Hardware Managing HDD Partitions

G0rril4z

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Hi guys, first off all I am sorry for my bad english! :ha: I have an softmoded Wii and all my games on a 1TB USB HDD. It is formated like this:

Primary and Active: WBFS
Second: FAT32
Third: NTFS

The three partitions take all the hdd space (no unallocated space left). So, my questions are:

1- Can I invert the order, making the FAT32 be the primary and active partition so I can play GC games on Nintendont?

2- If the answer for the first question is NO, can I resize the WBFS partition and make a FAT32 as the primary?

2- In any of those methods would this affect my Wii games on WBFS partition, can I lose my games doing this?
 

Yepi69

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You'll need to copy the GC games from your FAT32 partition back to your computer in order to restore them later.

Yes you can make the FAT32 partition active and primary, just use EaseUS, also why would you? If it still works don't bother fixing what's not broken.
 
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Cyan

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you can do different things, up to you to choose the one you prefer.
Best one is the first option.

1. Convert the WBFS partition into FAT32 using WBFS2FAT program (no, you won't lose your games, unless they are already corrupted because WBFS partition is easily corruptible without you knowing it)

or
2. backup all your games to another HDD (or on FAT32 or NTFS partition, that way you won't have to move them, it works on FAT32 and NTFS!)
Format WBFS to FAT32 (or move/expand the existing FAT32)
Put your wii games back on the new FAT32 if you want them on the first partition
You don't need a WBFS partition format at all, it's more stable using FAT32 or NTFS for Wii games.

or

or
3. Convert the WBFS partition to be extended/Logical.

or
4. if your FAT32 is also a primary partition (not an extended/logical), you can try to "cheat" the partition order by manually editing the Master Boot Record (MBR) of your drive and switch the order the partition are defined:
You can have 4 primary partitions.
Currently:
1-WBFS : starting at sector 64
2-FAT32 Starting at sector xxxxxxx
3-NTFS Starting at sector yyyyyyyyy
4-unaffected

What you want is :
1- FAT 32 starting at sector xxxxxxxxx
2- WBFS starting at sector 64
3-NTFS starting at sector yyyyyyyyyy
4-unaffected

You only change the order the partition type are listed, not their physical position on the drive.
It should work with homebrew, but it might be reverted or fixed if you connect it to a Partition manager program.
Worst scenario, it could be marked as bad on PC and requiring a format. (you can restore the original MBR to fix it)


Just for information:
"Primary" doesn't mean it's the first one.
Don't call it "primary, second, third"
Primary is a partition state. It can be either Primary or Logical.

You can have only 4 (primary or extended) partitions defined on the MBR.
1Primary - 2Primary - 3Primary - 4Primary

If you want more partitions, you need to use an extended partition which can contain more partitions inside.
1Primary - 2Primary - 3Primary - 4Extended [1Logical - 2Logical - Etc.]
or
1Primary - 2Extended[1Logical - 2Logical - 3Logical - 4Logical - etc.]

Usually, don't put an extended one before primary partitions. Primary should always be defined first.
Operating system must be on Primary.
If you don't need more than 4 partition, always use Primary.
WBFS partition format don't work great on Logical.


Nintendont and DIOS MIOS and Sneek require a Primary partition, and it should be the First defined partition from all available.

The "Active" flag is not needed at all. It is a flag used by BIOS on computers to know which partition you want to boot if you have multiple OS (linux/windowsXP1/WindowsXP2/etc.)
 
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G0rril4z

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Thanks Cyan for all the explanation and Yepi69! Coincidentally while I waited for the answer, I've tested the EaseUS, set the the WBFS primary-inactive, FAT32 primary-active and the NTFS was not changed.

The thing is that the FAT32 is recognised by Nintendont, it even shows the games I have on the partition, but when I try load a game it gives me the message "Checking FS... Error 12! Shutting down", tested with HID option ON and OFF. It has something to do with the order of the partitions, FAT32 being the second in order? It is not strange that it recognised the partition?
 

Cyan

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It recognize the game because the loader is listing the first fat32 partition.
But when you launch the game, the kernel is mounting the first primary partition (the WBFS), and don't find games anymore.

what you can try (but not sure it will work), is to convert the WBFS partition to Extended+Logical.
That way, the FAT32 will be the First primary partition of the drive.

But:
- I don't know if you can convert to Extended/Logical without losing data
- I don't know if it works fine on computers with the extended listed first
- WBFS doesn't work great on Extended partition with USBLoaders.

Best option is still to use wbfs2fat and convert your WBFS partition to FAT32.
Look in my signature for the program and tutorial.
 
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G0rril4z

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It makes sense. Well, I will try to convert the WBFS to FAT32. Just one question, it will convert with the right format for Nintendont (32k/cluster)?
 

Cyan

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I don't remember if it converts to 32 or 64k/cluster (it might depends on the partition size).
But it seems nintendont is compatible with 64k/cluster, at least a user said it worked for him.

32k is still better for other homebrew compatibility (DIOS MIOS for example)

Edit:
I checked and it converts to 32k/cluster if possible.
 

G0rril4z

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I did the conversion with Wbfs2Fat and everything is working! Thanks Cyan for all your help, really appreciated.
 

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