Hardware Is this USB 3.0 hd fully compatable with Wii?

[chachee99]

I am looking to buy a usb hard drive. I want it to be used in fat32 for homebrew and NTFS/ WTFS for Wii games. Most hard drives on the market are usb 3.0. I read that the Wii has some issues with usb 3.0 drives, such as not being abnle to read them, unable to play emulators, using too much power etc.

I found a good deal on a WD My Passport 1tb usb 3.0 drive. Yes, 1 tb is a lot of space, but the store near where i live is selling the 1tb drive for only $5 more than the 500gb version. So, I figure it's worth the extra money.

I found the drive on the compatability gbatemp compatability list, but only confirms it working for usb loaders. Homebrew remains untested. I did some searching on forums and that a special cable is needed for the usb 3.0 version so it can be used by the Wii.

If anyone can give me confirmation if this drive works for wii games, homebrew apps, emulators, and / or game cube titles, that would be great.

Thanks

Here is a link to the hard drive.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/817-o0fWn2L._AA1500_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Port...1372027266&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+my+passport+1tb

 

[the_randomizer]

The Wii doesn't support USB 3.0, but will function as USB 2.0. I have a USB 3.0 drive, but kicks back to 2.0 speeds. It's a Western Digital MyPassport Black 500 GB drive and never had any issues with reading or writing. As for the 1 TB drive, I don't know, but there really shouldn't be any issues.

 

[chachee99]

The Wii doesn't support USB 3.0, but will function as USB 2.0. I have a USB 3.0 drive, but kicks back to 2.0 speeds. It's a Western Digital MyPassport Black 500 GB drive and never had any issues with reading or writing. As for the 1 TB drive, I don't know, but there really shouldn't be any issues.

Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear yours is working well. I was going to buy the 500gb, but it is really tempting to spending the extra $5 for the 1tb My Passport. From my understanding the drives are same except for the size.
You said your HD kicks back to 2.0. Do you use the original cable that came with it, or did you have to buy a separate cable? Does the hd power on and off with the wii? Has it ever stopped or went to sleep on you, while using it for a length of time?


I also read that WD Passport HD come with a lot of bloat ware. Did you have to format the entire drive and erase the preinstalled software on it? Do you have your drive partitioned? If so, how many partitions and in which formats?


Thanks,

 

[the_randomizer]

Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear yours is working well. I was going to buy the 500gb, but it is really tempting to spending the extra $5 for the 1tb My Passport. From my understanding the drives are same except for the size.
You said your HD kicks back to 2.0. Do you use the original cable that came with it, or did you have to buy a separate cable? Does the hd power on and off with the wii? Has it ever stopped or went to sleep on you, while using it for a length of time?


I also read that WD Passport HD come with a lot of bloat ware. Did you have to format the entire drive and erase the preinstalled software on it? Do you have your drive partitioned? If so, how many partitions and in which formats?


Thanks,

Nope, original USB cable works fine. No problem.

 

[chachee99]

thanks

 

[chachee99]

Nope, original USB cable works fine. No problem.

When you first formatted your My Passport drive, did you need to format all of the pre-installed software? If so, how? Once it is formatted, does it mean you can install it again on the drive? Just curious.

 

[the_randomizer]

When you first formatted your My Passport drive, did you need to format all of the pre-installed software? If so, how? Once it is formatted, does it mean you can install it again on the drive? Just curious.

It was already in FAT32 format; it had nothing on the drive, so nothing more than a format had to be done.

 

[katsup]

I have the 500gb version (formatted to WBFS) and the drive occasionally causes slow down while playing. I went back to my HDD with the external power supply and it is fine. The Passport may need a Y adapter.

 

[DarkCharizardEX]

Nope...USB 3.0 only became popular recently, and the Wii was released in 2006.