Hacking WBFS defrag

[Merola]

I have a wii with usb loader gx with a external hd with wbfs file system.
I inserted and removed lot of backup games and now i think it is fragmented.
Is there a way to defrag the hd?

 

[FAST6191]

I am unaware of a simple defragmentation tool however you could do it manually by removing everything, formatting and copying back.

Failing that just ignore it- simple though it is WBFS is still largely a container format and fragmentation is not half as troubling as it is for the likes of FAT and NTFS.

 

[Merola]

I have too many games to copy again :S
A normal defrag software couldn't be useful right?

 

[osm70]

Why do you use WBFS?

 

[Merola]

USB loader gx read wbfs but this format is good because compress the iso files.. andi upload it with wbfs manager. do you suggest something better?

there are games suchanimal crossing that are 4.x gb large, and compressed in wbfs are 500mb

 

[osm70]

Fat32

 

[Merola]

and wich loader is good for fat32?

 

[CheatFreak47]

All of them. lol

 

[Merola]

Which?

 

[Taleweaver]

USB loader gx read wbfs but this format is good because compress the iso files.. andi upload it with wbfs manager. do you suggest something better?

there are games suchanimal crossing that are 4.x gb large, and compressed in wbfs are 500mb

Any other loader will "compress" the iso's as well. Except you're not compressing: you're just removing the garbage data of a 1-on-1 disc (you didn't think all games were exactly the size of the DVD, right?). And I'm not sure if wbfs manager can even remove the update partition of these iso's.

As for a better loader: wii backup manager. Wii game manager isn't half bad either, but the former has more nuts and bots without making things overly complex.


As for a loader...by now it'll be hard to find a version that doesn't support FAT32-partitioned drives. GX, CFG, wiiflow, postloader...take your pick.


And on topic: you cannot defragment a WBFS drive. WBFS is a proprietary format. As such, the dozens (if not hundreds) of free defragmenting programs will not know how to format the data. At best, you can get it to work and manages to completely screw up your drive.
And the disadvantages of a defragmented drive are...

Wait...before I go any further: you do know what fragmentation means, right?

 

[Merola]

So i can convert the hd in fat32 and then play the games? I read that http://www.mediafire.com/?y7bhujibuws7fex is good to convert wbfs to fat32 without losing games. Then i can play regularly and defrag the hd without problems?

 

[Cyan]

yes.

WBFS or FAT32 or NTFS are all working fine, and the games are not bigger if you use a game manager to install/copy the games on your HDD.
The manager delete the garbage data, like on WBFS partition. if the real data is bigger than 4GB, then the game will be split in multiple files, and the loaders can read them like if they weren't split so don't worry.


WBFS partition does not fragment (very very little, it's not needed to defragment a WBFS partition).
Wiimm tested it, you should be able to read the result in his topic about wtt/wit.

 

[PsyBlade]

You should really consider fat32 it has no drawbacks when compared to WBFS imho

for the record:
I you start searching GBAtemp for this you will probably come across my atempt at defraging WBFS.
I abbandond it for now because it was to hard to come up with a GOOD algorithem that determins which game should go where.
Good meaning such things as copying around the least amount of data or leaving few holes of free space (because that would greatly fragment new games).

edit:
if someone knows a page with defrag algos I would still be greatly interested
maybe even pick this up again

 

[Cyan]

I searched a little wiimm's post, as they had info and test results.


Fragmented drive Speed result:
http://gbatemp.net/threads/fragmentation-is-not-a-wbfs-problem.211498/

your topic with a poll about defragmentation:
http://gbatemp.net/threads/wbfs-defrag.310575/
has some info from wiimm too.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/any-chance-of-a-homebrew-disk-tools-defrag-program-for-wii.207408/

and this one http://gbatemp.net/index.php?act=findpost&pid=2585589 (but link not working on new version of the forum, you need to search the post ID, I didn't find it yet)