How To Send Downloads From PS3 to PC And Back Using a Proxy Server

Oct 11, 2012 at 12:59am EDT

The biggest trouble with the PS3 is that no matter what connection type you are on you will never get your full speed and always be capped / limited from your true download speed, that and random instances of electricity tripping or any event that causes your PS3 to shut down unexpectedly can almost lead to a 50% chance of ending up with a corrupt file.

This guide will help remove the hassle stated above so that you can make your PC / Laptop do all your heavy downloading AND bring it back to your PS3 for installation too. Not to mention that you can keep the downloaded files in an archive in case you don’t own a large enough HDD for back up or other reasons.

So let’s get started:

What you will need?

Now for starters I am going to assume that the people reading this are on Windows 7 and this guide will work for all versions of windows From Starter / Basic to even ultimate and even the 32 / 64 Bit installations but the install path on either installations could minutely vary but it’s nothing too serious.

For your PC

Now on to the PS3

Important

 

Now that you have setup a fixed IP for your PC / PS3 you only need to repeat the following steps anytime you need to do a bulky download.

  1. Start proxy server client on PC
  2. Put PC IP address in the address box of the proxy server client and “start” it
  3. Go to PS3 and again put the IP of PC in the proxy server from Network Settings
  4. Sign into PSN; put your download in background and in the “logs” of the PC client look for the link with a .PKG extension in the link.
  5. Use IDM or any download manager or use “Copy Shortcut” to manually put the link in your download manager using CTRL + V but don’t throw this away yet! Keep the link in a notepad file on your desktop
  6. When the download is done go to “Replace Files” in your PC client and in the left box put the download link and in the right dialogue box click on the little dot in the grey square and direct the box to your .PKG download (I Personally go to the download directory and simply cut / paste it to my desktop for the sake of convenience)
  7. Once you have done step 6 go back to your PS3, go in the Network tab next to where you sign into PSN and in it look for “Download Management” and in it look for the file you were downloading, put it on pause once and resume it.
  8. During the above process make sure your proxy server and the PS3 are UNINTERRUPTED! Make sure your PC / PS3 doesn’t lose power or you will have to repeat step 6 all over again.

The above process can also be done with HUGE patches like Resident Evil 5, Heavy Rain, Gran Turismo 5 by simply logging into PSN with the proxy server client running, run the game and when the update prompts you to download you will again see in the logs, simply put it on download and choose to ignore the update once you put it on download. When the update is done simply do the Replace files step again after restarting the game and being prompted to restart the game, here is an example:

  1. Put Heavy Rain in PS3, while signed into PSN and proxy server running on PS3 and PC.
  2. Be prompted for the 1GB update but on the PC client go logs and look for the link containing a .PKG extension and put it on download.
  3. Continue or return to the XMB but don’t download the patch.
  4. Once the patch is downloaded do the “replace files” part of the above guide.
  5. Once the patch is done simply exit or return to the XMB from your game and be revisited by the prompt, this time do yes and the update will go as fast as your downloads!

Some general F.A.Q’s:

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Q1. Do I have to keep the proxy server running every time I boot my PS3?

A. No. You just need to do it every time you want to download the files.

 

Q2. I can’t sign into PSN even though I am running the PS3 Proxy Server PC client, I keep getting errors.

A. Turn off the Proxy Server and undo the proxy server from your PS3. Sign in once without the Proxy Server on both ends, put your download in back ground and repeat the above steps to reconfigure your proxy server again and proceed with the download.

 

Q3. I get an error with the proxy server windows client! It happens when I press the “Start” button.

A. This means you either entered the wrong IP address in the IP Address proxy settings, either that or you didn’t assign your static IP properly, repeat the PC setup again and see if you missed something

 

Q4. Does this promote piracy? I mean can I just take someone’s PKG and instantly own a game?

A. No it doesn’t promote piracy, this is similar to steam, and while you can acquire the physical files from a friend for a game you won’t be able to play it unless you own said game on your profile. So if you plan on say taking your friends Resident Evil 4 HD PKG file its useless to you unless you own the same region version as he does.

 

Q5. What are the benefits?

A.Well for one thing you get lightning fast speeds! What used to take me an hour now takes me a few minutes to download and not to mention that I can monitor my downloads while working and can now do multiple downloads without having to go back and forth to my PS3. Not to mention that the added stress / heat buildup of leaving your PS3 on for hefty 10GB + Downloads is saved! And let’s not forget that a single power surge / blackout while a game is downloading gives the said file a chance of being corrupted hence halting the install of it at any point! Making your download time and bandwidth go to waste! But you can not only do this with hefty play station store downloads but also download massive patches like the infamous 1 GB heavy rain patch.

 

Q6. Are there any drawbacks?

A.None that I can think of. Your PS3 can now relax more easily, you can monitor your downloads carefully, chances of corrupt installs / files go down 100% given that you don’t lose power to your windows machine while the download is still going! I honestly can’t think of any drawbacks.

About the author: I am an avid console / PC gamer, I own a PC and a PS3 along with a DS Lite. I follow all major game releases and am very familiar with major titles. I am part of the games review team on the site, so watch for my reviews of all major titles as they release.

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