Hacking What is the best file system to use?

[XFlak]

u can have ur hard drive as 100% fat32 (so 1 partition only) and have all that stuff on it "(apps, homebrew, triiforce stuff, games, loader cfg, etc)"

if u opt to use ntfs or wbfs, u will need a second fat32 partition to store everything that isn't a wii game (I think game covers can also be stored on ntfs, but not sure) otherwise u can only use the hard drive to store wii games

 

[AdamBrunt]

thanks.

Will probably go with a fat32 drive (with games saved as type WBFS rather than ISO). Might have to leave it the 'backup' running overnight

 

[lufeig]

in what way is it "safer"?

from kadaitcha.cx, "NTFS is a journaling file system. It writes a log of changes being made to the files on disk. This offers significant benefits in cases where a system is susceptible to power loss, experiences an unexpected reboot, or a crash. NTFS can quickly return a disk to a consistent state without running CHKDSK, whereas FAT32 always requires CHKDSK to be run effect recovery if a failure occurs."

 

[PsyBlade]

Yes journaling is more secure under normal circumstances.
BUT only if all compared fs drivers have comparable stability.
And the word is the ntfs driver in wii-homebrew is not good.
I dont know if it even supports journaling, yet alone bugfree.
So atm fat is more serure _on WII_ than ntfs imho.

 

[giantpune]

+1 ^

Yes, dimok has been working to find the bugs created files and writing to ntfs. and he has had success in testing. but his changes are very untested compared to libfat. libfat has been used since the dawn of wii homebrew and has been used to write to files billions of times. it is safe to say that we know writing with libfat works like it should. or at least as stable as it should. and a program crashing while writing with libfat does not kill the partition.

dimok's changes are only weeks old. and they are only used in about 4 wii programs. so it would be safe to say writing with this version of libntfs has probably been done under 1,000 times. this is definitely not enough usage to know anything about its stability at all. and it would be very fucking stupid for somebody to trust any important data to a largely untested filesystem library. people messing with this libntfs should create a small ntfs dummy partition that they will not be bothered if it is completely and utterly wiped out. because there is a very real possibility of this.

only after there has been months of heavy successful usage of libntfs will it be safer than anything. period.

 

[lufeig]

thanks for clarifying, friends!

anyway, i use cfg usb loader, which still has only 'read-only access' for ntfs partitions.

but i meant safer thinking of WINDOWS support.

windows was not meant to natively work with a 500gb fat32 hdd, it even does not support fat32 formatting natively in case of a 500gb partition.

so because i transfer games to the usb hdd via windows (wii game manager), which is the environment i use 'ntfs write-access', i say ntfs is safer for me.

but after reading your posts, i'm thinking of going back to fat32 again...

thanks!

 

[AdamBrunt]

Ok, I have a problem with Wii Backup Manager ... it won't let me format my WBFS 320GB HDD to FAT32 ?

Is this a problem with WBM or with Windows 7 OS not allowing that size drive/partition to be formatted as FAT32 ?

EDIT: nvm, resorted to doing it in DOS !!!

 

[Slimmmmmm]

people messing with this libntfs should create a small ntfs dummy partition that they will not be bothered if it is completely and utterly wiped out. because there is a very real possibility of this.

only after there has been months of heavy successful usage of libntfs will it be safer than anything. period.

Best post here

I know a few people that have 2 NTFS partitions and 1 FAT.
They use the FAT for apps etc that don't work with NTFS. For NTFS they have 2 partitions, 1 is small, the other big. The small one is the one they use first, test things out and if no bugs occur then they move things over to the larger partition. This is not a great idea, but at least it's an understanding of where we are now with NTFS.

I'll add as well until a LOT of people use NTFS it will take a long time to locate all the situations that create bugs.

 

[walnuts]

Ok, I have a problem with Wii Backup Manager ... it won't let me format my WBFS 320GB HDD to FAT32 ?

Is this a problem with WBM or with Windows 7 OS not allowing that size drive/partition to be formatted as FAT32 ?

EDIT: nvm, resorted to doing it in DOS !!!

Try Swisskinfe.

I had a problem with my brand new WD 320GB.
Drive was formatted to NTFS by default and Win XP didn't format it to FAT32.

Swissknife did the job.

e:\ too slow..

 

[OrGoN3]

I guess no one cares to actually read Davii's post. He clearly states he is using USB Loader GX with Waninkoko's CIOS rev 17. Therefore, THERE IS NO FAT32 SUPPORT!!! SO STOP SUGGESTING IT! Yes, it is rumored that FAT32 support will be featured in rev 18, and that it is to be released soon. So perhaps that will save all of you, but don't suggest something that he can NOT do.

@Davii
Right now, if you want FAT32 support, you will need Herme's CIOS 222/223. That enables both NTFS support and FAT32 support. Otherwise, your best options right now would be WBFS over FAT. Or wait to see if rev 18 is released with FAT32 support.

@Everyone Who Thinks NTFS write support is coming
Remember that NTFS is proprietary and therefore no third party module will ever be 100% perfect. While NTFS write support exists in *nix and has for a long time, it's still iffy and I personally would never use it. However, who cares about write support? We're talking about a USB Loader. The whole purpose is to give users the functionality of the DVD-ROM drive, but via USB (HDD, SSD or LG drive). What does a DVD-ROM do? It reads. Yes I know some people want to put original games in the Wii and back them up themselves, but let's all be honest here. You all download them off the internet anyway, so what's the big deal? Just transfer them using a backup manager. There are plenty to choose from.

Yeah write support would be great for certain homebrew, and definitely needed for NAND/USB emulation. But that's an entirely different use. Put on a seperate FAT/32 partition. As far as loaders go, read support is all that is ever needed.

 

[wulfie]

I'll throw a wrench in everything and ask for HFS+ support! Would be a great addition to ANY usb loader imo

 

[AdamBrunt]

Well that was a bigger pain than I thought it would me ... DOS was taking hours, SwissKnife claimed the disk was locked.

Finally I found an app on WD's website (as it's a Passport HDD I was trying to format) which did it in no time.

 

[Daviii]

Thanks for all the responses I think fat32 is the way to go for me I want all my games and apps workin from the same drive
@adambrunt next time use aesus partition master I highly rate it fomat any drive in minutes

 

[AdamBrunt]

@adambrunt next time use aesus partition master I highly rate it fomat any drive in minutes

I tried that as well - that also claimed it couldn't format the drive.

 

[synicasm]

I had this Issue also .. I think it had to do with something on windows having the drive open and another application wanting to format it while open..

Unplugging the USB and plugging it in again.. fixed it.

 

[Daviii]

ok I have a 640gig hardrive I have a 50 gig fat32 partition and the rest is formatted to ntfs
everything is working fine in fact better than ever.
I bricked my wii a while back(badly)it would not even show up on the tv so i tore out the d2c chip and put the original white cover back on@(i had a silver one) sent it off to nintendo with a note saying it was powered off while updating to 4.2 so they charged me 30 pound and gave me a new wii with my old cover on(good deal huh) i mean the thing was in shite missing screws and damaged from pulling out the mod-chip