Hacking Wii USB Port out of service...

[$p00ky]

Edit: Solution for this problem found: Plug something in the usb port 1, whatever it is, and the hard disk on the usb port 0 will be successfully mounted... crazy but worked (cIOS38 rev15)!
Edit 2: Other solution for this problem found: Force the use of the cIOS 223 (using IOS38 merged with IOS60) to launch your USB Loader (for instance hold B button when launching Configurable USB Loader). You can then select the cIOS you want to start the game, just use the cIOS 223 to start the USB loader.

Dear all,

I used to play my Wii games from my HD through USB Loader GX.
But I now have a huge problem: the loaders do not detect my hard drives or keys on the USB port...

I didn't change anything from the situation when it worked to the actual situation.
It used to work on both my external HD and my USB key, and now it doesn't work on neither of them...

I am on Wii 4.1U with cIOS 38 rev14 + cIOS 222 and 223.
It used to work perfectly until a few days ago.
I did not change anything, nor to the Wii neither to the HD.

I tried USB Loader GX r810, r815, NeoGamma R8b3 (usb loading), and even the old USBLoader 1.0 by Waninkoko.
None of them worked. The later one prints out this error: Could not initialize USB subsystem! (ret = -1)
Worst: MPlayer CE cannot mount the NTFS partition (the HD contains NTFS and WBFS partitions, and worked well on both MPlayer CE for NTFS and USB Loader for WBFS).

The HD and the key are still working fine with the computer.
I detect and can modify the WBFS partition.


Configurable USB Loader: I tried the "Configurable USB Loader", the current last version (v47), which is supposed to mount FAT partitions and load .wbfs games.
So I made a FAT32 parition, converted an ISO (a WDF game file actually) to the WBFS format and put it on the disk (the usb key that used to be working actually).
Configurable USB Loader didn't success in mounting the key...
I have the same problem with that soft, even tought it's using a different file format (FAT32).
Now I'm really wondering if the USB port 0 hasn't been corrupted...




Do you think this is a hardware problem? (USB down....)
Or a software pb?

Do you have any suggestions, solutions?


P.S.: The USB port 1 (not the one used to play games) is working fine (network LAN).
I tried to reinstall cIOS 38 rev 14, 222 and 223 rev4, it worked but didn't solve the problem.

Additional Info: Before "waiting for your slow usb device", there is a 5-10 seconds blank black screen, then 1 or 2 seconds pixelized weird screen, with hardly readable "description not available" on the bottom when launching Usb Loader GX (then the "waiting for ur slow usb device...").
Not really helpful though...

Additional Info 2: I do not use the cIOS038 rev15 because it doesn't solve the problem and raises the following error with NeoGamma R8b3: Error #0001 unauthorized device detected.

 

[smf]

It used to work perfectly until a few days ago.
I did not change anything, nor to the Wii neither to the HD.

I saw a hard drive caddy that worked when I used one sdcard and not another.
It wasn't the card, but the contents. When the contents were copied from one to the other it work work.
As soon as we started deleting files from the sdcard the hd would fail to detect.
This was from HBC, the forwarder would never work.

In the end a new caddy sorted the problem out, no idea what was the cause. It could be a bug that is timing sensitive, but I looked at the cost of a new caddy compared to the time it would take to figure out & I gave up.

 

[$p00ky]

But I'm always using the same SD card (as I only have one indeed...).
Besides, I'm using the Channel version, which doesn't require the SD card, isn't it? I would not be able to save the config if I don't plug the SD card, but the loader should start anyway... no matter the SD card...

But sometimes, and more often at the end (before it starts completely not working), the loader did not detect the SD card. So there may be a link.
I'll try again without my SD card.

Edit: The SD card is not involved in the mounting process... As I use the channel version, it doesn't require nor need to access to the SD card.
It doesn't work neither when I unplug the SD card.

 

[Jaz808]

Sounds like hardware
If you went back to Rev 10 then you could use the other port as both ports worked with 10, cant remember if rev12 was the same, but rev13 and up need the bottom port
Does heremes 222 worry about ports

 

[$p00ky]

Well, actually, if it's really a hardware problem, I don't really want to do the same thing on the other port right now...
Coz I didn't do anything special to the current port. I just launched USB Loader GX as I always used to do. So it may be a soft problem that corrupted the hardware. I don't really want to repeat the same error to the other port... It may be judicious to wait until I have more information about this problem.
(I can still play from the original or backup DVDs for the moment even if it's not as convenient as usb loaders...)

 

[uscjunkie]

I am having the same problem....just hoping you had found anyway to fix this. My hard drive was working fine and now it won't connect with the Wii through any USB loader. Not sure what the problem is but nothing I have tried fixes anything. Even tried a new SD card.

 

[Millionaire2K]

try the other port by going back to Rev 10.

 

[uscjunkie]

try the other port by going back to Rev 10.

Where can I find this? I'm willing to try anything at this point.

 

[uscjunkie]

Could having more than one USB loader on a Wii cause some type of conflict?

 

[$p00ky]

try the other port by going back to Rev 10.

Where can I find this? I'm willing to try anything at this point.

On the official page of Waninkoko: http://www.teknoconsolas.es/blog/waninkoko...om-ios36-rev-10
"Descargar" means "Download".

Going back to the rev10 should allow you to use the other USB port and so on fix the problem.
Nevertheless, not all the games will work (quite an old cIOS), and there is still the risk that you corrupt the first port also...
As I still can play my games with the discs now, I don't want to try it, but if you do, please tell me if it worked or not.

As for the fact of using multiple usb loaders, I don't think it's a problem.
I only used one USB Loader, the GX one, and I got the problem...

 

[nitrostemp]

try using cfg loaders with a blank hdd and make it format it if it even bothers to detect it

 

[wiistarter]

Can I just ask if the drives you are using are USB powered or external power supplies???

 

[uscjunkie]

My drive is a Toshiba portable hard drive powered by USB.

 

[nitrostemp]

does it spin up when the wii turns on? you may want to try a usb hard drive that uses external power

 

[wiistarter]

Just wondering as there has been reports in the past that USB powered HDD COULD damage the USB port as they get older and ask for more power. As the wii is not primarily designed to supply power to peripherals like this it has been debated that long term use like this could damage the USB port.

It is uknown if the Wii has a built in power restrictor to stop damage to the USB ports like a PC has. If not then it is feasable that it could cause it to die.

Just wondering if we are now starting to see a pattern develop. As I have said this is total speculation but a topic that has been discussed in many forums regarding these drives failing on PC's due to needing more power than the port is designed to give. The PC will stop supplying and the device will not work and damage is avoided to the USB slot but as I have said it is unknown if the wii can do this and it might burn the USB slot out or make it so it can no longer supply enough power to ANY external USB device.

 

[$p00ky]

Just wondering as there has been reports in the past that USB powered HDD COULD damage the USB port as they get older and ask for more power. As the wii is not primarily designed to supply power to peripherals like this it has been debated that long term use like this could damage the USB port.

It is uknown if the Wii has a built in power restrictor to stop damage to the USB ports like a PC has. If not then it is feasable that it could cause it to die.

Just wondering if we are now starting to see a pattern develop. As I have said this is total speculation but a topic that has been discussed in many forums regarding these drives failing on PC's due to needing more power than the port is designed to give. The PC will stop supplying and the device will not work and damage is avoided to the USB slot but as I have said it is unknown if the wii can do this and it might burn the USB slot out or make it so it can no longer supply enough power to ANY external USB device.

Wise guess.

There is a way to (half-)check it.
If the usb drive or key works on usb port 1 with the rev10, it means the Wii still CAN supply enough power to the hard disk.
But if it doesn't work, I'm not sure it means something... it can be power supplying problem, or something else.

Anyway, I'm not sure if it's a power supply problem.
My hard disk is this exactly this one: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/logitec/lhd-ed500u2-yy/
Which I bought on this website and which was working well on the Wii until now...
There are two operational modes: force ON (with external power supply) or Auto (which detects connectivity with the USB port and supplies power only if the hard-disk is connected to something).
When I was in Auto mode and launched USB Loader GX, the hard drive automatically switched off and on again (reset), then was detected by the loader.
Now, the hard drive does not reset by itself, no matter how long I wait. USB Loader is "freezing" until I manually switch to force ON or OFF and then ON again (no automatic reset anymore). Then when the reset is manually done, the loader starts and does not detect the USB drive (which still detects some power source in Auto mode).

Same problem with the USB key which is NOT auto power supplied: the key receives power (light on) but is not detected by USB Loader...

 

[uscjunkie]

Well I went and borrowed a NEW hard drive that was still in the box from a friend and now it works perfectly again. So something in the other hard drive was the problem. Even though it works fine on a computer the Wii doesn't seem to like it very much.

 

[$p00ky]

Well I went and borrowed a NEW hard drive that was still in the box from a friend and now it works perfectly again. So something in the other hard drive was the problem. Even though it works fine on a computer the Wii doesn't seem to like it very much.

So you mean that your hard disk that used to work on the Wii suddenly stopped working, and that it's due to the hard drive and not to the Wii?
In my case, as soon as the problem occured, I tried my USB key which used to work at the beginning (for validating the USB Loader then swithing to a real hard disk) and it was NOT working on this device neither.
So I came to the conclusion that it's NOT a hard disk problem.

There should be no reason that the hard drive suddenly becomes unreadable on the Wii, and on the Wii only... should it?
Besides, there should be no reason that my both devices become unreadable at the same time...

I tried to format and format again the USB key that used to work, format with different softz... no matter how I do it, the Wii doesn't detect the device on port 0.

Well, I'm gonna try the rev10 on port 1... with the same devices.

 

[$p00ky]

OK, it's working as a charm on the port 1 with cIOS036 rev10.
So that proof that the Wii can still provide power supply to the USB devices and that this is NOT a hard disk problem but the port 0 which is corrupted...
The point is now I'd like to get my USB port 0 working again, to use the cIOS038 rev14...

The USB port 0 is working with the USB LAN Adapter (I have internet through the USB Lan Adapter on USB Port 0)... So the usb port seems not to be 100% corrupted (devices are also receiving power when I plug them) but only "bricked" or whatever that makes hard drive unreadable...
With the rev10, the hard disk is working only if I plug it on the port 1. And with the rev14, it's not working neither on port 0 nor port 1 (of course for the later one). I don't really want to use the rev10 and the port 1 for 2 reasons (1. rev10 is old, 2. I don't want to corrupt the port 1).

I can't open my Wii to check the hardware as I don't have the necessary tools right now...
Damn... that's so weird... what happened to this usb port 0...?
I have no idea nor solutions why the port is working with the LAN adapter but not with the hard drives...

 

[uscjunkie]

Yea I have no idea what caused it but for whatever reason the drive becomes unreadable to the Wii but still works fine while connected to computers. I think you are right in assuming that the loaders are corrupting the USB ports. I can't think of anything else that it could be.