3TB+ Hard Drive Support Fundraiser

[XFlak]

3TB+ Hard Drive Support Fundraiser!​

Hi everyone! Some of you may have already heard, but @blackb0x has set a ko-fi donations goal to grab the right gear he would need to add 3TB+ portable HDD support to USBLoader GX & cIOS!

For years I've been asked if I could add support for larger hard drives, but that requires me to buy one or two of them (preferably two different brands). And these portable drives aren't cheap. So if you'd like me to look into and hopefully resolve this decade-old issue, here's how you can help.

Blackb0x hasn't posted much about this so I thought if I were to create a dedicated thread for it, and occasionally bump it, we might be able to make it happen!

Currently, drives that only use 4Kn won't work no matter how you configure them. With our support, blackb0x can hopefully build a brighter future, not just for GX but other loaders too! As is the case with many features that get added to GX, the developers supporting other loaders will often incorporate his changes, so there are benefits to supporting his goal even if GX isn't your preferred loader.

Blackb0x is actively working on his next USBLoader GX update, and he's hoping to look into this at the same time (now) that he's looking into file system changes (exfat support coming soon!). The current FAT library doesn't use the 64-bit LBA scheme by default and the loader doesn't use 64-bit addressing for storage. So he'd be implementing all of that, while also addressing any issues at the cIOS level too.

While people can use large hard drives right now, they're limited to specific makes\models (WD | Seagate), and require a bunch of special steps. Not to mention that some WD drives are already unsupported by WD's own software. So, it's reasonable to expect compatibility to decline over time as support for older hardware becomes less of a priority.

This effort should not only drastically increase the number of compatible large hard drive options, but also make things easier to set-up, more reliable and future-proof!

So if you're reading this, and you're in a position to help, please visit blackb0x's ko-fi page to make a donation! And if you're not able to donate, I get it, I'm in a similar boat. I plan to share a portion of my ModMii donations to help him hit this goal, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford it either. But there are other ways to help besides donating directly, you can help spread the word!

Thanks everyone!

Edit: I've also posted this in the WiiU Forum here

 

[JustMeDaFaq]

Hey, do you know how much is actually needed?

 

[XFlak]

Hey, do you know how much is actually needed?

£300 for two drives, or if he gets 50% then he will at least be able to grab 1

 

[grandosegood]

Hey there, could we also add the links for the drives, in case someone wants to buy them direct? I don't live in the UK, but assume if the link was for a reputable electronics store, we could get them direct to blackb0x (or if Amazon delivers to his particular area, a wishlist or something similar, etc)

 

[JustMeDaFaq]

Hey there, could we also add the links for the drives, in case someone wants to buy them direct? I don't live in the UK, but assume if the link was for a reputable electronics store, we could get them direct to blackb0x (or if Amazon delivers to his particular area, a wishlist or something similar, etc)

Yeah i was thinking about an amazon wishlist would be usefull too.
Not everyone got an credit card over here or (like me) dont want to use paypal. Id love to help out tho, if he doesnt reach the goal.

 

[XFlak]

These are some drives I know he was considering

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Elements-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B0713WPGLL

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Portable-External-Drive-STGX4000400/dp/B07CRGSR16

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-Partner-Portable-External-Compatible/dp/B0BGXY2NZ4

 

[JustMeDaFaq]

These are some drives I know he was considering

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Elements-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B0713WPGLL

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Portable-External-Drive-STGX4000400/dp/B07CRGSR16

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-Partner-Portable-External-Compatible/dp/B0BGXY2NZ4

If he doesnt meet the goal, and is fine with setting up an amazon wishlist, il be happy to buy one. His adress wont be shared that way as far as i know

 

[XFlak]

Bump

Black Friday sales fast approaching! I'm not sure if the goal will be met in time, but even if we get to 50% by then it would be amazing!

 

[ca032769]

£300 for two drives, or if he gets 50% then he will at least be able to grab 1

Hope he gets enough, would like to see this happen. Sent him something to help make it a reality.

 

[blackb0x]

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far. I'm honestly surprised that the goal is already so close to being complete, since when I originally discussed this with XFlak I didn't know if many people would be interested. But it seems like many of you understand that I'm trying to future-proof things and improve large HDD compatibility, or you just want to support me in general . Either way, I'm incredibly grateful.

 

[XFlak]

Hey everyone, just wanted to report that not only was blackb0x's goal met, it was exceeded! Thanks everyone, especially @ca032769 !

 

[Captain_N]

you know 4TB 3.5 inch drives are under $100 right? Maybe not where he lives?

 

[blackb0x]

Hey everyone, just wanted to report that not only was blackb0x's goal met, it was exceeded! Thanks everyone, especially @ca032769 !

Yep. Like I said originally, I'm incredibly grateful to everyone. And I'm still stunned by @ca032769's generosity

Now that the community has done their part, I'll do mine

you know 4TB 3.5 inch drives are under $100 right? Maybe not where he lives?

The idea is to get popular drives that some people in the Wii community may already own. That way, once I get everything working on my end, I'll know it'll work for everyone else too.

If you look at what's been said previously, you'll see that I'm not only trying to make these popular drives function correctly, but also higher-end drives that support 4Kn, as I'm trying to future-proof and get everything working on my first attempt. As a result, the cost of the hardware can quickly add up, especially when it's popular and not refurbished.