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Wii U external HDD thread

W

wild wild rice

Member
Went ahead and ordered one off Amazon. Sucks, but I need it.

Will there be any additional lag or loading time if I'm playing something that is stored on the HDD?
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
wild wild rice said:
Went ahead and ordered one off Amazon. Sucks, but I need it.

Will there be any additional lag or loading time if I'm playing something that is stored on the HDD?
Click to expand...
Depending on spin speed of drive (and other factors including type of loading in question) very little compared to internal at worst but potentially better than internal at best (very likely if a SSD). Also better than disc.
 
W

wild wild rice

Member
Starwolf_UK said:
Depending on spin speed of drive (and other factors including type of loading in question) very little compared to internal at worst but potentially better than internal at best (very likely if a SSD). Also better than disc.
Click to expand...

Interesting! Hmm. Never knew it's faster than playing off a disc. 5400 rpm on the one I got, allegedly.
 
R

Rootbeer

Banned
I have not seen a lot of well-done tests but there was a Monster Hunter test done some time ago that shows the internal Wii U storage and an external SSD attached via USB are nearly identical with the SSD being the tiniest bit faster.

external non-ssd hard drive is about 1 to 2 seconds slower in loading up new content. sad, but that is what the tests showed in the video.

the question is, is it worth investing in an ssd solution for that 1 or 2 seconds. and how do recent usb flash drives compare to ssds for Wii U use? That is the question i want to know. Because there are quite a few 128GB thumb drives out there that are decently priced and are enough storage for my needs. Would be a more cost-effective solution than an SSD
 
P

purdobol

Member
There's no point in buying anything faster (reading speed) than 60MB/s (on paper) in reality 30 - 42 MB/s is max what USB 2.0 can transmit.
 
P

purdobol

Member
Mak said:
Even if the USB connection is capped at USB 2.0 speeds, a SSD has no moving parts like a mechanical hard disc drive so there'd still be a benefit from using an SSD because of the quicker access time, but maybe not for the price.
Click to expand...

Until HDD spin-up properly yes. But when it does and is in constant use (playing the game) there should be no difference between HDD and SSD. Unless HDD is fragmented like hell.
That video is useless because we don't know what HDD was used in the test. So we can't check the specs. At the 1.25 mark all the dirves load at the same time. SSD on Wii U is overkill in my opinion.
 
R

Ragnorok64

Member
So in order to get my external HDD Enclosure working I had to get a Y cable. I thought I'd be able to connect the data part of the y cable into the back of the Wii U and connect the power part to a powered USB hub but it would only work if I connected both plug in the back. What that meant, though, is that my USB ethernet adapter no longer had space back there. I tried connecting it to a front USB port but it wouldn't work. Now my Xenoblade data packs are downloading mad slowly.

Is there any solution that would conceivably allow me to have an external HDD and the USB ethernet adapter at the same time?
 
M

Mak

Member
purdobol said:
Until HDD spin-up properly yes. But when it does and is in constant use (playing the game) there should be no difference between HDD and SSD. Unless HDD is fragmented like hell.
That video is useless because we don't know what HDD was used in the test. So we can't check the specs. At the 1.25 mark all the dirves load at the same time. SSD on Wii U is overkill in my opinion.
Click to expand...

The end of the video and the original nico video page shows the hardware
http://www.nicofinder.net/watch/sm19687217

HDD: TOSHIBA MK5055GSX 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149087

SSD: Intel 335 Series 240GB
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B009SIJ7G8/

The 1.25 mark isn't loading everything at once, the video is synced between the 4 video sources so the player reaches the end of the map at the same time to trigger the loading screen at the 1.28 mark, with the SSD and Internal Flash loading first with the HDD only slightly behind, and the disc last. Like I added to my last post, an SSD probably isn't worth the extra cost.
 
L

leandrochiarello

Member
Can i plug the standard PS4 hard drive (exchanged my ps4 hdd) to the WiiU? I've got and HDD enclosure for it but its single usb and not powered, My Y-cable is for a mini-usb port, the enclosure is standard usb (need an adapter)
 
W

wild wild rice

Member
Once I get this thing set up and transfer all data, can I or should I back it up to PC or something? I've had hard drives die on me in the past and I am constantly returning to games on old consoles so I'd like to be sure there's some longevity here.
 
R

Regiruler

Member
wild wild rice said:
Once I get this thing set up and transfer all data, can I or should I back it up to PC or something? I've had hard drives die on me in the past and I am constantly returning to games on old consoles so I'd like to be sure there's some longevity here.
Click to expand...
I believe it should work if you keep a copy of the drive's entire contents in a separate folder.
 
F

fernoca

Member
Ragnorok64 said:
So in order to get my external HDD Enclosure working I had to get a Y cable. I thought I'd be able to connect the data part of the y cable into the back of the Wii U and connect the power part to a powered USB hub but it would only work if I connected both plug in the back. What that meant, though, is that my USB ethernet adapter no longer had space back there. I tried connecting it to a front USB port but it wouldn't work. Now my Xenoblade data packs are downloading mad slowly.

Is there any solution that would conceivably allow me to have an external HDD and the USB ethernet adapter at the same time?
Click to expand...
An external powered hub. I have 3 actually. One for the HDD and GameCube adapter, one for the 3 "toys to life games", and a third one for additional things like Guitar Hero.

leandrochiarello said:
Can i plug the standard PS4 hard drive (exchanged my ps4 hdd) to the WiiU? I've got and HDD enclosure for it but its single usb and not powered, My Y-cable is for a mini-usb port, the enclosure is standard usb (need an adapter)
Click to expand...
Y Cable for sure, either get the adapter or another Y cable. Outside that, there shouldn't be any problem if everything is plugged and works properly.

I'm using a 1GB SATA I found, put it in an enclosure (single cable, but external powered).

wild wild rice said:
Once I get this thing set up and transfer all data, can I or should I back it up to PC or something? I've had hard drives die on me in the past and I am constantly returning to games on old consoles so I'd like to be sure there's some longevity here.
Click to expand...
Nope. You can't...at the moment. The HDD is formatted to only work on Wii U and the only way to backup is by plugging another one and backup directly on the Wii U.
 
B

boiled goose

good with gravy
A few questions.

What happens if i have a game file on my external drive, i disconnect it, make a new file on my internal memory, and then reconnect it. Any issue with duplicate game files?

Another question. What's the point of the sd card slot? Used only for wii mode and smash photos??
 
F

fernoca

Member
boiled goose said:
A few questions.

What happens if i have a game file on my external drive, i disconnect it, make a new file on my internal memory, and then reconnect it. Any issue with duplicate game files?

Another question. What's the point of the sd card slot? Used only for wii mode and smash photos??
Click to expand...
Can't say for sure, but once plugged in, the USB becomes the main one. But if there are things on the internal it will recognize them, but haven't tried with duplicates.

And yeah, the SD Card is basically there for Wii Mode. Wii Mode still uses SD for the SD Channel, DLC, etc.


wild wild rice said:
Dang. NX better have some fatty internal storage.
Click to expand...
Well, they're adding cloud saving to the new account system, so one can hope it lets you upload saves to it at least.
 
P

protomouse

Member
My recommendation to anyone thinking of getting a powered hub specifically for the Wii U, is to look for a mains-powered enclosure instead. They are not commonly found in the 2.5" form factor, but you can find them. If you are located in Europe, RaidSonic distributes one such product out of Germany:

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B004L34N6Y/

If might not always come with a 5V DC adapter, so in that case you'll need to get one elsewhere (just make sure you get the polarity right).
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
fernoca said:
Can't say for sure, but once plugged in, the USB becomes the main one. But if there are things on the internal it will recognize them, but haven't tried with duplicates.
Click to expand...
In the case of duplicate data external takes priority.

purdobol said:
There's no point in buying anything faster (reading speed) than 60MB/s (on paper) in reality 30 - 42 MB/s is max what USB 2.0 can transmit.
Click to expand...
Seek time must is still an issue. If you look at the MH video you see HDD performs a lot worse of the changing equipment test (which re-loads a lot of data) but hardly any difference on area loading.

At the same time the MH video is sort of contradicted by this post made in the Xenoblade X preview thread. Perhaps that is the difference between 7200rpm and 5400rpm though.
 
L

leandrochiarello

Member
fernoca said:
Y Cable for sure, either get the adapter or another Y cable. Outside that, there shouldn't be any problem if everything is plugged and works properly.
Click to expand...

Bought the Y cable (found quite easily and cheap at a local store) transfered Donkey Kong and played a few levels, working quite fine, thank you! Now just waiting for Xenoblade to be a happy man!
 
P

Peltz

Member
I don't understand why Nintendo recommends not using an SSD on their official website. Check out number 10 and 11 on their FAQ.

This is a company that has only used flash storage in all of their previous devices. Is this a legitimate concern? I really hate old school HDDs and their moving parts.
 
S

spyroflame0487

Member
Welp, the Hitachi Life Studio does not work at all with the wii u. It just plain doesn't lmao. So, i ended up getting a y cable and the toshiba one i bought worked perfectly!

I found it on amazon here and the y cable is right over here.
All you gotta do is plug the y cable into the thing, and the two usb ports into the Wii U, let it format the harddrive and you're good to go.

$50 for 1 TB and it looks like they also have a 2 TB one for $70. It's possible there might be some Cyber Monday deals though for a lower price.
 
Pokemaniac

Pokemaniac

Member
Peltz said:
I don't understand why Nintendo recommends not using an SSD on their official website. Check out number 10 and 11 on their FAQ.

This is a company that has only used flash storage in all of their previous devices. Is this a legitimate concern? I really hate old school HDDs and their moving parts.
Click to expand...

The filesystem appears to be optimized for HDDs, but everything should be fine so long as the SSD is of sufficient quality. The main concern is that the install process will likely put some unnecessary wear on the device.

Also, never use super cheap USB flash drives for anything. They can be pretty unreliable and slow.
 
G

Gnilres

Member
spyroflame0487 said:
Welp, the Hitachi Life Studio does not work at all with the wii u. It just plain doesn't lmao. So, i ended up getting a y cable and the toshiba one i bought worked perfectly!

I found it on amazon here and the y cable is right over here.
All you gotta do is plug the y cable into the thing, and the two usb ports into the Wii U, let it format the harddrive and you're good to go.

$50 for 1 TB and it looks like they also have a 2 TB one for $70. It's possible there might be some Cyber Monday deals though for a lower price.
Click to expand...

Thanks for streamlining the process here. May go for the 2 TB and Y-Cable to prep for Xenoblade
 
F

foltzie1

Member
Peltz said:
I don't understand why Nintendo recommends not using an SSD on their official website. Check out number 10 and 11 on their FAQ.

This is a company that has only used flash storage in all of their previous devices. Is this a legitimate concern? I really hate old school HDDs and their moving parts.
Click to expand...
Pokemaniac said:
The filesystem appears to be optimized for HDDs, but everything should be fine so long as the SSD is of sufficient quality. The main concern is that the install process will likely put some unnecessary wear on the device.

Also, never use super cheap USB flash drives for anything. They can be pretty unreliable and slow.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the Wii U OS probably doesn't support TRIM or the kind of file system handling that SSDs would need to perform well in the long term, and thus out of an abundance (probably over abundance) of caution they advise against their use.

I've been using Sandisk Fit USB drives since day one and haven't had an issue, other than size constraints.

Here's hoping they either offer a beefy amount of internal storage (or go crazy and allow drive replacement like the PS4), on the NX. I have hope, the 3DS just works in this regard.
 
N

neoemonk

Member
Just bought one of the Seagate 2TB models listed on Nintendo's site in preparation for the Xenoblade data packs and then I saw this thread. Crap.
 
R

Rootbeer

Banned
yes, just make sure you buy the 3.0 y cable for a 3.0 drive, and 2.0 for 2.0 drives because it does matter. The end that connects to the hdd is different.
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
L

LiK

Member
i'll wait a month or two and then take my old 80GB Intel SSD and use that as an external drive. got new SSDs recently and wanna make sure they don't die before wiping the old ones, lol
 
T

ToiJu

Member
.
TheGreatMightyPoo said:
http://store.buffalotech.com/store/bufftech/en_US/pd/productID.299546000/quantity.1

Can someone please take a quick look at this one and tell me if it works for the system and whether it's a good one.
Click to expand...

Nostremitus said:
The 2TB Buffalo with AC power works flawlessly, FWIW.

I bought one a while back to replace my dying Iomega.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GE97LLW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Not sure what's up with the pricing right now though... No way the 2TB should cost more than the 3TB and especially not the 4TB...
Click to expand...
 
Doczu

Doczu

Member
So i wanted to plug my Seagate drive to my Wii U

(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-500GB-Expansion-Portable-Drive/dp/B001XM4P1O#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1448908653585)

But whatever i do, i can't get it to work. My console doesn't see the drive when i use a Y cable. When i use the stock cable for the drive (single connection) the console recognizes the drive, but when i try to format it, i get a message that it can't be done.

The hdd does work, as i used it for my Wii earlier and my pc recognizes it flawlesly.
Any ideas what can be done, or am i fucked?
 
F

fernoca

Member
Doczu said:
So i wanted to plug my Seagate drive to my Wii U

(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-500GB-Expansion-Portable-Drive/dp/B001XM4P1O#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1448908653585)

But whatever i do, i can't get it to work. My console doesn't see the drive when i use a Y cable. When i use the stock cable for the drive (single connection) the console recognizes the drive, but when i try to format it, i get a message that it can't be done.

The hdd does work, as i used it for my Wii earlier and my pc recognizes it flawlesly.
Any ideas what can be done, or am i fucked?
Click to expand...
Try the front USB ports if you haven't already.

Mine doesn't seem to recognize the ports in the back (read around that an update caused a few problems with them and energy distribution, but is an isolated issue), but front works fine. Heck, later even plugged 2 USB hubs (external powered) in the front and still working great.
 
Doczu

Doczu

Member
fernoca said:
Try the front USB ports if you haven't already.

Mine doesn't seem to recognize the ports in the back (read around that an update caused a few problems with them and energy distribution, but is an isolated issue), but front works fine. Heck, later even plugged 2 USB hubs (external powered) in the front and still working great.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i've plugged the drive in tha lower front port (single cable) and it works! Thank you!
But i still don't understand why in the world it doesn't recognize the drive when i'm using the Y cable... Hope that there will be no problems :p

Edit: yeah, i'm renaming the console to "Fuck U" as the console crashed when i tried to download the Xenoblade packages (yeah, yeah - no Y cable, not enough power) and when i tried to reconnect the drive with the Y cable nothing happens. What are the chances that the cable is busted? This is the SECOND Y cable that i used to connect the drive. This is fucking bullshit...

had to vent my anger :(
 
F

fernoca

Member
Doczu said:
Thanks, i've plugged the drive in tha lower front port (single cable) and it works! Thank you!
But i still don't understand why in the world it doesn't recognize the drive when i'm using the Y cable... Hope that there will be no problems :p

Edit: yeah, i'm renaming the console to "Fuck U" as the console crashed when i tried to download the Xenoblade packages (yeah, yeah - no Y cable, not enough power) and when i tried to reconnect the drive with the Y cable nothing happens. What are the chances that the cable is busted? This is the SECOND Y cable that i used to connect the drive. This is fucking bullshit...

had to vent my anger :(
Click to expand...
Could be the cable, yeah. :p
In general, I've never been a fan of Y cables or self-powered in general. So I always go with external power if there's an option.

If you have an external powered USB hub try plugging that to the Wii U and the HDD to the hub, otherwise try a new Y-cable.
 
S

SmiteOfHand

Member
foltzie1 said:
The drive I use is down to $28 today. About $0.21 a GB, not the best deal, but again I don't have to have a Y-Cable or an external power supply.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YFI1EBC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Note, this is not a Nintendo recommended setup, but I've had no issues with any of the Sandisk Fit flash drives in my Wii U.
Click to expand...

I went this route as well. The fail rates on flash memory has improved a lot from when the tech was first introduced and SanDisk offers a 5 year warranty on the Ultra Fit line which is as good as any standard hard drive. I suspect Nintendo couldn't get consistent results from cheap/old flash drives and rather than dealing with the support headache simply labeled them not officially supported. Don't use a garbage brand like some cheap supermarket keychain flash drive with high fail rates, or a drive you've had laying around half a decade and you should be fine.

Even hard drives can fail at a moments notice so using one does not shield you from failure.
 
A

aravuus

Member
What the heck, is there no way to copy just a save file from HDD to internal memory? Looks like it's either all (game install, updates etc) or nothing. Most likely gonna get XBX digitally and I'm a bit concerned about the SSD possibly dying on me or Wii U somehow fucking things up (I've read reports on losing data). I'm fine with losing the game data, it'd be quickly re-downloaded, but I really, REALLY don't want to lose save data with a game that long.
 
S

suikoden352

Neo Member
I grabbed a wd my book on Amazon for about 94 bucks with the 2 year recovery plan in case shit hits the fan and it fails for some reason. Here's hoping it works fine and dandy for the holidays.
 
F

fernoca

Member
Muntu said:
What the heck, is there no way to copy just a save file from HDD to internal memory? Looks like it's either all (game install, updates etc) or nothing. Most likely gonna get XBX digitally and I'm a bit concerned about the SSD possibly dying on me or Wii U somehow fucking things up (I've read reports on losing data). I'm fine with losing the game data, it'd be quickly re-downloaded, but I really, REALLY don't want to lose save data with a game that long.
Click to expand...
Yep, all or nothing. If anything, you can delete things later and just leave the saves. Doable on a 32GB unit (copy-paste-delete, repeat), but not in an 8GB one.
 
Doczu

Doczu

Member
Very stupid question regarding Y cables. If i connect my hdd with a Y cable to my pc it should work normally, correct? Cause when i use only one slot it works correctly, but when i plug in both of them the drive goes crazy and restarts all the time.
So the cable is busted, right? :/
 
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