Hacking Hard Drive/USB Question

[tnt118]

I really hate to make a thread for this, but with the Wiki down for the past few days I was hoping for some input.

I have a chance to pick up a Western Digital "My Passport Essential" 500GB drive on sale, and was wondering if anyone knew if it was compatible with the USB Loader. From what I remember on the Wiki, Western Digital seemed to be a pretty solid brand, but I didn't want to waste the money only to find out it doesn't work.

I appreciate the help!

Edit: Any chance there's a mirror of the wiki anywhere?

 

[djtaz]

I think this has a post on it somewhere - try using search above but i remember seeing something on it before

 

[MattMan]

It works. I have both the 320 and 500. Work great.

 

[hdhacker]

For fucks sakes, will you people STOP recommending the WD Passport Essential drives? They have been CONFIRMED to have spindown issues.

Seagate FreeAgent Go is the one to buy.

 

[MattMan]

No spindown issues here. Been using them since USB loader came out. Flawless so far!

 

[JussiPik]

also no spindown issues with wd passport here. works great.

 

[tnt118]

Thanks for the feedback, and again, sorry for such a noob post!

 

[tnt118]

Not trying to bump my own topic, but I wanted to report that the WD drive I picked up is working flawlessly. It's the 500GB Western Digital "My Passport Essential". I got mine through Best Buy. The serial number is WD5000MES-00. I left Mario Kart on pause just before the finish line for 30 minutes, then finished the race, and there wasn't the slightest hiccup in the game.

 

[manias]

mario kart isn't the be all and end all of tests, the only way to be absolutely sure it will not be an issue is to use a seagate and use that software, or use another brand compatible with hdparm.. many threads on this why didn't u post in there in the first place

 

[Deleted-171178]

WD Mybook 500gb user here, no spindown issues.

 

[mickthestud]

yep no spin down issues here either works great

 

[hdhacker]

Not trying to bump my own topic, but I wanted to report that the WD drive I picked up is working flawlessly. It's the 500GB Western Digital "My Passport Essential". I got mine through Best Buy. The serial number is WD5000MES-00. I left Mario Kart on pause just before the finish line for 30 minutes, then finished the race, and there wasn't the slightest hiccup in the game.

There are three possibilities:

1) Some of the drives have newer firmware to handle spindown issues better. Even if this is true, there's no way to know before you buy it.
2) The test is flawed. Personally, I prefer the 10 minute aerobic boxing in WiiFit since it doesn't require you to pause anything. It's literally 10 minutes of straight gameplay without a disk access.
3) You're doing the test wrong.

No matter which option is true, STAY AWAY from Western Digital hard drives. Period.