Hacking Q about new HDD for both Wii & GC backups

[Qetzlcoatl]

Hi,ppl!
I'm using WBFS formatted USB HDD for Wii backups without any problems, launching them with USB Loader GX and/or NeoGamma.
But it is almost full.
Also I want to put some GC backups on disc to use with DIOS MIOS.
So I need to buy new HDD but not really understood what size will work for sure and how it must be formatted.
Does 2TB will work?
Does it need to be divided in 2 partitions and first of them must be FAT32 with 32K clusters for DIOS MIOS to work?
What is maximum size of FAT32? What is "practical" size for DIOS MIOS?
What type of second partition I should set during partitioning to use it as WBFS partition for USB Loader GX?
What is maximum size for it? Can it be maintained using Wii Backup Manager like it was with single partition on HDD?

Thanks in advance!

 

[PsyBlade]

no need to make multiple partitions
use one large fat32 one

 

[Qetzlcoatl]

use one large fat32 one

Does FAT32 can be 2TB large?
What with Wii backups greater than 4GB? Does it divided to 4GB chunks or so? What loader works with "split" backups?

 

[Keylogger]

Don't use a WBFS partition, it's useless!

I actually use a FAT32 formatted 1TB HDD (2TB work too)
I have one "wbfs" folder on it for Wii backups and a "games" folder for NGC backups.

You can use one HDD for both

 

[Qetzlcoatl]

I actually use a FAT32 formatted 1TB HDD (2TB work too)

Hm....
DIOS MIOS need 32K clusters, not 64K. As far as I know It will limit FAT32 partition to 1TB size.
So, if I need both DIOS MIOS to work and >1TB for Wii backups I'm forced to divide HDD to FAT32 and WBFS partitions...

 

[Keylogger]

use one large fat32 one

Does FAT32 can be 2TB large?
What with Wii backups greater than 4GB? Does it divided to 4GB chunks or so? What loader works with "split" backups?

Yes, 2TB is the largest size for FAT32.

If your Wii backups greater than 4GB, it'll be split into 2 files "backup.wbfs1" and "backup.wbfs2" and all loaders support splitted Wii backups (USB Loader GX, Wiilflow, configurable USB Loader, ...)

---

 

[jalaneme]

Don't use a WBFS partition, it's useless!

why do people keep saying that? fat 32 format has its limits too.

 

[Qetzlcoatl]

Or 2 FAT32 partitions.
One Fat32 with 32k cluster and another with 64k

Does USB Loader GX and Neo Gamma will find Wii backups on second partition without any problems?
What do You think about "32k clusters FAT32" partition for GC backups + NTFS partition for Wii backups?
Does 300G enough for "all most popular GC titles"?

 

[Keylogger]

Or 2 FAT32 partitions.
One Fat32 with 32k cluster and another with 64k

Does USB Loader GX and Neo Gamma will find Wii backups on second partition without any problems?
What do You think about "32k clusters FAT32" partition for GC backups + NTFS partition for Wii backups?
Does 300G enough for "all most popular GC titles"?

Don't know for NeoGamma but USB Loader GX will find all your partitions.

A GC backup is almost 1GB... So yes, a 300GB partition is large enough

 

[JN_big3]

Man 2TB is very big. Just get 1TB. I have a 800GB NTFS partition for my Wii games and files. And I have a 200GB FAT32 partition for my GC games.

If I were you, I would make a FAT32 Partition for GC games because FAT32 has it's limits like the size limit (A file bigger than 4.7GB can't be transferred to a FAT32 Device). Meanwhile, NTFS doesn't have size limits.

Also FYI, DIOS MIOS doesn't support WBFS, it only supports FAT32 for now. You can use wiibackupmanager to split/compress a size of a Wii ISO. But you can't use wiibackupmanager to split/compress a GC ISO. Check this for more details about DIOS MIOS.

 

[smf]

DIOS MIOS need 32K clusters, not 64K. As far as I know It will limit FAT32 partition to 1TB size.

According to Microsoft:

"The maximum disk size is approximately 8 terabytes when you take into account the following variables: The maximum possible number of clusters on a FAT32 volume is 268,435,445, and there is a maximum of 32 KB per cluster, along with the space required for the file allocation table (FAT)."

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314463

 

[tueidj]

That page lists windows XP limitations. Modern OSes (and most wii apps besides DM) have no problem with clusters larger than 32KB.

 

[gizmomelb]

hiya,

as I posted elsewhere on these forums:

thanks guys.. so then the 'best' probable setup is format the entire USB HDD as FAT32 with 32K clusters - that way it will work with:

- DIOS MIOS and GC games
- emulated NAND
- Virtual Console and Wiiware games
- 'normal' Wii USB loaders with the games in .WBFS or .ISO format (as long as they're less than 4GB in size)
- Home Brew Wii software

might be useful to sticky somewhere if this is the case.. I know I've spent ages today looking through threads and forums, and the recommendations are all over the place.""

I found a freeware Windows utlity which can happily format 2TB partitions as FAT32 with 32K clusters - go download from here - http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

 

[smf]

That page lists windows XP limitations. Modern OSes (and most wii apps besides DM) have no problem with clusters larger than 32KB.

When I want to attach a drive larger than 8tb to my wii, then maybe I'll give it a go.

I found a freeware Windows utlity which can happily format 2TB partitions as FAT32 with 32K clusters - go download from here - http://www.ridgecrop...m?guiformat.htm

I thought that was what everyone used already. Is it not already stickied?

 

[Qetzlcoatl]

as I posted elsewhere on these forums:
thanks guys.. so then the 'best' probable setup is format the entire USB HDD as FAT32 with 32K clusters - that way it will work with:
- DIOS MIOS and GC games
- emulated NAND
- Virtual Console and Wiiware games
- 'normal' Wii USB loaders with the games in .WBFS or .ISO format (as long as they're less than 4GB in size)
- Home Brew Wii software

Hmm....
I've got my 2TB drive, format it to FAT32 with 32K clusters, transfer all my Wii backups from old 500GB WBFS drive to new one and connect it to Wii.
USBLoader GX 2.3 saw them fine (but show me wrong free space - about 240GB instead of about 1500GB) and able to run games from it.
But when I replace it with 3.0 version + upgrade to release 1191 than USBLoader GX unable to see this drive anymore.
What can be wrong?

 

[icebrg5]

as I posted elsewhere on these forums:
thanks guys.. so then the 'best' probable setup is format the entire USB HDD as FAT32 with 32K clusters - that way it will work with:
- DIOS MIOS and GC games
- emulated NAND
- Virtual Console and Wiiware games
- 'normal' Wii USB loaders with the games in .WBFS or .ISO format (as long as they're less than 4GB in size)
- Home Brew Wii software

Hmm....
I've got my 2TB drive, format it to FAT32 with 32K clusters, transfer all my Wii backups from old 500GB WBFS drive to new one and connect it to Wii.
USBLoader GX 2.3 saw them fine (but show me wrong free space - about 240GB instead of about 1500GB) and able to run games from it.
But when I replace it with 3.0 version + upgrade to release 1191 than USBLoader GX unable to see this drive anymore.
What can be wrong?

Check in the settings menu of GX and make sure you have the right device selected.

 

[Qetzlcoatl]

Check in the settings menu of GX and make sure you have the right device selected.

Problem solved.
There was right device but wrong cIOS.
USBLoader GX 3.0 does not work with cIOS based on IOS58. Switch to IOS56 based cIOS fixed situation. At least I'm able to see all my Wii backups and dump GC backups from disk to HDD. (disk now split to 500G FAT + 1.5T NTFS)

Upd:Wii backups launched fine from NTFS partition but GC backups launch from FAT32 resulted in black screen (even no DM logo).

 

[killerloader]

Same problem here, Dios Mios obviously doesn't support my harddrive.
Fat32 100gb first partition 32k cluster size.
I can see the gamecube games in UsbloaderGX, but same problem as you, black screen and no dios mios logo.

I can play wii games also though

(SOmebody asked, is 300gb enough for all the popular gamecube games)
Yes, it is by far enough, i've got a 100gb partition, and i've only used around 40gb, and i have around 30-40 games on it.. all the games i would want ... BUT i can't play them now anyways :/