HDD shuts down (sleep mode)?

[marchrius]

I'm getting all sorts of issues with this toshiba drive inside an enclosure. It's a 2,5" drive, USB 2.0, 320GB and it works wonders in Windows but gives me problems on Wii, like: I launch homebrew launcher and the drive stops to spin and the light on the hdd turns off. If I reconnect it it works again, but everytime I load something, like USB Loader GX, it keeps stopping and most of the times I have to unplug-plug.

The drive is formatted correctly,I'm not new to this stuff. MBR, FAT32, all good really, and the drive itself is new.

I noticed on Windows that it goes to sleep after like 5/6 minutes of inactivity. While this behaviour would be fine for Windows, it's a disaster for the Wii which I believe wants the HDD on at all times. I think that's my problem, but I haven't been able to find a solution. I found a program called hdparm which fixes this for Windows/Linux but it does nothing when the HDD is plugged in something else.

So I narrowed it down to one of these three things:

_ drives likes to sleep
_ the enclosure used likes to put hdd to sleep
_ hdd is not getting enough power from the Wii and I need a Y cable (unlikely since we're talking about the Wii and not the Wii U but who knows?)

Any advice?

 

[morning_glory]

_ drives likes to sleep

Google manufacturers site on how to disable sleep mode, or if it's possible.
Also, have look here at GBA for HDD compatibility with your HDD.

_ the enclosure used likes to put hdd to sleep

Try & use a plain-Jane HDD to USB adapter with an already "Y" cable incorporated (extra power).
"Y" cable can help with low Wii USB power to suit your HDD. These USB adapters can come with "Y" cable or as a single.
You may need to remove your HDD from it's original enclosure & implement with your newer adapter. A cheap option.
First, check your HDD compatibility for the Wii Hope yours is mentioned.

 

[marchrius]

The drive is from Toshiba and I found a tool from Toshiba themselves to disable this feature but it's very old and it doesn't work anyway, even if I run it with admin privileges & compatibility mode, sadly.

My hard disk is not mentioned in the Wii compatibility list but that doesn't surprise me as the vast majority of hdd aren't there.

What adapter do you specifically recommend? Hdd to usb with Y cable? Do you have a link by chance? Ty

 

[morning_glory]

Ebay or Amazon (or the like).

Post automatically merged: Oct 20, 2023

I can't guaranty it will work 100%, but to spend a few bucks, it could be worth it

 

[marchrius]

Ebay or Amazon (or the like).
View attachment 400241

Post automatically merged: Oct 20, 2023

I can't guaranty it will work 100%, but to spend a few bucks, it could be worth it

It's a shame because I got a good deal buying a bunch of these drives to be used with various different Wiis and now my deal is ruined because I gotta buy a bunch of Y cables as well. I'll try with just one as you suggested and then proceed to buy more if it works.

It's either a power issue or an adapter/enclosure issue, you're right. On Windows it stays on and works without problems but if you don't touch it for 6 minutes it eventually shuts off so yea power saving. But on the Wii this happens immediately when transitioning from home screen to homebrew channel or anything else, you run HBL -> boom it shuts off. Weird and annoying. I'll keep you updated.

 

[morning_glory]

Open the case & see if it's a true Toshiba HDD inside.
Most times they are totally different brand (most likely a Samsung)

 

[marchrius]

Open the case & see if it's a true Toshiba HDD inside.
Most times they are totally different brand (most likely a Samsung)

Should be genuine

 

[morning_glory]

Looks original.
Is your enclosure/interface sata1 or sata2 ?
And what about it's power supply (power rating specs) ?

Post automatically merged: Oct 20, 2023

Can you hear/feel it trying to start up ?
You should get a sign when starting USBLGX & it scans for games.
Listen/feel for indicative variations.

 

[jeannotte]

Is your enclosure/interface sata1 or sata2 ?

Good morning,

Apparently it would be SATA 2

PICTURE ==>
https://gbatemp.net/attachments/16978098447816824984012305611924-jpg.400244/

see here

MQ01ABF032​

==>

 

[morning_glory]

Was under the impression it was a 3rd party enclosure, interface & power supply.

 

[marchrius]

OK I didn't find a solution yet... would changing IOS help? It kind of sucks because I can't return these HDDs, I planned to use them on multiple Wiis and now I have no idea what to do with them. What's worse, a trash pendrive works beatifully without such issues.

 

[jeannotte]

would changing IOS help?

try cios 249 or 250 or 058 in the settings of your loader, and see if your hard drive(s) work?

 

[CoolMe]

drives likes to sleep

5 minutes then goes to sleep on Windows pc is not normal, usually when hdd sleep setting is enabled it'd took more than 15 minutes (maybe more) and even then it's idle, not completely turned off or doesn't get undetected..

_ the enclosure used likes to put hdd to sleep

There's a possibility tge hdd enclosure is not good, you can't be for the hdd alone until you try with a different one preferably a different brand. There are plenty on Aliexpress, the Orico ones cost around ~$5 (on sale) and with free delivery, and they have usb 3.0 too. You can use other brands too if you'd like, stay away from generic ones if possible.

_ hdd is not getting enough power from the Wii and I need a Y cable (unlikely since we're talking about the Wii and not the Wii U but who knows?)

Ok, the y-cable is not necessary, but it's worth a try if you're having power issues. When you get one, make sure the main usb cable goes to port 0 and the other (adjacent) smaller usb cable goes to port 1 mainly for power, the hdd will not work correctly if you swap these cables.
One more thing worth mentioning, is the formatting of your hdd, make sure it has one partition and is set to MBR (not GPT). i also recommend formatting it to Fat32 32kb clusters too if it isn't already.

 

[marchrius]

Thank you guys I'll keep trying, worst case scenario I'll try reselling em since after all they work perfectly fine on Windows (when it sleeps on Windows it doesn't get undetected, it just stops spinning and resumes quickly if you open a file or folder. I'd say it behaves correctly on Windows).

I'll also try NTFS instead of FAT32 and see if it changes something... same with GPT instead of MBR...

 

[CoolMe]

same with GPT instead of MBR

*MBR instead of GPT (if they are set to GPT).

 

[marchrius]

*MBR instead of GPT (if they are set to GPT).

They're already MBR!