do you have a cios installed?
have you tried plugging it into the other usb port?
did that wal-mart really have two l's? could be a bogus drive.

 

i am trying config. usb loader.

 

Try Confingurable USB Loader and use ver. 222.

I had the same problems w/ GX (and others) on my ext. HDD and that worked.

 

...WBFS partitions are pretty much obsolete....if you're starting anew, go FAT32....

otherwise, there may be a setting in the your USB loader to look for a specific file system....might need changing

(i used to use WBFS on GX a while ago.....but now i use FAT32 on WiiFlow250....)

 

thanks guys for all the great input, i got a fat32 converter for my hd

 

You don't need SD card anymore. Just put all you need on your hard disk and run it from there. your games should be in /wbfs folder and homebrews in /apps

 

the countdown you describe says this is either a HDD or a HDD recognition problem (saying something like 'waiting for your SLOW device' if i remember correctly)....well, your computer sees it, so the drive's working....that particular model: WD 500 Passport, is the same drive i have...mine works perfecty, so it isn't a HDD model compatibility issue....

...are the games in .wbfs format in a folder called 'wbfs' (in the FAT32 filesystem)?

...do you have the drive partitioned for any reason...try designating it as 'active' in disc management.....

...what you used before (a thumbdrive i presume)....do you still have your games on that?...if you put that in, does it still work?....was it formatted WBFS or FAT32?

...you mention the 'left side'...is that the port closest to what would be the bottom of the wii if it were horizontal...? ...some people say 'left side' as looking from the back, others say 'left side' as though looking at the front...(i've always preferred top/bottom sides)....

...just for giggles, have you tried it in the other port....?

...those are all my ideas...hopefully one works....

 

...so the games are in .iso format? can you use your program to make them .wbfs format? if not, there's a utility called 'WBFS_file 2.8' (google it) that i use to convert my iso's....

...i haven't used the program you are using...so i can only tell you how i do it....

my process: DL, un-rar to iso with winrar, convert to .wbfs using WBFS_file 2.8 (this creates a folder called 'game name [ID6]' (eg. de Blob [R6BE78]), place this created folder (which contains the R6BE78.wbfs file) in the wbfs folder of my WD500Passport...

are you launching all your app files from SD (which i also do)....or your drive with the games on it? ...don't know if this matters....(but someone might have insight with this info)

i think designating a partition active only applies to partitioned drives...which is why i asked if your drive was partitioned.... (also, i use XP, so if it's different for W7, i am unsure)....
edit: check that...you can mark unpartitioned drives as active in XP by doing a right click, then 'mark as active...' again, don't know if it matters and don't know if it's the same for W7 (i do know it matters for running UNEEK or S/UNEEK+DI)

 

i know wiiflow has a setting as to what filesystem you are using...if it doesn't work right away, be sure to change that setting to look for FAT32 in the options menu.....

i use wiiflow250 with cIOS20[56]@250......

edit 11:47CDT -- haven't seen you for a while, so i'm bailing on you...bedtime...hope you get (got) it all figured out....

 

i am trying my old wd 500 gb one....let see if this works...