Hacking Wiiflow, GPT, MBR, max drive size?

[d8thstar]

Hi all,

I just bought a 4tb portable drive, thinking I would be able to partition it to 2tb FAT32 (32kb clusters) and 2tb NTFS.

Once partitioned, I copied over the contents of my current HD to the appropriate partition.


I booted my Wii (which goes straight into Wiiflow) and I got the “exception dsi” error page. Unplugging the new drive, plugging in the old, everything works. FYI, the old drive is 3tb total with a 1tb Fat32 and 2tb NTFS.


Looking at the old drive and new drive with EaseUS, I see that the old drive is MBR whereas the new drive is GPT. Thinking that may be the issue, I deleted the partitions, set the drive as MBR but now I can’t seem to get two 2tb partitions on it.


EaseUS is able to make the first “primary” partition of 2tb (1.9 actually) Fat32 but when it comes time to make the second partition, it is only letting me do about 190gb, the rest of the drive is “unallocated” and I can’t seem to allocate it.


Anyone have any ideas on something I can try?

 

[Clutz450]

Yeah, I have used both a 3TB drive and 4TB drive. 32k clusters is only good up to 2TB. What you are going to want to do is format the entire drive to FAT32 with 64k cluster size with EaseUS Partition Master. USB Loader GX, Nintendont and neek2o all work with my drive setup like that.

Is there any reason why you were trying to keep one is the partitions as NTFS? If it's because of the 4GB filet size limit, don't worry about that. Just use Wii Backup Manager to copy over your larger games and it will automatically split them for. They still work perfectly and you won't notice any difference.

 

[d8thstar]

Yeah, I have used both a 3TB drive and 4TB drive. 32k clusters is only good up to 2TB. What you are going to want to do is format the entire drive to FAT32 with 64k cluster size with EaseUS Partition Master. USB Loader GX, Nintendont and neek2o all work with my drive setup like that.

Is there any reason why you were trying to keep one is the partitions as NTFS? If it's because of the 4GB filet size limit, don't worry about that. Just use Wii Backup Manager to copy over your larger games and it will automatically split them for. They still work perfectly and you won't notice any difference.

thanks for the response! I had thought wiiflow only liked 32kb clusters?

 

[Clutz450]

thanks for the response! I had thought wiiflow only liked 32kb clusters?

I have never used WiiFlow so I can't say it will definitely work. But I do know that USB Loader GX works. So give WiiFlow a shot with 64k clusters and let me know how you make out.

 

[d8thstar]

I have never used WiiFlow so I can't say it will definitely work. But I do know that USB Loader GX works. So give WiiFlow a shot with 64k clusters and let me know how you make out.

will give it a go. you say nintendont works? I had thought GameCube games only liked 32kb clusters? I'll give it a shot tonight and report back, thanks!

 

[VashTS]

thanks for the response! I had thought wiiflow only liked 32kb clusters?

You're probably thinking the original Nintendon't and Quadforce, they required 32kb clusters. I believe the limitation is no longer a thing.

 

[Clutz450]

will give it a go. you say nintendont works? I had thought GameCube games only liked 32kb clusters? I'll give it a shot tonight and report back, thanks!

Nintendont definitely works with FAT32 64k clusters. Just make sure that your put your Gamecube games on your hard drive first. I've heard a rumor that Nintendont can't read games that are beyond the 2TB mark. Not sure if it's true but just in case.

 

[d8thstar]

right on guys, really appreciate the feedback!

 

[Cyan]

Nintendont definitely works with FAT32 64k clusters. Just make sure that your put your Gamecube games on your hard drive first. I've heard a rumor that Nintendont can't read games that are beyond the 2TB mark. Not sure if it's true but just in case.

Latest nintendont revision added GPT partition type.
I don't know if it still has issue with games located above the 2TB mark, but (if it does) what you can do is make a 2TB FAT32 partition at the start of the drive, and another partition on the second area. keep gamecube games on the first partition.
Wii games can be on either partition and all USB loaders work with GPT.

 

[d8thstar]

so i can't even format this 4tb drive as FAT32 64kb clusters. EaseUS is only letting me do 2tb.

I don't know what's going on, my 3TB drivehas two partitions, first is 1tb Fat32, second is 2tb NTFS. but this 4tb drive, I'm lost!

 

[Clutz450]

That's weird. I had no problem with either of my drives. Try following this guide below and see if it helps.

http://www.wiihacks.com/showthread.php?t=96770

 

[d8thstar]

this is SO frustrating, everything i try it behaves the same way. i guess i am stuck with my 3tb then.

 

[Clutz450]

Are you sure you are changing the cluster size to 64k. The only way that I can think if why it won't do over 2TB is because you still have 32k clusters set somewhere.

 

[GreyWolf]

Use disk management to create the empty partitions as raw then use something else to format them.

 

[d8thstar]

Use disk management to create the empty partitions as raw then use something else to format them.

I've tried everything, I'm so frustrated. Can anyone confirm the following and if so, what program did you use?

4tb drive, two 2tb partitions
First formatted as fat32
Second as ntfs

I use easeus and as soon as I pick fat32, it won't let me extend that first partition over 2tb, fine. But when I pick the second partition, it only lets me do 190gb, leaving 1.8tb as us allocated space.

This is KILLING ME.

 

[Vanth88]

I can't speak for your drive but when I bought my 3TB I had a few issues getting it to work with Nintendont, USBLGX, and my PS3. In fact it was a really big pain in the ass and it didn't help that Nintendont only worked with FAT32 which limited my options.

I was able to partition my entire drive as a FAT32 with 64kb allocation size. I think the tool I used was http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

I can't remember if I used this to setup 2 partitions or not, but I did have a NTFS/FAt32 setup at one time. Yet I could never get Nintendont to work right, and my PS3 refused to work no matter which setup I used. Either way try it out and let us know how it goes.

Oh and I did manage to fix my problem. I formatted my entire 3TB as NTFS and used a 32GB SD card for my Gamecube games.

 

[Clutz450]

What kind of portable drive do you have?

 

[GreyWolf]

I always use the Ridgecrop tool, too.

 

[Clutz450]

soon as I pick fat32, it won't let me extend that first partition over 2tb

So you are trying to extend the first partition? That may be the issue. Did you follow the guide I linked to earlier which had you format the whole drive which would then show the whole drive as unallocated space? Then you can choose to format the whole drive to FAT32 with 64k clusters.

 

[d8thstar]

hi guys,

drive is a 4tb seagate backup plus. same make/model as the 3tb drive i currently have and i was able to format and partition that sucker just fine with the eases tool.

ridgecrop tool says i can't format as fat32 anything over 2tb.

Clutz450, yes sir, i did follow the directions precisely. no sir, not trying to extend the first partition. let me try and explain better.

following your directions, drive is cleared and in a raw state with one large unallocated size of 3.7tb. when i get to step 6, i name my volume, i select primary, drive later W, as soon as i pick Fat32, the bar representing the partition size (see example pic for set 7) cuts in half to 2tb and it won't let me slide the tail end of the drive into the unallocated space. in addition, the drop down box for cluster size disappears.

i would LOVE one large 4tb partition but would be 100% happy with two 2tb partitions (like my 3tb is parted 1tb fat32, 2tb NTFS) but I can't even seem to get that going.

i appreciate all the help guys, i promise you i'm not an idiot