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USB and storage

USB ports​

Every PS5 has fast ports (SuperSpeed, 10 Gbit/s) and one slow port (USB 2.0, 480 Mbit/s). Booting from the slow port works, but booting and loading become much slower.

Original PS5:

PortTypeSpeedBoot from it?
FrontUSB-CUSB 3.x✅ Recommended
FrontUSB-AUSB 2.0⚠️ Possible, but slow
Rear (2×)USB-AUSB 3.x✅ Yes

PS5 Slim: boot from the two rear USB-A ports. One of the two front USB-C ports is the slow one.

All ports work for peripherals once Linux has booted. Use the slow port for a controller or keyboard.

USB hubs and docks​

Confirmed to work with every port functional:

  • StarTech 10G2A1C25EPD-USB-HUB: USB-C, 2× USB-A. Linux uses the full 2.5 GbE port.
  • Dell WD19TBS dock (latest firmware): USB-C and all USB-A ports. Linux uses the full 1 GbE port. Also works through a USB 3.1 USB-A-to-USB-C OTG adapter, not only over a direct USB-C connection.
  • Orico PW11-6PR (6-in-1 dock): Gigabit Ethernet and 3× USB-A confirmed. HDMI untested.

USB network adapters​

Any adapter with a Linux driver should work, since this is a normal Linux system. These are confirmed by users:

  • FENVI 1800 Mbps Wi-Fi 6 USB adapter (MT7921 chip): works out of the box, no configuration needed.
  • TP-Link Archer TX10UB Nano (AX900, Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.3): Wi-Fi works smoothly.

For wired adapters, look for the RTL8156B chipset, see Ethernet.

An eGPU is not possible

Using an M.2-to-PCIe riser for an external GPU has been asked about and is confirmed not supported.

USB drive (required)​

Use a drive of 64 GB or more. If you only have a small drive, see No 64 GB USB drive?.

If an M.2 enclosure isn't detected, try a different USB 3.x cable and a different port before assuming the drive is faulty.

USB SSD disconnects, freezes or shows I/O errors

Many USB-C SSDs and enclosures have buggy UAS support. Turn UAS off for that drive only: find its ID (xxxx:yyyy) with lsusb, then add this to cmdline.txt:

cmdline.txt
usb-storage.quirks=xxxx:yyyy:u
Some enclosures don't boot with the loader

If Linux won't boot from an SSD in a USB enclosure, try a different enclosure.

Reported: rear ports stop detecting M.2 enclosures on newer kernels

Several users report that an M.2 enclosure that worked on the rear USB-A ports with an older kernel is only detected on the front USB-C port after updating. It is not yet clear whether this is a kernel regression or down to hardware or cable differences. If a rear port shows nothing, try the front USB-C port before troubleshooting further.

Enclosure won't wake up after going to sleep

Some external SSD enclosures enter their own sleep mode after the payload launches and then don't power back on. This can look like a bad image, a bad HDMI connection or a dead TV, when the real cause is the enclosure. Turn off automatic screen blanking so the enclosure stays active. On Ubuntu: Settings → Power → Automatic Screen Blank → Off.

The drive shows much less free space than its capacity

The root partition is sparse: it starts small and is meant to grow to fill the drive. If df shows only a few GB free on a much larger drive, grow the filesystem:

sudo resizefs2 /dev/sda1

Change the device and partition to match your drive.

M.2 drives​

  • NVMe only. SATA M.2 drives do not work, whatever adapter or enclosure you use.
  • Gen3 NVMe drives are officially unsupported by Sony, but they can be unlocked, see Gen3 NVMe unlock below. Drives under 250 GB also work once unlocked.
  • Community test results: M.2 compatibility list and the original spreadsheet.

To install Linux on an M.2 drive, see Install to M.2.

Gen3 NVMe unlock​

Sony blocks Gen3 NVMe drives, saying they are too slow (it requires at least 5,500 MB/s). In practice the difference is about 1–2 seconds on loading screens, which is not a real problem, especially for Linux.

The PS5 checks a small header at the start of the drive. Copying the first 2 MB from any PS5-formatted Gen4 drive onto your Gen3 drive bypasses the check completely.

You need:

  • A Gen4 NVMe drive that has been formatted by a PS5 (or a ready-made dump)
  • Your Gen3 NVMe drive
  • A USB NVMe enclosure, or a PC with an M.2 slot

Steps:

# 1. Put the Gen4 drive in the enclosure and connect it to your PC.
#    Dump the first 2 MB:
sudo dd if=/dev/sdX of=ps5_gen4_header.bin bs=1M count=2

# 2. Swap in your Gen3 drive and write the header to it:
sudo dd if=ps5_gen4_header.bin of=/dev/sdX bs=1M count=2

Install the Gen3 drive in the PS5. It is detected and formatted as normal.

No Gen4 drive? Use Bringus' dump

Bringus Studios documented this method and shares a ready-made 2 MB dump in the description of this video: youtube.com/watch?v=Uds315QBUnE.

Ready-made dumps may not work on higher firmware. If it fails, borrow a Gen4 drive and make your own dump.

Don't reformat the Gen3 drive on the PS5

Formatting it again under Settings → Storage wipes the unlocked header. If that happens, simply write the 2 MB header again from a PC.

Firmware compatibility: confirmed on 4.00, 4.03 and 4.51. Failures reported on 5.xx and higher are probably user error, most likely the wrong dump. If it doesn't work, make your own dump from a PS5-formatted Gen4 drive instead of using a shared one. See the M.2 compatibility list for all results.