Hardware Copy from one HDD to another using Wii U - Cannot boot from new HDD

[aphirst]

Currently set up with my Wii U is a 2.5" 240GB HDD, the same one I used with my old Wii in the past, formatted for use with the Wii U, connected with a Y-cable, with some games on it. (HDD 1)
In my "spare parts bin" I had a 2.5" 320GB HDD, along with another USB-SATA enclosure (complete with its own Y-cable), I figured it was worth copying my stuff over to it. (HDD 2)

Attempting to follow information online, I did the following things:

1. Power off the Wii U.
2. Plug in both HDDs, HDD 1 in the front, HDD 2 in the back, both with their Y-cables.
3. Power on the Wii U.
4. Get message complaining about 2 HDDs being plugged in, forcing me to choose Data Management.
5. Choose "Format Device".
6. Since the tool says "please make sure only the device to be formatted is connected" (or WTTE), I unplugged the old HDD (HDD 1), and ran the format onto the new HDD. (HDD 2)
7. I then connected the old HDD (HDD 1) back, and started a copy of all content from it to the new disk. (HDD 1 to HDD 2)
   • This seems to have taken an awful long time. I started it at about 00:00 UK time, and by 02:00 it was only finishing title 3/11. It must have finished at some point in the early morning. There was a notice on the screen that "during the copy, automatic shutdown is disabled" (or WTTE).
8. I came down to have breakfast and check on the Wii U, which had powered itself off, so I figured the copy was all done.
9. I unplugged HDD 1, leaving HDD 2 connected, and turned the Wii U on.
10. I get an error message, complaining that I shouldn't plug/unplug devices unless the device is off. Pressing anything here reboots the device (or at least the Home menu), where it just gives me the same message again. So I powered the Wii U off.
11. I plugged HDD 1 back in, and turned the Wii U back on.
12. I get the same message as in Step #7 (about 2 HDDs being plugged in), which forces me into Data Management. Viewing the contents of the HDDs in this menu seems to show that the copy was successful.
13. If I quit Data Management from here, on the Home screen it hangs for a while at "Please wait / loading", then ends up showing only the Homebrew Loader - none of my installed commercial titles.

How am I supposed to get my Wii U to boot with only the new HDD (HDD 2) plugged in, with all my copied stuff there? Is there something I'm missing? Is it not possible to successfully copy the Home Menu entries? Is it relevant that these titles were installed with WUP Installer GX2?

 

[Spendy39]

I was lead to believe you can't copy a hard drive with you games installed to it to another? If you can it would make it so much easier as I could have a backup in case the drive dies but pretty sure I have read before you cant

 

[aphirst]

I was lead to believe you can't copy a hard drive with you games installed to it to another? If you can it would make it so much easier as I could have a backup in case the drive dies but pretty sure I have read before you cant

If that's the case, It's odd that the Wii U Data Management menus even bother to offer you the ability to move/copy between 2 simultaneously attached external storage devices...

 

[aphirst]

I was able to get the Wii U out of the boot-loop with the new disk (HDD 2):

1. Power on the Wii U with only the new disk (HDD 2) connected.
   • There is a delay between reaching the home menu and receiving the "only plug/remove disks when powered off" warning (which forces a reboot)
2. During this interim, go into Settings -> Data Management, and view the contents of the disk.
3. Quit Settings and return to the home menu.

For some reason, now the disk works and is recognised, my Home Screen is populated with my copied, installed titles, and they all also seem to load fine. Weird.

If someone else encounters this issue in the future, I hope this helps them.

 

[Jayro]

Can't you just use a blind-writing HDD copier like Clonezilla, to make a 1:1 copy of the HDD on a PC?

 

[aphirst]

Can't you just use a blind-writing HDD copier like Clonezilla, to make a 1:1 copy of the HDD on a PC?

While that may be possible, it's not useful if your goal is to upgrade to a larger disk, which I did.