Hacking (Solved) Yet another USB Loader GX "Initializing USB" post

[woodflower]

I have read all of the threads I can find about using a USB stick with USB Loader GX, but I haven't seen my particular issue so I thought I'd go ahead and ask...

I have been using a Sandisk Cruzer Glide 16gb to store the few backups I have. It's always been formatted FAT32 with 32kb AU's, with Wii iso's running from 'wbfs' folder.

I recently decided to experiment with Emunand, so I grabbed an older 8gb Sandisk Cruzer stick I have and set it up, which worked great.

The problem arose when I tried to copy this setup over from the 8GB Cruzer to the 16GB Cruzer Glide. Trying to boot the 16gb Glide now hangs during USBLGX's "Initizlize USB" screen.

I tried reformatting the 16gb stick and numerous other things, but nothing could get by the Initialize USB screen. So I removed Emunand from the USB stick, along with USB Loader GX, and just left the Wii isos on it in the WBFS folder. But now USB Loader GX won't get past the Initialize USB screen, even though I'm booting from SD and the Wii isos in the WBFS folder are all that's left on the USB stick.

Can anyone explain how a previously working USB stick just stops being able to be initialized by Usb Loader GX?

 

[gamecaptor]

Question are these USB sticks USB 2.0 or 3.0?

 

[woodflower]

Question are these USB sticks USB 2.0 or 3.0?

All of them are USB 2.0. I'm currently reformatting the 16gb Cruzer Glide with the "full format" option, instead of a quick format. Grasping at straws now.

EDIT: I've fixed it! I think the fix I've discovered would have helped most of the people in the past who have had a similar issue with USB Loader GX not properly initializing USB flash drives. For that reason, I've decided to update this post with some step-by-step images on the chance it might help someone else in the future.

Summary: I used a USB flash utility called BOOTICE to reformat my USB flash drives as USB-HDD. Most importantly, though, I was able to align the first sector of the USB drive's partition table to the flash drive's first block, which I believe is the secret to getting the flash drive correctly initialized in USB Loader GX.

To follow my steps, you will need to search for and download a USB utility called "BOOTICE by Pauly".

1. Insert your USB flash drive to a USB port on your computer
2. Launch BOOTICE.exe on your computer
3. Select your USB device from the dropdown menu, then click the "Parts Manage" button
   
4. Click the "Reformat USB Disk" button
   
   
   
5. a) Select "USB-HDD Mode" from list
   b) Set "Partition Alignment" to "Align to 1MB / Align to Flash blocks"
   
   
   
6. a) Set File System type to FAT 32
   b) Enter a Volume label
   c) Click OK to finalize settings
   d) Click OK one last time to begin formatting flash drive
   
   
   
7. Once formatting is complete, USB Loader GX should no longer hang or freeze at the "Initialize USB Device" prompt.

 

[Moderngamer]

What if I don't own a computer