Extend Y cable for HDD? Or powered hub? Or something else entirely?

MLConian · Mar 26, 2023

So I recently put Tiramisu on my Wii U, and I'm now getting back into using the little black marvel. I found that I've only got about 1GB left on my internal memory, and with the homebrew that I want to try, that seems... a little lacking. So I've been looking for ways to hook up external memory to my Wii U, and I've found 1 constantly returning, very annoying factor: the USB ports don't provide enough power, so you need a Y cable.
Now, I'm very sensitive to sound, which is also why my Xbox One X has QuietPC's AcoustiFeet and its external drive is connected to a long extension cord, allowing me to place it outside the shelves where the Xbox is. It literally sits on the floor, a good 30 centimeters underneath the Xbox, because no matter what I did, the whole TV cabinet would resonate (my wife doesn't hear it, I do, and it drives me mad - this simple solution solves that). It's the humming that pounds in my ears. If I were to connect an external drive to my Wii U, it would need to be silent as well. I was hoping an SSD would be an option, but I keep reading stuff about the Wii U wearing those things out almost as quickly as it wears out thumbdrives.
So then, I'd be tied to an actual HDD, which would sit right next to my Xbox HDD (I might even throw in a third one for the vWii at some point), which would mean I'd need at least 1.2 meters of cable. Is it possible to plug a Y cable into the back of the console, and then hook up the actual HDD through an extension cord? I keep seeing 2 varieties of Y cable - one that has 2 male connectors and 1 female, and one that has 2 male USB-A connectors and 1 micro USB-B connector (so essentially the default external HDD connector), and I'm not sure whether the prior would accept another extension. Both varieties are very short, ranging from 20cm to 35cm, so the latter wouldn't be an option either way. My other option would be a powered USB hub, but I'm not sure if the Wii U plays nice with those things.

Any advise?

V10lator · Mar 26, 2023

Extension cables put in some resistance, so I wouldn't do it. A powered hub is fine through.

r1vver · Mar 26, 2023

Don't get too carried away with the length.
The first link from search about lengths and standards:
https://www.yourcablestore.com/USB-Cable-Length-Limitations-And-How-To-Break-Them_ep_42-1.html

The 2.0 specification limits the length of a cable between USB 2.0 devices (Full Speed or Hi-Speed) to 5 meters (or about 16 feet and 5 inches).
The 3.0/3.1 specification does not specify a maximum cable length between USB 3.0/3.1 devices (SuperSpeed or SuperSpeed+), but there is a recommended length of 3 meters (or about 9 feet and 10 inches).
However, the biggest limitation to the length of the cable is the quality of the cable.

This refers to a regular (passive) USB cable. And it's about data transmission.

There will also be a drop in voltage.
The longer the cable, the greater the drop. The better the cable conductors (thicker, more copper), the lower the drop.
So you need a cable with thicker power conductors. And the longer the cable, the thicker they should be.

A meter and a half isn't much, but don't forget that (some) manufacturers almost always cheekily lies. They knows about economics and marketing and the (minimally reasonable) cable labeled 28+24AWG (28 for data and 24 for power) can easily turn out to be trashy 30+30AWG.

So the option with an active hub or the option with disk enclosure with its own power supply is not so bad after all.
I would probably also try making a vibration-absorbing pad under the disk.

Update: By the way, try lining the inside of the shelf with sound-absorbing material.
That is, not only the "floor" of shelf but also the side and back "walls" and the "ceiling" of shelf. Maybe it's not so much a vibration as an echo.

V10lator · Mar 26, 2023

@r1vver The question wasn't about long cables in general but (passive) extension cables as the OP can't find a long enough Y cable. While you're right that a longer cable will have a higher resistance and as such a voltage drop this is even more true for extension cables as the connection between the cables will have a high resistance.

This is why I said I wouldn't try it but use a powered hub (and a long cable between hub and Wii U).

Hayato213 · Mar 26, 2023

I guess the question come down to if you want a power hub dangling around your wii u, if you just want two wires that is connected to your wii u then go with a y cable, so you should either look for a enclosure that support usb 2.0 or 3.0 micro usb see below.

Ettino · Mar 26, 2023

Just get a SSD. I've been using Silicon power 512 gb ssd for a year now and it's perfectly fine. Grab a sata to usb cable as well, plug and play all the way no need for y cable.

Unless you want to jump through all those hoops.

MLConian · Mar 26, 2023

r1vver said:
Don't get too carried away with the length.
The first link from search about lengths and standards:
https://www.yourcablestore.com/USB-Cable-Length-Limitations-And-How-To-Break-Them_ep_42-1.html

This refers to a regular (passive) USB cable. And it's about data transmission.

There will also be a drop in voltage.
The longer the cable, the greater the drop. The better the cable conductors (thicker, more copper), the lower the drop.
So you need a cable with thicker power conductors. And the longer the cable, the thicker they should be.

A meter and a half isn't much, but don't forget that (some) manufacturers almost always cheekily lies. They knows about economics and marketing and the (minimally reasonable) cable labeled 28+24AWG (28 for data and 24 for power) can easily turn out to be trashy 30+30AWG.

So the option with an active hub or the option with disk enclosure with its own power supply is not so bad after all.
I would probably also try making a vibration-absorbing pad under the disk.

It just needs to sit under the shelf - 1 meter to 1.5 meters, max. I know the woes of extending USB beyond its capabilities, as I do IT for K12 institutes and those people love changing around classroom orientations every year with a complete disregard to cabling. You'll be surprised how weird an interactive whiteboard behaves when it's not getting enough power due to being connected to a few 3 meter long USB cables with no amplification, because the computer is now 10 meters away from the actual board... The enclosure is definitely getting some padding, you never know when the Wii U is going to move to the retro gaming room, and that'd be a whole different ballgame for cable routing and vibration management.
A disk with a power supply isn't for me - I'll constantly forget the disk is on, or I'll forget to turn it on when I need it. To me, a powered disk is a relic of the past or a NAS. Besides, I'm running out of sockets - I've only got 1 free socket left where the TV is, and I'm already on an extension cord.

r1vver said:
Update: By the way, try lining the inside of the shelf with sound-absorbing material.
That is, not only the "floor" of shelf but also the side and back "walls" and the "ceiling" of shelf. Maybe it's not so much a vibration as an echo.

It's one of those wall-mounted IKEA Besta units - it's basically all hollow. I've already put pads on the backside of it that should isolate the sound, but that has done exactly nothing. It's just the whole unit vibrating with the disk. When I didn't have any feet under the Xbox, I could hear the discs spinning in the console with a loud hum. Once I put it on those AcoustiFeet, the sound was completely gone. I don't know what exactly resonates within the unit, but the feet help - a lot! I also put the HDD on a cloth first, and that helped as well, but I didn't feel comfortable having a piece of cloth pushed way into the corner, with a drive on it that could potentially get hot and not have adequate cooling. Extending the cable and routing it down worked like a charm - the Xbox has no problems providing enough power. Come to think of it, it might be an idea to get a Y cable for a few euros and use that cable hook up an external drive to the Wii U to see if it works. If it doesn't, I'll only have wasted a little money on a Y cable and I can just buy a powered hub, and if it does, I'll just have to buy the exact same cable again. Ideally, I wouldn't have to buy a hub since I don't have too many outlets left on the power cord, hence my trying to avoid them. @V10lator has an excellent point though - those cables do add extra resistance, which is exactly why I asked.

Hayato213 said:
I guess the question come down to if you want a power hub dangling around your wii u, if you just want two wires that is connected to your wii u then go with a y cable, so you should either look for a enclosure that support usb 2.0 or 3.0 micro usb see below.

The problem is more that I can't find any Y cables that'd be long enough for what I need, and that I'm not sure whether connecting a 1 meter USB cable extension to a Y cable would be good enough. If that doesn't work, it's powered hub all the way I'm afraid (and I'll have to remember to turn that off as well I guess).

Hayato213 · Mar 26, 2023

MLConian said:
The problem is more that I can't find any Y cables that'd be long enough for what I need, and that I'm not sure whether connecting a 1 meter USB cable extension to a Y cable would be good enough. If that doesn't work, it's powered hub all the way I'm afraid (and I'll have to remember to turn that off as well I guess).

Yeah they don't make very long Y cable, most are just 1-2 feets. You could use extension cable but that just make it a bigger mess since you need two extension cables.

Extend Y cable for HDD? Or powered hub? Or something else entirely?

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