4TB Drive for Wii and GC not working

[Peli86]

this mentioned "fake MBR" would be a solution, but never used it on my own.

And THIS is what I want, but cant do cause it's not possible with new drives/firmware.

 

[boris1]

You may try and look for an usb enclosure with asm1051 chip, it is the last known chip that support 4K sector emulation so you can have max 16TB partition using MBR .

 

[ber71]

It's all about sector size.
The wii can't address beyond 2^32 sectors. This means 2TB with most hdd, which come with 512b sectors. Doesn't matter if you use mbr, gpt, ntfs, several partitions... the wii won't read beyond the 2TB mark counting from the very beginning of the disk. This is the reason why a few games do work but a whole romset doesnt, they simply get past the 2TB mark.
The only real workaround is a hdd with 4k sectors, which can be addressed up to 16TB.
Or, you can create a 2TB partition for wii and GC, and create another partition with the remaining space for unrelated stuff.
Extrems was working in 64bit adressing support for homebrew, idk how mature is that wip.

 

[Peli86]

It's all about sector size.
The wii can't address beyond 2^32 sectors. This means 2TB with most hdd, which come with 512b sectors. Doesn't matter if you use mbr, gpt, ntfs, several partitions... the wii won't read beyond the 2TB mark counting from the very beginning of the disk. This is the reason why a few games do work but a whole romset doesnt, they simply get past the 2TB mark.
The only real workaround is a hdd with 4k sectors, which can be addressed up to 16TB.
Or, you can create a 2TB partition for wii and GC, and create another partition with the remaining space for unrelated stuff.
Extrems was working in 64bit adressing support for homebrew, idk how mature is that wip.

Understand, thats why nothing over 2tb works.
Found this a few minutes ago: https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-loader-wont-read-dir-after-adding-more-files.594408/#post-9612682
So, if i can't create a 4tb fat32 single drive, this will not work,too. Right?

 

[ber71]

Right

 

[Peli86]

Looks like i need a new drive again. I just don't know how to find what i need.

 

[Sypherone]

Just for your information:
Theoreticaly there can be set up a drive with 2 Partitions on your drive bigger then 2TB, but it have to be GPT. And the second partition need to start before the 2TB mark. There is a bug if MBR and GPT is used.
Source Post 1: https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiflow-gpt-mbr-max-drive-size.419879/post-8358427
Source Post 2: https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiflow-gpt-mbr-max-drive-size.419879/post-8359735

 

[ber71]

Just for your information:
Theoreticaly there can be set up a drive with 2 Partitions on your drive bigger then 2TB, but it have to be GPT. And the second partition need to start before the 2TB mark. There is a bug if MBR and GPT is used.
Source Post 1: https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiflow-gpt-mbr-max-drive-size.419879/post-8358427
Source Post 2: https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiflow-gpt-mbr-max-drive-size.419879/post-8359735

I've tried that already but didn't work for me. I'd be pleased if someone gives it a try, too.
I still believe that 2TB is the absolute limit, when 512b sectors are in use.

 

[boris1]

Did you try this?
Some users said only v1.X work, you may try both.
WARNING: All data will be erased.

https://download.wdc.com/misc/WD_Quick_Formatter_Win_1_2_0_10.zip
https://downloads.wdc.com/wdapp/WD_Quick_Formatter_2.0.0.65.zip

 

[Peli86]

I already tried both versions, not working (firmware issues)

 

[boris1]

I already tried both versions, not working (firmware issues)

Did the formatter run successfully and allow you to pick xp compatible mode?
Any error pops up?

 

[Peli86]

I already tried both versions, not working (firmware issues)

1.2 showed xp option, could not format.
2.0 showed no option. Could not format. Both versions showed error that it's not possible to to change Block size with this drive firmware.

 

[JasonH]

1.2 showed xp option, could not format.
2.0 showed no option. Could not format. Both versions showed error that it's not possible to to change Block size with this drive firmware.

I can confirm This drive will convert to MBR and format to a Single Fat32. It is a 4TB Western Digital My Book and it has to have the ribs on the bottom.

 

[boris1]

Good to know.
However, I believe he prefers a 2.5" portable hard disk

 

[godreborn]

I'd try a wd black. I use one for each my ps4, ps5, and Nvidia shield. They're 2.5". They make up to 5tbs without a power supply, which is the exact model I use.

 

[Sypherone]

As i now know, there is a new industry standard called "Advanced Format" (AF) Technology. This drives have a physical sectorsize of 4096b (4kb). But the only one i find where its in theire description is the Western Digital WD20EARX.

 

[boris1]

As i now know, there is a new industry standard called "Advanced Format" (AF) Technology. This drives have a physical sectorsize of 4096b (4kb). But the only one i find where its in theire description is the Western Digital WD20EARX.

Physical sector size is not necessary the same as reported logical sector size. Now he needs an USB enclosure or Hard disk that support 4k logical sector size, for MBR single partition over 2TB (max at 16TB theoretically)

 

[Sypherone]

Physical sector size is not necessary the same as reported logical sector size. Now he needs an USB enclosure or Hard disk that support 4k logical sector size, for MBR single partition over 2TB (max at 16TB theoretically)

You already stated here:

You may try and look for an usb enclosure with asm1051 chip, it is the last known chip that support 4K sector emulation so you can have max 16TB partition using MBR .

And in fact we need 4096b (4k) sectorsize. And since 2010 there is a standard of 4k sector size for drives called "Advanced Format Technology". But where, how to find or identify this drives if there is nothing in the model description of "AF".
Only as additional info, this new drives shall have "4kn" (4k native) with "512e" (512 emulation) support for compatibility reasons e.g. Bios. By using fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo X: it should displayed in detail. And should be able to choose what to use.
Western Digital Whitepaper AF
Seagate Tech insight AF
Lenovo AF Overview

 

[boris1]

You already stated here:


And in fact we need 4096b (4k) sectorsize. And since 2010 there is a standard of 4k sector size for drives called "Advanced Format Technology". But where, how to find or identify this drives if there is nothing in the model description of (AF).
Western Digital Whitepaper AF
Seagate Tech insight AF
Lenovo AF Overview

All consumer hdd sold nowadays should be physical 4K sector , even it is not mentioned as advanced format. So the challenge is looking for support of 4k logical emulation, not 4k physical sector size