Hardware What is the best External Harddrive for the Wii

veggav · Nov 25, 2022

ca032769 said:
A 2TB and under will be the easiest to setup, but it really depends on how may games you have or want to have on the drive. I have ALL the US Wii & GameCube titles, plus quite a few EU titles & some JP titles on one single drive which takes up about 4.5TB, so you'd want a 5TB drive to have everything in one place on one drive. See the last link in my signature if you want to more about using drives larger than 2TB and there are a few pictures at the end of that post.

I'm considering doing the same here, full set GC and WII on my WII modded with internal HDMI (Wii Dual project).

On my setup I have a powered usb dockstation so power isn't an issue.
And I have a 8TB drive that I took out of my NAS after replacing it with a seagate exos 18TB.

My question is, to be able to play the games you need first a 2TB Fat32 partition for the game cube set (eur/jap/us) all uncompressed.
Because Nintendont doesn't work wtih NTFS.

And the rest of the drive NTFS for all Wii isos?
I'm looking into NTFS for the WII games to avoiding having to split the files with any backup manager.

Is this the way to go? Can this be done and should work?

Sypherone · Nov 25, 2022

Did you checked (simple Powershell command) the drive for the native and used sectorsize? In case it uses 4k (4096b) it can be format with fat32 up to 8TB(32b)/16TB(64b) without problems. Just check here for some more details and how to check.

If you want a two partition drive (not recommended) you will need to check if the drive can use MBR, as some drive doesnt alow to use it. And as Nintendont and a lot of other homebrew require MBR partitiontable, not GPT. If the drive only can use GPT, multiple partion may not work with USB Loaders because using GPT with them is bugged.

MBR partition-table supports 4 primary partitions or up to 8 extended partitions. GPT is bugged.
Other filessystem orders are possible e.g. NTFS only, WBFS+FAT, NFTS+WBFS, FAT+NTFS or any combination in fact.

In case if 512byte sector size is used exist theoretically two possible solutions.

Creating a fake MBR. A Guide by @ca032769 How to use a larger drive then 2TB on a Wii
Or recommended by @nexxusty using a ASM1153/ASM1153E USB 3.0 enclosure/adapter for emulating 4k sector size.

Additional info:

Fat32 and MBR are 32bit based and on a drive with physical sector-size of 512 Byte limited to a max drive size of 2TB. On upcoming generation 2 drives with "Advanced Format" (AF) the sector size is 4096b (4kn = native) and limited to 8TB(32kb)/16TB(64kb) drive size.
The (v)Wii itself can`t adress more then 2^32 sectors. Therefore on drives bigger 2TB with physical 512b sectorsize, max the first 2TB can be read/used.

Yoyal · Nov 26, 2022

Draxikor said:
@Yoyal
It affects, if you use 1tb you don't need to do any extra configuration but with 2tb things get more complicated and you need to do extra steps to make it work well.

From 4tb onwards I understand that some have been able to make them work on the Wii (depending on the brand and model of the hdd) but they are only able to use 2tb even if the HDD has more space.

Thanks for the guidance bro

I will probs just buy a 2TB

JaernetStrongrogg · Dec 2, 2022

urherenow said:
WD have always had short lives in my experience. I've had better luck (and better price per gb) with Seagate, myself...

Oh, and you will NEVER find a HDD that isn't USB 2.0 compatible. All USB devices work on all USB controllers (power requirements being the only real limitation, worked around with the aforementioned Y cable). The speed you get, depends on the max speed of both the device and the port.

I completely agree with you. All my Western Digital external HDDs have always been surprisingly short lived. I bough another one (wd mypassport) for my wii around two years ago cause it was recommended here on the forum but unfortunately it just crashes recently in the middle of a game of Rayman.

N8daGr8 · Dec 19, 2022

urherenow said:
WD have always had short lives in my experience. I've had better luck (and better price per gb) with Seagate, myself...

Oh, and you will NEVER find a HDD that isn't USB 2.0 compatible. All USB devices work on all USB controllers (power requirements being the only real limitation, worked around with the aforementioned Y cable). The speed you get, depends on the max speed of both the device and the port.

What is the Y cable?
I’ve never heard of that. I’m also looking for a new Wii HDD.
Thanks

mikefor20 · Dec 19, 2022

I use a WD P10 5TB game drive. I attached it to a powered usb hub. I formated it to "xp compatible mode" using the tutorial here on the Temp. The Wii sees all 5TB and it will fit all Wii/GC games as well as all the roms for the emulators.

Wii Complete

jeannotte · Dec 19, 2022

N8daGr8 said:
What is the Y cable?

Hello,

cable Y ===> example ==>

a Y-cable is used to give more power to the hard drive, to work better with the wii.

if you buy an external hard drive, maybe this one, don't need a Y-cable. (it will work without a Y-cable)

use a Western Digital external hard drive, it works well with the wii (may you need a Y-cable with the wii. ===> it's up to you

urherenow · Dec 21, 2022

N8daGr8 said:
What is the Y cable?
I’ve never heard of that. I’m also looking for a new Wii HDD.
Thanks

Some older mechanical drives need a bit more power than a single USB port can provide (ESPECIALLY on the Wii). A "Y" cable looks like a "Y". One end plugs into the drive, and it has 2 A-type connectors. One of the two is just for that extra power.

SylverReZ · May 3, 2023

WD My Passport drives seem to be the best for Wii games.

YT_TheBubbyBubs · May 10, 2023

jeannotte said:
Hello,

Just a little info:

Get yourself an external hard drive of the brand "Western digital" (max 2 T0),

If however, you would like a hard drive beyond 2 T0, see this person, she will inform you correctly ==> @ca032769

in general these discs work very well with wii.
Format in fat 32 and can be used a Y cable for better connectivity.

Do not take discs of non-reputable sub brands, you will be disappointed.

Thanks, There were so many options on Amazon and I was wondering which one to get

mikefor20 · May 10, 2023

YT_TheBubbyBubs said:
Thanks, There were so many options on Amazon and I was wondering which one to get

That guy was wrong.

You can have larger than 2TB. I am running this.

WD P10 gaming drive 5TB

https://a.co/d/cHERiZE

I formatted it using the tutorial I linked earlier. The entire 5TB is usable and visible.

I have a y cable. It works. I also use this powered hub sometimes...

https://a.co/d/hdvNIw2

Cuprium · May 14, 2023

mikefor20 said:
That guy was wrong.

You can have larger than 2TB. I am running this.

WD P10 gaming drive 5TB

https://a.co/d/cHERiZE

I formatted it using the tutorial I linked earlier. The entire 5TB is usable and visible.

I have a y cable. It works. I also use this powered hub sometimes...

https://a.co/d/hdvNIw2

How old is your drive? From other posts, WD changed the firmware mid-2022 so they can't use 4k and FAT32 for the entire volume. If anyone has bought a new retail 5tb drive recently and can format the full volume as FAT32, please let the forum know!

mcfry666 · Jun 5, 2023

Tetsuo Shima said:
I use a Toshiba canvio basic 2tb and I have zero issues, no need for y cable and external AC adapter.

Could you please tell me which version you have? Toshiba canvio has the following versions: Gaming, Ready, Basic, Advance and flex

Tetsuo Shima · Jun 5, 2023

mcfry666 said:
Could you please tell me which version you have? Toshiba canvio has the following versions: Gaming, Ready, Basic, Advance and flex

basic

mcfry666 · Jun 5, 2023

Tetsuo Shima said:
basic

Thanks for responding

i just wanted to be sure before placing an order.

Hardware What is the best External Harddrive for the Wii

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