Help:Dumping PlayStation 3 games

This guide explains how to obtain your PlayStation 3 (PS3) games and then use your backups with RPCS3. This process is often referred to as dumping and includes different processes depending on the format your game is present. PS3 games are available in two formats: physical Blu-ray discs and digital PSN packages. For Blu-ray discs, dumping refers to decrypting the Blu-ray image and extracting all the files within whereas for PSN packages, it involves downloading the original game (.pkg) file and creating the necessary license (.rap) file.

Overview

Before we begin, please read the Quickstart guide to familiarise yourself with how PS3 games are to be handled. Most of the tools and information covered here are already present there. This guide aims to elaborate on what is present in the Quickstart guide and help users avoid common mistakes. If you have questions after reading this guide, do not hesitate to join our Discord server and interact with the community members.

There are two methods of dumping game files for each format:

• To dump disc games, you can either use a Custom Firmware (CFW) PS3 or a compatible Blu-ray drive with PC.
• To dump PSN games, you need a CFW PS3 or Original Firmware (OFW) PS3 to extract the license files.

In both cases, using a CFW PS3 is the superior method. Users who wish to use a CFW PS3 should go through r/ps3homebrew's wiki for many CFW related tutorials that are generally updated with accurate information.

Software Distribution laws in your country

When dumping video game software, users are subject to country-specific software distribution laws. RPCS3 is not designed to enable illegal activity. We do not promote piracy nor do we allow it under any circumstances. Please take the time to review copyright and video game software dumping laws and/or policies for your country before proceeding.

By following these instructions, you will do so at your own discretion. Should you follow these instructions against your local law, we shall not be held responsible for your actions.

Dumping Blu-ray disc games

As mentioned above, you can dump your disc games using either a CFW PS3 or with a compatible blu-ray drive with a PC. Let's look at each option:

Using CFW PS3 to dump disc games

This method is the most reliable method of dumping disc games as it is guaranteed to work with every PS3 game disc in existence, something which the second method cannot guarantee. However, during the dumping process, you will be limited to the PS3's Blu-ray drive transfer speeds so the process may take longer than using a PC. If you have doubts on installing or using any of the tools mentioned below, please read r/ps3homebrew's wiki.

1. Install multiMAN file manager.
2. Insert your disc into the PS3.
3. Launch MultiMAN
4. Highlight the game disc and press Triangle then select Copy to hdd.
   this will dump your game files in a JB folder format.
5. Choose the location you wish to save your dump. This can either be your PS3's internal HDD or an external HDD.
6. (Optional) You can set up an FTP connection between your PlayStation 3 and PC.
   Overall, the FTP method will be the fastest option. If using FTP, make sure to set Transfer Type to Binary, otherwise your dumps may get corrupted.

Note: The PlayStation is in the FAT32 format. Which means the PS3 has a maximum file size of 4GB. When dumping content that contains files larger than 4GB, multiMAN will automatically split those files. Whenever you finish transferring your dump to your PC, remember to merge the split files back together with tools such as ps3merge, otherwise the content will not work.

Using a compatible Blu-ray drive with PC to dump disc games

This is the second method to dump disc games and will prove useful for those who do not have a CFW PS3 available. However, please note that this method has the following requirements to work:

1. A compatible Blu-ray drive is mandatory. This means that not every Blu-ray drive can be used but only those that are specifically found capable of reading PS3 discs. A list of compatible drives are available on our Quickstart guide. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list but rather a list of discovered drives that are known to work. Drives not present in this list might work if they have a Mediatek chipset and a +6 read offset.
2. This method requires an external key for the decryption of the disc. This is only possible if your game has:
   • an .ird file available in the IRD library that matches your game's title ID.
   • a decryption key obtained from Redump. These keys are currently not public but can still be used with our One-click disc dumper method as mentioned below.

If you know and have confirmed that you do have a compatible Blu-ray drive, then you have 2 recommended tools available to dump your disc:

1. The first and recommended method is to use 13xforever's One-click PS3 Disc Dumper. As the name suggests, it's the easiest tool to use and is currently the only tool that can take advantage of the decryption keys from Redump. Click here for instructions on its use.
2. The second tool is a command-line tool for Linux users called LibRay. It cannot take advantage of Redump's decryption keys, but for any disc that has an .ird file available, it should work without any issues. Click here for instructions on its use.

Dumping PSN content

Dumping digital PSN content requires two files to play your content. The first is the actual content file that comes in a .pkg format and the second is the license file that is used to activate the game which needs to be in a .rap format. As mentioned in the overview, you need a CFW PS3 or OFW PS3 to extract the license file of your game. It's also important to note that some games do not have or need a license file (mostly free games and DLCs).

As of March 29, 2021 you can no longer access entitlement information from PC. The only viable way left to dump all your content is using your PS3.

Obtaining content and license files

This process involves using file managers to copy files from your PS3. This can be done with CFW PS3s or PS3s with HEN enabled. The steps involved to install CFW or HEN to your PS3 are well outside the scope of this guide and will not be covered here. Users are requested to refer to r/ps3homebrew's wiki or Google for more information.

To obtain the game content files:

1. Download and install games and DLCs you're interested in
   • If you queue content download into background, the associated .pkg file will be saved inside /dev_hdd0/vsh/task/XXXXXXXX folders until you manually install it through XMB action
   • These files are often incomplete, so please verify every .pkg file you got from there
2. Copy associated game folders from /dev_hdd0/game/

To obtain the license files for your games:

1. Go to the Playstation network store on your PS3
2. Download your games. You can pause and cancel the downloads immediately after they begin to prevent all the game files from being downloaded to your PS3 unnecessarily. The license files are downloaded first and will remain even if the download is cancelled.
3. Next, we need to retrieve 3 types of files:
   • First is the .rif files which are the encrypted license files. Every game and DLC separately should have its own unique rif file. These files are located in /dev_hdd0/home/000000XX/exdata/ where XX is the user ID number.

Using the file manager of your choice, copy all the pertaining .rif files for your game and dlc to an external USB drive, external HDD or use FTP to transfer these files to your PC.

1. • Next, copy and transfer the act.dat file which is present in the same location as the rif files. Each ps3 user account will have a unique act.dat file and you are required to copy the act.dat of the applicable user account used to connect to the PSN store.
   • Finally, we need to find the IDPS. This is not a file but a 32-character hex string. There are multiple ways to view a console's IDPS and file managers such as multiMAN and webMAN will also display this under System Information. Once you find this number, take a note of it so that you can use it later.
2. On your PC, download RifConv and HxD Hex Editor (or any other hex editor).
3. Create a new file and name it idps.hex. Open idps.hex with the hex editor and type in the IDPS number you noted down from your PS3. Hit save and close the file.
4. Launch RifConv and ensure you're on the Rif2Rap tab. Add the idps.hex, act.dat and folder containing all of your .rif files in their respective fields. (Yes, you can add as many .rifs for all of your games and dlc as you wish and convert them in one process. Granted that they all come from the same PS3 user account.)
5. Hit Create and a new folder called created_raps should appear. This folder will contain all the decrypted license files in the .rap format that is capable of being used in RPCS3.

What's next?

If you've done everything correctly, you will have a successful dump of your game or content. Congrats!

To check if your Blu-ray disc or PSN package was dumped correctly, click here.

For instructions on how to use the dump in RPCS3, refer to the installation instructions in the Quickstart guide.