Homebrew External Hard Drives for use with vWii Backup Loaders Not Working with Wii U

[jpmcruiser]

(I hope this is an acceptable place to post)

I had an external harddrive that I tried plugging into the back of my Wii U but all it does is immediately make this clicking/stalling sound and nothing else. So I recently bought a 1 TB Seagate expansion external hard drive and when I plugged it into my Wii U the same thing happened.

Both times I had formatted the drives to FAT32 with guiformat. I don't know what is wrong, and I can't get a flashdrive to work anymore either (see this thread: http://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-driv...though-it-should-on-vwii.493309/#post-7767718). Can anybody please help me or direct me to where I can get help?

 

[TotalInsanity4]

(I hope this is an acceptable place to post)

I had an external harddrive that I tried plugging into the back of my Wii U but all it does is immediately make this clicking/stalling sound and nothing else. So I recently bought a 1 TB Seagate expansion external hard drive and when I plugged it into my Wii U the same thing happened.

Both times I had formatted the drives to FAT32 with guiformat. I don't know what is wrong, and I can't get a flashdrive to work anymore either (see this thread: http://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-driv...though-it-should-on-vwii.493309/#post-7767718). Can anybody please help me or direct me to where I can get help?

It probably needs a Y-cable for extra power. The Wii U USB ports put out less power than spec, so hard drives don't spin up

 

[jpmcruiser]

It probably needs a Y-cable for extra power. The Wii U USB ports put out less power than spec, so hard drives don't spin up

So if I got a y cable, then what would the other USB plug be plugged into?

 

[TotalInsanity4]

So if I got a y cable, then what would the other USB plug be plugged into?

The second USB port or an AC plug using an adapter

 

[M7L7NK7]

Can't believe how hard it is to find a HDD with AC power these days, I know it's easier to be USB powered but it's weird.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Can't believe how hard it is to find a HDD with AC power these days, I know it's easier to be USB powered but it's weird.

Any 3.5" external HDD you find will be using AC power. Those are almost as big as the Wii U itself though so it's hardly optimal.
Finding a 2.5" external HDD with external power would be hard, as they're made to work powered off the USB port and were never designed with underspecced devices like the Wii U in mind. Both a powered hub and an Y-cable will solve that though.

 

[M7L7NK7]

Yeah here in Australia I had to get one off eBay because stores only sell USB ones now

 

[jpmcruiser]

Sorry for the crazy late reply, but thanks to you all for the responses and info

So what kind of y-cable would I need? Is a y-cable like something that has two usb plugs or one usb plug and one power outlet or what? Can somebody like link me to a listing for what I would need, and tell me what I would need to do to get the hard drive to work?

 

[Tri-Z]

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB2HABMY3-Cable-External-Drive/dp/B003HHK576

Scroll down to similar items and find one that fits into ur drive input


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005M0ICG2/ref=psdcmw_464394_t1_B003HHK576

Check guide here. Scroll down til see port hardrive pic and cable. It explains. You prob want micro type B as compatible with both unless u have older mini or micro usb type like first link I posted which my seagate free agent uses

Western digital one I have uses type B

And it splices to two usb and can plug both into Wii U or u can plug one into adapter then into wall socket. But I’d plug both into Wii U it will go on and off with Wii U. If so wall plug it will need to be plugged in to run it and will stay on until unplug. So both in Wii U is best to do unless u don’t have free USB ports on Wii U

https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-definitive-vwii-hacking-guide.425852/