Tutorial [Tutorial] Deleting failed/incomplete game (DLC, update, etc) installs from the NAND/USB device

[chargeaxfr]

@chargeaxfr Is this on a flash drive? If so it might be damaged. Use a USB HDD next time.

This is with an SATA SSD in a USB enclosure. I scanned the drive with badblocks before using it in the WiiU and found no errors.
I may run it through again to see if it spots anything now (maybe it has acquired some issues in the mean time).

 

[chargeaxfr]

So after moving back to a spinning hard drive (which I originally removed to avoid the y-cable need), I think the issue is with the SSD I was using. WUP installer's progress bar would stop progressing which would lead to these unremovable files.
I am now using an enclosure for the spinning hard drive with a separate power input so I am not drawing any power from the Wii U itself. Now reinstalling all of my disc backups (many GB) and WUP installer hasn't hung up at all. I will run the SSD through badblocks to see if it finds anything. If it does I'll mention here in case the info is useful for anyone.

 

[godreborn]

So after moving back to a spinning hard drive (which I originally removed to avoid the y-cable need), I think the issue is with the SSD I was using. WUP installer's progress bar would stop progressing which would lead to these unremovable files.
I am now using an enclosure for the spinning hard drive with a separate power input so I am not drawing any power from the Wii U itself. Now reinstalling all of my disc backups (many GB) and WUP installer hasn't hung up at all. I will run the SSD through badblocks to see if it finds anything. If it does I'll mention here in case the info is useful for anyone.

it's probably not the ssd but the wii u. older systems have issues with ssds, like the ps3 for example.

 

[chargeaxfr]

it's probably not the ssd but the wii u. older systems have issues with ssds, like the ps3 for example.

It's an interesting point, because I figure to the Wii U, it's just "USB storage" - whether it be a flash drive, hard drive, or SSD.
Badblocks indeed found no bad blocks on the SSD. So eh, I guess I'll just stick to the spinning HDD It's a little bit higher capacity than the SSD I was using anyway.

 

[Pin1988]

Every time I have a failed install, I just go into system settings and to data management, and it automatically recognizes the incomplete installs and erases them every time.
If this could save someone from a bricked console, then it's worth to try this way first

This didn't work for me. It searches forever for the failed data. The method described in this tutorial was the only thing that solved my problems

 

[Pin1988]

Thanks for the suggestion. I also tried changing the permissions to 777, as 755 is already set on these files. However the permissions will not change either. They stay at 755.

Most probably not the case here, but have you refreshed/reconnected after deleting/changing permissions? Sometimes FTP does not refresh correctly and shows you the old state. Just a thought...

 

[Myke2605]

Hi guys, any one had this issue?

I installed a game in my usb stick, no error or anything at the installation. I have the game icon on the channels but when trying to open it it gives me an error. I have other games in that same usb stick and I can play them with out any issue.
So, I want to delete the game and try to install again but when trying to delete it in data management, it tells me "unable to delete data"



Does anyone know of a method to delete that game from my usb without having to formatted it? Could i try the method from OP and delete the installed game directly with ftp? Or it does not work for installed games (no"failed attempts" as mentioned by op)

Please help and thank you.

 

[2DSGamerdude]

Hay dude, thank you for this awesome, super easy tutorial on this issue fix.
it helped me solve my problem that i had on some incomplete/fialed installed from NUSpil on usb hdd.
after following this guide and removing all those installs from the import/ folder along with that crash folder in there on my hdd, im good again.

removing stuff from an usb hdd is much, much safer than on the wii u's NAND.
isn't it?
the nand removal is much more risky if you don't know what you are removing/doning, but on usb hdd external it is safe (no bricks)?

 

[Myke2605]

Hi guys, any one had this issue?

I installed a game in my usb stick, no error or anything at the installation. I have the game icon on the channels but when trying to open it it gives me an error. I have other games in that same usb stick and I can play them with out any issue.
So, I want to delete the game and try to install again but when trying to delete it in data management, it tells me "unable to delete data"



Does anyone know of a method to delete that game from my usb without having to formatted it? Could i try the method from OP and delete the installed game directly with ftp? Or it does not work for installed games (no"failed attempts" as mentioned by op)

Please help and thank you.

Hey guys, so does anyone know about this ?

 

[V10lator]

so does anyone know about this ?

Uhm... Yea, the issue you're haing was layed out multiple times already:

flash drive

the issue is with the SSD I was using.

In case that's still not enough for you to realise that the Wii U is a flash killer let me quote Nintendo itself:
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1474

Because these devices have a limited number of rewrites and are not suited to long-term storage of important game data, we do not recommend the use of Flash/thumb drives as an external storage device solution.

Commercial Flash memory has a limit on the number of times you can write over it and we don't recommend flash memory devices for long-term storage of important save data.

we recommend using a hard-disc drive (HDD)

 

[Myke2605]

Uhm... Yea, the issue you're haing was layed out multiple times already:



In case that's still not enough for you to realise that the Wii U is a flash killer let me quote Nintendo itself:
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1474

Hi, thanks for the answer. I get that the flash drive is the issue but, is there a way to delete the installed games from the usb without using the data management from the Wii U? Without having to format the usb

 

[godreborn]

Hi, thanks for the answer. I get that the flash drive is the issue but, is there a way to delete the installed games from the usb without using the data management from the Wii U? Without having to format the usb

yes, and no. you can delete it using dumpster u on the pc (requires seeprom and otp.bin files), but it will still be indexed. I think it might still show up on the home menu, just with a question mark icon and the question mark name (3 question marks). I'm pretty sure it will show up in data management still, and the icon will be intact, since I think the icon is resized to a different area of the usb drive.

 

[V10lator]

is there a way to delete the installed games from the usb without using the data management from the Wii U? Without having to format the usb

My guess is that the flash translation layer inside of your USB thingie detected corruption on the flash chip, so it switched to read-only to prevent further corruptions (flash won't corrupt while beeing read but when writing only, so that's a common and not reversibe technique of FTLs). Now keep in mind that there is no such thing as deleting bits, so when you want to delete something what really happens is a write action.
That said: No, there is no way. Should even be impossible to format the USB now.