Hardware Can I remove the Wii U optical drive?

[swankerme]

I do not ever plan on using a retail disc. The optical drive is very loud - can I remove it without negative effect?

 

[Hayato213]

It is making loud noise with digital games?

 

[swankerme]

It is making loud noise with digital games?

I'm referring to the loud noise when switching between Wii U and vWii. My assumption is that this noise is the optical drive.

 

[Hayato213]

I'm referring to the loud noise when switching between Wii U and vWii. My assumption is that this noise is the optical drive.

That is normal, it does that when swapping between Vwii and Wii U.

 

[xYuunax]

I do not ever plan on using a retail disc. The optical drive is very loud - can I remove it without negative effect?

You can remove the drive, but you need to keep the drive motherboard intact and plugged.

If not, the system will give an error during boot and shutdown afterwards.

Source:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/will-wi...isc-drive-attached.349468/page-3#post-6956001

 

[swankerme]

That is normal, it does that when swapping between Vwii and Wii U.

Yes, I know it's normal - but I'm assuming I can get rid of that noise by removing the optical drive.

 

[Hayato213]

Yes, I know it's normal - but I'm assuming I can get rid of that noise by removing the optical drive.

I guess you can't fully operate the wii u without the optical drive, you could always put the unit somewhere away from where you are sitting at , so it won't be so noisy like on a wall shelf.

 

[swankerme]

Do I have to disassemble the optical drive to acceess the drive motherboard? Or can I just leave the pictured ribbon cable floating in the console?

You can remove the drive, but you need to keep the drive motherboard intact and plugged.

If not, the system will give an error during boot and shutdown afterwards.

Source:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/will-wi...isc-drive-attached.349468/page-3#post-6956001

 

[xYuunax]

Do I have to disassemble the optical drive to acceess the drive motherboard? Or can I just leave the pictured ribbon cable floating in the console?

Check the video in the thread I posted, it shows you how to dissemble it.....

 

[swankerme]

I missed the post with the video. I'll give it a try later and provide an update here for anyone curious.

 

[swankerme]

For anyone interested, I completed this mod today. It took me about 45 minutes, taking my time. Very simple to accomplish.

My Wii U is now amazingly quiet. It no longer makes the loud whirring noises when starting up and switching between Wii U and vWii.

Highly recommended for anyone who doesn't use physical discs.

 

[ScorpInferno]

For anyone interested, I completed this mod today. It took me about 45 minutes, taking my time. Very simple to accomplish.

My Wii U is now amazingly quiet. It no longer makes the loud whirring noises when starting up and switching between Wii U and vWii.

Highly recommended for anyone who doesn't use physical discs.

How did you get this running? I'm trying to do the same but it's repeatedly giving me the error 160-1400 (both with CMOS and without CMOS inserted).

 

[V10lator]

You did watch the video, right? If so: Disconnect the motors and the laser inside of the drive but reconnect the drive itself with the motherboard. That way the whole drive will be visible to CafeOS but it won't be able to read a disc nor produce any sound.

 

[godreborn]

I don't recall any loud noises when going from wii u to vwii or back, and I play my system daily. I can hear the fan crank up, when going from vwii to wii u, but that's about it from what I remember., and it's only for a couple of seconds

 

[MrCokeacola]

I don't recall any loud noises when going from wii u to vwii or back, and I play my system daily. I can hear the fan crank up, when going from vwii to wii u, but that's about it from what I remember., and it's only for a couple of seconds

I hear the drive... maybe your drive is dead?

 

[godreborn]

if you mean the initialization sound, it's not very loud with my wii u. I can hear it, but it doesn't bother me at all. my drive isn't dead, because I have nintendo land inside of it always, and the game appears over the disc channel every time.

 

[gurusnort]

You did watch the video, right? If so: Disconnect the motors and the laser inside of the drive but reconnect the drive itself with the motherboard. That way the whole drive will be visible to CafeOS but it won't be able to read a disc nor produce any sound.

The video from the other thread was unfortunately taken down. Do you maybe know, if there is any other guide to do the disconnecting part with the motors and the laser?

Edit: I tried to google them both, do I just have to disconnect the things marked in the attached picture? Or something else?