wii usb/ putting new games on it

[prisma needle]

i have games on my usb and now im planning to download and put a few games on it, i wanted to open my usb drive but i have to format is there a way i can back-up my game's somewhere while i format?

[wicked cairn]

Just back them up to your PC

[wicked cairn]

Format your USB drive: The drive should be 2tb or smaller, formatted to MBR and have a single primary FAT32 partition with 32kb (32768) or 64kb (65536) cluster/allocation unit size. Double check the partition style is MBR: https://www.howtogeek.com/245610/how-to-check-if-a-disk-uses-gpt-or-mbr-and-how-to-convert-between-the-two/
Drive is 64gb or less: Format it to FAT32 with 32kb (32,768 bytes) cluster / allocation unit size. Drive is larger than 64gb: Format it to FAT32 with 64kb (65,536 bytes) cluster / allocation unit size. If the drive is larger than 32GB, you will need third party software like GUIFormat or Wii Backup Manager to format your drive to FAT32 Wii Backup Manager: https://wii.guide/wiibackupmanager GUIFormat: http://ridgecrop.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

[prisma needle]

Can't open the usb

[wicked cairn]

Like it’s corrupted or something?

[prisma needle]

I have to format first

[wicked cairn]

If it’s not corrupt it should let you open it

[prisma needle]

Indeed it's not corrupted

But I have to format it first to actually open it

Apperently

[wicked cairn]

So there’s nothing on it?

[prisma needle]

There are enough games on it

But for some reason it won't let me open the drive

[wicked cairn]

Didn’t you have to format it to put games on it?

[prisma needle]

I got the wii with everything alr

[wicked cairn]

Probably because it’s corrupted

[prisma needle]

Does it give a pop-up saying its corrupted?

[wicked cairn]

Idk

Can you show me what happens when you plug it into a pc?

[prisma needle]

You can read Dutch?

[prisma needle]

Give me a second

[wicked cairn]

Unfortunately no

Also is the drive a usb stick/flash drive

[prisma needle]

yea

[wicked cairn]

What does that roughly translate to

[prisma needle]

the blue ?

[wicked cairn]

Yeah

[prisma needle]

it says, format disk

then i get this

[wicked cairn]

USB Sticks/flash drives are not recommended to use as they often cause problems. It is recommended that you use an HDD. SSDs are also compatible but wont give you any more benefits of an HDD on a Wii. If you need recommendations for a cheap HDD, here’s a few
https://amzn.to/3DX6g2Q
https://amzn.to/3pnqZcl

[prisma needle]

This is mine

Tbf idk what it is 🤣

looks like a harddrive

[wicked cairn]

That’s an HDD not a flash drive

[prisma needle]

Oh

[wicked cairn]

HDD= Hard Disk Drive

[prisma needle]

good or no?

[wicked cairn]

Yeah it should be fine

One sec

[prisma needle]

but why can't i open it?

[wicked cairn]

That’s so weird

[prisma needle]

but there are games alr on it

[wicked cairn]

Yeah if it’s making you format it something happened and you’re gonna have to reformat and loose everything

It probably got corrupted but that’s quite unusual for hard drives

[prisma needle]

before i'm gonna format im gonna see what games i have installed on it

also sometimes when i play my whole wii crashes

[wicked cairn]

How do you know if you can’t open the drive

[prisma needle]

with plugging it in on the wii XD

and turn it on after a few years

[wicked cairn]

One thing you could do is run the chkdsk command on windows

[prisma needle]

on the run?

[wicked cairn]

Go into the search bar, type cmd, and select command prompt.

[prisma needle]

i have

[wicked cairn]

Type cmd (Command Prompt) in the Start menu search bar, then click Run as administrator.
Type chkdsk and hit Enter. CHKDSK will scan for drive errors and let you know if it found any you should repair, but it won't try to fix them without a command.

[prisma needle]

'chkdsd' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

thats what i get

[wicked cairn]

spelled it wrong

[prisma needle]

huh?

i copied it XD

nvm

[wicked cairn]

thats what it should be

[prisma needle]

forgot to run as administrator

it found no problems

[wicked cairn]

weird

[wicked cairn]

@whole spindle idk how to read this tbh 💀

[prisma needle]

Should I put USB loader GX on the wii bc I don't have that

[whole spindle]

Did u pick the right drive?

It shouldn't have ran in read-only mode

[prisma needle]

It supposed to read every disk that is plugged into the pc

[prisma needle]

So not in administrator?

[whole spindle]

Connect the 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 that no issues are found and that you have
32kb (32768 bytes) or 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.

[prisma needle]

I will send a screen shot when I'm home, but as for now how it looks I have to format right?

[whole spindle]

I cannot tell from your screenshot.

You will need to run the command as I described and upload a new screenshot

[prisma needle]

Alr

[prisma needle]

this is what i get

[wicked cairn]

Oh that’s not good

You’re gonna need third party software to recover the drive without loosing the data

[prisma needle]

ohwwwhh shiii

but i have to update the wii i think, it freezes after some time playing on it

idrk if its an update or its just old

[prisma needle]

Btw I do have a wii back up manager on my wii

[wicked cairn]

It’s a pc application

[prisma needle]

Backup manager

Forgot what it's called

[wicked cairn]

You mean a game loader like usbloader GX or Wiiflow?

[prisma needle]

No I can see my saves through the homebrow chanel

I'll send a pic tomorrow

[wicked cairn]

Save game manager GX?

[prisma needle]

I'll send a pic

Bc I have no clue, it's gonna be tomorrow tho

I don't even have any GX thing on my wii I think

[prisma needle]

What about this?

[wicked cairn]

I don’t know what you mean but don’t

[whole spindle]

Is that drive formatted to WBFS?

Does Wii Backup Manager still display games on the drive when you set Drive D to drive 1?

[prisma needle]

It doesn't, I can't open my drive bc then it says I have to format

[prisma needle]

Like the game stops completely and then there comes a annoying sound

[prisma needle]

It's save game manager idk what it is

[whole spindle]

Looks like you have old apps. You shouldn't be using SaveGame Manager or Wad Manager

[prisma needle]

It's indeed very old

[whole spindle]

Here are the two apps that should replace those

https://oscwii.org/library/app/SaveGame_Manager_GX
https://wii.guide/wiimodlite

[whole spindle]

Oh, yeah your files would need to be recovered with software or you need to reformat

You should format to MBR and FAT32 with 32kb allocation unit size

[prisma needle]

How do I do that?

[whole spindle]

I can only help you reformat

Which will not recover any files

They will be gone

[prisma needle]

How do I solve the freeze

Or does it freeze bc they are old apps

[whole spindle]

What's freezing

[prisma needle]

The wii

[whole spindle]

When bruh

What's causing the freeze

[prisma needle]

When I start a game I play a for some time out of no where it just freezes

[prisma needle]

No clue

[whole spindle]

The game stored on the drive your computer won't even read?

[prisma needle]

Nope

I can't look in my games when I plug it in my pc

[whole spindle]

So yes?

[prisma needle]

I think that is causing the issue

[whole spindle]

Yes lol

Your files are corrupted

It's a miracle the Wii plays anything

If your PC can't read the drive

Is this a USB stick?

[prisma needle]

The games are corrupted?

[whole spindle]

The drive is

[prisma needle]

Nope HDD

[whole spindle]

It needs to be reformatted

I already told u that

[prisma needle]

Well, if its solves freeze and all that I prob need to

[whole spindle]

Reformat the drive to MBR and FAT32 with 32kb allocation unit size

You will lose all the files on it

[prisma needle]

But I can download the games

[whole spindle]

Sure

[prisma needle]

After reformat

[whole spindle]

Good luck I'm unavailable to help further

[prisma needle]

You busy or?

I can look up a tutorial on how to download USB loader GX

[whole spindle]

I have work.

[whole spindle]

Avoid video guides.

[prisma needle]

Ah, same I have to work in a few minutes

[whole spindle]

You'd dump the game first and it would live on SD or USB:
https://wii.guide/dump-games

It can be loaded with WiiFlow or USB Loader GX:
https://wii.guide/wiiflow
https://wii.guide/usbloadergx

[prisma needle]

Soo with the first I can recover I think

I have to look into it and read everything

[prisma needle]

Can u put them in a order?

[whole spindle]

What?

Put what in a order

[prisma needle]

On what I need to do

[prisma needle]

From d2x installer to end, sorry sometimes my autism can't handle it when there is something else in a way

And btw can I put every installer on the HDD drive or not?

If not then I need to look for a USB

[whole spindle]

your HDD is a usb drive. you can load games and or apps from it.

Apps should go on SD

if you don't have an SD then you can put everything on the USB hard drive.

[prisma needle]

The only thing I have is my HDD drive