Hacking 4TB HD with Wii

clandestine · Aug 26, 2020

I have a 4TB HD.

I wanted to partition it and use most of the space for my PC backup (system, files.... I have 3TB of drive space my PC), and then the other partition to play Wii/Gc games and roms on my modded Wii. (about 400GB worth of data here).

I read that I could do 2 Fat32 partitions with 64KB cluster size.... but Fat32 has a file size limit of 4GB, yes? That wouldn't work for my PC backup.

Any solution?

Shadow#1 · Aug 26, 2020

clandestine said:
I have a 4TB HD.

I wanted to partition it and use most of the space for my PC backup (system, files), and then the other partition to play Wii/Gc games and roms on my modded Wii.

I read that I could do 2 Fat32 partitions with 64KB cluster size.... but Fat32 has a file size limit of 4GB, yes? That wouldn't work for my Windows backup.

Any solution?

Buy a HDD only for Wii and pc it's a good idea to get a 2TB for wii

clandestine · Aug 26, 2020

Thanks for your response. That obviously is a solution I'm considering. I can get a 500GB HD for my Wii (I will never use more than that) for like 30 bucks. But is there anyway I can save 30 bucks and use what I have now?

Deleted User · Aug 26, 2020

if you use the built-in windows formatting tool there's a 32gb limit to format.
if you use this the limit is way bigger http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

you could also partition a hard drive more than once, you could make thd wii/gc partition fat32, and use the rest of it for the backup with ntfs or whatever, you just need disk management

wiindsurf · Aug 26, 2020

You have 4 options:
1. Partitionless / raw FAT32
2. Partitionless / raw NTFS
3. MBR Partitioning
4. GPT Partitioning
Thoughts:
1. Homebrew compatible, 4GB max file size, 16TB max disk size, hard to do partionless on Windows but 1 min job on Linux.
2. Possibly homebrew compatible, any relevant homebrew loader / tool will need individual testing, no max file/disk concerns, hard to do partionless on Windows but 1 min job on Linux.
3. Homebrew compatible, 2TB max partition size, possible to mix filesystem types, say 500GB on FAT32, and 1500GB on NTFS. Any remaining space beyond 2TB is wasted. Easy to do on Windows.
4. Likely homebrew incompatible, similar to option 3 but without wasted space beyond 2TB (say 500GB FAT + 3500GB NTFS). Easy to do on Windows.

PS: Linux can be run from a USB stick to setup 1 or 2, and hard drive should be fully compatible with Windows once formatted. Main issue is that Windows refuses to create a partionless disk, but is happy to use one set up elsewhere.

Pros and cons in all of those, and there's a bit of work involved, unsure if worth saving 30 bucks for...

clandestine · Aug 26, 2020

Thanks windsurf, those are the options I went through as well. Guess I'll just order a drive just for my wii.

Thanks!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

wiindsurf said:
You have 4 options:
1. Partitionless / raw FAT32
2. Partitionless / raw NTFS
3. MBR Partitioning
4. GPT Partitioning
Thoughts:
1. Homebrew compatible, 4GB max file size, 16TB max disk size, hard to do partionless on Windows but 1 min job on Linux.
2. Possibly homebrew compatible, any relevant homebrew loader / tool will need individual testing, no max file/disk concerns, hard to do partionless on Windows but 1 min job on Linux.
3. Homebrew compatible, 2TB max partition size, possible to mix filesystem types, say 500GB on FAT32, and 1500GB on NTFS. Any remaining space beyond 2TB is wasted. Easy to do on Windows.
4. Likely homebrew incompatible, similar to option 3 but without wasted space beyond 2TB (say 500GB FAT + 3500GB NTFS). Easy to do on Windows.

PS: Linux can be run from a USB stick to setup 1 or 2, and hard drive should be fully compatible with Windows once formatted. Main issue is that Windows refuses to create a partionless disk, but is happy to use one set up elsewhere.

Pros and cons in all of those, and there's a bit of work involved, unsure if worth saving 30 bucks for...

Think I will spend the 30 dollars. Thanks

ber71 · Aug 26, 2020

wiindsurf said:
You have 4 options:
1. Partitionless / raw FAT32
2. Partitionless / raw NTFS
3. MBR Partitioning
4. GPT Partitioning
Thoughts:
1. Homebrew compatible, 4GB max file size, 16TB max disk size, hard to do partionless on Windows but 1 min job on Linux.
2. Possibly homebrew compatible, any relevant homebrew loader / tool will need individual testing, no max file/disk concerns, hard to do partionless on Windows but 1 min job on Linux.
3. Homebrew compatible, 2TB max partition size, possible to mix filesystem types, say 500GB on FAT32, and 1500GB on NTFS. Any remaining space beyond 2TB is wasted. Easy to do on Windows.
4. Likely homebrew incompatible, similar to option 3 but without wasted space beyond 2TB (say 500GB FAT + 3500GB NTFS). Easy to do on Windows.

PS: Linux can be run from a USB stick to setup 1 or 2, and hard drive should be fully compatible with Windows once formatted. Main issue is that Windows refuses to create a partionless disk, but is happy to use one set up elsewhere.

Pros and cons in all of those, and there's a bit of work involved, unsure if worth saving 30 bucks for...

Option 1 is limited to max 2TB afaik

wiindsurf · Aug 26, 2020

ber71 said:
Option 1 is limited to max 2TB afaik

No, it is 16TB max if partitionless / raw.
2TB when a single MBR partition is used (like option 3, but with a single FAT32 volume, given 2TB is an MBR limitation and not a FAT32 limitation).
This option is not well known because Windows refuses to format partitionless.

ber71 · Aug 26, 2020

Ok thanks for the clarification. Is partitionless nintendont compatible?

wiindsurf · Aug 26, 2020

ber71 said:
Ok thanks for the clarification. Is partitionless nintendont compatible?

You're welcome. And yes it is, I always go partionless on both SD cards and USB media (prepared via Linux), and have no issues with CFG loader nor Nintendont, on both Wii and Wii U. Nintendo's built in SD card functionality also works fine. Unsure about USBLoaderGX, but I suspect it should work fine as well.

ber71 · Aug 26, 2020

Good I'll check it in my wiiu.

I figure that Ustealth cant be installed if no partition exists.

wiindsurf · Aug 26, 2020

Cool. Good point.

kaputnik · Aug 26, 2020

Would definitely pick up the 500GB drive if I were you. As you already figured out, 500GB is more than enough for everything worth playing on the Wii. If you think it's too expensive, you'd probably be fine with a smaller one too, would guess the games average at 4-5 GB in size or something like that.

It's a really bad idea to fiddle around with non standard partition schemes etc. on a drive you store backups or anything else you want to keep. It's basically just a question of time before the drive get screwed up.

ber71 · Aug 26, 2020

Managed to create a jumbo fat32 volume with mkfs.vfat directly on the device.

However, windows cant recognize it. Not a big issue as I'm mostly a linux guy, but wanted to know if this happens to anybody.

PityOnU · Aug 26, 2020

I have been looking into the best configuration for storing/loading Wii games as I recently managed to grab a WiiDual modchip.

For any weirdos like me out there who are looking for a clean-er setup on their Wii, you don't need an external HDD anymore. You can get tiny little USB flash drives that are up to 512GB in size now. Both SanDisk and PNY make them. They *should* work with the limited power output on the Wii's USB ports, and mean that you don't have to have a ton of junk dangling off of your Wii.

I went with the PNY one was the SanDisk drives have been known to overheat for a while now (basically, they push the flash beyond its limits just so they can claim faster write speeds - they don't tell you that you should really only write at said speeds for seconds at a time otherwise you overheat and permanently damage the device). Will be testing soon w.r.t. power requirements when used with a LAN adapter plugged into the same ports.

Codemastershock · Aug 26, 2020

PityOnU said:
I have been looking into the best configuration for storing/loading Wii games as I recently managed to grab a WiiDual modchip.

For any weirdos like me out there who are looking for a clean-er setup on their Wii, you don't need an external HDD anymore. You can get tiny little USB flash drives that are up to 512GB in size now. Both SanDisk and PNY make them. They *should* work with the limited power output on the Wii's USB ports, and mean that you don't have to have a ton of junk dangling off of your Wii.

I went with the PNY one was the SanDisk drives have been known to overheat for a while now (basically, they push the flash beyond its limits just so they can claim faster write speeds - they don't tell you that you should really only write at said speeds for seconds at a time otherwise you overheat and permanently damage the device). Will be testing soon w.r.t. power requirements when used with a LAN adapter plugged into the same ports.

I like flash drives more because I dont need to worry about properly ejecting the hard drive and it is easier to carry around when I want to play Wii with some friends at their homes, for example. The power thing is not exactly a concern for Wii unless you are trying to use a 3,5' HDD, any 2,5' HDD enclosure or external hard drive works flawlessly (because most 2,5 HDDs draw something like 5V which is closer to the USB power standard than the 12V that 3,5 HDDs use)... Unlike the Wii U which is more annoying regarding external drives without external power supplies.

wiindsurf · Aug 27, 2020

PityOnU said:
I have been looking into the best configuration for storing/loading Wii games as I recently managed to grab a WiiDual modchip.

For any weirdos like me out there who are looking for a clean-er setup on their Wii, you don't need an external HDD anymore. You can get tiny little USB flash drives that are up to 512GB in size now. Both SanDisk and PNY make them. They *should* work with the limited power output on the Wii's USB ports, and mean that you don't have to have a ton of junk dangling off of your Wii.

I went with the PNY one was the SanDisk drives have been known to overheat for a while now (basically, they push the flash beyond its limits just so they can claim faster write speeds - they don't tell you that you should really only write at said speeds for seconds at a time otherwise you overheat and permanently damage the device). Will be testing soon w.r.t. power requirements when used with a LAN adapter plugged into the same ports.

You can go even "cleaner" with an SD card set up in the front. No hanging attachments anywhere and very safe for those with kids, or that not-so-careful cleaning person in your life that bumps stuff around. They come in up to 1TB sizes and work great for both Wii and GC games. I'm currently using a 256GB card, and I've been doing this for 3 years now using CFG loader with no issues both on Wii and Wii U. I'm also that annoying uncle that goes around donating consoles to friends with kids, and all Wiis I've given were set up this way with an SD card in the front.

Aew4life · Aug 29, 2020

Use ease partition manager to change fat 32 partition to mbr

ca032769 · Oct 28, 2020

clandestine said:
I have a 4TB HD.

I wanted to partition it and use most of the space for my PC backup (system, files.... I have 3TB of drive space my PC), and then the other partition to play Wii/Gc games and roms on my modded Wii. (about 400GB worth of data here).

I read that I could do 2 Fat32 partitions with 64KB cluster size.... but Fat32 has a file size limit of 4GB, yes? That wouldn't work for my PC backup.

Any solution?

Follow the link below in my signature for how to use large hard drives on the Wii. I would keep it as one single partition for both the Wii & Backups. Basically you'd have a backup drive with a GAMES & WBFS folder to plug into the console when needed.

You can do it in a single 4TB partition that is FAT32 at 32k clusters using FAT32GUI Formatter. You only need to go to 64k clusters (or more) if you go 5TB & above. As @Aew4life says though, and in my instructions, you'll need to make sure you can change the GPT partition table to MBR on the drive for it to work properly with the Wii (it's a Homebrew software thing needing it to be MBR).

My directions for all of this are related to Western Digital drives, others may work if you can convert them as needed, but I recommend Western Digital drives because I have always used them and never had a problem. My current go to drive (I'll have to update that post) is the Western Digital 5TB (FAT32 at 64k) Black Drive because it fits all the US Wii & GameCube titles on one drive (even the singing & dancing ones I could care less about) plus a lot of PAL & JA titles. You can get by with a 4TB (FAT32 at 32k) Western Digital Passport that fits most of the titles, which I would then leave off most of the singing & dancing titles due to the space limitation.

Hacking 4TB HD with Wii

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