Hacking What is the best possible external 1TB or 2TB hard drive for USB Loader GX

[Johnny2071]

I've read through the compatibility list, but there's just too many hard drive brands to choose through.

I wish to backup every Wii game I own, so I don't have to wear out my DVD drive that Nintendo didn't repair/replace.

 

[FaTaL_ErRoR]

Lol, I have "backed up" almost every wii game on the market and a ton of gc games out and have yet to 2/3 fill a 500gb drive.
http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power...1446774863&sr=1-7&keywords=1tb+ssd+hard+drive
Get this one. I just saw this one and I think I will purchase a couple of these. Solid state is the best way to go.
They all pretty much work once you remove the hidden partition from them.
Some have built in locks that prevent usbloader from communicating. Some hidden partitions have a built in security feature the encrypts everything input/output. Thus making it not read on a usbloader. That is pretty much the issue with all non-functional drives for this use.
Once you remove that partition and format the drive completely it should work without issue.

 

[Johnny2071]

Lol, I have "backed up" almost every wii game on the market and a ton of gc games out and have yet to 2/3 fill a 500gb drive.
http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power...1446774863&sr=1-7&keywords=1tb+ssd+hard+drive
Get this one. I just saw this one and I think I will purchase a couple of these. Solid state is the best way to go.
They all pretty much work once you remove the hidden partition from them.
Some have built in locks that prevent usbloader from communicating. Some hidden partitions have a built in security feature the encrypts everything input/output. Thus making it not read on a usbloader. That is pretty much the issue with all non-functional drives for this use.
Once you remove that partition and format the drive completely it should work without issue.

Well that's awfully convenient. Thanks!

Just one thing, how do I remove the hidden partition? Does this have to do with why I can't play the masterpiece demos in Brawl?

 

[FaTaL_ErRoR]

Well that's awfully convenient. Thanks!

Just one thing, how do I remove the hidden partition? Does this have to do with why I can't play the masterpiece demos in Brawl?

Do what???
The only reason to remove the security partition (the hidden partition) would be so it will communicate with usbloader. Most of these removable storage devices have a security partition on them. It's a bit of software that "keeps your storage safe". Most of them have drive sleep software as well. It is usually in the software on the hdd. Once you get rid of it (on windows you can't see it so you need third party program to find it) and format the drive it will be treated as removable storage instead of whatever the company that made it wants to call it. Some of these hidden partitions block access from the wii usbloaders. And if they have sleep tech installed it can cause issues with losing connection to game.
That is all. I have absolutely no clue about anything to do with Brawl. I never played smash bros.
First thing with hidden partitions would be to examine the drive. If advertised is 1TB storage. Then you will probable have 995-997 gb usable.
Your pc should say something like 995 out of 995 gb space available. If it says 990 out of 995 then you will know for sure you have a hidden partition inside. With linux you would look at where you mounted the drive. So when you plug it in lets say your drive would fall under /dev/sdb.
So when you connect it to your linux pc and have a hidden partition your mountpoint would be more than likely /dev/sdb1.
Then you format the whole drive and check where you are mounted. If it still mounted at /dev/sdb1 then you now know you have a hidden partition.
Removal is very easy. There are many programs out that allow for deleting the hidden partitions. If you aren't a linux user then google will be your best friend. With windows different drives may require different programs. With linux gparted is the best method.
Once you have your drive I will be more than happy to walk you through removing the partition. I'll just need to know what drive you have and what operating system you are using. Now personally I formatted my drive in wbfs because I have never had any issues with it. It also makes it easier for wbfs manager to function. And if you are like me then you keep all of your "backups" stored with torrent seeders. So, moving them from my online "storage" to my drive to be playable on wii I like wbfs manager.

 

[DaMan4169]

I use WD My Book drives. I currently have a 2TB but have setup 500GB, 750GB and a 1TB for friends.

With my 2TB, I partitioned it into 2 equal parts and made it FAT32/NTFS.

I use the first partition for all my Wii stuff, apps and games. And use Wii Backup Manager to move games from drive to computer or my Cruzer drive for other Wii.
I made the second partition NTFS because I have a 3D TV and use it to store 3D movies ranging from 1.4GB to 11GB, exceeding the single file size of FAT32.

By having FAT32 and NTFS partitions I can still use the drive as a standard storage device. When making it a WBFS formatted partition only programs made for Wii games will be able to use it and only for Wii games. My FAT32 partition could also be used for GC games.
Also when I had a WBFS partitioned drive, EVERY time I plugged it into my Windows machine it would popup a window asking to format the drive.

 

[Johnny2071]

I use WD My Book drives. I currently have a 2TB but have setup 500GB, 750GB and a 1TB for friends.

With my 2TB, I partitioned it into 2 equal parts and made it FAT32/NTFS.

I use the first partition for all my Wii stuff, apps and games. And use Wii Backup Manager to move games from drive to computer or my Cruzer drive for other Wii.
I made the second partition NTFS because I have a 3D TV and use it to store 3D movies ranging from 1.4GB to 11GB, exceeding the single file size of FAT32.

By having FAT32 and NTFS partitions I can still use the drive as a standard storage device. When making it a WBFS formatted partition only programs made for Wii games will be able to use it and only for Wii games. My FAT32 partition could also be used for GC games.
Also when I had a WBFS partitioned drive, EVERY time I plugged it into my Windows machine it would popup a window asking to format the drive.

Do what???
The only reason to remove the security partition (the hidden partition) would be so it will communicate with usbloader. Most of these removable storage devices have a security partition on them. It's a bit of software that "keeps your storage safe". Most of them have drive sleep software as well. It is usually in the software on the hdd. Once you get rid of it (on windows you can't see it so you need third party program to find it) and format the drive it will be treated as removable storage instead of whatever the company that made it wants to call it. Some of these hidden partitions block access from the wii usbloaders. And if they have sleep tech installed it can cause issues with losing connection to game.
That is all. I have absolutely no clue about anything to do with Brawl. I never played smash bros.
First thing with hidden partitions would be to examine the drive. If advertised is 1TB storage. Then you will probable have 995-997 gb usable.
Your pc should say something like 995 out of 995 gb space available. If it says 990 out of 995 then you will know for sure you have a hidden partition inside. With linux you would look at where you mounted the drive. So when you plug it in lets say your drive would fall under /dev/sdb.
So when you connect it to your linux pc and have a hidden partition your mountpoint would be more than likely /dev/sdb1.
Then you format the whole drive and check where you are mounted. If it still mounted at /dev/sdb1 then you now know you have a hidden partition.
Removal is very easy. There are many programs out that allow for deleting the hidden partitions. If you aren't a linux user then google will be your best friend. With windows different drives may require different programs. With linux gparted is the best method.
Once you have your drive I will be more than happy to walk you through removing the partition. I'll just need to know what drive you have and what operating system you are using. Now personally I formatted my drive in wbfs because I have never had any issues with it. It also makes it easier for wbfs manager to function. And if you are like me then you keep all of your "backups" stored with torrent seeders. So, moving them from my online "storage" to my drive to be playable on wii I like wbfs manager.

Well I received a 1TB external drive as a surprise from my sister for Christmas. My only concern is that she got me a Seagate Backup Plus Slim for Mac. Will it be compatible with my USB Loader GX, or is the whole thing completely useless?

 

[Clutz450]

I use WD My Book drives. I currently have a 2TB but have setup 500GB, 750GB and a 1TB for friends.

I also use the WD My Book drives. But everyone I've used (1, 2 and 4 TB) the hard drive isn't recognized right away and USB Loader GX crashes. I have a work around where I put the app on my USB drive and try to load it with the forwarder. It fails and kicks me back to the Wii menu. But when I try the forwarder again it boots into USB Loader GX just fine and everything works just great. Just wondering if you had any similar issues with your drives and if so if you found any solution other than the one I use.

Will it be compatible with my USB Loader GX, or is the whole thing completely useless?

Only one way to find out. ;-P. Try formatting it with EaseUS Partition Master and let us know how you make out.

 

[bm123456]

Wd element 2tb working for 5yrs no issues with any loader or home brew. 500gb -2tb I have used . I'm not sure about anything bigger I haven't tried.

 

[Clutz450]

Anything over 2TB will have to be formatted with 64k cluster size. It will still work with USB Loader GX, Nintendont and neek2o. Been using a 4TB for a long time now with no issues (other than the work around I mentioned above). I don't use any other homebrew so I don't know if anything else will work with 64k clusters.

 

[DaMan4169]

I also use the WD My Book drives. But everyone I've used (1, 2 and 4 TB) the hard drive isn't recognized right away and USB Loader GX crashes. I have a work around where I put the app on my USB drive and try to load it with the forwarder. It fails and kicks me back to the Wii menu. But when I try the forwarder again it boots into USB Loader GX just fine and everything works just great. Just wondering if you had any similar issues with your drives and if so if you found any solution other than the one I use.

I had to fire up my Wii just to remember how I had it setup...
On my Black Wii,
I don't use SD and just have apps folder on USB. I have the USB loader forwarder from Modmii installed and put numbers on the folders for other loaders ("1. USBLoader" and "2. WiiFlow"...) so the forwarder will only find usbloader_gx.
HOWEVER...
I use Priiloader and the ForwarderV5.1.dol from the GX AIO package to load installed file. I also set the return to loaded file so my Wii basically only sees GX. I can load other homebrew from within GX or just exit to HBC or Wii Menu. But this setup makes it easy for the kids to play a game then switch to another. If my Wii HDD isn't connected, the Wii will go into an infinite boot loop, I have to enter into Priiloader to just boot into Wii Menu or change the boot settings.

My White Wii...
Is setup in another room mainly for streaming over WiFi with WiiMC and has a SD card. I have that same app structure on SD so Priiloader always boots and returns to GX. I can connect Wii HDD and use it without issue.

I use GX v1239 on both USB and SD along with d2x v8 on Black Wii and d2x v9 on White Wii.
My 2TB WD My Book is about 3 years old and is only a USB2.0 model. It still has the original WD partition so whenever I plug it into my computer it shows the WD SmartWare CD but I did split and reformat the user partition with EaseUS.
GX will load the first time and everytime (only with the drive connected on Black Wii because there is no GX without it).

That sounds like an old GX, without seeing a drive it should still load into channel mode. Try the latest version of GX.
It could also be that forwarder, if it is an old one it may not work correctly for 3TB+ drives.

 

[Clutz450]

Thanks for the reply. It freezes when searching for my drive when it is connected. My drives are newer and are USB 2.0/3.0. I'm thinking that's the reason why I am having issues with them. Everything else works great on them. I used to have to plug it in after I started USB Loader GX when it was counting down looking for my hard drive but that was a pain in the butt. Then I discovered my work around and all is well. Just wondering if you had experienced the same issues.

Edit: In case you were curious, here is a video I made for Cyan (creator of USB Loader GX) to further explain my issue.

 

[Johnny2071]

I was able to format my external hardrive to FAT32 format, but my next concern is whether or not I should even bother deleting the hidden partition, especially after reading this:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/delete-hidden-partitions-seagate-hard-drive-52624.html

Warning:

Deleting a partition is permanent. To avoid the loss of your operating system in the event of a virus or other system error, you should have another backup method in place before you delete the partition.

 

[DaMan4169]

That article is talking about a hidden recovery partition on an operating system drive. Some manufactures like HP would create a recovery partition on your drive to restore Windows back to factory state. They didn't usually make it a hidden partition. Lenovo on the other hand does use hidden partitions. My new computer came with Win8 and a hidden partition, but I didn't like Win8 so I got rid of it and its recovery partition because I had no intention of ever using it. After I changed BIOS options and installed a different OS, I used a program to create my own recovery discs.
Some IT departments will do the same thing on business machines so all the drivers for each computer are safely hidden on the computer in case of Windows corruptions.

The hidden partition on a external drive is usually just software to run automatic backups or encrypt the drive. If you are just using it as a Wii drive or don't plan on doing auto backups of PC files or encryption, it's safe to delete.
Leaving the hidden partition on my WD hasn't given me any issues. It's a little annoying when I plug it into PC but works fine on Wii and I still use it for some computer files storage.

 

[Johnny2071]

I was able to get my drive to work! And I backed up my entire Wii library (25 games, plus Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii)

However, SSBB can't play demos (someone said that I have to install ALL hidden partitions (I don't know how)), and DO NOT boot Kirby Wii (Return to Dreamland) through USB Loader GX. Use NeoGamma instead.

 

[GreyWolf]

I was able to get my drive to work! And I backed up my entire Wii library (25 games, plus Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii)

However, SSBB can't play demos (someone said that I have to install ALL hidden partitions (I don't know how)), and DO NOT boot Kirby Wii (Return to Dreamland) through USB Loader GX. Use NeoGamma instead.

Wii Backup Manager corrupts SSBB. Either use Wiimms ISO Tools to convert it to WBFS or just don't try to launch the demos. I believe Kirby has patch protection so make sure you don't have any turned on for it.

 

[Kumera]

Any update for wad compatible models? (my toshiba i moved to external 750gb hd works fine). But the 1tb i got for my sister backup works for gc and wii isos but not wads.

 

[Exidous]

Any update for wad compatible models? (my toshiba i moved to external 750gb hd works fine). But the 1tb i got for my sister backup works for gc and wii isos but not wads.

I got one of the smaller Bipra drives off Amazon a few months ago. https://www.amazon.com/Bipra-S2-NTFS-Portable-External/dp/B00H9JMPH6/

The build quality isn't great (when I pick it up I feel the drive moving inside the enclosure) but it works fine on Wii with everything I've thrown at it. And the price is right ($20). These are USB 2.0, so they don't run into any of the Wii incompatibilities more common to USB 3.0 drives. Mine is a 320GB, and fits like 5GB of pre-Gamecube games and emulators, a full emunand with lots of items, ~20 Gamecube games and ~50 Wii games.

 

[Alexander1970]

Good Morning.

WD Elements 2 TB External HDD

Lots of Space and very reliable,works 100% with USBLoader GX / WiiFlow / WiiFlow Lite / Configurable USBLoader (proofed).
With an seperate Y-Cable it works on the vWii too (proofed).
(If not,you have a bad cIOS Setup,an outdated USBLoader,bad Game Dumps and/or have used the wrong USB Port.).

Have a very,very nice Day.
Thank you.

 

[cvskid]

Good Morning.View attachment 251332

WD Elements 2 TB External HDD

Lots of Space and very reliable,works 100% with USBLoader GX / WiiFlow / WiiFlow Lite / Configurable USBLoader (proofed).
With an seperate Y-Cable it works on the vWii too (proofed).
(If not,you have a bad cIOS Setup,an outdated USBLoader,bad Game Dumps and/or have used the wrong USB Port.).

Have a very,very nice Day.
Thank you.

Would this work for the wii u without a Y-cable if you plan on using this HDD with wii u games only?

 

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

Would this work for the wii u without a Y-cable if you plan on using this HDD with wii u games only?

With the 1 Port Cable - it can work,I did not have tested it.From personal Experiences,HDD works for the Wii U if you use it alone (no other USB Device/HDD Attached).I have tried 3 different SSD´s/HDD´s but only tested with this Sabrent Enclosure

The WD from the Link is unfortunately untested for the Wii U for the Moment.

Thank you.