Hardware Which hard drives work in vWii?

[Elliander]

I have been unable to get any USB hard drive to work with the Wii I in vWii mode. I have tried a 1 TB 512 sector size (which works with my wii) and a 4 TB 512 sector size split in partitions and a 4 TB 4k sector size.

For the loading of Wii games in USB Loader GX in vWii mode is there a list of known working hard drives? What would keep one hard drive from working and allow one other drive to work?

 

[kokotas]

My WD elements 1TB (NTFS formatted) and Seagate freeagent 750gb (fat32 formatted) work perfectly fine. I had tried a WD my passport ultra, but the USB port didn't supply enough power so it was never recognized. Thus, first make sure you have an external drive with a dedicated power supply.

 

[Elliander]

The 4 TB I tried was a Seagate and had its own power supply. The 1 TB I tried was a WD Passport (FAT32 Formatted) that does not have its own power cable, but is the hard drive I've always used on the Wii so that shouldn't be a problem there. Does anyone know of any specific 4 terabyte drives that are confirmed to work?

 

[kokotas]

Unlike the wii, wii u's usb ports don't supply enough power for the drive to work, . You need a usb Y cable which will reserve two of your usb ports to supply your drive. As for the 4TB drive, there is 2TB limit so I suppose there's your problem.

 

[darkseekerliu]

My 500gb hard drive works fine on original Wii using only one end of Y cable. In my Wii u I have to use the both ends in order to give enough power to make it work. Are you sure you are pluging it on the righ usb port?

On wii - considering that your console is standing you must plug the usb cable on the righ port,

and on Wii u - also considering it in stading position you have to plug the cable on the left port.

 

[razielleonhart]

My WD black 500gb fat32 with a y cable works great

 

[Elliander]

So even a 1 TB drive will only only work if it has a Y cable? Why would there be a hard limit of 2 TB in vWii mode when 4 TB works fine in the Wii? I can understand a hard limit applying outside of vWii, but I thought the software of the virtual Wii was identical to the Wii itself. Are there any other limitations I should be worried about? Such as required sector size or formatting? Ideally, I would prefer it if the Wii U doesn't recognize the hard drive outside of the vWii.

Only the left USB port works in vWii? What can the right USB port be used for?

 

[Elliander]

Also, is there a way to keep the Wii U from seeing the hard drive, while allowing it to work in vWii mode? I would like to avoid the possibility of someone else using the console and accidentally responding to the notification asking to format. One of the reasons I was hoping a 4 terabyte would work is because that never asks to format, but in that regards I still don't understand where the limit comes from. I thought that limit was just a limit with the Wii U partition system.

 

[worm28]

I dont know any 4tb drives that work i use this one http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B002QEBMCI Bought it when it was a lot cheaper i have the 500gb one too and they both work good on the vwii. There is a way to hide your drive from the wii u here

UStealth - Wii U 'Format Disk' Nag workaround ​

 

[Elliander]

Thanks for an example of a working drive and a link to UStealth.Do you suppose this 2 TB would work?

err... for some reason the paste function on my smart phone doesn't work on this forum. Well, it's also on Amazon. The WD My Passport Slim 2 TB. Its $50 cheaper.

And in regards to y-cables I don't want to close up both USB ports since I want to eventually have a hdd for use with Wii U downloads since they are filling up my internal fast, but I'm wary about plugging the second USB into a cheap power adapter especially since I don't no how many amps it should plug into. Is there a any such thing as aya doctor which has not to USB plugs, but one USB plug and one electrical adapter? Or else does anyone know a good solution that's safe?

Or maybe I could use a powered USB hub on the right USB port? It says hubs work with the Wii U, but do they work in vWii mode? I know that never worked on the Wii I'm not sure.


Also, does anyone what the hard drive limitations of Wii U key will be or if it will use a USB port or use some other plug? Since its going to work with both Wii and Wii U backups I figured it would be worth asking about.

 

[worm28]

I dont know about the WD my passport we really need a compatability list. Whatever you do buy a drive with its own power supply you will need the other back port for usb controller if you plan to play gamecube games (Nintendont) on vwii. Also i dont think usb hubs will work i have never heard of anyone using one.

 

[Elliander]

I dont know about the WD my passport we really need a compatability list.

Yes, we really do need a list. Somewhere that people can say which model of which drive worked for them. Since I have Amazon Prime with free shipping I don't mind trying the other drive and then returning it if it doesn't work.

Whatever you do buy a drive with its own power supply

If I run it through a Powered USB hub though a Y cable wouldn't be needed, right? Alternatively, if that doesn't work, I imagine a high quality USB plug would work, but I don't know how many amps it needs. In my experience the ones with their own power supplies tend to be thicker models that run hotter.

you will need the other back port for usb controller if you plan to play gamecube games (Nintendont) on vwii.

Oh, I plan to leave it open, but not for Gamecube games. The only loader which exists is far too much trouble for my taste. If I have to have both a Wii and a Wii U set up anyway every time I add a game, I'm just going to keep the Wii hooked up as a glorified Gamecube and keep my old 1 TB hard drive for the Wii to load those Gamecube games. Maybe after Gamecube port support is available on the Wii U that will change something better will come along and then I can finally retire the Wii into the attic with all my other old consoles, but until then it's just not worth it. Especially since I bought up well over a hundred Gamecube games over the years and each one would have to be ripped fresh AND I use 4 Wavebirds in perfect condition.

No, I want to leave a port open either for the Wii U Key or for an official Wii U partition for downloaded games. Ideally though I'd like to find out if a hub can work with vWii like it works with the Wii U partition and if so I would be able to do both.

Also i dont think usb hubs will work i have never heard of anyone using one.

hmm. Well USB Ports are officially supported even for hard drives on the Wii U, so maybe it's just a coding limitation with how the USB Loaders are written in vWii? Or maybe no one tried... I could buy one and test it out I guess. I will need one for the left port anyway since I will have multiple USB devices plugged in eventually.

 

[Elliander]

I ended up buying a "WD Elements 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive" from Amazon which has a dedicated power cable. New would have been much more expensive than a slim (which was weird), but I managed to find a refurbished for $79.95 with free 2 day shipping. I formatted it to FAT32 and then copied all of my Wii games onto it and then used UStealth R8 and I can confirm that it works perfectly with USB Loader GX. At first though none of the games showed up, but after running the update from the settings menu everything showed up without any problems.