Hacking USB HDD's lag test

[Analogic]

Sometimes we don't even notice small hiccups in performance because the action on screen is so frantic.
Games that run from HDD either run or don't, right? But it appears like reading from USB HDD sometimes freezes the pointer in place for a brief second.

I am running:

- softmoded 4.2
- Verbatim USB disk (320gb)
- Wiiflow 2.0
- USB 2.0 enabled IOS

Description of lag:

-affects only the pointer as it seems;
-happens at the exact same time as blue lights on the HDD flash (when it reads data);
-pointer is stuck in place or even disappears for a few frames, even in the basic in-game's menu;
-while the pointer is frozen, the game is NOT, making it difficult to spot;
-when I hit "home" button and move around, the lag is still there;

Went back and tested if my wiimote is maybe broken, but works fine in the basic menu. I then tried running the same game that showed lag from it's original DVD and voila...no lag.

So something must be wrong with my USB device. I've tried running that same game rip (.wbfs format) from a small 2GB USB flash drive (Transcend) and guess what...no lag.

I still have to try more games and I've tried two different USB cables for the HDD. I'm thinking maybe some USB HDDs cause lag with Wii. I remember hearing that some don't even work.

Is there a list of tested HDDs (compatibility and possible lag) for the Wii? Maybe we could post some test results here.
The easiest way to check for lag is to load the game and just slowly move the cursor around. If the game has backround affected by the wiimote (so the HDD must do some additional reading while you move the pointer), you should see if your HDD works good enough.

This is my disk

Don't buy it for Wii games

 

[harmor]

I did notice my Seagate FreeAgent hard drive is faster than my uncle's Western Digital (I can't recall the model). We both have a 500GB drive running off of A/C power.

 

[Analogic]

What do you mean, when you say faster?
Faster load times?
What loader do you use?

 

[bevardimus]

wow, good timing with this thread. Yup, I have the EXACT same issue. Game: Red Steel 2. Whenever anything has to load (particularly when I'm waiting for a door to open), the pointer freezes in place for a second, and then skips into place. It's... annoying. I'm COMPLETELY new to backup loading, so I'm hoping this is an issue that can be fixed easily.

By the way, I'm using a seagate freeagent go 500 GB external HDD with two partitions: 30 GB WBFS and the rest is NTFS. I use neogamma to load backups. Perhaps the loader is to blame???

 

[yanyu]

Same Issue Here!!!

1.5TB 3.5 inch external HDD let my mouse freeze randomly.

USB drives will NOT

I guess it's configurable USB's problem, since the DVD drive needs to load as well, but will defiantly do not experience this issue

 

[Analogic]

Perhaps USB loading software needs a few minor tweaks. Or someone with a WD disk should check it out.

In any case, this lag makes loading HDD games [that utilize the pointer] unplayable. I'm surprised that no one is talking about this.

 

[harmor]

What do you mean, when you say faster?
Faster load times?
What loader do you use?

I use configurable usb loader.
CFG itself seems to load all the games quicker when using a Seagate compared to the western digital drive.
I made a video showing off my wii. I'll post the link soon.

Edit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N04JNdpsXeE

 

[oggzee]

I would suggest trying different:
- loaders (cfg, wiiflow)
- cioses (249 vs 222)
- filesystems (wbfs vs fat vs ntfs)
and see if anything helps...

When reporting problems, please be specific about which cios type and revision was used.

But it looks to me the issues are most likely USB driver related, and as such I am not the right person to do anything about just so you don't get any high expectations from me.
Hmm it would also be interesting to see how cios rev21 beta performed with these drives, waninkoko has mentioned on twitter that he is looking for testers with problematic drives.

 

[yanyu]

Hi, oggzee

thx for the reply.

I'm a first time wii user, and I did exactly what this guide told me to do on 2010 Sep 1st
http://gwht.wikidot.com/usb-loader

So my wii are using Configurable USBLoader, CIOS249,
I tried both NTFS and WBFS, wii cursor will lag in both file system

 

[oggzee]

yanyu:
I would suggest trying also hermes ios222 v5 and cfg60-222.dol
let's hear if it helps or not.

 

[Otacon_2k]

I had the same problems as the OP. Lagging cursor in WarioWare:Smooth Moves and Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess. The Wiimote lost contact for a moment every 10 seconds and the cursor wandered around (graphics and sound were not affected). Starting the games with IOS222 (option 222-nload in cfg USB-Loader) solved the problem for me, no lag in the games anymore.
The cfg USB-Loader itself, which runs on IOS249, shows the same lag as observed in the games. So it must be IOS249 causing this problem.

EDIT: Btw, I also compared FAT32/NTFS, the games lag on both filesystems using IOS249, so filesystem is not the cause (for me at least).

 

[XFlak]

Is there a list of tested HDDs (compatibility and possible lag) for the Wii? Maybe we could post some test results here.

http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Index.php/USB...patibility_List

 

[Raul83]

Just sharing my experience because it seems not to be noticed, but while pointer lag happens every certain time when the HDD is being read, motion input via wii motion plus also is affected the same. Easily recognized in swordplay in wii sports resort, just waggle the remote until the sword stops moving and tries to relocate with the remote in its current position. Thought it was because it uses the sensor bar as support, but happens with or without the sensor bar enabled. Like the pointer lag, it is fixed while playing with the original.

 

[tbgtbg]

Have you tried defragging? Or dividing the drive into smaller partitions?

 

[Raul83]

Not rely, but I am very sure about this. Have being playing the game with my cousin for the entire week and the controls weren't responding as they did. Then related the situation with the pointer lag. It is easily spotted while in the part were you must point at the screen and press A before every match, were you can see both the pointer and the sword movement. They lag equally. Hope this observation helps.