Can I plug my hard drive w/ y-cable into a powered USB hub?

TheDerpyDolphin · Mar 19, 2023

Recently bought a powered USB hub for my Wii U to give me more USB ports and to reduce wear and tear on the built-in ones on the front. Can I plug the powered hub into the console and then plug the y-cable for my hard drive into the hub without any problems, or should the y-cable continue to be plugged directly into the console?

V10lator · Mar 19, 2023

TheDerpyDolphin said:
Can I plug the powered hub into the console and then plug the y-cable for my hard drive into the hub without any problems

Yes. It might work even with a normal (not Y) USB cable but that depends on the hub.

Chaoticus · Mar 19, 2023

Is your hard drive SSD or HDD??

TheDerpyDolphin · Mar 19, 2023

Chaoticus said:
Is your hard drive SSD or HDD??

HDD

Ryab · Mar 19, 2023

TheDerpyDolphin said:
Recently bought a powered USB hub for my Wii U to give me more USB ports and to reduce wear and tear on the built-in ones on the front. Can I plug the powered hub into the console and then plug the y-cable for my hard drive into the hub without any problems, or should the y-cable continue to be plugged directly into the console?

You could try it for sure. If it doesnt work the system will just not show the installed titles until its detected.

V10lator · Mar 19, 2023

Zyvyn said:
You could try it for sure.

It should just work. USB standard sais 500 mA per port, which is exactly what the Wii U does. The hub should at least follow the standart, most likely even break it by allowing more (like 99% of USB hosts, that's why I said it might even work without Y cable).

Chaoticus · Mar 19, 2023

For writing data (installing games) you can plug one end of the Y end into anything 500ma and up. I have been running a SSD with a single wire for about 3/4 of a year now with no problems. The ONLY time so far that I needed a Y is for installing games, otherwise I've not run into any problems. I know Nintendo recommends a HDD with a Y but from my personal experience what I've written works.

V10lator · Mar 19, 2023

Chaoticus said:
otherwise I've not run into any problems

Except these rare little crashes and other things you can't explain, right?

See, most of the time the HDD is doing light stuff, esp as it's limitted to USB 2.0, but sometimes

Chaoticus said:
I needed a Y is for installing games

or maybe you download with NUSspli and get unrecoverable filesystem errors... Or stuff like that...

In other words: It might work most of the times but just save yourself the hassle and use a Y cable all the time.

TheDerpyDolphin · Mar 21, 2023

Just a small update: I hooked up the y-cable to the USB hub and the hard drive seemed to work okay with the few games I tested it on. I the tried to have the “main” plug of the y-cable hooked to the console and the secondary plug hooked up to the hub, but the drive made clicking noises when the Wii U was in standby mode, as if it was being forced on and off due to inconsistent power or something, so I returned both plugs to the hub.
Otherwise thanks to everyone who replied for your insight.

Kilroy5150 · Apr 4, 2023

TheDerpyDolphin said:
Recently bought a powered USB hub for my Wii U to give me more USB ports and to reduce wear and tear on the built-in ones on the front. Can I plug the powered hub into the console and then plug the y-cable for my hard drive into the hub without any problems, or should the y-cable continue to be plugged directly into the console?

You don't necessarily need a y-cable. I've got one powered external drive plugged into the bottom plug and a portable USB plugged into the top (for Wii emulation). It's run without any problems because i used the app to hide drives made for Windows (UStealth). It would probably be better using 2 powered drives but so far so good.