Hardware Partitioning help

[jbogart1973]

Can i Partition my external Hard drive to use on my computer for saved music pictures etc... and still use it for WBFS games? I have a 2 TB i want 500 GIGS for the games and the rest used for fat32 . Can this be done and what toutorial is out there if it can . thx
or should i just stick with fat32 but im unsure how to add games with backup manager so they will load properly on the wii.

 

[Cyan]

You can still use Wii games with any partition format.

Wii backup Manager works the exact same way with all partition format.
if it's WBFS format, it's placing the game correctly
of it's FAT32 or NTFS, it's placing the game correctly too (renamed, and in correct folder, etc.)

You can format the drive fully to FAT32 (up to 2TB so it's fine with yours)
But if you are using it for your computer storage, maybe you should use NTFS too (for files bigger than 4GB, which happens a lot nowaday)

You can make a 500GB FAT32 partition (make it the first one on your HDD, so you can use it with DIOS MIOS/gamcube backup, Sneek, and all homebrew for example), and the rest in NTFS.

But it's up to you to choose which format you want to create.

Sorry, no tutorial to give you. Someone else may link to one or help you.

 

[jbogart1973]

ok so im thinking ill stick to NTFS format since my external seagate 2 TB doesnt give me the option to formate it to FAT32 but how to i put games on and use USB Loader GX ?

 

[Cyan]

use Wii backup Manager to put games on it.
It will be converted to WBFS format and placed as a file in the drive as "device:/wbfs/Game name/GameID.wbfs" file.

In USBLoaderGX, if it doesn't see your games right away, go to Settings > HDD settings > Partition : click until it sees your NTFS partition. (usually only one click is enough to refresh that setting if you only have one partition).


In WiiBackupManager:
Go to Settings > FAT32/NTFS > Folder naming : "title [GameID]"
Go to Settings > FAT32/NTFS > enable : "Set naming convention on partition mount"
It will set the GameID in the "Game Name" path, it helps the loader and load games faster.

If you have

 

[jbogart1973]

ok so i use wii back up manager and place a folder on my Hard drive called "device:/wbfs/Game name/GameID.wbfs" and place the newly converted games in it correct ?

 

[Arm73]

ok so i use wii back up manager and place a folder on my Hard drive called "device:/wbfs/Game name/GameID.wbfs" and place the newly converted games in it correct ?

No.
Yu just use wii back up manager and once you select your external HDD it will create the folder automatically once you try to add a game.
Very easy !

 

[jbogart1973]

k so im unsure what steps to take to convert all my wbfs files from my WBFS Manager to NTFS formatted hard drive ? Can i do them all at once or must they be done 1 by 1 ?

 

[Cyan]

You do NOT convert your files.
You need to convert your partition, not the files.


you currently have this:
Partition format in brackets.

HDD : [WBFS partition][FAT32 partition]

use wbfs2fat tool, it's linked in my signature.
You will get this:
HDD : [FAT32 partition][FAT32 partition]

On your first partition, you will have your games in a file format, browsable on your computer now that it's in FAT32.
You can keep it like that if you want.

If you really want NTFS partition, there's a tool on windows to convert (not format, but convert without loosing files) the first FAT32 partition into a NTFS partition.
The tool is called "convert.exe" and is a command line tool.

After converting, you will have your drive like this:
HDD : [NTFS partition][FAT32 partition]

the ntfs partition will have all your Wii games.
launch Wii Backup Manager to manage your games.
Do not use explorer, do not create/modify/delete folders manually.


There is NO need to convert the games. do not touch your games at all.
Always use a manager for the games.


if you convert the first partition in NTFS, you will not be able to use GameCube Backup with DIOS MIOS (it needsFAT32 partition to be the first one).

 

[jbogart1973]

k im lost ! lol
i have a 1 tb hd with WBFS loaded games on it by WBFS Manager 3.0 i want to trasfer them over to a seagate 2 tb hd with Wii back up manager using either fat32 or ntfs ( not sure which is better) is this posible ? do i need to extract each game from my WBFS MANAGER HD one by one or can i do a mass transfer trhough wii back up manager ? but i also want to use the 2 tb seagate hd for use of my movies and etc.. too
sry if i havent made my self clear at all :s

im totatly GREEN here guys so pls dont be pissed lol
thx

 

[Cyan]

what you are saying doesn't mean anything.

I'll make some global steps describing the process.
Tell me up to where you are following. which point you don't understand.


What I understand :
1. You have 2 different HDD.
HDD1 (with your Wii games), and HDD2 (you want two partitions in this one, one in FAT32 for Wii and Gamecube, and one in NTFS for PC Movies).


2. You want to transfer the Wii games located on HDD1 into HDD2

3. You want to know if you need to copy all the files one by one, or ... of course all the files need to be copied.
When you copy multiples files from one folder to another, are you not selected all the files -> copy -> select destination -> paste (or drag and drop), it's done in "one user's input" but all files are copied one by one in that process.
You are not making multiple drag and drop, or copy/paste, but the files are copied one by one.

For the wii, it's the same thing. You use a manager, you mount your two different HDD, you select all your games from HDD1 -> Copy to HDD2 -> one click but all file will be copied one by one.


What you will need to do:

1. partition your HDD2 (ATTENTION, IT WILL DELETE EVERYTHING ON THE DRIVE)
you can use Windows HDD manager, or any partitioning tools like "Easus".

1.1 Delete all partition from HDD2
1.2 Create a new partition, select the size you want, it must have these options : Primary, active, FAT32, 32k cluster size.
1.3 Create a new partition, select the remaining size. It must have these options : Primary, NTFS, auto (for the cluster size)*

* Alternatively, for the second partition you can choose an "extended partition" instead of primary. inside the extended partition, you can create Logical partition.
HDD can have only 4 partitions. (primary or extended). Extended partition can hold multiple logical partition. this option is used if you want more than 4 partition in your drive.
If you want only FAT32 and NTFS, (2 partitions), you can use 2 primary partitions.


2. Copy the games from one HDD to another

2.1 Connect both HDD to your computer
2.2 Launch Wii backup Manager
2.3 in "Drive1" tab, select the HDD1 with the Wii games
2.4 in "Drive2" tab, select the HDD2 FAT32 partition drive's letter
2.5 Go back in "Drive1" tab, choose "Select" > "All"
2.6 choose "Transfer" > "Drive2"

All games located on Drive1 will be copied to Drive2

Done.