#Unable to rip or play any GameCube rips via USB Loader GX *or* Nintendont. Inconsistent error timing

166 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

jovial kayak
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I've spent roughly 24 hours trying to troubleshoot this independently; I purchased a 2TB external hard drive to store an entire backlog of Wii and GameCube rips that I know work flawlessly (no funny skips or anything like that) and were working just fine on a 128GB flash drive. After moving everything over and doing some tests, the Wii games work flawlessly but the GameCube games specifically will prompt "An error has occured" with timing as short as after Press Start or as long as 5 minutes of good gameplay. I've rewritten the IOS files to ensure there's no duds, I've patched and updated virtually every app with Open Shop, each game is named correctly with the correct IDs, named as game.iso, all of it. At this state I'm run tired and I've exhausted my options.

I have a slightly newer model white Wii (can't accept DVD playback), both my SD card and 2TB drive are properly formatted into FAT32. As stated before, the cIOS installation in all 4 slots is properly done (redone in this case due to a dud error I got). While the 2TB external is only powered by a single cable with no external power, my friend has a similarly set up 2TB external setup with only a single cable with no external power and theirs is working just fine.

Any help on this would be vastly appreciated, as I have roughly 200+ games backed up here.

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(As a note in regards to ripping, I attempted a raw rip of Peter Jackson's King Kong for the GameCube. It gets a little over halfway done before throwing up an error and refusing to rip. Playing it via the Wii Menu still works fine, so I know the disc is fine.)

jovial kayak
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I can confirm that I've attempted removing the read speed limit and while it extended my playtime slightly, it did not fix the issue.

granite linden
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Love the thoroughness @jovial kayak

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Are your GC games in .iso format?

jovial kayak
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Lol thanks. I figured I needed to give as much as possible.

Yes, all games are named as game.iso

granite linden
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Is your external drive formatted MBR Volume with 64 kb cluster? @jovial kayak

jovial kayak
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Let me check that.

granite linden
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You should also check your settings incase you toggled something on by accident that may be affecting this

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Ensure nintendont is the loader you desire for gc games

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Also try wiiflow and see if you have any issues there too @jovial kayak

granite linden
jovial kayak
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How would I check that it's MBR at 64kb?

granite linden
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Windows

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:Wii: ) SD/USB Partition and Format

To format your storage device to FAT32 with correct allocation unit size, use either of the two tools below.

WiiBackupManager https://wii.guide/wiibackupmanager
guiFormat http://ridgecrop.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

Your storage media should have MBR Volume, formatted to FAT32 with an allocation unit size dependent on its storage capacity. Homebrew apps are much more compatible with this format.

64 GB or less storage should be formatted to FAT32 with 32kb (32768 bytes) in each allocation unit.
More than 64 GB storage should be formatted to FAT32 with 64kb (65536 bytes) in each allocation unit.

To verify your USB Partition, insert into your PC, run Disk Management, and follow this guide to verify and convert to MBR if necessary:

Verify GPT/MBR https://www.howtogeek.com/245610/how-to-check-if-a-disk-uses-gpt-or-mbr-and-how-to-convert-between-the-two/

If you have issues using a USB Flashdrive, Try formatting it to WBFS using WiiBackupManager. This will not be usable for homebrew apps and is only good for loading Wii games. It is sometimes more stable this way.

REMINDER: Backup your SD/USB’s contents before reformatting, as the process deletes everything on the storage device.

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You better have those 200 isos somewhere

jovial kayak
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I'll attempt an entire reformat.
..As soon as I backup this entire backlog. Lol.

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I'd have to assume it's likely not the right allocation thus why it stops loading correctly after a few minutes.

granite linden
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Before you reformat, check first

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There is trick online you can find for finding the allocation unit size

jovial kayak
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It's says it's in MBR, but I don't see where it's specifying for the allocation.

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Something tells me it was configured way below the minimum..

image.png
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😅

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It looks like I'll have to kill an hour to backup the Wii Box and then try a proper guiFormat setup with 64kb allocation.

wise burrow
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You can check your dumps with Dolphin if you already haven't

jovial kayak
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I've checked all my dumps in the past few months and can confirm at least a majority are completely playable. (Not much would change with them in that time but I double checked any recent ones just in case)

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I appreciate the note though!

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Alright, backup all done; time to reformat and copy it over.

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Once I have this solved, I'll start moving some of my media stuff here to play via WiiMC. The channel is convenient.

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@granite linden Small question related to my last statement, since progress on this solution is going to be slow: Do you know if there's a list of different homebrew applications that have dedicated channels?

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Not all of what I use has them obviously but I enjoy having that dedicated channel access.

jovial kayak
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Okay well, after getting the second key in Luigi's Mansion, I can safely say that this issue is likely resolved. No stutters or error messages after 10-15 minutes solid!

granite linden
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The OSC should have a wiimc channel installer

granite linden
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There are some forwarders on sites like Gabubu’s Wads and MarioCube

jovial kayak
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I wish I wasn't having to reply here once more, but the issue has seemingly crept back up. I'm really not sure what could be the issue here..

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Luigi's Mansion was working perfectly until I was being sent to the first boss, and Battle for Bikini Bottom froze during the first cutscene. I'm baffled and confused.

granite linden
jovial kayak
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I'll have to try that out in the morning but I'll make note of it. I assume the other loader you suggested would work?

granite linden
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Wii flow can also load through usb

jovial kayak
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I'll give that a shot in both ways tomorrow, thank you.

unborn cloak
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@jovial kayak
To verify the allocation unit size of the drive:

Power down the Wii, connect the USB hard drive to your PC, then search in windows for cmd and press enter.
in the command prompt, type chkdsk x: but replace x with the letter for your drive.
then screenshot the output.

Looking to verify the following:
Drive is 64gb or less: Formatted to FAT32 with 32kb (32768 bytes) in each allocation unit.
Drive is larger than 64gb: Formatted to FAT32 with 64kb (65536 bytes) in each allocation unit.

If you have a different allocation unit size backup your data and reformat to FAT32 with the correct allocation unit size for your drive.

jovial kayak
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I was already given these tips yesterday and followed them. Thank you though!

unborn cloak
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Just how to format a drive

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But like formatting the drive might be pointless if it's already formatted using 32kb or 64kb allocation unit size

It sounds like you actually already reformatted the drive, my apologies.

granite linden
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The trick i recall reading was saving a txt document to the drive

unborn cloak
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How does saving a text file on a drive help

granite linden
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This was just the first thing that popped up for me on how to determine the allocation unit size.

IMG_0634.png
unborn cloak
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Oh neat yeah I guess that's one way

granite linden
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Or they say click format, and it may tell you it,

unborn cloak
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I like the chkdsk the best still

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Because it'll tell you if there's errors too

granite linden
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I couldnt get it work to on my end. Kept saying my disc was locked.

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I’ll look more into that in the future

unborn cloak
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weird

jovial kayak
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Apologies for the very late reply on this, I have been busy;

  • It is using MBR.
  • It is the only partition, set to Primary.
  • I've used guiformat to properly format it as FAT32 as 64k (it displays it as 65 but I would assume it's showing the raw number, instead of the rounded number) but I have also tried 32k before the wipe.
    I don't think I'd need to use a third party program for that, as I can manage all of it via diskpart or Disk Management.
jovial kayak
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Unfortunately I do not. I've heard they're great for the city.

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This is the drive I have. This should be virtually identical to like, basically any external 2TB drive. It just comes with some photo software you can install.

unknown.png
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The $1 difference between this and their standard one is literally just "it's black and doesn't come with software"

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(Basically, I very much doubt that the drive is the issue)

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As I've stated before, my Wii is one of the later revision white models that does not have any form of DVD playback.

jovial kayak
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I haven't done a lot of testing on this since yesterday, but it's still running into the same issue. I've even tried singular tests (i.e. only one file on the drive at a time) and still run into this.
Is there simply a step I'm missing? Again, I don't believe the drive is the issue, cause then it would entirely affect the Wii games just as much.

granite linden
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Have you also tried nintendont directly to boot the game?

jovial kayak
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I have, I either get the same result or it freezes trying to load the virtual memory card.

unborn cloak
jovial kayak
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I'm going to quickly run a SysCheck before delving any deeper; I know I've reinstalled the cIOS files but if it finds an error, that's at least something.

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I'm hoping this will provide a clear enough answer, or at least a good route to start.

wise burrow
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Your cios is wrong

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Specifically 249 and 250

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Plus, you dont need 247 and 248

unborn cloak
jovial kayak
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Yep!

unborn cloak
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Nintendont doesn't use cIOS. It uses stock IOS58 which u have.

You definitely need to fix your cIOS tho like Mutty said

jovial kayak
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Do you think that the cIOS reinstall would fix this? Or at least has a chance?

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I'll likely do it regardless but the reassurance would help.

unborn cloak
jovial kayak
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I've got both of these installed already but I shall reinstall them jic, and do this.
I'll do some further testing regardless to see if it fixes it for whatever reason but I'll keep holding out for an answer.

unborn cloak
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Your issue seems like it has to be your drive or the game files

jovial kayak
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What's the maximum size for a drive that I can use? The only other spare drive I can test is a 4TB one I have.

unborn cloak
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@jovial kayak
You don't have an SD to test a game with?

jovial kayak
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I do, I just haven't gotten that far with it. I'll test that and go from there.

jovial kayak
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I'm in the process of deleting IOS247 and IOS248, but I actually don't see them in WiiModLite.

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I see 222, 223, 249, 250, 251, and 254 (in terms of the ones that are in the 200s)

unborn cloak
jovial kayak
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Seemingly so, idk.

unborn cloak
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They're definitely in the syscheck but oh well

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Not a big deal

jovial kayak
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I'll continue with my testing then. Oh well lol.

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It did give me some time to throw a theme onto Homebrew Channel after.. several years at least.

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Okay so, something bizzare happening now. I was going to test what @granite linden was heavily suggesting with WiiFlow. I installed it as directed, and.. it crashes back to HBC everytime. Haven't even gotten to a menu.

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Hard drive is not connected, so I know it's not the problem.

unborn cloak
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Not really sure what RickE suggested

jovial kayak
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He wanted me to try using WiiFlow instead of USB Loader to see if it was an issue with USB Loader.

unborn cloak
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ah

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Well WiiFlow not loading at all can be caused by cIOS not being correct, the SD having the write lock slider in the down position/not writable, or WiiFlow being installed wrong

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can you do a new syscheck?

jovial kayak
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Can do, sure.

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I can say the SD card is not on write and WiiFlow is a simple drag n drop (followed the guide instructions just in case but still), so maybe I somehow messed up another cIOS thing despite using the new instructions.

unborn cloak
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Write lock should be in up position like this

Disable_write_protection_on_an_SD_Card.png
jovial kayak
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Yep, got that right.

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I will say, I booted Alien Homid off SD card via Nintendont and that worked fine. Granted it's a tiny 2D game but still. It's some form of progress.

unborn cloak
unborn cloak
jovial kayak
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Most games off the 2TB external have very mixed results.
Games like Luigi's Mansion worked for like an hour before the error, and some like Hitman 2 and FE9 crashed nearly instantly.

unborn cloak
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Beta53 has issues follow the the cIOS install guide again but follow the config directions closer
https://wii.guide/cios

jovial kayak
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Hm alright, I'll do that.

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Curse these menus having flicker on my lovely CRT.

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Okay, I double checked everything was on beta 52. Sending one more SysCheck after I test WiiFlow again.

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WiiFlow is booting, how do I get it to show GCN games? Do they also have to be in wbfs?

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(if they're on the SD card)

granite linden
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File Folder Arrangement for Loaders

TEMPLATE:

💾SD/USB:
┣ 📂games --> GC Games
┃ ┣ 📂GameName [gameID]
┃ ┃ ┗ 📜game.iso --> File is literally named game.iso
┃ ┗ 📂GameName [gameID]
┃ ┣ 📜game.iso
┃ ┗ 📜disc2.iso --> For Multi Disc GC titles
┗ 📂wbfs --> Wii Games
┣ 📂GameName [gameID]
┃ ┗ 📜gameid.wbfs
┗ 📂GameName [gameID] --> For Split WBFS on FAT32 Partition
┣ 📜gameid.wbfs
┗ 📜gameid.wbf1

📂 games is for Gamecube .iso files or nkit.iso files only.
📜 game.iso --> The file should be literally named game.iso, not ResidentEvil4.iso, or G4BE08.iso, just game.iso
📂wbfs is for Wii wbfs files only.

EXAMPLE:

💾SD/USB:
┣ 📂games --> GC Games
┃ ┣ 📂Super Smash Bros. Melee [GALE01]
┃ ┃ ┗ 📜game.iso --> File is literally named game.iso
┃ ┗ 📂Resident Evil 4 [G4BE08]
┃ ┣ 📜game.iso
┃ ┗ 📜disc2.iso --> For Multi Disc GC titles
┗ 📂wbfs
┣ 📂Super Mario Galaxy [RMGE01]
┃ ┗ 📜RMGE01.wbfs
┗ 📂Super Smash Bros. Brawl [RSBE01] --> For Split WBFS on FAT32 Partition
┣ 📜RSBE01.wbfs
┗ 📜RSBE01.wbf1

jovial kayak
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Nevermind, got things to starts showing up. I'll see if WiiFlow likes this USB drive more.

granite linden
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I cant believe this situation could have simply been remedied by a mere syscheck and cIOS correction

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I shouldve asked that first thing in the post

jovial kayak
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Well hey, we still don't know if it works yet.

granite linden
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Oh yeah true

jovial kayak
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I need to test timings and see if things crash.

granite linden
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At least you’re not getting sent back to hbc

jovial kayak
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Yeah that part was solved by a cIOS correction

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..It does seem to have crashed upon trying to download game covers. I'll just uh skip that for now. Not needed lol.

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Okay, we're gonna finally try loading from USB now. Fingers crossed.'

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Aaand it froze at trying to initialize the virtual memory card.

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The read/write light is still blinking on the drive but the Wii is not doing anything.

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Fine, I'll try my thumbdrive instead of the hard drive.

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(I should specify, both .iso and .ciso games have shared similar results, so I know it's likely not a format issue on that. Nintendont does support .ciso)

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I can narrow down whatever possible issues those could end up being if I even get that far. Alien Homid I had converted to .ciso and worked perfect on the SD card, as an example.

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Gonna try USB Loader GX first, and then Wiiflow.

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I'm.. thankfull?? It failed on the thumbdrive too!

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I'm thankful cause that means the issue most likely is NOT the drive.

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But that does mean that the only option that HAS worked is the SD card.

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And obviously, the SD card is not the most ideal play method. But it's bizzare since I used this thumb drive before to hold a small portion of this library.

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I did format this with the 32kb option but that's what it was using before with this exact Wii before I got this 2TB drive.

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So now I'm entirely confused on what could be the problem.

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I've reinstalled virtually everything and even done a lot of cIOS checks (thank you everyone) but I'm left just as confused..

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I will try one last method; I will use Wii Backup Manager to organize and put a few test games onto the thumb drive, as that's how it was first done compared to me manually doing all the filing. If that miraculously works, then I shall try it with the 2TB.

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If this final trial doesn't work, I'm pooped on options.

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Wii Guide states that NTFS can work. Is there a reason I have to be using FAT32 if this is the case?

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Or is FAT32 a limitation with USB Loader GX?

unborn cloak
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FAT32 is the most compatible

unborn cloak
jovial kayak
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Considering it's the same timing and issue as the USB hard drive is what makes me somewhat thankful.

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Well nevermind on WBM, I forgot it only works with Wii games. Figures but I thought they'd worked with both.

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I'm completely lost now on what I could do then.

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My formatting's correct, filing is correct, both drives have been tested..

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The only option that works is SD, but SD only goes up to 64GB.

unborn cloak
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I think the usb controller in your drives are just not compatible.

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if everything that doesn't work on USB works on SD

jovial kayak
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See but that's the weird thing; it worked with the USB thumb drive the last time I tried this.

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I was able to play Wii and GameCube just fine through it.

unborn cloak
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¯_(ツ)_/¯

jovial kayak
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I'm going to try one final thumb drive I have which I've also used with this Wii in the past.

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Damn. Unfortunate to say but, the smallest thumb drive seems to be working perfect.

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I don't understand why the other two don't work then..

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My friend has an identical setup with a 2TB external drive just like mine and it works perfect.