Author Topic: Wii U External USB Storage Devices  (Read 18825 times)

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Offline azeke

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #25 on: July 04, 2013, 09:58:40 PM »
On the Wii, there was a separate menu to launch from the SD card and you had what seemed like infinite slots to install games on. 
The fact that they didn't integrate fully Wii mode into regular Wii U menu is such a missed opportunity. It's such a hassle to deal with this SD card business...

Does this mean that you are limited with the number of games that you can install to 6x15 slots (90)?  Not that I plan on filling that many up, but with demo's, apps, etc, I just thought that was odd to limit it.
I think on the Wii if you fill up everything, it would just add more pages. I gather that would be the same on Wii U.
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Offline Toruresu

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #26 on: July 06, 2013, 09:53:59 AM »
I got a 32GB SD card for my Wii U but noticed it cant read it? So SDcards are only for Wii mode?
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Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #27 on: July 06, 2013, 10:01:23 AM »
I got a 32GB SD card for my Wii U but noticed it cant read it? So SDcards are only for Wii mode?

And also for QR Codes for Miis.
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Offline pokepal148

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #28 on: July 06, 2013, 12:54:36 PM »
its because the wii became such a hotspot for homebrew...

Offline Khushrenada

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #29 on: March 16, 2022, 01:48:32 PM »
So, something I've realized since early last year when diving into XCX was that I could definitely use an external HDD for my Wii U. Especially if I'm going to be doing any last minute purchasing from that eShop. I thought we had a topic on the subject but I've so far only been able to find this one.

I saw this old online article from 2015 on a suggested set-up which sounds good to me. I don't see myself needing anything higher than the 320GB unit they used. However, the portable Hard drive doesn't have a power source which Nintendo indicates you need although they say that using a USB Y cable that utilizes 2 of the USB ports in the back will allow this to work. Has anyone tried such a set-up and found it successful?

What might be the cheapest and most cost-effective solution these days for some extra Wii U storage?
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Offline NWR_insanolord

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #30 on: March 16, 2022, 02:01:14 PM »
I use a Y cable with mine and it works fine. I’ve had the same drive on there since the system’s launch and have had no issues.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #31 on: March 16, 2022, 05:40:18 PM »
Great! Thanks for the response.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #32 on: March 16, 2022, 06:57:57 PM »
Same here, got a $50 hard drive and a Y cable plugged into both of the back USB ports. No issues the past 5 years. *knocks on wood*
250 or 320GB will be more than enough, those XCX packs are like 10GB tops. As for the Y cable, I believe it's a single Micro USB-Type B leading into two regular USB Type A plugs you're looking for. They're like 5 bucks on ebay/amazon.
The reason people go for Y cables with regular HDDs is because the Wii U uses low-powered USB ports, so you run the risk of them not being able to draw enough power from a single port.

I feel like I remember Pokepal mentioning they used a lower power-drawing SSD in an enclosure with a single USB cable, but could be mistaken. I'm also not sure if the i/o data transfer on Wii U is high enough to take advantage of SSD read/write speeds, probably not?

You could also go for a thumb drive or even an SD card in a USB hub, but back in the day people often said those aren't designed to constantly read/write data back and forth, so using them for gaming would kill them quite fast. Maybe by now those storage mediums have become more durable? But if a HDD is possible, I'd still go for that.

Offline pokepal148

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #33 on: March 16, 2022, 08:03:59 PM »
The Wii U can run an SSD with a single USB port but if you already have an external drive set up there isn't much reason to swap over unless that drive starts to fail.

Considering the Wii U doesn't have a large enough library to require more than 256gb of storage it should be pretty easy to find one for relatively cheap but the Wii U cannot take advantage of the higher speeds. This is very much a case where the advantage is only needing one USB port.

Offline nickmitch

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #34 on: March 17, 2022, 04:40:18 PM »
I haven't had it plugged in for a while, but I do remember having a portable hard drive with a Y cable hooked to my Wii U.

I might have to find it and see if it still works.
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Offline Mop it up

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #35 on: March 17, 2022, 05:11:02 PM »
My HDD has a power cord so it just uses one USB, it still works fine though. The upside is that it's a 1TB drive, not that it really matters though since I think I only ever filled about one-tenth of it. Too bad HDDs don't work with the Switch...

So, something I've realized since early last year when diving into XCX was that I could definitely use an external HDD for my Wii U.
Keep in mind if you're using the XCX faster-loading data packs, they work more efficiently from the internal storage than an HDD.

Offline M.K.Ultra

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #36 on: March 17, 2022, 07:10:29 PM »
I dealt with this issue in 2020. My old 1TB drive was dying and I did not want another one that needed an AC power supply. I ended up buying this Maxone 320 GB external drive which is still about $25. I did need to use a y-cable and bought an INSTEN Dual USB 3.0 Type A to Micro-B USB Y Shape High Speed Cable for External Hard Drive/Seagate/Toshiba/WD/Wii-U/Note 3/Galaxy S5/HDD Enclosure. The exact cable is no longer available from the same listing but anything comparable should work fine. Since I did this, I have plenty of room and no problems loading software from the external drive.

Offline stevey

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #37 on: March 24, 2022, 04:36:41 AM »
I know its not the thread for it, but does anyone have a wired connection on their Wii U with an Ethernet to USB cable converter?

Anything that uses the ASIX AX88772 chip-set works on the Wii and Wii U (and the Switch). Nintendo's official one is $32, my Pluggable's adapter is $16 but the cable is shorter by half.

What might be the cheapest and most cost-effective solution these days for some extra Wii U storage?

The cheapest option is definitely picking up any USB 3.x/2.0 to SATA adapter/enclosure for under $10/$20 and using any drive you have lying around from an old computer/laptop. Compatibility wise, I can't find anyone ever running into (non-powering) issues unlike the Wii where large SD cards are hit and miss.

I feel like I remember Pokepal mentioning they used a lower power-drawing SSD in an enclosure with a single USB cable, but could be mistaken.

I have gotten away with an old 2.5" 1TB internal HDD (rated for 5V 700mA) that's attached to my Wii with an USB adapter that comes with an optional power adapter that didn't even need to be used. If it can handle spinning up, you should be fine as that's the point it draws the most power. To be safe, I would go to settings menu -> data management -> hold d-pad down for a second and press + & - to disable auto drive sleep just in case it fails to spin up mid game if anyone wants to try it.

You could also go for a thumb drive or even an SD card in a USB hub, but back in the day people often said those aren't designed to constantly read/write data back and forth, so using them for gaming would kill them quite fast. Maybe by now those storage mediums have become more durable?

Name brand SD cards (C10/U1 and above) are fine as they are made for use in professional video/drone/peep/dash/security cameras that are being written and rewritten all the time.  Thumb drives on the other hand are made with the cheapest parts possible that die all the time. I've murder dozens of them just by testing the speed with a large file copy or CrystalDiskMark. Name brand ones manage to last a year or two but also die. Their design use case is infrequent transport of files or using it as a boot disk, not as daily drivers. There were and still are a ton of reports of people killing flash drives just by loading Wii games off them, and the Wii U is even worse.

So, something I've realized since early last year when diving into XCX was that I could definitely use an external HDD for my Wii U.
Keep in mind if you're using the XCX faster-loading data packs, they work more efficiently from the internal storage than an HDD.

I've heard the opposite. Comparison of the USB vs NAND loading often comes down to IOPs/latency where SSDs > NAND > 7200rpm HDDs > 5400rpm HDDs > BD drive. The data rate of everything on the Wii U is in the same ball park. The Wii U's hard drive is limited to USB2 speeds of 60MB/s (30-40MB/s after overhead), the onboard eMMC NAND is theoretically 52MB/s but the actual memory used is somewhere around 25-35MB/s mark. The SD card is capped at 25MB/s (same as the Wii) and even the Blu-ray disk drive is 22.5MB/s (way better than the Wii's 8MB/s).
« Last Edit: March 28, 2022, 03:05:20 AM by stevey »
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: Wii U External USB Storage Devices
« Reply #38 on: March 24, 2022, 10:25:17 PM »
Thanks for all the feedback. After reading that article I had linked, I was looking at external hard drives and saw the Maxone type that Bungle linked to since I knew that would be more than enough for me especially since most of my Wii U collection is still physical. Wasn't sure though how well that might perform but it seems like its been working out fine for him. Guess I'll do that same setup with a Y cable. I had been planning on keeping the Xenoblade packs on the Wii U itself. But maybe I'll do a test when I get my hard drive to see if there is a difference like stevey mentions.
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