Hardware Using an ext. hard-drive for both Wii and WiiU?

[Pilzkopf777]

Hello there,

is it possible to use an external hard-drive for both the Wii and the WiiU?
I currently have one 32 GB partition (for Gamecube) and one big NTFS partition (for Wii games) on my hard-drive which is used on my Wii (not vWii).
Recently I played some more WiiU and had to realise that I'm out of storage on the console. Using an USB flash stick would not be a good idea so what about using the same hard-drive for the WiiU as well?
Could I create a partition on my hard-drive for WiiU games/files/things only and swap it out when I wanted to play Wii games? Would this corrupt files or be unsafe in general?

 

[olimar718]

No you can't.
Sadly you need one hdd for vwii (that you can partition for gamecube and Wii games)and one for Wii u.
It's because the Wii u use a proprietary file system.

 

[Ryccardo]

The beta of Mocha supports using a FAT32 drive for WiiU mode (with significant limitations, most importantly not being able to actually install titles to such a disk)

Best option is buying a large SD and using a Vwii usb loader that supports games from SD (this too is somewhat inferior to a real hard drive)

 

[Pilzkopf777]

It's because the Wii u use a proprietary file system.

The beta of Mocha supports using a FAT32 drive for WiiU mode (with significant limitations, most importantly not being able to actually install titles to such a disk)

So would it work with a hard drive with multiple partitions - even if two of them are "designed" for use on the Wii?
I understand that the WiiU uses a file system for data that cannot be read on a PC (or a Wii for that matter) but would that actually make any difference?
Does the WiiU eat up the entire hard drive and is it impossible to simply select a single partition for the WiiU to use?

 

[Ryccardo]

Does the WiiU eat up the entire hard drive and is it impossible to simply select a single partition for the WiiU to use?

If you choose to use the official WFS format, yes: the WiiU's operating system doesn't even really use a standard partition table

If you choose the experimental Mocha FAT32 driver, it will use the first FAT32 partition for WiiU data (on which you can also store anything you want, including but not limited to Wii software)

 

[rusty shackleford]

You can use one partition for both your Wii games and WiiU games and heck even gamecube. I've been using the same hdd since i had my wii and been using it for vwii. It's formatted fat32 with 32kb clusters for the gc games. All i did was download the wiiu games, converted them to loadiine, and placed them in the correct folder on my hdd. Loadiine games are broken up into multiple files so you shouldnt run into the 4gb file limitation in fat32 filesystem. But i'm using the mocha release with fat32 support. Everything is working fine on my end. Mocha will not format your drive, but youll have to basically copy your sd card into the root of the hdd then mocha will boot from the hdd and the sd will not be used.

 

[Pilzkopf777]

If you choose the experimental Mocha FAT32 driver, it will use the first FAT32 partition for WiiU data

Earlier you said that it's impossible to install titles onto such a disk. Would it be possible to move titles that have already been installed to the system to the experimental drive? It would free up space on the system and allow me to launch them from the drive.

All i did was download the wiiu games, converted them to loadiine [...] Mocha will not format your drive, but youll have to basically copy your sd card into the root of the hdd

I purchased the games from the eShop. I used Loadiine before but it does not support online play.
Would I only move the Mocha-related files onto the drive or everything (= also the Homebrew channel etc.?)

 

[Ryccardo]

Earlier you said that it's impossible to install titles onto such a disk. Would it be possible to move titles that have already been installed to the system to the experimental drive? It would free up space on the system and allow me to launch them from the drive.

You're supposed to install what you want to a proprietary WFS-formatted disk, then copy the files to SD or PC (by connecting to the console that's running ftpiiu-everywhere, or an experimental Linux WFS driver I don't even really know how much it works), then copy all its contents (two folders, the important one is "usr") to the FAT32 disk

You will still need an SD card, at the very minimum for loading Mocha 0.3+ out of!
The card will be disabled once the FAT32 USB driver loads (in fact the FAT32 driver is the one developed by Nintendo and normally used for the SD)

 

[olimar718]

The beta of Mocha supports using a FAT32 drive for WiiU mode (with significant limitations, most importantly not being able to actually install titles to such a disk)

Best option is buying a large SD and using a Vwii usb loader that supports games from SD (this too is somewhat inferior to a real hard drive)

I didn't knew about that experimental thing in mocha.
Thank you the info, and sorry for the "misinformation" that i did.
Even if what i said is kind of true in practice.

 

[Willsito_GG]

Hello!

Does someone have any news regarding the uses of HD's for Wii and WiiU backups? I am struggling on what to do with it because I am not able to use 2 big HD (one for Wii's and one for WiiU's), because the issue with the needs of a Y to power up a Hard Drive....

Thanks in advance,

Best regards

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Edit: Posting glitched up, didn't look like it went through. Mods feel free to delete this.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hello!

Does someone have any news regarding the uses of HD's for Wii and WiiU backups? I am struggling on what to do with it because I am not able to use 2 big HD (one for Wii's and one for WiiU's), because the issue with the needs of a Y to power up a Hard Drive....

Thanks in advance,

Best regards

You can use WiiVC on a Wii U formatted HDD with the injector.

 

[Willsito_GG]

You can use WiiVC on a Wii U formatted HDD with the injector.

Hello The Real Jdbye,

Thanks for your answer!

The thing is, (correct me if I am wrong) that I wanted to avoid launching the sigpatcher2sysmenu everytime I execute a game, and I am not willing to set the Coldboot. That is why I was pursuing is to have the following:

-> Wii U Games and Virtual Console Games (not needing launching the sigpatcher2sysmenu everytime I execute a game): placed in the SD and loaded by the Loadiine. (Will have to buy a Y USB wire to power it).
-> Wii and GC Games: placed in a Hard Drive (FAT 32 format), accesing them from the HBL2HBC (directly loading the USB Loader GX).

Reasons for choosing this way:

-> I would like to have everything in 2 HDD, that would be my cheapest and easiest way to manage, but due to these 4 reasons:
1º: to need the CFW load for some contents like VC and DLC's (sigpatcher2sysmenu)
2º: the need of power both HDD's up with external supply.
3º: the elevated time that is to install a game, first put the game in the SD and second install it in the HDD.
4º: not being able to manage everything from the computer.

Problems with the chosen way:

1. For the Emulation of consoles below N64 (included) in the VC, and the rest games appears with the black bars (4:3), and I wanted to play them with 16:9 resolution.
2. To increase the resolution, for example to 1080, for the games below Wii U? (This is a stuff that I miss a lot, because I have been playing a lot to N64 and GC games in 1080 resolution in my PC, and now I miss it as hell when I play them on the Wii U.

Could you help me with this?

Many thanks in advance!

Best regards

Eipok

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hello The Real Jdbye,

Thanks for your answer!

The thing is, (correct me if I am wrong) that I wanted to avoid launching the sigpatcher2sysmenu everytime I execute a game, and I am not willing to set the Coldboot. That is why I was pursuing is to have the following:

-> Wii U Games and Virtual Console Games (not needing launching the sigpatcher2sysmenu everytime I execute a game): placed in the SD and loaded by the Loadiine. (Will have to buy a Y USB wire to power it).
-> Wii and GC Games: placed in a Hard Drive (FAT 32 format), accesing them from the HBL2HBC (directly loading the USB Loader GX).

Reasons for choosing this way:

-> I would like to have everything in 2 HDD, that would be my cheapest and easiest way to manage, but due to these 4 reasons:
1º: to need the CFW load for some contents like VC and DLC's (sigpatcher2sysmenu)
2º: the need of power both HDD's up with external supply.
3º: the elevated time that is to install a game, first put the game in the SD and second install it in the HDD.
4º: not being able to manage everything from the computer.

Problems with the chosen way:

1. For the Emulation of consoles below N64 (included) in the VC, and the rest games appears with the black bars (4:3), and I wanted to play them with 16:9 resolution.
2. To increase the resolution, for example to 1080, for the games below Wii U? (This is a stuff that I miss a lot, because I have been playing a lot to N64 and GC games in 1080 resolution in my PC, and now I miss it as hell when I play them on the Wii U.

Could you help me with this?

Many thanks in advance!

Best regards

Eipok

Do it the other way around. Wii and GC from SD, and Wii U games on USB. Wii/GC games are smaller so they don't need as much space, and Loadiine has many drawbacks, among them incredibly long load times in games with a lot of files (Zelda BotW is basically unplayable due to this) and no online support. Also, no support for the digital manuals, this might not seem like a big deal but some games such as Paper Mario Color Splash actually give you vital information in the manual.

As for your questions:
1. Your TV should have a video mode that will stretch to 16:9.
2. That would require some level of emulation. vWii runs on hardware, so it's not possible to do something like that. N64 could be rendered in 1080p in Wii U mode as there is enough power, but I guess the official VC doesn't do that. There is a RetroArch port for Wii U but it doesn't appear to support N64. It does support PSX though.

 

[Willsito_GG]

Do it the other way around. Wii and GC from SD, and Wii U games on USB. Wii/GC games are smaller so they don't need as much space, and Loadiine has many drawbacks, among them incredibly long load times in games with a lot of files (Zelda BotW is basically unplayable due to this) and no online support. Also, no support for the digital manuals, this might not seem like a big deal but some games such as Paper Mario Color Splash actually give you vital information in the manual.

Is it possible to have, for the WII and GC games, the same folders structure in the SD, as I have it now in my HDD ("wbfs" for WII and "games" for GC)? I ask this in the frame of using USB GX LOADER for both Wii and GC (Nintendont) games loading.

As for your questions:
1. Your TV should have a video mode that will stretch to 16:9.
2. That would require some level of emulation. vWii runs on hardware, so it's not possible to do something like that. N64 could be rendered in 1080p in Wii U mode as there is enough power, but I guess the official VC doesn't do that. There is a RetroArch port for Wii U but it doesn't appear to support N64. It does support PSX though.

1. Yeah...I know that I can stretch with the TV but I wanted to do it natively in the Wii U.
2. I imagine...it actually is what many people would like, to have "HD" SNES-N64 titles.


And another question, how much time do you take to WUP install 15 Wii U games from an SD to a HDD? (I took 20 min to do 2 games: TOZTP and Super Mario U)


Thanks in advance,

Best regards

Eipok

 

[Willsito_GG]

And another question, how much time do you take to WUP install 15 Wii U games from an SD to a HDD? (I took 20 min to do 2 games: TOZTP and Super Mario U)

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Is it possible to have, for the WII and GC games, the same folders structure in the SD, as I have it now in my HDD ("wbfs" for WII and "games" for GC)? I ask this in the frame of using USB GX LOADER for both Wii and GC (Nintendont) games loading.



1. Yeah...I know that I can stretch with the TV but I wanted to do it natively in the Wii U.
2. I imagine...it actually is what many people would like, to have "HD" SNES-N64 titles.


And another question, how much time do you take to WUP install 15 Wii U games from an SD to a HDD? (I took 20 min to do 2 games: TOZTP and Super Mario U)


Thanks in advance,

Best regards

Eipok

Yeah, the folder structure is the same. You'll have to use another USB loader though, as USB Loader GX doesn't support Wii games on SD. I recommend Wiiflow, but CFG Loader will work too.

1. It doesn't do that, however there is a way to get VC om vWii to display in widescreen.

2. You can use Retroarch for other consoles besides N64, though 2D games like SNES won't look any different unless you use filters like HQ4x.

Installing a lot of Wii U games takes a while, but that doesn't have to be done very often, so just leave it installing overnight and it'll be done when you wake up.

 

[Willsito_GG]

Hello!

I have been deeply thinking and testing everything, and I believe I become to the following Conclusion-Setup:

The thing is, (correct me if I am wrong) that I wanted to avoid launching the sigpatcher2sysmenu everytime I execute a game, and I am not willing to set the Coldboot. That is why I was pursuing is to have the following:

-> ColdBoot installation with "SystemMenu" autoboot (not Mocha CFW because the Wii U gets frozen when exiting Homebrew Launcher).
-> Wii U memory + 64GB USB stick for: Zelda Breath of the Wild and others Wii U Games (due to the load times and no on-line support, and no support for the digital manuals like for Paper Mario Color Splash): to be reactive in this point, whenever a game is not fluent, install it in the internal Wii U storage.
-> 200 GB (A1 Speed) SD: Rest of Wii U Games and Virtual Console Games loaded by the Loadiine.
-> 240 GB SDD Drive (not have to buy a Y USB wire to power it): for Wii and GC Games, accesing them from the HBL2HBC forwarder (directly loading the USB Loader GX, not liking at all the WiiFlow app).

-> N64 to be launched from Virtual Consol as Wii 64 emulator sucks. My tv doesn't allow me to put in 16:9, I will have to study this point.
-> Snex and below to be launched in the vWii mode with the emulators. Works in 16:9.


Now I am struggling to make both 64USB stick and 240 SSD works being connected at the same time...

I will keep you posted!

Thanks!

Eipok

 

[element6]

-> ColdBoot installation with "SystemMenu" autoboot (not Mocha CFW because the Wii U gets frozen when exiting Homebrew Launcher).

Why does it freeze?

Now I am struggling to make both 64USB stick and 240 SSD works being connected at the same time...

Don't even bother unless you are going to use Ustealth. You are also going to have to spend a bunch of time editing your paths in USB Loader GX to make sure it launches your Wii games and loads cover-art and such correctly every time. If you unplug the drives and insert them in reverse, nothing will show up the next time you launch USB Loader GX. You can forget about Nintendont working properly with two drives installed, UStealth or not. It's not going to launch your GC titles.

You are over-complicating things. Spending extra money on a low capacity SSD isn't going to make your load times any faster. The USB ports on the Wii U are USB 2.0.

Here's my advice;

• Use an external USB drive without a Y cable (with an external power adapter) formatted with FAT32 for the vWii (Wii, GC, emulators, Wii homebrew). 4TB is large enough to hold the complete Wii and GameCube library PLUS leave you with 600-700GB leftover.
• Use another external USB drive without a Y cable and let the Wii U format it. Install your Wii U titles to this.
• Use a 32-256GB SD card for transferring Wii U games and updates and holding your USB Loader GX/Nintendont configs.
• Use CBHC (I don't understand why you are trying to avoid CBHC, it makes life easier)
• When you want to play Wii U games, leave your Wii U external drive plugged in and boot the console
• When you want to play anything on the vWii, turn the console off, unplug your Wii U hard drive, and plug in the vWii hard drive. If you want to be lazy, invest in a two port USB switcher and keep it plugged in to the top USB port. Turn the console off, switch to the USB port you want to use, and play your games.

It's that simple. All in one Wii U battlestation with every Wii U title, every Wii title, and every GC title at your fingertips.

Seriously.. why are people still playing around with USB drives that require a Y cable?

 

[Willsito_GG]

My final configuration: https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-ult...-1-device-by-eipok-mar18.497994/#post-7860554

Thanks!

 

[Mayhem1989]

I just wanted to correct that you can still load gc games off of a usb with nintendont even if it's hidden with ustealth I have a 2tb hdd setup for Wii u and a 16gb usb for v vWii and I can launch nintendont just fine same with usb loader gx Maybe compatibility was added in an update I'm going to take screen shots to conferm