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Wii U external HDD thread

C

Christberg

Member
Searched and didn't find anything on this:

Post your experience hunting down a Wii U external HDD, what works and doesn't. I'll update the OP as they come in.

Doesn't work:
Rocketfish BBY enclosure (apparently no longer sold, can't find a link anywhere)
Imation Apollo M100 320GB
LaCie Minimus 2TB

Works:
Nintendo's Official US List
Nintendo's Official UK list
Seagate Expansion 1TB(powered)
Seagate Expansion 2TB(powered)
HP SimpleSave 2TB

Works once you get a Y cord:
Toshiba Canvio Basics 500GB Black Friday sale, $40!
Seagate Expansion 1TB (unpowered)

Drives without external power generally work with a Y cable but no guarantees:
Monooprice USB 2.0
NewEgg USB 3.0


Editors note:
Please try to provide a link to the specific product in question if possible.
 
E

Emitan

Member
8197337220_710d0cd174_z.jpg


Some random 1.5TB WD drive I had lying around.
 
J

Joeshabadoo

Member
Billiechu said:
8197337220_710d0cd174_z.jpg


Some random 1.5TB WD drive I had lying around.
Click to expand...

So are 109 GB of that already occupied by other files or is that the true capacity (did it wipe clean before recognizing in the system)? Also is it plugged into a wall or USB-powered?

I'm curious to see if people can devise ways to format it before hand to be partitioned for Wii U and non-Wii U stuff
 
R

Roo

Member
I'm probably wrong but didn't they say Wii U works better with HDDs with their own power suppy?
If so, what are the best brands for it?
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Smiles and Cries said:
WD Elements
is a nice little black box and it works well at least recognized because I have not filled my Deluxe yet to move to HDD
Click to expand...

I've got a WD elements being used for Wii rips at the moment, might just let the wiiU format that, think the Wii will be boxed and put away

(Can dolphin on PC read those btw? Rather than just delete them)
 
E

Eyothrie

Member
My brand new Seagate 1TB Backup Plus didn't work correctly. Random failed eshop downloads and installs. Four system freezes where the power cable had to be unplugged in order for me to power off the system (Error 150-1039)

Everything works perfectly now that I removed this particular drive
 
Smiles and Cries

Smiles and Cries

Member
Joeshabadoo said:
So are 109 GB of that already occupied by other files or is that the true capacity (did it wipe clean before recognizing in the system)? Also is it plugged into a wall or USB-powered?

I'm curious to see if people can devise ways to format it before hand to be partitioned for Wii U and non-Wii U stuff
Click to expand...

I have the same issue with my WD HDD Element a 2TB overkill but when I check it my number is far lower than I expected (1862GB)

edit: just checked and somehow some of my save files are already on the HDD that is strange I guess it just pics where it wants to save files without asking
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
Alistair Roo said:
I'm probably wrong but didn't they say Wii U works better with HDDs with their own power suppy?
If so, what are the best brands for it?
Click to expand...

Yes, Iwata said in a Nintendo Direct that powered drives and unpowered drives with a Y cable are compatible with Wii U, while unpowered drives without a Y cable aren't guaranteed to work.

mrklaw said:
I've got a WD elements being used for Wii rips at the moment, might just let the wiiU format that, think the Wii will be boxed and put away

(Can dolphin on PC read those btw? Rather than just delete them)
Click to expand...

You'll need to convert them to ISO with a program, but they'll read fine.
 
V

Vercimber

Member
I used a white wd passport, and it recognized it fine, but the game (nano assault neo) froze upon uploading to the drive, which required a hard reset. Now I have a dead drive. Is there NO way to get a computer to recognize the Wii U drive? I have a AC-powered WD drive, but I am worried it will kill that one, too-- and it's a mighty 2TB. Admittedly, I did not use a Y-cable on the initial drive.
 
G

Glass Joe

Member
Hmm just tried a new Western Digital (1 TB, USB 3.0 but no Y-cable) without success. I suppose I'll return it and just find out what works later if and when I need to clean out the fridge. Sounds like either a drive with a Y-cable or AC adapter is needed. I wonder if normal USB 2.0's are working for people okay?

EDIT: Remembered I had an old 250 gig Seagate laying around. I plugged that in and it recognized that there was something inserted immediately. It yelled at me for not having the U turned off when inserting a new device and then prompted the format, which was really quick. It's recognizing it so I guess I'll try tossing Nano on it to see if everything runs okay.

UPDATE: No dice, the Seagate formats but the system crashed when trying to move the game over. Screw this, I'm just gonna wait till I see a post saying "these drives definitely work."
 
O

ozfunghi

Member
Vercimber said:
I used a white wd passport, and it recognized it fine, but the game (nano assault neo) froze upon uploading to the drive, which required a hard reset. Now I have a dead drive. Is there NO way to get a computer to recognize the Wii U drive? I have a AC-powered WD drive, but I am worried it will kill that one, too-- and it's a mighty 2TB. Admittedly, I did not use a Y-cable on the initial drive.
Click to expand...

Have you tried some partition software such as EASEUS partition master Home edition (free)? I've recuperated a couple of drives that way.
 
J

JazzmanZ

Member
how long should it take for the wii u to check the usb drive?
because the one I put in seems to be taking forever with initializing it.
 
A

aeolist

Banned
G

Glass Joe

Member
JazzmanZ said:
how long should it take for the wii u to check the usb drive?
because the one I put in seems to be taking forever with initializing it.
Click to expand...

It was searching forever when I plugged in my first drive and never found it (I gave up). The second it saw right away (but still doesn't work). So I think you'd see it right away if it was going to recognize it at all, in other words.
 
J

JazzmanZ

Member
Glass Joe said:
It was searching forever when I plugged in my first drive and never found it (I gave up). The second it saw right away (but still doesn't work). So I think you'd see it right away if it was going to recognize it at all, in other words.
Click to expand...

Damn, looks like I have the wrong type of Hard drive (didn't buy this one but I assumed it could work)

Could someone possibly link me to a amazon page or ebay page for one that will work?
 
R3TRODYCE

R3TRODYCE

Member
S

smr00

Banned
WD 1TB My Book Essential i bought like 2 years ago works perfectly fine.

Model is WDBACW0010HBK. You can get them refurbished for like $90
 
S

smr00

Banned
Medalion said:
Some of these retail games are freakin huge

a 32GB deluxe ain't gonna cut it for long
Click to expand...
Although i REALLY appreciate the support for external drives.. It just blows my mind we only got up to 32GB. Should of come like 128gb/250gb or something but it's nintendo.. Maybe next-gen we will get proper HDD space.
 
M

Medalion

Banned
It's not about next-gen, it's about making the console "affordable"

They coulda just as easily said fuck no to even flash memory
 
O

ozfunghi

Member
What are the chances more drives will get recognized in the future with a system update? I have a couple of drives lying around and i really don't feel like buying a new one just for the sake of hooking it up to the WiiU. I guess i won't get far with the 32GB but i'd rather avoid paying for a new HDD when i have perfectly good drives gathering dust.

I must say i'm not impressed with the feedback from other users so far. I really hoped you could just hook up any HDD, which doesn't seem to be the case at all.
 
Warnen

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Using a 200 gb drive I pulled out of a Mac book years ago. It's in a cheap ass amazon enclosure with a y USB connector.
 
G

Glass Joe

Member
ozfunghi said:
What are the chances more drives will get recognized in the future with a system update? I have a couple of drives lying around and i really don't feel like buying a new one just for the sake of hooking it up to the WiiU. I guess i won't get far with the 32GB but i'd rather avoid paying for a new HDD when i have perfectly good drives gathering dust.

I must say i'm not impressed with the feedback from other users so far. I really hoped you could just hook up any HDD, which doesn't seem to be the case at all.
Click to expand...

I really have to assume they're making compatibility with other drives a high priority on their "to do list." I guess they can't test every drive but you'd think most would work by default. This thread has more bad news than good, and even if they do "work" some people are having freeze issues. Time will tell. Basic users need it pronto and even deluxers like me are gonna want to upgrade sooner than later.

Maybe they'll figure out SD cards a little better too?
 
P

PetrCobra

Member
Smiles and Cries said:
I have the same issue with my WD HDD Element a 2TB overkill but when I check it my number is far lower than I expected (1862GB)

edit: just checked and somehow some of my save files are already on the HDD that is strange I guess it just pics where it wants to save files without asking
Click to expand...

That's actually EXACTLY the expected size of a "2 TB" drive:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive#Units

See "reported capacity" in Windows, 1 TB reports exactly half of your 2 TB drive. It has to do with the fact that manufacturers measure their drive sizes in terabytes but most systems, like Windows and apparently also Wii U, are actually using tebibytes.
 
J

Jetku

Member
I have a 500 GB western digital passbook and it works fine with the y-cable I purchased. Doesn't work with out the y-cable.

Though I wonder... My Wii u has frozen 3 times yesterday and 3 times today. Hard freeze where I had to unplug the system. Granted the system had been in use for the bulk of the two days, but is it possible the hard drive could be causing this...?
 
W

wandering goat

Member
Eyothrie said:
My brand new Seagate 1TB Backup Plus didn't work correctly. Random failed eshop downloads and installs. Four system freezes where the power cable had to be unplugged in order for me to power off the system (Error 150-1039)

Everything works perfectly now that I removed this particular drive
Click to expand...

Shit, that's the one that I was considering getting. Thanks for the heads-up. USB powered seems like it would be most convenient, unless there are many AC powered ones that don't need to be turned on and off.
 
C

Chie Satonaka

Member
I'm so glad I didn't just rush out and buy a drive like I had originally planned. I'll be watching this thread for additional suggestions...
 
D

Deleted member 284

Unconfirmed Member
MikeE21286 said:
well that is a mighty big fridge
Click to expand...
I believe the term is "Meat Locker"

Anyhow, I'm waiting for some Y cables from monoprice. The drive is a 500 GB 2.5 Toshiba that only has a single output for a 2.0 USB mini B. I'll report my findings.
 
JimboJones

JimboJones

Member
skinnyrattler said:
Are USB 3.0 cables weird looking?

The one on the left? Easy to find y cables for these alien cables?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178113

I asked because I picked this up from target yesterday for $40.
Click to expand...

It might look weird but it's simply a micro usb with additional pins, my bro got one of them and I managed to plug in a standard micro usb cable to it and it worked for transferring files, at least to the computer that is, no idea if it will work with the Wii U using Y adapters.
 
N

neoanarch

Member
smr00 said:
Although i REALLY appreciate the support for external drives.. It just blows my mind we only got up to 32GB. Should of come like 128gb/250gb or something but it's nintendo.. Maybe next-gen we will get proper HDD space.
Click to expand...

No fuck that. The 360 and ps3 drive upgrades are used if not primarily as an excuse to keep the price high then we can surely blame them for keeping the price high. Wii U will not be 300+ for more than two years.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The DF article said the WiiU couldn't power the external portable HDD

what gives ?
 
D

deleted

Member
Has anybody tried to use a partly formatted hdd?

Will the Wii-U override the existing partition or is it possible to use only one partition for the Wii-U?
 
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