Hardware Slow USB storage after booting up Wii U

[Puffz]

Hi there,

I've got a small issue with my Wii U and figured you guys might be able to help.

Some info first:
CFW: Aroma
USB storage: new SanDisk 256GB microSDXC High Endurance UHS-I U3 V30 via the card reader

So, whenever I boot up the console, my USB storage is working super slowly. Loading up any game takes forever and when trying to install or transfer something, the speed is like 1MB/sec.
However, if I open Settings first (just that, simply open it and then go back to the home screen), the issue is gone - well, at least till the next restart. All loads up as expected, transfer speed looks ok, but even after playing any VC-injected game when the console does a soft restart, the problem comes back and I need to do the whole Settings thing again.

I tried disabling the USB storage sleep function, but it doesn't seem to help.

Couldn't find anything via google or here, so I decided to just ask directly.

Any help appreciated!

 

[neverends4]

the solution might be simple yet difficult: try another thumb drive, SD card or an HDD in a USB enclosure with power supply to see if there is a difference, then make a judgement.

 

[jeannotte]

Hi there,

I've got a small issue with my Wii U and figured you guys might be able to help.

Some info first:
CFW: Aroma
USB storage: new SanDisk 256GB microSDXC High Endurance UHS-I U3 V30 via the card reader

So, whenever I boot up the console, my USB storage is working super slowly. Loading up any game takes forever and when trying to install or transfer something, the speed is like 1MB/sec.
However, if I open Settings first (just that, simply open it and then go back to the home screen), the issue is gone - well, at least till the next restart. All loads up as expected, transfer speed looks ok, but even after playing any VC-injected game when the console does a soft restart, the problem comes back and I need to do the whole Settings thing again.

I tried disabling the USB storage sleep function, but it doesn't seem to help.

Couldn't find anything via google or here, so I decided to just ask directly.

Any help appreciated!

Good morning,

what is your USB storage (SD card with USB connection ==> does it have a mains power supply or Y cable, or others)??

prefer an external hard drive with a Y cable and everything will be fine.

 

[SDIO]

When you leave the settings it is restarting IOSU in the background, that's what probably makes it work better. I would guess on an incompatibility with the USB SD adapter

 

[Nonstiq]

I use the exact same SD card, with this SanDisk USB reader.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Sandisk-S...-microSD-Reader/dp/B07G5JV2B5?ref_=ast_sto_dp

I'm not having any issues myself.

 

[V10lator]

256GB

The IOSU FAT driver is pretty bad, so some actions take ages on bigger cards. Bad unmounts might add to that...
So the first thing I would do is backup all data and reformat the USB drive. Restore that data and see if that helped.

If yes: Great. Now just make sure your Wii U won't crash randomly and always shut it down correctly. Also reformat your card each 6 to 24 months (whenever it gets too slow for your needs).

If it didn't help:

Loading up any game takes forever and when trying to install or transfer something, the speed is like 1MB/sec.

How are you benchmarking that? Like do you have one title ID with exact installation and loading times so we could compare? Also how are you transferring cause IIRC 1 MByte/s is roughly the Wii Us WiFi speed, so maybe the bottleneck isn't the USB drive.

 

[Puffz]

the solution might be simple yet difficult: try another thumb drive, SD card or an HDD in a USB enclosure with power supply to see if there is a difference, then make a judgement.

Ehh, yeah, I will probably need to, just wanted to try any other possible solutions first.

Good morning,

what is your USB storage (SD card with USB connection ==> does it have a mains power supply or Y cable, or others)??

prefer an external hard drive with a Y cable and everything will be fine.

MicroSD (with adapter) with SD card reader and no additional power supply. I know HDD with extra juice is preferable due to longevity and compatibility, but decided I'll go the easy way - and welp, here I am.

When you leave the settings it is restarting IOSU in the background, that's what probably makes it work better. I would guess on an incompatibility with the USB SD adapter

Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well (though didn't know about the IOSU thing). Maybe I'll try a different reader before changing the storage itself.

I use the exact same SD card, with this SanDisk USB reader.
(link)

I'm not having any issues myself.

I'm using UGREEN USB Adapter Card Reader SD (had a good experience with their products previously), wanted to avoid direct USB adapters, as I heard the ports can get really warm and could potentially damage the card.

The IOSU FAT driver is pretty bad, so some actions take ages on bigger cards. Bad unmounts might add to that...
So the first thing I would do is backup all data and reformat the USB drive. Restore that data and see if that helped.

If yes: Great. Now just make sure your Wii U won't crash randomly and always shut it down correctly. Also reformat your card each 6 to 24 months (whenever it gets too slow for your needs).

If it didn't help:

How are you benchmarking that? Like do you have one title ID with exact installation and loading times so we could compare? Also how are you transferring cause IIRC 1 MByte/s is roughly the Wii Us WiFi speed, so maybe the bottleneck isn't the USB drive.

Once I noticed the issue, I reformatted the drive - sadly it didn't help. As for how I'm transferring, PC -> SD card via USB, and then installing it to the USB drive with the WUP installer.
Anyway, run some tests with my Terraria backup (201.4 MB) to check the actual difference:

• Without workaround ~3m33s (~0.9 MB/s)
• With workaround ~12s (~16.8 MB/s)

I didn't test loading times for games, but it would be probably very similar to the above.

 

[SDIO]

You can use just some USB2.0 SD adapter, the Wii U can't doo more anyway. Also I don't think the card will get that hot, since the Wii U is limited to USB2.0 speed anyway.

 

[V10lator]

Also I don't think the card will get that hot, since the Wii U is limited to USB2.0 speed anyway.

I think the concern is more about heat of the internals of the Wii U passing through the USB ports to the card as all connections are so short and also the fan blows out near the USB ports. Knowing the heat management of the Wii U I won't think this will be a issue but a USB extension cable could be added if still concerned.

 

[SDIO]

I wouldn't use a extension cable if not required. It just adds a potential source of problems. (More connections, more resistance -> potential power issues)

 

[CrazySquid]

May not be related to the issue, but could USB HDDs get slower as time passes? Like WFS becoming fragmented? (not sure if WFS is like ext4 where fragmentation is so low that defrag it's basically not needed)

 

[Puffz]

A quick update, if anyone's interested.

Bought a new adapter (the one recommended by @Nonstiq) and looks like the issue is gone! Had to plug and unplug it a couple of times as the console didn't want to recognize it as a USB drive, but then it finally worked.

So yeah, looks like the Wii U just didn't like this particular adapter for some reason.

Thank you all for your help, much appreciated!