Hacking ** How To Make Any HDD Compatible With USB Loader For Dummies **

[BIG MOE]

Hey all beloved community members

, since the release of the of the USB Loader and the community running all over the place
for compatibility and how to and where to attach the Storage Device

.

So this will be the rules to follow and success is as good as 96% so far , and up to the Great 1TB of capacity

so let's get to it :

(***********USE AT YOUR OWN RISK***********)

Needed Materials :
---------------------------------

*\_ Wii Console with the latest cIOS36_ver9 installed along with the USB Loader in HBC ( this is very simple ,So I Believe you have it already

) .

*\_ Any USB HDD up to 1TB in Capacity .

*\_ WBFS Ported by Gibbed for windows OS ( be sure to have net frame 2.0 and up installed in the OS , can be found in any Vista and downloadable from Microsoft ). Download Gibbed Ported WBFS Tool From Here .

*\_ Device Manager Tool ( Normally supplied by the Support Department of the HDD Manufacturer )
(e.g : For Seagate Family HDD Manager Tool Click Here Please)
(e.g : For Maxtor Family HDD Manager Tool Click Here Please)


Tutorial :
-----------------

-1- Plug Hdd to your PC and Format to FAT32 and don't check the Quick Format box . ( if you are creating a partition you want to be sure that it is primary [ not logical ] and FAT32 Format ) . after finishing the Formatting process your drive will be recognized by Windows OS and named with a Cap Letter (e.g : (F Or (M Or (N ......... ) .

-2- Open Device Manager Tool for your HDD and look for the Power Management Settings and change it from 15 minutes to NEVER

. ( this option will eliminate the console freeze at game play

) .

-3- Make Folder in the directory of your main System HDD ( in most cases it will be drive (C ) and name it to WBFS .

-4- Extract the Gibbed Ported Wbfs Tool into the folder you made and Add the Backups ISOs to it as well .

-5- Now open Start Menu and in the Search type in ( CMD.exe ) and hit enter , once ( CMD.exe ) found right click on it and run it as Administrator .

-6- in the CMD.exe Black window type the following Command Line :

cd C:\WBFS

and hit Enter . ( C = System HDD where you created the folder WBFS )

-7- type the following Command Line :

WBFS_win.exe X init

and hit Enter . ( X = USB HDD letter , it will ask you to be ware cause your Drive or partition will be Formated just hit YES and ENTER ).

-8- now your drive is ready to add your Backed up games , so you can use any GUI for WBFS from now on if you don't feel comfortable with
the commands used , other than that just be sure the ISO is in the same folder and type in :

QUOTE

WBFS_win.exe X add xxxx-xxxx.iso

and hit Enter . ( X = USB HDD letter ) , and , ( xxxx-xxxx.iso = game-name.iso ) and be sure IOS is present in the same folder other wise it will not be found by the tool unless you change the Command line

.

-9- by now your USB HDD is ready to try , now however if you try to open it from Windows OS it will not do that but it will ask you to format ( and don't you dare to do that

) this is just to check if it is in RAW Status , NOW right click on the drive letter in my Computer and Click ( Safely Remove ) and when it's prompt you to go ahead and remove it .

10- now be sure Wii Console is OFF ( Red Light in the front ) , connect the HDD to Console , and then Connect HDD power supply adapter , then power the Wii console and the drive will light up with it ( and that's the first good sign , HDD recognized by Console ) .

11- Run USB Loader v1.1 and your Game list most likely to show and enjoy playing .

12- if Error ( ret = -1 ) displayed it is most common to be solved by unplugging the power cord and the USB Connector of the HDD and turn OFF Wii Console Completely then plug the HDD back in the console and the power then power the Console up and run the Loader again and Game list will show .



Greets to all the Great Contributors to the scene :

Waninkoko , Kwiirk , Gibbed for porting the WBFS Tool , and all GBATemp Staff that makes this place a great privilege to enjoy .

regards and thanks to :
Wiigator , Team Twiizers , Tona , Frontier , Nitrotux , Crediar , Arm The
Homeless , nickasa , SpaceJump , FireIce , Wiipower , Team Softmii .
shoutz to :
Noobwarrior7 , Djtaz , Djdynamite123 , Forsaekn , Requiem4d , EmperorOfCanada , Wiigee
Tichinde925 , Feanta , Marby .

 

[sheridan2000]

Nope dont work for my external icy box with a samsung spin point 160gb...nice try though...thanks for your efforts...next..

 

[Richy Freeway]

The problem isn't the drives, it's the interface!

 

[DKAngel]

yeah doesnt work either

 

[aardvarks]

seagate
Seagate Family HDD Manager Tool
doesnt work on windows vista,xp is fine tho.
12- if Error ( ret = -1 ) dont turn of the wii, unplugging the power cord to the hdd reboot the wii. then plug the power cordback in the drive and then Run USB Loader v1.1

 

[shtonkalot]

Can I ask for the ids of the drives tested to get 96% compatability? am I right in assuming that you have tested 25 drives and 1 failed to come up with that percentage?

If anyone can find manufacturer supplied HDD management tools for my enclosures I'll be surprised to say the least. "Ritmo" brand and "Smart Drive" brand. I'm quite sure neither have power management features in the enclosure and my old fujitsu 40GB HDD has nothing like that either.

I can't help but think this is bunk. How can anyone claim to make any USB attached HDD compatible when they admit to having not complete success and haven't tested every combination of HDD and USB adapter?
In any case I can confirm that the above method (sans power management tooling) does not work for me with my "Smart Drive" branded enclosure. I tried it the last time the OP claimed to be able to get any HDD to work.

BIG MOE, I think it may be time to explain your testing methodology and publish some proper results of the tests. I just don't believe this method can have anything to do with making an incompatible USB controller work with the CIOS rev9 USB support. That seems to be the most common problem in making a USB device work, whether it be HDD or flash memory.

 

[BIG MOE]

actually and to be specific I tested 51 different HDD between mine and friends that I got them set up with all Games running from HDD to there Wii Console , 2 out of these drives didn't work ( no clue why )
the rest run between Seagate , Maxtor , WD , Fantom , acomdata , mostly 320GB and up , Many Seagate 1TB and as I said that is what worked for me , and wanted to share it with all of you , didn't work for you after following the correct steps on one HDD ( well things happens ) but try another one and it should , thanks

peace

 

[earthworm]

I have a Seagate 3.5' ext which is a little buggy. Runs and installs games great; however, it wouldn't always be recognized by the loader (gives that annoying ret -1 error) so I have to do the whole "shut down the wii and hdd thing". I found the most hassle free way though is to use the lopst loader that gives you 40 seconds for the loader to recognize the drive. I just start up the modified loader and then just power off/on the hdd. I find this works great everytime.

It's a little annoying to have to flip the power on the hdd on and off but I guess I can't complain since wanin's made such a great little program and made it availiable for free! Plus i'm sure future updates will up compatibility anyways

 

[BIG MOE]

I have a Seagate 3.5' ext which is a little buggy. Runs and installs games great; however, it wouldn't always be recognized by the loader (gives that annoying ret -1 error) so I have to do the whole "shut down the wii and hdd thing". I found the most hassle free way though is to use the lopst loader that gives you 40 seconds for the loader to recognize the drive. I just start up the modified loader and then just power off/on the hdd. I find this works great everytime.

It's a little annoying to have to flip the power on the hdd on and off but I guess I can't complain since wanin's made such a great little program and made it availiable for free! Plus i'm sure future updates will up compatibility anyways

thanks for sharing this info with us , and you have the great positive attitude that all members should have

 

[sionsays]

i did the command prompt WBFS format, added games, and now for some reason, when i plug it into my wii, boot up usb loader, the USB loader is telling me i need to format

 

[BIG MOE]

i did the command prompt WBFS format, added games, and now for some reason, when i plug it into my wii, boot up usb loader, the USB loader is telling me i need to format

after you entered the command ( Wbfs_win.exe X init ) did the tool asked you to confirm the format by clicking Y/N and did you type Y and hit enter ??

 

[sionsays]

yep, i clicked Y then hit enter

Posts merged

then it said "wbfs initialized" the strange thing is, when i open it up in a WBFS GUI program, it recognizes the drive, and the games ( if they are loaded from there, or from a command prompt ) so why wouldnt the wii realize it's a formatted FAT32 with WBFS HDD?

 

[sionsays]

Using Partition Magic 8, I format my (NTSC) drive to FAT32, then I used the command prompt like you said, and whatever USB loader i use on the wii, its telling me i need to format my drive, not sure why. Partition magic is cutting my drive up because its telling me FAT32 only allows around 196MB of storage and im using a 500GB HDD. So there is an unpartitioned space, perhaps its picking up on that - Also, i dont have the "safely remove" option you are talking about when i right click the drive.

 

[Gwaith]

Might there be a extended partition on you external HDD? Because that was the reason my wii always told me i needed to format and didn't recognize the partitions. Just look in Partition magic for extended partition or ext. partition or something and delete it. You might have to create the partitions again without the extended partition.

Greetz ,

Gwaith

 

[BIG MOE]

Using Partition Magic 8, I format my (NTSC) drive to FAT32, then I used the command prompt like you said, and whatever USB loader i use on the wii, its telling me i need to format my drive, not sure why. Partition magic is cutting my drive up because its telling me FAT32 only allows around 196MB of storage and im using a 500GB HDD. So there is an unpartitioned space, perhaps its picking up on that - Also, i dont have the "safely remove" option you are talking about when i right click the drive.

ok can you try formating the partition into NTFS and make it primary partition and the reformated FAT32 and then carry on from there , post back the results please ( if no important info on the drive and if you can try the whole HDD with out partition , if you cann't don't worry just do it the way I mentioned earlier ) .

 

[Bauldrick]

So what are these HDD's connected with ? I was of the understanding that it's the USB chipset of what you're connecting with that issue's arise with, not the logic board of HDD's .?

 

[sionsays]

really not sure what you mean. you want me to format to NTFS and try it? or format to NTFS then back to FAT32?

 

[sionsays]

also, should it be a primary or logical partition when formatted?

 

[Gwaith]

make it primary.


Greetz ,

Gwaith

 

[sionsays]

I've made it primary NTSC, I can get the USB loader to find the games now, but when I try to load them, every game I use doesn't work, its telling me to "eject the disk" even though, there is no disk in the CD rom, i dont even have a cd drive hooked up because its broken.