we will help you with the not working or not recognized error for your external hard drive.
How to Fix Error
There are two possible methods that you can try to fix the external hard drive issues that you are experiencing. These have all been explained in depth in the guide below.
Safe Mode
The first step is to ensure your console is completely turned off. To do this, you can turn it off using the power menu or manually use the power button. To turn your Playstation off manually, press and hold the power button until you hear two beeps. If you do this before the beeps, the console might go into Rest Mode, which is indicated using the orange light.
Once the console has been powered down, press the power button to restart it. You will hear a beep on the first press but do not let go of the button. Keep pushing it down, and within 5 seconds, you should hear a second beep which indicates that your PS5 has successfully booted into Safe Mode.
Safe Mode Image
To navigate in this menu, you will have to plug in your controller via a USB Cable as it will not work wirelessly. Once the controller the connected, press the PlayStation button on it when you see the orange light on the edges of the Touch Bar. This will change to a Teal color, indicating that the controller has successfully been connected. You can navigate in the menu using the D-Pad buttons.
Head down to option 5, which is Clear Cache and Rebuild Database. After confirming this option go down to the Rebuild Database, the second option. A prompt will appear saying that this rebuilding might take a few hours, but in our experience, it should be completed within a few minutes.
If rebuilding the database has no effect, go back into the same menu and choose the first option, Clear the System Software Cache. It is recommended to connect the controller directly to the ports of the console and not use any hubs since they might not work properly in Safe Mode.
Formatting
The last method that you can try is to format your hard drive. Connect it to a computer and locate the drive using File Explorer. Right-click on the drive and select the Format option. In the File System tab, choose the exFAT option and start the formatting. However, you should keep in mind that this will completely wipe the drive meaning that any saves or games on it will be deleted. Hence, it is recommended to back up your saves to some other drive so they can be restored.
We hope that these methods helped to resolve your issue. If you are still have problems or have any questions, let us know in the comments below.
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