External Harddrives that Don't Require a Y-Cable

[k0walski]

I use a 1tb kingston ssd £35 (scan or cclonline) with a nice all white usb eclosure for £7 (ebay) and it all works fine, I can post links on here if anyone wants direct links and its allowed to post ecternal links.

Actually, I guess, it would be great! Specifically - disk drive model (exact), enclosure model (as much information as possible).

 

[Fishaman P]

Just last night, I was copying files to my fresh 2TB Western Digital, and even though I've done it hundreds of times, this time I did something different which was make a copy of a file on the desktop at the same time as transferring another file to the hard drive. While this was happening, the fresh 2TB Western Digital made one, quite loud, metal sounding "click" noise. Almost like a sound you would need a metal spoon to produce. I stopped copying the file on the desktop but kept the drive going, and it didn't do it again. When the file on the drive had finished, I ran a Disc Check. It said something like Windows Cannot Scan the Drive, close this and try again, then I scanned it and it said it had been scanned and repaired. Then I checked the folders and it had no files in Found.000, so, no file loss. Is this hard drive safe to use or should I consider it about to die?

The hard drive would not be damaged by trying to copy multiple files at the same time. This is an extremely common situation, and the drive's controller will just queue up the transfer. The fact you heard a click at the same time is sheer coincidence.

Download CrystalDiskInfo and use it to check the drive's SMART status. If all is good, make backups of the data and baby the drive for a month. If it's fine during that period, then it should be good for a long time.
If SMART says it's dead, then it's dead.

 

[BigJon]

Hi all, here is what I use with links, hope this helps

1tb Kingston SSD - Scan & CCL links below (CCL a bit cheaper on postage) - £36
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/960...b-s-2ch-tlc-500mb-s-read-450mb-s-write-retail
https://www.cclonline.com/sa400s37-960g-kingston-a400-2-5-960gb-sata-iii-solid-state-drive/

Hard drive enclosure £7 - I got the usb A to usb C in white
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/37475903...aMtz/LdibqmNOnZwsXfLai7ZnD|tkp:BlBMUMC0re-7Yg

 

[k0walski]

@BigJon,
So, based on the specification (https://www.cclonline.com/sa400s37-960g-kingston-a400-2-5-960gb-sata-iii-solid-state-drive/) - it perfectly fits, as:
- Max power based on specs is 1.535W/5V = 0.307A (!)
- Min power is 0.195W/5V = 0.039A.
The enclosure shouldn't consume too much in this particular case. So, I assume it perfectly fits into 0.5A limit.

 

[BigJon]

Hi, mine works spot on with no issues at all. SSD's don't draw much power as they have no mechanical parts. I was tempted to get a 2tb one but i don think I can fill a 1tb drive let alone a 2tb one

 

[k0walski]

SSD's don't draw much power as they have no mechanical parts

https://download.semiconductor.sams...g_Portable_SSD_T7_User_Manual_English_1.1.pdf, page 24. 5V 1.5A (the same I have).

 

[popckorn]

I must report:

Buffalo Ministation 1TB HDD (HD-PNT1.0U3R) from 2013:
Works great. (This Shock-Proof Portable HDD has a WD HDD inside)

WD My Passport ULTRA 2TB from 2016:
Works great

Toshiba Canvio 1TB from 2012:
Works great.

All of them with a single USB cable directly connected to the WII.

All of these are USB 2 and 3 compatible. The Canvio for example will glow blue if USB3 or white if USB2.

 

[zebragreen]

I must report:

Buffalo Ministation 1TB HDD (HD-PNT1.0U3R) from 2013:
Works great. (This Shock-Proof Portable HDD has a WD HDD inside)

WD My Passport ULTRA 2TB from 2016:
Works great

Toshiba Canvio 1TB from 2012:
Works great.

All of them with a single USB cable directly connected to the WII.

All of these are USB 2 and 3 compatible. The Canvio for example will glow blue if USB3 or white if USB2.

Thanks for this and thanks @k0walski for helping me out in this thread, telling me whether or not things match power consumption.

I was going to go with the Western Digital 1TB since I can get it locally, but, since hearing this post above, hearing that the 2TB from 2016 worked, yet my 2TB purchased now doesn't, makes me think there has been a change in their power consumption, and maybe the 1TB Western Digital won't work purchased today.

So, I'm going to try this one out instead, thanks so much for the recommendation and links:

Hi all, here is what I use with links, hope this helps

1tb Kingston SSD - Scan & CCL links below (CCL a bit cheaper on postage) - £36
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/960...b-s-2ch-tlc-500mb-s-read-450mb-s-write-retail
https://www.cclonline.com/sa400s37-960g-kingston-a400-2-5-960gb-sata-iii-solid-state-drive/

Hard drive enclosure £7 - I got the usb A to usb C in white
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374759034344?hash=item5741610de8:g:tS4AAOSwlAhkbtQv&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA4Ew5nKCRzVpMsMwtYDWVRCRLlPy1eaIkuzKdpStI4GPT1RiqXnGvHkS7fGfO6rFQxTAWfW3GSDGCMhZn+FTGjObVaA20xoeQSnhv2wDXApXxoblnEnKKzxhrpEdUpXl/Ex+nGp61rurcSISFrxEBoOK9m0gQxBaEgDwuirC/NF9M+ZzKAU9QBcLmGAJVXBPQdG+cmHqqpaeTXbhlt4yg4iU8HANI9ouu2Vxeqvs/F4ScGdnqWseXkRf2pb0h803omXc6H+ewMl0Kew1mmVaMtz/LdibqmNOnZwsXfLai7ZnD|tkp:BlBMUMC0re-7Yg

 

[zebragreen]

Update for anyone needing this as well.

Currently running the exact same set up as @BigJon, down to the USB-C cable. The hard drive looks great with a white cable and white box matching the Wii.

Running Wiiflow with FAT32 and 32kb clusters, this is what I'm getting in terms of performance:

• No Wiiflow Infinite Loading
This I believe is the sign a drive is underpowered, after launching a game the Wiiflow logo loops endlessly. This problem is non-existent so I can confirm the drive is perfectly powered from one USB port.

• No Corrupt Files After Check Disk
The second sign the drive is underpowered is getting corrupt file fragments after running Check Disk, also non-existent which means there's no issues running this drive from one USB port.

• Still Get Occasional Mis-Boots
About 1/10 times, Wiiflow boots to a black screen instead of the game, it's not to do with the game's config as you can just restart and click it again and it runs. I've never not had this problem on any set up, and it's not the same as the Wiiflow infinite loading, it loads and just goes to a black screen. It doesn't cause any problems/corruption. Not a big deal and can definitely live with an occasional 1/10 mis-boot from Wiiflow.

• Hangs Whilst Writing to Harddrive in Wiiflow
This issue surprised me on this fast solid state drive, when you change the settings on a Wiiflow game, and click "Back", the Wii hangs for 1-3 seconds before resuming. This means there is a hang when writing (not reading) to this harddrive when in Wiiflow. Doesn't bother me as I don't see it outside Wiiflow but surprising on this solid state drive.

• Screetching Freeze
I've had this issue before in a game, and it happened on this drive during a Just Dance game. Basically mid game the Wii simply crashes with a screetching sound and frozen image. I looked it up and someone said it could be caused by the hard drive entering into sleep mode. On the Yottamaster enclosure's box, it said something about a sleep mode, and looking online it said this:

l wonder if @BigJon found a way to disable it? It's also possible the freeze wasn't caused by this since I've had it before on another set up.

 

[BigJon]

Hi Zebragreen, i havent had any issues at all but I use USBLoader GX, have you tried any other usb loaders or just Wiiflow?