Hardware HDD wii problems

[The Real Jdbye]

32k cluster size was a requirement for DIOS MIOS only. now everyone uses Nintendont or Devolution for gamecube games, so it's not a problem anymore.

I guess you are right. I think it used to be a requirement with Nintendont though, but even now, due to the 32k alignment of GC ISOs it probably makes a big difference, since GC games can be sensitive to long load times.

 

[appeltje_eitje]

Ok, I now it's frustrating. I am trying to help. It's not working . So, something I think is obvious is probably not obvious to you. Or the drive is just incompatible. These are all the things I can think of that affect loading. Seems you need to go get a new HDD. Wii is only USB 2.0 and a !TB drive should suffice. Get an old WD My book. USB #.0 is overkill so you can find one cheap i suppose. Make sure you turn off auto sleep.

Your current problem is likely caused by:

• incompatible or bad hardware (HDD OR ENCLOSURE)
• Sleep mode on HD. (did the enclosure come with software to turn off power management?)
• Incompatible format. you need FAT32 32k cluster Primary Active MBR (should be fixed by GUI formatter but who knows and Wii didn't support GPT or <2TB drives IIRC)
• Bad jumper setting on the HDD.
• Plugging it in wrong. (Why I asked)
• Wii not up to date. You might need to update the Wii to rule it out. Use ModMii and Re-Hack your Wii to get all the updated cIOS and latest greatest hacks.
• Shitty cable. USB cables have caused many problems on Wii's.

I would check those things. Wii is picky. I have seen a drive that works on one not work on the next. I have hacked at ton of the things. I would be careful about which HDD you pick up as it's hard to tell what works. Those WD passports ALWAYS worked for me. Ive done at least 50 consoles. Probably a lot more. And you can get an old HD because USB 3.0 won't help the Wii.

I have no idea where the problem is, but i stop for now, it took me all day and now the kids are home and we need to eat.. Thanks for all your help.. I will look at it later..

 

[Cyan]

Your current problem is likely caused by:

I thought about the jumpers too, but if the computer can see the proper hdd size it should be properly set. but maybe I'm wrong, I'm not very good with jumper setup.

Just few things I'd like to mention, don't take it bad, I just want to inform everyone interesting. we had the "active flag" rumor circulating for 10 years
• The Wii doesn't support a specific USB format, both MBR or GPT are up to the launched program to support it.
GPT is working with few homebrew but not all. Maybe not snes9xGX but he said he formatted to MBR.
System menu supports MBR for the SD card, IOS59 supports WFS HDD (no partition table, like the wiiu), and some usbloaders also supported WBFS with no partition table.
theoretically, homebrew can load up to a 16TB partition.

• Active flag on the partition has no effect on Wii homebrew.
Active is a flag used by computer BIOS to know which partition to boot at computer's power on.

• The Wii "firmware" version has no effect on the HDD detection. the version (3.2E, 4.3E, etc.) is not a firmware but only the version of the system menu application launched at console boot.
the console can launch anything else at boot (priiloader, hbc, etc.) and it will not care what the version of the system menu is. The menu is not in memory at all, and has no effect on retail game compatibility or homebrew.
the only thing responsible for the hardware access and compatibility is the current IOS loaded by the currently running application. You are right he may have an outdated IOS58 (the IOS used by snes9xgx) but I don't know if it would affect its enclosure detection.

That doesn't prevent him to check his current setup and see if it requires an update or not.
Maybe posting a syscheck will tell us if the IOS are old or not, but my Wii is still on 3.2E and I still miss few IOS that I never needed, it was never a problem for hdd compatibility at all.

 

[mikefor20]

To be honest, I haven't turned either of my Wii systems on in a couple years.. But IIRC, there were a couple cIOS that botched USB loading for some reason. I have no idea the history of the OP's Wii.. Plus with all the shoddy PimimpmyCioscorp BS that was floating around I didn't want to make any assumptions. Especially because the OPs description was less than detailed.

As far as MBR vs GPT, I don't think I ever ran a HD large enough to warrant GPT anyway...MBR it is..

I thought the active flag was moot but mine is marked active so what the hell. IDK if anything became of it but mine works great so I mentioned it.

Wii firmware is a possible issue if OP is on something really low or has a bunch of screwed up IOS are installed from PimpWanninCorp and such..... might as well just eliminate the possibility and re-hack the Wii with ModMii. Takes minutes and saves a lot of guesswork. I suppose a Syscheck would suffice but I think ModMii is just about as easy and everything will be right after it's said and done.

Since ModMii released, I always just used the GUI Formatter for the HD and Panasonic Formatter for the SD and never had issues. I know some apps need 32k cluster so I suggested that to prevent any problems in the future. not because I necessarily thought it was the current issue.

OP, IMHO your HD is not compatible. Go get a new HDD. I recommended one already and linked you to the compatibility thread... don't bother with USB 3.0 and save some $$$ if you like. And disable the sleep software..

Being on 3.2 doesn't mean your cIOS aren't mostly up to date.... mostly. Who knows what the OP has set up. Just sayin'.

 

[GreyWolf]

Remember that cIOSes have two different IO systems. One that accesses game disc images and one that deals with emulated NAND. The DI patch does not care how the drive is formatted, it only needs a list of the sectors that make up the game image. The drive can even be unformatted as long as the sector list is known.

NAND emulation requires MBR/FAT32. It does not support WBFS, GPT, NTFS or ext2.