Configuring/Formatting the Pro Duo Adapter
As discussed previously, the basic steps for setting up the Pro Duo card is to simply insert the MicroSD cards, place the adapter in the PSP and then choose "Format Memory Stick" from "System Settings." If all goes well the PSP will say "Format completed" and you will be able to enter "USB Connection" mode and begin to transfer data from your PC.
In practice however the PSP is likely to give you several different kinds of "Format failed" errors.
These "Format failed" errors do not mean you can't use the card!
The ONLY thing of importance is that after the format the PSP can see your inserted memory card with all the available space that was formatted!!!
For instance, 2 x 64 GB cards should result in ~118 GB stick size. A 200 GB card should show ~183 GB of free space.
This can be checked by navigating to "Memory Stick" under "Game", "Video", or "Music" in the XMB. If it shows "Free Space" of the right amount, you are good to proceed to the next step.
If it doesn't show the correct space then you won't be able to continue on with the next stage of configuration.
You can try several
troubleshooting steps to try to get the system to show the available space.
If however you can't get the PSP to recognize the card with all space you will likely need to get a hold of another adapter, MicroSD card, or possibly CFW.
You may also get the error:
"There is no Memory Stick inserted"
This error may show either directly after format or upon inserting the card. In either case, same as the above - if you can't get past this error message you are out of luck with your current hardware configuration. Refer to the
troubleshooting steps to see if you can resolve.
NOTE: If you plan on using only a single MicroSD card in a Dual adapter, place it the slot labeled "1" (top slot).
If you get a "Format completed." you are likely good to go - though you should read through the next sections to ensure that your card really is setup properly.
More than likely you
will get a "Format failed" error, but as long as you have the usuable space showing on the Memory Stick in the XMB you should be able to get a usable card by re-formatting the drive from your PC.
To do this, you need to hook your PSP up via USB and go into "USB Connection" to mount your PSP to your PC.
During this process the PSP exposes the internal memory stick to your PC as a drive. At this point you should see a new drive letter appear in Windows.
The drive may:
- - Show as a good drive and contain all necessary PSP files and folders*
- Show as a good drive, but not contain any files/folders
- Show as a good drive, but have corrupted/gibberish data on it
- Show as a bad drive needing fix/scanning
(* This would be at the very least the MSTK_PRO.IND and MEMSTICK.IND
hidden files.)
If you had a "Format completed" message on your PSP
and #1 above is true you can likely stop here and just start using the card.
However if you got any sort of "Format failed" message you should continue on.
Re-formatting After a Failed Format
This process simply entails re-formatting your card through the PC. After putting your PSP in "USB Connection" mode and seeing the drive letter appear in windows we need to reformat.
The tricky part here is that the PSP reads only FAT/FAT32 and Windows (by default) will not format a FAT32 partition above 32 GB.
There are however several tools/application which can get this job done.
rsn8887 (who helped me get over some of my misgivings about this process) recommends the lightweight
guiformat tool in his helpful
thread. This tool is extremely easy to use - just select the drive, cluster (allocation) size, and quick format.
While I have also had success with guiformat in some cases it would give me an error about the drive being locked. I have found more consistent success with the free
EaseUS Partition Manager. I won't go into detail how to use this tool as most people reading this will have the necessary skills to decipher its basic use.
NOTE: Use 32 or 64 KB cluster size. See
Best Practices for more info.
At this point the PSP drive letter should show as a good drive on the Windows system and you should be able to browse and copy files to/from it.
The final step is to create the default/file folder structure on this card that the PSP expects.
Note: Personally I was very concerned when I was unable to successfully format my card using the PSP. My thought process was that if the PSP is not able to successfully format the cards then it likely wouldn't be able to read/write data to them without issues either. This issue kept me from getting a successful build of a high capactity card for months as I searched and searched for adapters and MicroSD cards that would successfully format.
After many tests I decided that it was unlikely I was going to ever get a clean format on anything over 128 GB. After reading rsn8887's thread above and seeing that he encountered the same issues I did I gave in to the fact that I probably have to rely on Windows to properly format the cards.
I am happy to report though that although the PSP has issues with the formatting, it appears that once it is formatted properly via PC the PSP has no troubles accessing the cards.
Creating the Default Memory Stick File/Folder Structure
After a standard format on a PSP using the 6.61 OFW, the standard folders are created:
D:.
├───PSP
│ ├───GAME
│ ├───SAVEDATA
│ ├───COMMON
│ ├───SYSTEM
│ ├───THEME
│ └───RSSCH
│ └───IMPORT
├───MP_ROOT
│ ├───100MNV01
│ └───101ANV01
├───MUSIC
├───PICTURE
└───VIDEO
Additionally, there are two
hidden files in the root:
- - MSTK_PRO.IND
- MEMSTICK.IND
(to view these files make sure you enable hidden files in your Windows Explorer view!)
You can manually recreate this structure by copying it from another working card that formats successfully in your PSP.
After you manually create this folder structure on your PSP drive which has been successfully re-formated via the PC tools you should be good to go in using this card in your PSP.
You should dissconnect from the USB connection and restart your PSP several times to ensure that the card continues to be detected.
Alternately you can simply remove and replace the card. Some people believe that swapping cards while the PSP is on may lead to corruption of the filesystem on the card. While I have not personally experienced this, I tend to not remove my memory card while it is being accessed because I don't want to have to reformat and copy all my files again. However, do be sure to disconnect the USB mode from your PC before removing the card because that
can lead to file system errors.
If the card is properly detected by the PSP and by the PC in USB mode, then try to copy one or two games/apps/music/etc and ensure they copy and play successfully. At this point you should be complete and ready to enjoy your high capacity Memory Stick!