USB Loader GX having trouble with (external powered) USB Hub

[edde479]

Hi!
I have had some problems with my Wii games-HDD not spinning like it should and dying (because of too low power I presumed). My method was using a Y-cable but I thought I would invest in a self-powered usb hub to solve the unreliable y-cable solution and to make the wii u look a bit cleaner.

When I got the usb hub i plugged it in at the top port of my Wii U and plugged in both my HDD with wii games (with u-stealth) and external powered HDD with Wii U games. When I then tried starting up USB Loader GX everything looked fine and I heard the Wii-games-HDD spinning up and seeing the indicator-light shining the brightest I’ve ever seen and then it just silences and usb loader shows the countdown of 20 seconds of failed to find hard drive or you know the usual… If I then let that pass it freezes at “Mounting USB port to 1” and I then need to remove the power cable.

I have also tested this without the wii u-games-hdd plugged into the usb hub, same results.

When I tested it with nothing in the USB hub the 20 second countdown thing cam way faster compared to when I have the wii-games-HDD plugged in to the usb hub.

I swear I could see USB Loader GX successfully mounting the wii-g-HDD and loading configs or whatever and then starting the 20 sec countdown after that like it was searching for another HDD… because the HDD spun up and clicked like it was being used including the light flickering but before the countdown (or 2nd try…)

What causes this? What can I do? Can’t USB Loader GX handle USB hubs?
USB Loader GX version: v3.0 Rev. 1272

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sypherone]

First, best is normaly that the WiiU-G-HDD needs to be pluged in the upper port (0). And GX Loader HDD in the Lower (1). Because the Loader can only access the second one (Not 100% sure atm, but there is limitation). Then the port setting in the Loader needs to be correct.

WiiU dont work with every USB Hub on the Market. There are only specific that work. U Can only connect the Y-Cable to the hub to work. Maybe or not the HDD supports automatic standby.

Alternativ if u dont need both front ports. U can use a long USB Cable, plug it in the front of the WiiU. And a splitter on the other End with the Y-Cable Connected. The Thing is, the HDD will only spin if u turn in the WiiU on and not running 24/7 all the time.

 

[mitgenuss]

First, best is normaly that the WiiU-G-HDD needs to be pluged in the upper port (0). And GX Loader HDD in the Lower (1)

Are you sure about that. I read the opposite in some posts... and for me the upper port for vwii hdd works better (at the moment).

 

[Sypherone]

Are you sure about that. I read the opposite in some posts... and for me the upper port for vwii hdd works better (at the moment).

Yes i am sure, iam using a WiiU by myself. And there is some limitation that causes a Problem of HDD recognizing and playing games of from them.

 

[godreborn]

Yes i am sure, iam using a WiiU by myself. And there is some limitation that causes a Problem of HDD recognizing and playing games of from them.

I think it's the cios that causes that restriction.

 

[edde479]

@Desraptor
Well the thing is that the USB hub works fine on Wii U when connecting the Wii U - G - HDD to it. It's just some weird thing happening when I try to load USB Loader GX with the Wii-HDD connected to the USB Hub.

Isn't the bottom one (if it's laid horizontally) called 0 and the top one called 1? Shouldn't I have "both ports" to load selected in USB Loader GX when using a Y-cable on the back? According to @Cyan in another forum post he said:

to use USB Port 1 in USBLoaderGX, you need d2x v10 r53 (which is not always working)

and I have installed that.

What do you mean I only can connect the Y-cable to the hub to work? That isn't the case. I have connected it to the back of the console before and that has, as I said, been unstable and every once in a while the HDD don't get enough power and you can here the HDD "clicking".

 

[godreborn]

@Desraptor
Well the thing is that the USB hub works fine on Wii U when connecting the Wii U - G - HDD to it. It's just some weird thing happening when I try to load USB Loader GX with the Wii-HDD connected to the USB Hub.

Isn't the bottom one (if it's laid horizontally) called 0 and the top one called 1? Shouldn't I have "both ports" to load selected in USB Loader GX when using a Y-cable on the back? According to @Cyan in another forum post he said:

and I have installed that.

What do you mean I only can connect the Y-cable to the hub to work? That isn't the case. I have connected it to the back of the console before and that has, as I said, been unstable and every once in a while the HDD don't get enough power and you can here the HDD "clicking".

What Cyan said is true iirc. Beta53 can use either port, but beta52 is better if you want wiiware content. I don't think they use the same library files.

 

[edde479]

What Cyan said is true iirc. Beta53 can use either port, but beta52 is better if you want wiiware content. I don't think they use the same library files.

What I can see there are only people talking about vWii games on SD cards being a problem with beta 53. Is it really worth downgrading? Has that something to do with the USB hub or the low-power issue with the Y-cable connected to the Wii-G-HDD?

 

[Sypherone]

Isn't the bottom one (if it's laid horizontally) called 0 and the top one called 1? Shouldn't I have "both ports" to load selected in USB Loader GX when using a Y-cable on the back? According to Cyan

No, if the WiiU is horizontal the upper back port is 0 and the bottom one is 1 numbered. Cyan says the same in different Post, its distracting because nowhere is really written what what is.

"Cyan, post: 8988496, member: 746"
So, you'll need something like this :
Port 0 (top-back) : Y-cable Data, plugged to vWii HDD.
Port 1 (bottom-back) : Y-cable Power, plugged to vWii HDD.
Port 2 (font) : WiiU flash drive.

What do you mean I only can connect the Y-cable to the hub to work? That isn't the case. I have connected it to the back of the console before and that has, as I said, been unstable and every once in a while the HDD don't get enough power and you can here the HDD "clicking".

I mean, connect the two HDDs with the Data Cable of the Y-Cable directly to the WiiU and the splited additionally Power Cable to the USB-HUB. It should work, aslong the Hub dont need Data from the Device to be telled how much Power the Hub should be provide. Or u try to use one HDD with the USB-HUB, and the second drains only the Power from it but is directly connected to WiiU with the Data-Cable.

Godreborn mentioned right. There is a Problem with the dx2 cios.
d2x-v10-beta52-vWii (based on v8) only supports one USB-Port, no Plug and Play, but high compatibility.
dx2-v10-beta53-vWii (based on v9) supports both USB-Ports and plug and play, but has lower compatibility.
Soure: https://github.com/davebaol/d2x-cios/wiki/How-to-choose-the-d2x-distribution-fitting-your-needs
Many people have Problem with their external drive if they use beta53-alt, so best beta52 is used but only supports one Port an needs to be configured in GX-Loader. Its not clear if it says only 1 port ,only Port 1. But most people uses because of Problems the mentioned setup with WiiU-HDD in Port 0 (upper) and vWii-HDD in Port 1 (lower).

 

[mitgenuss]

Godreborn mentioned right. There is a Problem with the dx2 cios.
d2x-v10-beta52-vWii (based on v8) only supports one USB-Port, no Plug and Play, but high compatibility.
dx2-v10-beta53-vWii (based on v9) supports both USB-Ports and plug and play, but has lower compatibility.
Soure: https://github.com/davebaol/d2x-cios/wiki/How-to-choose-the-d2x-distribution-fitting-your-needs
Many people have Problem with their external drive if they use beta53-alt, so best beta52 is used but only supports one Port an needs to be configured in GX-Loader. Its not clear if it says only 1 port ,only Port 1. But most people uses because of Problems the mentioned setup with WiiU-HDD in Port 0 (upper) and vWii-HDD in Port 1 (lower).

I have installed d2x-v10-beta52-vWii like in the official vwii guide. And my wii hdd is plugged in in Port 0 (upper) and my Wii U hdd ist plugged in Port 1 (lower). Everything works. Except the USBLGX forwarder in the wii u menu, So its clear that it says "only 1 port" and not "only Port 1".

 

[edde479]

Hmm. I guess I could test downgrading the d2x version. What I found out just now is that if I plug in Wii U-G-HDD, power-cable (thin one) from the Y-cable (connected to the Wii-G-HDD) and additional peripherals into the powered USB hub and the USB hub to the bottom port (0) and the data cable on the Y-cable to the top port (1) and now everything works. The big plus with this setup is that I don't have to have any cables sticking out the front of the Wii U, neat...

I am gonna downgrade to beta 52 to check if that could optimize this setup any way otherwise I'm going with what I said above.

 

[Sypherone]

I am gonna downgrade to beta 52 to check if that could optimize this setup any way otherwise I'm going with what I said above.

Its no Downgrade, just an alternativ Version.

 

[Cyan]

I see you found the proper setup and got it working, but I'll provide information for anyone looking for an answer :

HUB are not compatible with cIOSes DATA.
HUB can only be used for accessories, or additional power line of a USB Y-cable.

if you are using Y-cable, plug the Y-cable DATA to (v)Wii USBPort0, plug the Y-cable POWER to the hub, if your HUB is providing external power.
if your HUB is not externally powered, it's even less working ! you would be dividing the low power the wiiU provides on the USB Port to powered more than one device. it's already not powerful enough for one, you can't plug more.


Don't use d2x r53 !
You don't need to enable "both ports" option, it's useless to you.
If you want to use USB accessories on hub plugged in Port1, you don't need d2x r53 either!
You need that option ONLY if you are plugging 2 vWii HDD (WBFS on port1 AND WBFS on Port0), which is NOT your setup. and it can corrupt the file table and destroy your files.
What you want is vWii formatted drive in one port, and WiiU HDD in any another.

you only need d2x r52 for that.

Plug your HDD like that :

WiiU port 0 (upper back port) : vWii HDD Y Cable DATA Port (blue one)
WiiU Port 1 (down back port) : WiiU HDD
HUB : vWii HDD Y Cable POWER port
Like you see, the HUB is NOT connected to the console, it's only an external power supply.

If your WiiU formatted HDD needs more power, use an Y cable too, and either :

- plug the data line on Port1, and Power cable on HUB (like for vWii HDD)
OR
- Plug the HUB data port on USB Port1 2 or 3 (bottom back port, or front ports), plug Data and power on HUB.
I personally prefer the first choice, HUB only as power supply, no DATA through it. direct plug HDD data to the console, not going through HUB.
If you have vwii accessories, you can plug the hub data plug on port1 and accessories on the hub. keep the hub free of "hdd DATA".

vWii games on SD cards being a problem with beta 53. Is it really worth downgrading?

r53 pro:
• USB Port1 support for HDD. (not for mic and accessories on port1, as they work fine with r52 too). it's useful only in case you have 2 vWii HDDs plugged on WiiU at the same time!! (possible, but you should avoid this, it's only asking for issues and headache!).
• Plug&play support for accessories (allowing to plug microphones or NFC portals AFTER the game is launched)... but, just plug them before launching the game and you don't need r53 !

r53 cons:
• beta
• HDD detection issue
• emuNAND issue
• no FAT module patch for vWii Stealth'd HDD emuNAND support
• Some games launched on SD (wiiflow allows WBFS on SD) triggers Antipiracy detection.