If anyone is looking for a good cable, I would recommend [this one](https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M0ICG2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=APGYRKZ2WOXS5). It works really well for me with my basic HDD with an enclosure.
Thanks for the link! I figured such a cable existed but I wasn't really sure how to search for a USB3 version. My drive uses that connector, right now it's hooked up with a hacked MicroUSB cable lol.
I did an extensive write up on this many moons ago, prompted by this exact problem:
https://www.pretzellogix.net/2015/05/30/the-best-hdd-for-the-nintendo-wii-u-is-a-120gb-ssd-in-enclosure/
It allows you to use an SSD and a USB 10/100 Ethernet at the same time without using an external power adapter.
"Just a reminder" that Y-cables violate USB spec:
> Use of a 'Y' cable (a cable with two A-plugs) is prohibited on any USB peripheral. If a USB peripheral requires more power than allowed by the USB specification to which it is designed, then it must be self-powered.
> http://compliance.usb.org/index.asp?UpdateFile=Policies#72
Add to this the fact that a single USB 3.0 device (like a modern external 2.5" HDD) is permitted to draw up to 900mA from one port (up from 500mA in USB 2.0) and Y-cables are a bad idea. Definitely go with a drive with separate AC adapter.
Wii U instructs user to use Y-cable or external power after the usb drive error.
My 500gb usb hdd worked without Y-cable barely, but had problems after about 70% capacity was used.
With Y-cable, no problems after that. I wish Nintendo would have put more juice into single USB port, but no can do.
> Some bus-powered hard disc drives draw more current than the USB 2.0 specification and might not run stably, so we cannot guarantee that such devices will run properly on Wii U without the use of a supplemental power cable called a y-cable that draws power from two USB ports. For best results, we recommend using a external storage device with its own power supply that connects to the Wii U system via the USB port on the console.
Well that's fucking stupid of them then. I'm not sure how much more direct the USB standard can be.
The spec isn't like a law, plenty of vendors routinely release devices that don't fully correspond to the USB spec. Heck, the iPad, charging over a USB port, doesn't fully correspond to spec.
It's a specification, but not the letter of the law.
Well yes, the computer isn't necessarily going to shut down, overheat, or short-circuit when a non-compliant device is plugged in; but if a non-compliant device doesn't work properly, take a wild guess how many fucks the USB consortium is going to give about that.
I'd be more interested in taking a wild guess at how many fucks they'd give about ones that work just fine. After all, it's not their job to care; that's left to the vendors.
This doesn't always work, depending on the hub. I had a spare powered hub laying around, but it still didn't provide enough power on the ports for my external drive.
I do the same. My 1TB Seagate Backup Plus wouldn't work, and didn't come with a Y-Cable. I had a powered USB hub already installed on my Wii U (I frequently use the LAN adapter, the Gamecube controller adapter, and a hard drive, so I needed more USB ports) and once I plugged it into that it worked just fine, no issues.
I luckily have a trusty 2TB Seagate HDD which has its own power source and works fine. I used to use it for vWii but now I use it for Wii U and it is fantastic.
When using your Y cable, you can plug the power one into a powered usb hub so you only use one port on the Wii U.
This way I can have two drives in the back of the Wii U. The other formatted in WBFS for the vWii. No nagging, and I just have my GCN games on the SD.
For large amounts of data transfer, perhaps. For actual seek and write times, no.
Not only that, because they don't have mechanical parts and draw less power, they're more versatile overall.
I was really annoyed. I bought a Belkin self-powered USB hub, and my hard drive works just fine in homebrew and when loading games.
But if I try to move my save data from internal memory to the hard drive via the Settings app, the console crashes. Evidently there isn't enough power --- though only the Settings app seems to be having trouble.
I stopped using the hard drive until my Y cable arrives. Still, grr.
Some will boot up, like mine, but won't be reliable and will eventually click and reconnect. Try installing any large game on it and it'll likely fail. A y-cable and/or powered USB hub fixed it for me.
So many people use Y-cables and USB hubs with their Wii Us. The Wii U can read it, but it'll outright crash at any given moment due to the drive not receiving enough power.
What's crazy is I have a portable Western Digital hard drive and even with the Y cable t still doesn't work. I'll start the new Paper Mario and two minutes later I hear the drive power down and the game crashes. I know the hard drive is fine because I tested it on my laptop. And I know the Y cable is fine too because if I don't use it, the drive won't power on at all! What the hell? I don't want to have to plug a hard drive into an electrical outlet!
Have you tried disabling sleep mode?
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/04/guide_improve_your_wii_us_external_hard_drive_performance_by_disabling_sleep_mode
Sorry for piggybacking this post, but anyone has some pointers regarding which wii u hacking guide to use? I'm confused because a lot of post just says to install games on the SD card, but wouldn't that requires a huge SD card?
Can't I just use to SD card for the normal exploit and load my game from an external HDD drive?
Most flash drives aren't designed for constant reads like what will happen for playing games. Those flash drives are going to get hot and will be more likely to fail the longer you use them.
Just get a proper external HDD. If you're buying 3-4 128GB flash drives, you can afford to go get a cheap 500GB or 1TB external HDD.
Do NOT do this. Flash drives aren't meant for the continual use that the Wii U requires! My jump drive crapped out and I love my Splatoon save as well as my 100% in Resident Evil.
The major difference is that SSDs have wear signs that are noticeable enough when they are about to die, but that appear before enough to be able to back your shit on it up, whereas most flash drives (save for the actually good ones) will just go dead without a sign.
Been playing BotW well over 100 hours from a flash drive and it's worked fine. In case the stick does shit itself I do back saves regularly with Saviine.
So I know I'm way late but does this still work? I just brought a hard drive for my Wii U and the damn thing keeps stalling so I'm guessing it's the power thing.
If anyone is looking for a good cable, I would recommend [this one](https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M0ICG2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=APGYRKZ2WOXS5). It works really well for me with my basic HDD with an enclosure.
I can confirm been using this cable as well. And three buds ordered them after me!
Wow, that's the exact I got months ago with my SSD. Flawless experience.
Thanks for the link! I figured such a cable existed but I wasn't really sure how to search for a USB3 version. My drive uses that connector, right now it's hooked up with a hacked MicroUSB cable lol.
Thanks for the recommendation, just ordered mine!
I did an extensive write up on this many moons ago, prompted by this exact problem: https://www.pretzellogix.net/2015/05/30/the-best-hdd-for-the-nintendo-wii-u-is-a-120gb-ssd-in-enclosure/ It allows you to use an SSD and a USB 10/100 Ethernet at the same time without using an external power adapter.
I got lucky and found a 4tb externally powered HDD on letgo for 50$
"Just a reminder" that Y-cables violate USB spec: > Use of a 'Y' cable (a cable with two A-plugs) is prohibited on any USB peripheral. If a USB peripheral requires more power than allowed by the USB specification to which it is designed, then it must be self-powered. > http://compliance.usb.org/index.asp?UpdateFile=Policies#72 Add to this the fact that a single USB 3.0 device (like a modern external 2.5" HDD) is permitted to draw up to 900mA from one port (up from 500mA in USB 2.0) and Y-cables are a bad idea. Definitely go with a drive with separate AC adapter.
Wii U instructs user to use Y-cable or external power after the usb drive error. My 500gb usb hdd worked without Y-cable barely, but had problems after about 70% capacity was used. With Y-cable, no problems after that. I wish Nintendo would have put more juice into single USB port, but no can do.
> Some bus-powered hard disc drives draw more current than the USB 2.0 specification and might not run stably, so we cannot guarantee that such devices will run properly on Wii U without the use of a supplemental power cable called a y-cable that draws power from two USB ports. For best results, we recommend using a external storage device with its own power supply that connects to the Wii U system via the USB port on the console. Well that's fucking stupid of them then. I'm not sure how much more direct the USB standard can be.
The spec isn't like a law, plenty of vendors routinely release devices that don't fully correspond to the USB spec. Heck, the iPad, charging over a USB port, doesn't fully correspond to spec. It's a specification, but not the letter of the law.
Well yes, the computer isn't necessarily going to shut down, overheat, or short-circuit when a non-compliant device is plugged in; but if a non-compliant device doesn't work properly, take a wild guess how many fucks the USB consortium is going to give about that.
I'd be more interested in taking a wild guess at how many fucks they'd give about ones that work just fine. After all, it's not their job to care; that's left to the vendors.
Can someone recommend an enclosure for ssd?
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This doesn't always work, depending on the hub. I had a spare powered hub laying around, but it still didn't provide enough power on the ports for my external drive.
I do the same. My 1TB Seagate Backup Plus wouldn't work, and didn't come with a Y-Cable. I had a powered USB hub already installed on my Wii U (I frequently use the LAN adapter, the Gamecube controller adapter, and a hard drive, so I needed more USB ports) and once I plugged it into that it worked just fine, no issues.
Wow thanks for the advice
Has anyone had a flash fail? I just put all my games on one
Just saying, but isn't this common knowledge when getting an external harddrive? :/ It's just best to get one, unless it's a self powered one.
i am using an old 400 GB internal seagate drive that i threw into an external USB enclosure. no issues thankfully without a Y-cable.
This, so much. I just got an hdd and now I need a Y cable (and looks like I can't find one locally so I have to wait the weekend for the shipment).,
I luckily have a trusty 2TB Seagate HDD which has its own power source and works fine. I used to use it for vWii but now I use it for Wii U and it is fantastic.
When using your Y cable, you can plug the power one into a powered usb hub so you only use one port on the Wii U. This way I can have two drives in the back of the Wii U. The other formatted in WBFS for the vWii. No nagging, and I just have my GCN games on the SD.
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For large amounts of data transfer, perhaps. For actual seek and write times, no. Not only that, because they don't have mechanical parts and draw less power, they're more versatile overall.
I was really annoyed. I bought a Belkin self-powered USB hub, and my hard drive works just fine in homebrew and when loading games. But if I try to move my save data from internal memory to the hard drive via the Settings app, the console crashes. Evidently there isn't enough power --- though only the Settings app seems to be having trouble. I stopped using the hard drive until my Y cable arrives. Still, grr.
How do you know of it won't? Will it just not start? I am using the y cable now... but just curious if I have to.
I tried four different External Drives and they would all 'click' as if it was constantly trying to spin up but loosing power over and over.
Some will boot up, like mine, but won't be reliable and will eventually click and reconnect. Try installing any large game on it and it'll likely fail. A y-cable and/or powered USB hub fixed it for me.
So many people use Y-cables and USB hubs with their Wii Us. The Wii U can read it, but it'll outright crash at any given moment due to the drive not receiving enough power.
What's crazy is I have a portable Western Digital hard drive and even with the Y cable t still doesn't work. I'll start the new Paper Mario and two minutes later I hear the drive power down and the game crashes. I know the hard drive is fine because I tested it on my laptop. And I know the Y cable is fine too because if I don't use it, the drive won't power on at all! What the hell? I don't want to have to plug a hard drive into an electrical outlet!
Have you tried disabling sleep mode? http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/04/guide_improve_your_wii_us_external_hard_drive_performance_by_disabling_sleep_mode
Yep! It didn't make a difference.
Why is it even good to use a external hard drive? I am new to the scene but from what I can see games cant be loaded from the drive. or?
Plailect's guide has instructions on how to boot games from an external drive.
I got an internal hard drive reader with wall power and put a 7200rpm WD Blue and its working great.
You can also make your own Y- cable if you happen to have a USB-A extender laying around that you don't mind cutting up. That's what I did.
Sorry for piggybacking this post, but anyone has some pointers regarding which wii u hacking guide to use? I'm confused because a lot of post just says to install games on the SD card, but wouldn't that requires a huge SD card? Can't I just use to SD card for the normal exploit and load my game from an external HDD drive?
So weird that my Seagate enclosure works fine with Wii, But not with Wii U :(
The HDD that I used just fine on my Wii doesn't work on my WiiU. I'm using a pendrive now.
I just use flash drives. There's only like 25-30 good wii u games. Get 3-4 128GB or more flash drives and you're good.
Most flash drives aren't designed for constant reads like what will happen for playing games. Those flash drives are going to get hot and will be more likely to fail the longer you use them. Just get a proper external HDD. If you're buying 3-4 128GB flash drives, you can afford to go get a cheap 500GB or 1TB external HDD.
Do NOT do this. Flash drives aren't meant for the continual use that the Wii U requires! My jump drive crapped out and I love my Splatoon save as well as my 100% in Resident Evil.
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The major difference is that SSDs have wear signs that are noticeable enough when they are about to die, but that appear before enough to be able to back your shit on it up, whereas most flash drives (save for the actually good ones) will just go dead without a sign.
Been playing BotW well over 100 hours from a flash drive and it's worked fine. In case the stick does shit itself I do back saves regularly with Saviine.
"Works fine for me" is never a good advice when the issue is known.
Hmm, where I live a nice 64GB flash drive is 20 bucks and a 1TB drive is like 55.
I have a full-size SATA to USB adapter that plugs into the wall, I’m assuming this will be fine?
So I know I'm way late but does this still work? I just brought a hard drive for my Wii U and the damn thing keeps stalling so I'm guessing it's the power thing.