My experiments with raising the current limit on USB ports on the Wii U.
I wanted to share my experience with increasing the current limit on USB ports for the Wii U console. I’ve successfully done this a few times, though it does require some work. At the end, I’ll also describe an alternative method that bypasses the limiter but has its drawbacks.Why?
I had issues with the limited number of USB ports, and it annoyed me that my SSD drive required two ports just to work stably. The console’s original setup imposes a current limit of around 200 mA, likely for cost-saving reasons. When this limit is exceeded, the system cuts off power and then restores it.For me, this caused several problems:
- The game drive would crash, leading to infinite loading screens.
- The console sometimes displayed errors as if the eMMC memory was damaged.
- A new drive was recognized, but the Wii U couldn’t load any games from it and restarted instead.
How?
Although I couldn’t determine the exact component responsible for the 200 mA limit, I found a solution through reverse engineering. Luckily, Nintendo designed many motherboards to support replacing the original component with a regulated one.I used the AP2552W6-7 adjustable current limiter to replace the original part. The motherboards provide appropriate pads for this modification.
It is highly likely that you can use a similar component from another manufacturer, such as one from Texas Instruments. However, make sure to verify the pinout and ensure that the component is activated by a low state on the Enable pin.
Replacement Instructions
Here are the locations where the components need to be replaced, along with the resistor to be added:- Rear USB ports
- U23 and R683
- U28 and R684
- Front USB ports
- U26 and R685
- U29 and R686
Rear:
Front:
Current Limitation Table
For example, to set a current limit of approximately 0.8 A, use a 30 kOhm resistor. However, I believe there’s no point in setting values higher than around 0.6 A per port.
Gallery:
I specifically chose a device that draws more than 0.5A to see if the system would reset. My mSATA SSD drive consumes a maximum of 0.35A under load.
