Hardware USB Hardware mod possible?

olku

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You could use HDD with external power supply or powered USB hub.
Also SSD drivers should work without Y-cable.
 
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aphirst

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@OldGnashburg How many devices are you intending to plug in at the same time?

I have plugged in:
  • mechanical USB HDD for Wii U content, bus-powered via a Y-cable, on the 2 front ports
  • ethernet adapter, onto one of the back ports
  • the Black cable for the official GC adapter, into the final back port (the Grey cable is only needed if you want to supply additional power for rumble to wired controllers)
And I run my Wii and GC games off of a 64GB SD card, to avoid the absolute nightmare of a multi-HDD setup (technically possible but is IMO a huge faff - not recommended).

I can indeed confirm that some 2.5" SSDs in conjunction with some USB-SATA adapters do get enough power through one (short) USB cable. But it would be a much better idea to use a powered USB-SATA adapter.
 

OldGnashburg

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@aphirst I was hoping to have a USB Powered 2TB HDD on one back port (for Wii U software), and another USB Powered 2TB HDD (split with a FAT32, NTFS, and RedNAND Partition) on the other back port, and then my Mayflash Adapter on the front. Right now I have a 1TB HDD taking up both back ports with a Y-Cable, and my Mayflash Adapter on the front ports. I absolutely refuse to get externally powered Hard Drives, because my Wii U already takes up 2 outlets (Console and Game Pad) and I think it would be certifiably insane to take up 2 more. Do you know of any 2TB HDD's that can run of just one Cable? Because right now it can't power a 1 TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim without a Y-Cable.
 

aphirst

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I sympathise with you.

I'm afraid I wouldn't be comfortable trying to recommend specific HDDs (or even SSDs) which can be powered from one port, due to how potentially sensitive that can be, and the consequences of connection failures.

The only 2 ways I can see you being able to have sufficient storage for both Wii U and Wii/GC, while also having your other peripherals plugged in, would be either
  1. Use 2 powered USB HDDs, in conjunction with the finickity sorcery required to get them both working https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-loader-gx-multiple-usb-drives.466416/#post-7216091
  2. Use a Y-cable USB HDD for Wii U content, and get a large SD for Wii/GC content (which works great for me)
 

OldGnashburg

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@aphirst I looked at the the thread you linked to. It mentione single HDD setup, where you installed Wii U software to NAND, and then transfer it onto a Primary MBR FAT32 Partition, decrypt and run it via a branch of Mocha, while still being able to use the HDD for GC and Wii software. What I'm curious about, is if I do that, would I be able to split the HDD so that FAT32 Partion remains Primary, and then hide a NTFS partition via UStealth, for Wii disc dumps. Or would the Wii U then not recognize the FAT32 Partition? And how would you go about decrypting GC Injects, they don't have a legitimate ticket, so would decryption work after you transfered and deleted it off NAND?
 

aphirst

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The questions about multiple HDDs are above my pay grade, I'm afraid. (I never got it working myself.)

I also don't have much experience with Wii/GC injects on the Wii U, since I just use CFG USB Loader, WiiFlow or Nintendont in the vWii proper.
 

godreborn

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possibly. I know the points for usb ports (4) are still on the ps3 slim I believe, so people have been modding the system to have a back usb port. maybe something like that could be done on the wii u? however, it already has four usb ports which is the perfect number really.
 

godreborn

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afaik, the wii u uses less than industry standards for its usb ports, so it might be dangerous not to use a y-cable with an unpowered drive. I'm not saying it won't work, but I'm not sure how the system would react. that hdd may be small enough to work without a problem though.
 
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Hayato213

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afaik, the wii u uses less than industry standards for its usb ports, so it might be dangerous not to use a y-cable with an unpowered drive. I'm not saying it won't work, but I'm not sure how the system would react. that hdd may be small enough to work without a problem though.

It depends on how much amp the HDD needs to be powered, I can power a 2.5 HDD with the PS TV without an external power source, even for my Wii U, I needed a y cable, not enough juice to power it.
 
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godreborn

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It depends on how much amp the HDD needs to be powered, I can power a 2.5 HDD with the PS TV without an external power source, even for my Wii U, I needed a y cable, not enough juice to power it.

I'm actually using the same make/model drive with both the 360 and the wii u. the 360 one had been using one port for several years, but after owning a wii u, I decided to use a y-cable with it. I'm not exactly sure if the hdd can run on the wii u with one usb port, but I didn't want to risk it. I'm actually using the same make/model drives for four of my backup drives. I'm also using one for the ps4 (backing up/installing pkgs). none of these have presented any problems, but I do know that the wii u at least, is using less than industry standards for its usb ports. maybe the others are as well. it really wouldn't surprise me. it's not something I've looked up.

tl;dr I didn't want to risk my hdd with the wii u. :P
 

SuperDan

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afaik, the wii u uses less than industry standards for its usb ports, so it might be dangerous not to use a y-cable with an unpowered drive. I'm not saying it won't work, but I'm not sure how the system would react. that hdd may be small enough to work without a problem though.
that makes perfect sense .. out of all the games on the 1TB HDD GC/Wii injects ect ect only Black OPs 2 ..Crashes From Time To Time Online but ..not that often at all ..i always thought it might be a semi bad dump ... or you know just they way it goes ... all in all im happy with it all ...

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

that makes perfect sense .. out of all the games on the 1TB HDD GC/Wii injects ect ect only Black OPs 2 ..Crashes From Time To Time Online but ..not that often at all ..i always thought it might be a semi bad dump ... or you know just they way it goes ... all in all im happy with it all ... would you recommend the Y cable then ?
 

godreborn

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I've heard of hdds working with the pstv with just a single cable, not powered. typically, those were 500GBs or less. perhaps, a larger drive like in the 2TB range would pose a problem. that's what I'm using.
 

DarkDengar

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I have a multi-hard drive setup (Two 2.5" drives, 450 GB and 750 GB that would normally go in a laptop). The way I get around there not being enough USB ports/power to go around it by plugging the data ends of 2 Y-cables into the Wii U and the other 2 power ends into an external powered USB hub, like one you might use to charge your phone (example). I'm not sure if there's any danger to doing it this way, but supposedly USB can regulate the power it needs and it has worked fine for over a year. To respond to your original question, I have not ever heard of someone modifying the amount of power delivered to the USB ports and I don't see good reason for going to the trouble since there are many alternatives that are much simpler. Then again... really, why not? If you attempt this, let us know how it goes. :)
 

godreborn

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fair doo's every time i read about Y cables it always seemed like it was a thing ...like the wii U would not read the HDD without it ...

one half of the cable is for power; the other for data transfers. a normal usb cable does both. iirc, Nintendo's official site (assuming they still have one for the wii u after how much of a failure the system was) suggests a y cable if the hdd is unpowered. tbh, I'm not sure how much power is needed for the hdd you have. I once tried to power a large hdd with the ps3 through a usb hub. with nothing else plugged into it, it killed the hdd instantly. I thought it was a fluke, so I tried another hdd through the same hub, dead instantly, so either the ps3 has this issue with certain drives or a usb hub isn't recommended especially if it's unpowered...I was trying to make two ports into four like the old phatties. point being -- it may or may not work. your taking a gamble though as my ps3 experience suggests, 'cause the hdd is likely to be killed instantly if it's not drawing enough power. :-/
 
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SuperDan

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Ah well that is a very good explanation.. I also hacked my ps3 ( I've become addicted to hacking consoles... Lol) but again I just used a normal USB port HDD.. & that was like 2 or more years ago... Again a 1TB one... & it's still working fine.. Maybe I got lucky... Or maybe I just jinxed myself... All the same if it's safer to get a Y cable... I might just buy some.. If they are cheap..??... I would be gutted if the wii U one died on me... As I would have to waste so much time.. Getting the games again... Wup installering all of them again.... So any links to cheapie Y cables would be a good bro.. Is there a specific type?.. I know all hard drives die eventually.. I've lost a few in the past... ( movie ones) and it's annoying af.. I tend to get Toshiba ones as I read a while back they last the longest.. Seagate being the worst.. & WD ones being in the mid ranges..
 

The Real Jdbye

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Would it be possible to hardmod a Wii U to supply more power to each USB port so you don't need to take up two USB for one hard drive?
Actually yes, someone has done exactly that. I'm not going to bother trying to dig up the thread right now, but what he did was simply bridge the power pins of the two rear USB ports. That means that you'll still in all likelihood only be able to use one of the rear ports at a time, unless the other device plugged in is really low power, but it's probably the best you can (safely) get. I wouldn't suggest trying to tap into a 5V line elsewhere on the board as you don't know how much power that line can provide, it could fry components due to overcurrent, especially if for some reason an USB device shorts out.
 
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godreborn

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Ah well that is a very good explanation.. I also hacked my ps3 ( I've become addicted to hacking consoles... Lol) but again I just used a normal USB port HDD.. & that was like 2 or more years ago... Again a 1TB one... & it's still working fine.. Maybe I got lucky... Or maybe I just jinxed myself... All the same if it's safer to get a Y cable... I might just buy some.. If they are cheap..??... I would be gutted if the wii U one died on me... As I would have to waste so much time.. Getting the games again... Wup installering all of them again.... So any links to cheapie Y cables would be a good bro.. Is there a specific type?.. I know all hard drives die eventually.. I've lost a few in the past... ( movie ones) and it's annoying af.. I tend to get Toshiba ones as I read a while back they last the longest.. Seagate being the worst.. & WD ones being in the mid ranges..

I just bought my second 10TB hdd, and it's a WD. I've had hdds die too, but those two with the ps3 were unexpected. in all likelihood, it was the hub that sealed their fate. :(
 
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