TuneGT

Over the past few weeks, many Gran Turismo 5 players around the web have reported a very serious bug in the game’s save file: once it reaches 4165KB in size, it can no longer be used. When the game attempts to load the file, the following (somewhat misleading) PS3 error message will be displayed:

“Insufficient free space on hard disk drive (HDD). At least 32MB required. Please exit the game and free up some space. 0×00000015 [217]“

As of writing, it is unknown if there is any way to get around this error message, reduce the file’s size, or recover your data. Worse yet, it will eventually affect everyone who continues playing GT5. Until Polyphony Digital resolves this issue in a future update, you should be aware of the issue and take the following measures to reduce its impact.

Check Your Game’s Save File’s Size

To see if your game save may be at risk, check its file size in your PlayStation 3’s XMB. Under the “Game” menu, select the “Saved Data Utility” and look for Gran Turismo 5 in the list of files that appear. You should see the file size listed immediately underneath the logo. If it’s anywhere near 4165KB, you will be affected by the bug very soon and should pay special attention to the following advice in this post.

While you’re in that menu, take this opportunity to back up your game save file. Just plug a USB “thumb drive”, external USB hard drive, or other memory card into your PlayStation 3, hit the “Triangle” button on the controller, select “Copy”, and choose the device you want it backed up to. This won’t prevent the bug from affecting you, but it may help you recover your data later.

Slow Down the Growth of Your Save File

As mentioned above, this bug cannot be avoided by anyone – your GT5 game save file will only get larger as you continue to play. Simply loading up the game will cause it to increase by at least a few KB or so, and other more significant actions, such as buying new cars or parts, will make it grow even faster. However, the most serious threat to your game’s save file is browsing through “museum cards”.

Viewing museum cards can increase your file size by as much as several hundred KB or more. They are automatically gifted to you on a daily basis by the game, but this is not what causes your save file to grow by such a large amount – you must actually browse through them to increase the size of the file. Presumably, the actual content of the cards is being stored or cached within the save file when you read them, resulting in accelerated growth.

If your file is closing in on the 4165KB threshold, I strongly advise you to avoid loading the museum cards. Indeed, it would be wise for everyone to avoid the museum feature until we have confirmation this bug has been resolved.

It should also be noted this issue applies only to the game save file - not the “game data” installed to the hard disk. As such, though downloading a program from Gran Turismo TV or saving a race replay may increase your game save file by a tiny amount, their actual content is stored elsewhere and is not a concern.

Will This Be Fixed?

It is not known if Polyphony Digital is yet aware of this issue, or if it will be corrected in the next GT5 update coming on February 18th. Many other PlayStation 3 titles have save files which far exceed 4167KB in size, so it is not clear why this particular game is affected – hopefully it will be an easy fix for Kazunori Yamauchi’s team. Even if players avoid the museum card feature, it will only be a short matter of time before this issue becomes an even larger problem for more people.

To help raise awareness of this bug, I encourage you to pass a link to this page around and contact PlayStation Support. For reference, here’s a few links to discussions by players who have already been affected by this issue, both here in the GTPlanet Forums and abroad. Let’s hope this gets resolved soon.

• Error Message 0×00000015[217] (“Not enough disk space…”) – GTRP.de
• Fatal Bug! – GTPlanet Forums
• Insufficient free space error – GTPlanet Forums
• Not enough memory? – Official PlayStation Community Forums
• Insufficient disk space? What the… – GameFAQs Forums

Related posts:

1. Gran Turismo 5 Load Times Significantly Reduced by PS3 SSD Upgrade
2. Gran Turismo 5 Hacking Begins via PS3 Exploit
3. Gran Turismo 5 HD Installation Approximately 10GB in Size

View full post on GTPlanet

If you’ve been following the online reviews and chatter surrounding Gran Turismo 5 you know how contentious most of it has been. Between the “fanboys”, the trolls, and the rest of us, it’s very difficult to actually see what most people really think about the game or how it could be improved. It’s even more difficult to pass along your feedback to Sony Computer Entertainment or Polyphony Digital, and – unless they ask you directly for your opinions- your thoughts may just get lost in the noise.

Now, that’s all about to change with the introduction of GTPlanet’s new GT5 “Feedback Forum”. This new site feature isn’t a traditional “forum” or message board – it’s a fresh new way to organize and vote on constructive feedback submitted by the community. You’re allotted 25 votes to submit or distribute among the issues most important to you. The most popular or urgent topics will naturally rise to the top for all to see.

Sony, Polyphony Digital, and Kazunori Yamauchi himself are all well aware of GTPlanet and our large community of die-hard fans who want nothing but the best for the GT series. I’m hopeful our new Feedback Forum will be a valuable resource for Yamauchi and his team as they prioritize fixes and features in GT5’s updates throughout 2011.

The new forum has now been integrated as a permanent site feature (you can find a link to it in the main header of each page), and I will be closely moderating the feedback to ensure it remains as realistic, relevant, and constructive as possible.

Remember, the goal here is to share what you’d like to see changed or fixed in GT5 - not major new features better suited for GT6 (we’ll get to that later). Now, get started voting!

Related posts:

1. Production Issues Blamed for Gran Turismo 5 Delay, Yamauchi Issues Apology
2. Photomode Competitions, Week 6: Enter, Vote, Win!
3. Official Gran Turismo 5 Tokyo Game Show 2010 Trailer

View full post on GTPlanet