Wii U copy all from one external drive to another

[mhoare1984]

I bought a second external hard drive (with dual USB cable) and I am attempting to use data management to copy the contents of my existing hard drive to the new one. When I select the 168 items in data management, the amount of storage selected (green bar) doesn't match the total amount of storage used. It is out by about 100GB. The copy is taking ages, about 75/168 titles done after about 12 hours so I have a bit to go. Question I have is how to I ensure I have copied everything from one drive to another? Is there some issue with Wii U disc management where you can't select everything, a limit of 168 titles showing maybe? Is there any other way to clone a drive?

 

[godreborn]

I bought a second external hard drive (with dual USB cable) and I am attempting to use data management to copy the contents of my existing hard drive to the new one. When I select the 168 items in data management, the amount of storage selected (green bar) doesn't match the total amount of storage used. It is out by about 100GB. The copy is taking ages, about 75/168 titles done after about 12 hours so I have a bit to go. Question I have is how to I ensure I have copied everything from one drive to another? Is there some issue with Wii U disc management where you can't select everything, a limit of 168 titles showing maybe? Is there any other way to clone a drive?

Probably stability concerns. I didn't know there was a limit, but the best way to ensure everything is to move rather than copy.

 

[CMDreamer]

If the new HDD is the same GB/TB storage size or higher, why not just clone the drive entirely? Without using Wii U's storage management but a cloning software on a PC?

 

[Lostbhoy]

If the new HDD is the same GB/TB storage size or higher, why not just clone the drive entirely? Without using Wii U's storage management but a cloning software on a PC?

Because it can't be done that way. Hdds are encrypted to that console only and cloning doesn't work unless done with the console.

I can't remember what I transfered when I done it (it was years ago) but I don't remember there being a limit for selection as I got everything and I did have to leave it overnight to complete.

As regards to moving and not copying... I ensured it all copied across first before deleting from the old hdd... Just to make sure i didn't lose anything!

 

[V10lator]

Hdds are encrypted to that console only and cloning doesn't work

A 1:1 raw disc copy copies the encrypted content, so works just fine.

It is out by about 100GB.

Maybe trash on the old HDD. Look into the install and import folders to see if there's any garbage.

 

[mhoare1984]

I thought about cloning but then remembered it is encrypted and Google suggested it wouldn't work. I'm at 157 of 168 done now. Hopefully once done they have the same amount of space used / free space, otherwise I'm probably going to have to manually reconcile each game. It is annoying that each time you view the contents of a drive, the order changes; not consistent. Makes it hard to compare

 

[Lostbhoy]

A 1:1 raw disc copy copies the encrypted content, so works just fine.

Since when?? I've never seen this info, only the opposite as i suggested.... Apologies for the mistake on that case!

 

[CoupureElectrique]

I bricked my Wii U from moving large files around from HDD to NAND so be careful. Might be better off just redownloading everything.

 

[godreborn]

Since when?? I've never seen this info, only the opposite as i suggested.... Apologies for the mistake on that case!

@V10lator is correct. it's an exact copy. it works with the ps3 as well, probably any other encrypted hdd.

 

[V10lator]

Since when?

Since ever: A 1:1 raw copy is bit by bit identical to the original. Most informations you find online are just wrong.

Hopefully once done they have the same amount of space used / free space

If not do what I said and look for trash on the old HDD.

I bricked my Wii U from moving large files around

Sounds like a hardware defective eMMC to me, so completely unrelated.

 

[mhoare1984]

Looks like it is just an error on the Wii U's data management screen when you select everything, the amount of data selected is less than the amount of data on the disk. However the full copy has worked and both drives (same brand and model) have the same amount of free space.

Since ever: A 1:1 raw copy is bit by bit identical to the original. Most informations you find online are just wrong.

Can you really do a 1:1 copy of a Wii U formatted USB disk to another identical disk and have it work? I was always under the assumption that the contents of the disk are encrypted using something unique to each disk / USB controller for each disk.

I remember in the early days of my Wii U ownership, the old 3.5" USB enclosure I was using died and i put the still working drive into a new enclosure, and the Wii U would ask to format it. In the end I just redownloaded everything, but lost my save games. This is why I keep two drives now, one for a backup just in case this ever happened again.

Sounds like a hardware defective eMMC to me, so completely unrelated.

I was copying from one HDD to another. I don't keep anything on my eMMC. I checked it though it is Samsung so hopefully I'm okay touch wood.

 

[V10lator]

I was always under the assumption that the contents of the disk are encrypted using something unique to each disk / USB controller for each disk.

That's a common misunderstanding: The drive is encrypted with a key stored on the SEEPROM. This ROM doesn't change with the HDD, so a real 1:1 bit identical copy just works.

 

[rcpd]

That's a common misunderstanding: The drive is encrypted with a key stored on the SEEPROM. This ROM doesn't change with the HDD, so a real 1:1 bit identical copy just works.

As long as its a "raw" clone, it should work. The only way I know of doing a 1:1 raw clone drive is in linux using "dd". There may be other ways on Windows, but I'm assuming the drive is formatted with a filesystem that Windows will have zero clue how to handle so it will only give you the option to format it.

Linux (dd specifically) doesn't give two craps about filesystems.

 

[Lostbhoy]

Well I learned something today that I was always afraid of losing so ama get me a new hdd now!!

Thanks for the clarification @V10lator and @godreborn and apologies again for the misinformation!

 

[Laf111]

Well I learned something today that I was always afraid of losing so ama get me a new hdd now!!

Thanks for the clarification @V10lator and @godreborn and apologies again for the misinformation!

Well, personally i failed to do so.

I can't remember which tool i used for the RAW copy (R-Drive Image or EaseUS...) but it didn't work...

 

[godreborn]

Well, personally i failed to do so.

I can't remember which tool i used for the RAW copy (R-Drive Image or EaseUS...) but it didn't work...

the only two things that come to mind are: were they the same size and did you format the system before using the new drive? formatting changes the seeprom by one.

 

[V10lator]

Well, personally i failed to do so.

I can't remember which tool i used for the RAW copy (R-Drive Image or EaseUS...) but it didn't work...

Interresting. On linux I would just use dd, like dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdY bs=4K. No idea why it failed with the Windows tools but if I would have to guess I would say they didn't do a raw copy but altered the data somehow.

 

[rcpd]

Interresting. On linux I would just use dd, like `dd If=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdY bs=4K`. No idea why it failed with the Windows tools but if I would have to guess I would say they didn't do a raw copy but altered the data somehow.

This is how I would have done it as well. As long as the drives are identical in size, dd doesn’t care about any external factors like file systems. It will raw copy from one disk to another. The name is “diskdump”… It does exactly that, and it does it well.

 

[V10lator]

doesn’t care about any external factors like file systems

Exactly and as the drive gets abstracted away by USB mass storage there's also zero possibility the Wii U could check the drives serial or any other low level details (+ we successfully cloned Wii U drives, so the method is proven to work).

 

[rcpd]

Exactly and as the drive gets abstracted away by USB mass storage there's also zero possibility the Wii U could check the drives serial or any other low level details (+ we successfully cloned Wii U drives, so the method is proven to work).

That’s good to know. I don’t have anything on there I can’t re-obtain currently but once the eShop shuts down for redownloads, a backup might come in handy.