Hacking USB Loader GX - Multiple USB Drives.

[JediAviator]

This worked for my 2 HDDs. I had no idea I could simply plug my wii U HDD into the front USB port and have both running at the same time! I also tried to play a wii u game with a single USB connected and it works! (No Y cable anymore)

 

[The Real Jdbye]

This worked for my 2 HDDs. I had no idea I could simply plug my wii U HDD into the front USB port and have both running at the same time! I also tried to play a wii u game with a single USB connected and it works! (No Y cable anymore)

Is the HDD self powered or externally powered?
If it's self powered, even if it works it's probably not receiving enough power, which could wear out the drive since it will have trouble spinning up or moving the head, and causing it to fail early. I wouldn't recommend using it without a Y-cable on Wii U.

 

[JediAviator]

Is the HDD self powered or externally powered?
If it's self powered, even if it works it's probably not receiving enough power, which could wear out the drive since it will have trouble spinning up or moving the head, and causing it to fail early. I wouldn't recommend using it without a Y-cable on Wii U.

Ok. Thanks for the tip. Just wanted to clear up the front USB from clutter. But I'll keep my Y cable plugged in. It does not have external power

 

[JediAviator]

I actually am having issues running any gamecube game in USB loader GX. All the Wii games are working fine. Gamecube games are all freezing after I boot them up... anyone help?

Edit: seems like a majority of gamecube games freeze, there are others that work fine...
Problems with XII, X men games, Russia with love..etc. Do I need to play around with the configuration of USB loader GX to run them?

 

[Zarcu]

@Cyan
I've been reading your posts all over the GBAtemp forums and they've been incredibly helpful. Thank you so much!

I tried following your guide for the Three HDD method but I'm having some trouble. I was hoping you might be able to help me out.

My Wii U has a USB hub plugged into port 0 (top back). The Wii U drive is plugged into the first port of the USB hub while the Wii drive is plugged into the second port of the hub. The Wii U loads games perfectly and so does Nintendont. USB Loader GX on the other hand does not work properly. It says "Waiting HDD" forever and it never finds the drive. Multi-partition is enabled. The USB Port option won't let me set it to both. When I select both it doesn't let me exit the settings screen unless I pull power to the console. I tried editing the meta.xml but I don't know how to change the variables for port to both.

Any recommendations?

Hardware

• 2TB Wii U External HDD (Straight USB)
• 1TB Wii External HDD (Straight USB / FAT32 / Ustealth)
• 16GB Class 10 SD Card (FAT32)
  
• 4-Port Powered USB 3.0 Hub

Software

• CBHC
  
• USBLoaderGX r1268
• USB Loader GX-UNEO_Forwarder_5_1_AHBPROT_vWii (Fix)
  
• Nintendont FIX94 v5.483

Sources

• wiiu hacks guide vwii-modding
• wiiu hacks guide coldboot-haxchi

 

[Cyan]

you mentionned you want to use the "three HDD setup", but you only have 2 HDDs ?
re-read the 3HDD setup, you missed the part about WHERE to plug drives and which IOS to use in different applications, this is important.

to use HUB, you need IOS58.
Wii games will NOT work with hubs as you need cIOS (not IOS58)


If you only have 2 HDD, what's the purpose of using a HUB ? just plug drives directly in USB Ports. HUB are not always compatible with homebrew, don't force issues on you when you can prevent them easily. it's like you ask for problem by doing an unnecessary over complicated setup.

 

[Zarcu]

you mentionned you want to use the "three HDD setup", but you only have 2 HDDs ?
re-read the 3HDD setup, you missed the part about WHERE to plug drives and which IOS to use in different applications, this is important.

to use HUB, you need IOS58.
Wii games will NOT work with hubs as you need cIOS (not IOS58)


If you only have 2 HDD, what's the purpose of using a HUB ? just plug drives directly in USB Ports. HUB are not always compatible with homebrew, don't force issues on you when you can prevent them easily. it's like you ask for problem by doing an unnecessary over complicated setup.

Thank you so much for responding.

I forgot to mention that I do have an SD card as well. I'm not sure if that counts as a third HDD but I was considering it as one. The reason why I'm using a USB HUB is because my external Wii HDD requires more power than the Wii U supplies and I don't have a y-cable for either external HDD. Fortunately I'll have my hands on a y-cable tomorrow and I should no longer need the USB HUB.

If I understand correctly I'll just need to plug the Wii U HDD into Port 0, the vWii HDD into Port 1 / USB power. Will I still need to adjust cIOS settings?

 

[Zarcu]

Cyan,

I've changed up my configuration and I've now followed your two drive setup guide to a tee. The Wii U and Nintendont still work as they did before but USB Loader GX still doesn't. It's actually worse now. When I boot to USB Loader GX it hard locks the whole system while on the "Initializing Drive" or "Reinitializing Drive" screen (depending on the settings I have in meta.xml). I have to unplug the system to get it running again. Am I missing something here?

Hardware

• Internal: 16GB Class 10 SD Card (FAT32)
  
• External: 2TB Wii U External HDD (Straight USB) (Port 0)
  
• External: 64GB SD Card (USB Adapter / FAT32 / Ustealth) (Port 1)

Software

• CBHC (Coldboot Haxchi)
• USBLoaderGX r1268
• USB Loader GX-UNEO_Forwarder_5_1_AHBPROT_vWii (Fix)
  
• Nintendont FIX94 v5.483

vWii

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta53-vWii
• cIOS base: 56
• cIOS slot: 249

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta53-vWii
• cIOS base: 57
• cIOS slot: 250

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta53-vWii
• cIOS base: 58
• cIOS slot: 251

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
• cIOS base: 58
• cIOS slot: 255
• Notes: Don't know how to remove this

 

[DaTank45]

I’d bet on it being the games on an sd card instead of a hard drive. If not I’ve read that there are issues with beta 53. They should all be beta 52.

 

[Cyan]

If I understand correctly I'll just need to plug the Wii U HDD into Port 0, the vWii HDD into Port 1 / USB power. Will I still need to adjust cIOS settings?

Sorry, you didn't understand correctly.

the guide is OUTDATED ! (and it's written on the guide !)
nintendont now skip incompatible HDD.

2 HDDs setup
This setup use the same HDD for Wii and Gamecube games.

So, now, the only guide you need is :
Plug your Ustealth vWii HDD to USB Port0 (the top back port)
Plug your WiiU HDD in any other USB Port.
Done !

Enjoy all your wiiU capabilities.

why people always try to make things over complicated, then seek for help, while it's just a matter of a 2 lines guide?
probably because nobody is reading what took the time to write.


1. install d2x r52 base57 in slot 249 (if you care about Wii games). Gamecube games DO NOT NEED any cIOS !
2. don't worry about your slot 253, leave it alone. leave your slot250 and 251 alone too, while you're at it. do not touch, update or replace them. They are useless.
3. plug WiiU drive in slot1
4. plug vWii drive in slot0
5. if your hdd is not detected in USBLoaderGX, set "settings > loader's settings > Loader's IOS" to 58 and reboot.

 

[Zarcu]

Sorry, you didn't understand correctly.

the guide is OUTDATED ! (and it's written on the guide !)
nintendont now skip incompatible HDD.



why people always try to make things over complicated, then seek for help, while it's just a matter of a 2 lines guide?
probably because nobody is reading what took the time to write.


1. install d2x r52 base57 in slot 249 (if you care about Wii games). Gamecube games DO NOT NEED any cIOS !
2. don't worry about your slot 253, leave it alone. leave your slot250 and 251 alone too, while you're at it. do not touch, update or replace them. They are useless.
3. plug WiiU drive in slot1
4. plug vWii drive in slot0
5. if your hdd is not detected in USBLoaderGX, set "settings > loader's settings > Loader's IOS" to 58 and reboot.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

USB Loader GX now works as intended. I feel dumb for over complicating what were simple instructions. I can't tell you how many hours I spent researching and testing trying to get this to work. Wii U, Wii, and GameCube games now run. However, I do get freezing/crashing issues on certain Wii U titles.

Below I've listed the configuration for any poor soul running into similar issues.

Hardware

• Internal: 16GB Class 10 SD Card (FAT32)
• External: 1TB Wii/GameCube External HDD (Y-Cable) (FAT32 / Ustealth) (Port 0)
  
• External: 2TB Wii U External HDD (Straight USB) (Port 1)
• 4-Port Powered USB 3.0 Hub (for powering Wii/GameCube drive)

Software

• CBHC (Coldboot Haxchi)
• USBLoaderGX r1268
• USB Loader GX-UNEO_Forwarder_5_1_AHBPROT_vWii (Fix)
  
• Nintendont FIX94 v5.483

vWii

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
• cIOS base: 56
• cIOS slot: 249

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
• cIOS base: 57
• cIOS slot: 250

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
• cIOS base: 58
• cIOS slot: 251

• cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
• cIOS base: 58
• cIOS slot: 255
• Notes: Don't know how to remove this

USB Loader GX
Meta.xml

• <arg>--ios=58</arg>
• <arg>--usbport=3</arg>
• <arg>--mountusb=1</arg>

GXGlobal.cfg

• LoaderIOS = 249
• cios = 249
• MultiplePartitions = 1
• USBPort = 0
• USBAutoMount = 1

 

[Cyan]

glad you got it working now

Just a thing I noticed which is conflicting :
meta.xml : <arg>--usbport=3</arg>
global.cfg: USBPort = 0

usbport=3 means you want "both" usbport at launch.
but your settings says "0" which means only port0 ?
something is wrong here.

When you edit the loader's settings from the interface, it should also automatically update the arguments inside the meta.xml
maybe there's a problem with editing the xml? You can set the argument to 0 manually if the loader can't do it. no need to try initializing the WiiU HDD which is incompatible with vWii.

But it's only a "setting report" issue.
This option shouldn't matter if you use IOS58 as all USBPorts are enabled anyway.
the port setting is only used by cIOS.

do as you want, but I'd just set it back to 0 instead of 3 for consistency.

 

[Zarcu]

glad you got it working now

Just a thing I noticed which is conflicting :
meta.xml : <arg>--usbport=3</arg>
global.cfg: USBPort = 0

usbport=3 means you want "both" usbport at launch.
but your settings says "0" which means only port0 ?
something is wrong here.

When you edit the loader's settings from the interface, it should also automatically update the arguments inside the meta.xml
maybe there's a problem with editing the xml? You can set the argument to 0 manually if the loader can't do it. no need to try initializing the WiiU HDD which is incompatible with vWii.

But it's only a "setting report" issue.
This option shouldn't matter if you use IOS58 as all USBPorts are enabled anyway.
the port setting is only used by cIOS.

do as you want, but I'd just set it back to 0 instead of 3 for consistency.

I've adjusted my settings based off your recommendation. Thank you!

Additionally I was able to resolve my Wii U game freezing issue. My Wii U external HDD had a straight cable and I swapped it out with the y-able. Problem gone. Not a single problem even after lots of playtime. Not sure if the cable was bad or if the drive simply wasn't getting enough power on high loads.

Do you accept donations for acts of superhelpitude?

 

[Cyan]

no, I don't
just be happy, and if possible help other people in return. (even if I always end in such thread to confirm/fix provided help haha)

 

[LoggerMan]

Why do I get that dread feeling, like I need to cram for an important exam, when I look at these posts and want to try and figure out why ustealth is not working with USBLoaderGX. My Y cables aren't long enough to plug everything in the back and power them from the front.

 

[Squall_Leonhart]

Hi all, I recently softmodded my vWii following the guide on https://wiiu.hacks.guide/vwii-modding:

cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
cIOS base: 56
cIOS slot: 249

cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
cIOS base: 57
cIOS slot: 250

cIOS: d2x-v10-beta52-vWii
cIOS base: 58
cIOS slot: 251

After reading through various threads on GBAtemp, I cannot for the life of me get USB Loader GX to see my vWii external HDD without removing my Wii U flash drive. I receive an error saying 'USB Device not initialized. Switching to channel list mode.' Any suggestions?

My setup is as follows:

USB Loader GX
3.0 r1272

Loader Settings:
Loader's IOS: IOS 58
Game's IOS: IOS 249

- - - -

Nintendont
6.489

- - - -

Port 0 (vWii): Western Digital My Book Essential 320GB
[WD3200c032-002]
FAT32
32KB Cluster Size
Hidden with U-Stealth - Release 6 2013-08-16

Port 1 (Wii U): Sandisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive 64GB
[SDCZ43-064G-G46]

 

[Cyan]

the vWii drive requires Ycable on WiiU as the console doesn't provide enough power on a single USB port.

So, you'll need something like this :
Port 0 (top-back) : Y-cable Data, plugged to vWii HDD.
Port 1 (bottom-back) : Y-cable Power, plugged to vWii HDD.
Port 2 (font) : WiiU flash drive.

unless your Western digital is externally powered ?
I just assumed it was powered by USB.

if your drive is externally powered, you shouldn't need the Y cable.
If you really want the WiiU drive to be plugged on the back, and if you don't have the place (physically) to plug the Ycable into one of the front USB Port of the console, you can plug the "power" end of the yCable on another device or AC USB adapter.
but it's usually easier to go the way I described and plug the WiiU HDD on the front.

It can also be an externally powered HUB on Port 1, with both "y-cable power" and "wiiu hdd" on it.
don't plug the vWii data cable on the hub or it'll not work with Wii games.

 

[Squall_Leonhart]

Hi Cyan, my WD ext HDD is externally powered. The drive itself is detected and both Wii and GCN games work fine in USB Loader GX when my SanDisk flash drive is removed. Not too sure what I'm doing wrong, would like to leave both drives connected if possible.

 

[Cyan]

it's usually possible to keep both connected at the same time.
the loader should skip the WiiU formatted drive, and the Wii game should work if the vWii HDD is in port 0.

your cIOS and your settings are fine, so I don't know why it says it can't find it.
try to set the loader's IOS to 249 too, instead of 58. most newer drive need 58, but let's try with 249. change the setting and reboot the loader.

 

[Squall_Leonhart]

Unfortunately it hangs on 'Loading... Initialize usb device' when changing the loader's IOS from 58 to 249, with my Wii U formatted flash drive connected to port 1. As with 58, works on 249 with the flash drive removed.