I’ve been running Homebrew on my Wii for quite some time, which also gives me the ability to play backed up games from a USB hard drive. There’s several advantages to this; I don’t have to worry about changing DVDs anytime I want to play a game, in addition to not having to carry them around. Additionally, having the games loaded from a USB hard drive decreases the time it takes to load games.
I needed to keep a log of all the steps I had to take in order to get this functionality working, so I figured I might as well be helpful and provide a list of the steps needed to do so.
The only thing I ask is that you don’t follow these methods to pirate games. It’s wrong and it cheats developers out of money they deserve. Homebrew is there to help enhance the functionality of the system, not for free games. So please use it wisely and don’t abuse the system. It’s all on the honor system here folks.
Prerequisites:
- External USB Hard Drive
- Homebrew Channel already installed (See Twilight Hack if you have system 3.4 or less, Bannerbomb if you have 4.0-4.2, or LetterBomb if you have 4.3)
Step 1 – Install cIOS38 (if already installed, skip to Step 2)
- Download cIOS38_rev14 (you can find it here)
- Extract and rename “cIOS38_rev14-Installer” to “boot.dol”.
- Create a folder named “cIOS38_rev14″ under the /apps directory on your SD card and copy the extracted “boot.dol” file to that folder.
- If this doesn’t work and the installation fails, you need to download the Trucha Bug Restorer for your system. Try that and attempt to install cIOS38 again. Please note that this step may brick your Wii! I highly recommend you go ahead and install BootMii in boot2 and back up your NAND before attempting this portion. Doing so will allow you to recover should anything go wrong, otherwise you are continuing at your own risk!
Step 2 – Install a USB Loader
There are a couple of different USB Loaders available. Personally I use Configurable USB Loader, but you may want to pick a different loader that has other features you may like.
- Follow any included instructions, otherwise you may only need to copy the extracted folder into your /apps directory on your SD card.
Step 3 – Format Your Hard Drive
You may want to partition your hard drive if you want to separate your Wii files from anything else you may have on there. Most loaders now support FAT32, but there are others that support NTFS as well. If you want to use NTFS you will need to check with your USB Loader to ensure that it supports that format as a feature.
- If you want to partition your hard drive, you may want to try and download a partition manager like GParted. Otherwise you can use the whole hard drive.
- If you decided to use GParted, simply partition the hard drive and format the partition you want to use as “FAT32″ and continue on to Step 4.
Step 4 – Install & Run Games
The following steps may differ depending on which USB loader you installed (I’m using Configurable USB Loader).
- Launch the homebrew channel and your recently installed USB Loader.
- Select “USB Mass Storage Device”.
- Insert any game disc, and press “+” to install it. This may take some time depending on the size of the game.
- Repeat last step for each and every game you want to install.
- You’re now ready to play your backed up games! Just select your game, and press “A” to begin.
Some of the USB Loaders will automatically download game covers, and others don’t. If you downloaded one that doesn’t you can find them here. It’s only 40mb to download 450+ covers, so you might want to do it anyway just in case.
If you have any issues with the above steps, please be sure that you remove any and all GameCube memory cards. It seems some Homebrew stuff has issues with the memory cards in place when you’re trying to install.
I tried to be as detailed as possible and cover as many angles as I could, but I’m bound to have missed a thing or two. If you are attempting to follow this guide and are running into some issues, or I seem to be missing a vital step, leave a comment and I’ll try to address it as best as I can.
As a bonus, here’s what it all looks like using the loader I tried. Please note that the above steps will not create a USB Loader channel in your main menu, but will need to be accessed through the Homebrew Channel. If you’re interested in doing so, you can follow this guide here which outlines the steps to create a USB Loader Forwarder Channel and creating channels from games installed onto your USB hard drive.
This is only a small piece of the pie of what Homebrew offers. There’s tons of applications and utilities available, not to mention the ability to play DVDs. You can find more details and information on everything over at WiiBrew.org.
This is totally cool. Trust me I have seen it! Jason lets box tonight! without the CD
Thank you, Jason.
Thanks you for your post. I would like to know how to copy game from one hard drive to another? please help thanks again
WBFS manager v3 has a built in drive to drive copy feature for raw partitions.
hey if i use gparted , and i got something on my hdd, will it delete anything after formatting it?
@needhelp Yes, anytime you format a hdd you remove any information on the disc, so you’ll need a backup. GParted does allow you to adjust the size of your partitions so that you can free up some space to create a new partition, but it’s always good to back up your data just to be safe.
In theory, can i use ANY USB hard drive, as long as it is formatted/set up using the steps you posted?
For the most part, yes. There’s a HD compatibility list here if you want to look for your hard drive.
I had a friend do all of this to my WII and he let me barrow one of his external hard drives until I could get my own, I finally got a 1 TB hard drive and had him do a direct copy of his but it was only a 60 GB and he had to partition my hard drive, How can I delete the partition and have full use of the 1 TB without deleting what games I have I really dont want to download all those games again
Hi. I’ve got a Western Digital Essential Edt. external harddrive, and I’m trying to partition it into 2 partitions: 1 for wii games and 1 for PS2 games.
I’ve successfully formatted 1 partition into FAT32 and loaded some PS2 games onto it without any problems, they play perfectly.
I tried to use WBFS manager to format the other partition into the correct file system, but since it was unformatted it didn’t have a drive letter, so I couldn’t select the unformatted part of the harddrive. So I used Windows to first format it into NTFS file system, and after that I formated it into WBFS file system with the WBFS manager. So far so good. But when I plug the harddrive into the Wii, my USB loader (I’m using USB loader GX) won’t detect the harddrive.
What is wrong?
@Mithie Newer versions of USB Loader now support FAT32 as long as you use Hermes cIOS 222/223 which this tutorial unfortunately does not cover. I haven’t tested it myself since I’m still using cIOS 249 but you could try installing 222 and using a FAT32 partition to see if that works.
Since WBFS manager didn’t work, try to set your desired Wii partition to a raw, unformatted partition and pulling it up in USB Loader GX to see if it will let you format that partition.
Thank you, it probably would’ve worked, but turns out the PS2 games didn’t run as well as they should have from the hard drive, so I have to burn them on DVD’s anyway.
I’ll just format the whole hard drive into a wbfs drive, I know for sure that it works with only 1 partition :)
I am using a Western Digital 1tb formated by the hacked usbloadergx. All games load just fine and are stored on the Western Digital. I am able to load and play as long as the Western Digital stayed plugged into USB 2 of the wii. However I want to be able to make DVD-r copies also from this drive. I need precise help. I am using vista 64. I have tried using the WBFS manager. I get errors when plugging up WD to the computer and loading the Western Digital. However I formatted a PNY 8gb and WBFS manager shows now with no errors. However there are no games on this drive and it stack dumps when loading games from the Wii. Going insane in the membrane!!!
Step 1. install WBFS manager 2.5 onto your pc
Step 2. plug a PNY 8gb Flash and open WBFS manager on pc
Step 3. Format PNY 8gb Flash using WBFS manager find the right drive (ex. I:)
Step 4. Plug PNY 8gb Flash into bottom USB slot of wii
Step 5. Open USB LOADER GX from homebrew
Step 6. Insert game into wii and load *this takes a while*
Step 7. Plug PNY 8gb Flash into pc and open up WBFS manager load from correct drive (ex. I:)
Step 8. Extract ISO
Step 9. Patch iso using IOS patcher and set it to your IOS mine is 249.
Step 10. Insert blank disk open up Image Burn and find the iso you patched (it will look the same as if nothing happend but it’s patched – only the new mario and a few games will be different)
Step 11. Open neo gamma 7 insert burn disc and enjoy.
is there any chance u got a solution for a 4.2E ?
HELP!!!
I have a 1tb western digital hard drive with 500 Wii Games on it. All the games work fine through the USB loader. I just purchased a 2tb western digital drive and copied all the games from the 1tb to the 2tb drive using WBFS manager. NOw when i try to play a game off the 2tb drive i click on the game and the game will not load it just takes me back to the wii main menu screen. The USB loader says that the new drive has 500 games and 2tb total space. ANY IDEAS??????? Thanks
@rob A lot of the larger drives aren’t tested and may not work. Check to see if your HD is listed here first.
Jason,
My 2tb is on the list. it’s the 2tb Western Digital Essential. Here is a weird thing I noticed. I just put an original Wii disc in the Wii and copied it to the hard drive. When I click on the image of that new game- the game works fine but the games I copied from my 1tb drive do not load. When I copied the games from the 1tb drive to the 2tb drive I used the CLONE command in the WBFS manager. I wondering if I should have used the COPY command instead being that the new drive was bigger than the original? Any ideas or suggestions? Should I format the 2tb drive again and try copying all the games instead of cloning?
Thanks
I have a question – according to the HD compatibility list if you format a 2tb drive in FAT32 format instead of using the WBFS Manager then you will not have the 500 game limit. Has anyone tried this? Also, if I don’t use the WBFS Manager- do I just copy games from 1 drive to another just using windows copy and paste feature?
Thanks
Reading up on the cloning, it appears that there may be an issue with cloning? You may want to try the “Add to Drive” option. I know I’ve used it in the past with some success. I don’t remember if you need to extract the ISO first or not, but try that and let me know if it works.
Fixed my USB Loader GX loading issue on my 1.5TB WD drive that was listed as “compatible”. Here’s what happened and my fix.
I got a new WD HD and formatted it as 1 big (1.5TB) WBFS partition. Tested the drive by loading a few original games to the hard drive via USB Loader GX from the Wii. Everything worked so I moved all my games from my old hard drive to the new one by using WBFS Manager. Once it finished, I tested the games that were moved from my old drive and none of them work! When I click on the game (on USB Loader GX) to play it, it just takes me back to the Wii main menu screen. The games that originally (manually) loaded from USB Loader GX, played with no issues.
Here’s what I found out:
Partition any hard drive over 1TB into multiple partitions. Don’t go beyond 999GB per partition since:
1) You not be able to play your games if you move them over from another hard drive. My one big 1.5TB partition did not work and once I reformatted back to NTFS (took forever) and did 3 new partitions…everything worked. I made a 999GB WBFS, 451GB WBFS, and 10GB NTFS partition for art work and Wii emulators. This 10GB drive will also be used as a storage/backup for my SD card for disaster recovery.
2) There is currently a 500 game limit on WBFS Manager. Some people say 500 games will be around 1TB, so partitioning your drive under 1 TB makes sense. If you do have 500 games and STILL have room, you can use your remaining this space by manually loading games via the USB Loader (via the Wii). If you want to maximize your storage space and still be under the 500 limit, try rearranging your big (large GB) games to your big partition.
3) I would use the copy function instead of clone feature on WBFS Manager since you should test the process on a few games instead of moving all your games at once. Select a few games from the host drive (pick the games from the top of the WBFS list), copy them to your new drive, and THEN test the games on your Wii to see if they work before you move all of them with one big job!!! Why move all the games at the beginning if your test games don’t work in the first place? If your sample does work, select the remaining games and use the copy function.
Hope these tips help out.
I have a terrible delimea that really needs some help.
I use my external hard drive for usb loader so I can play games that i have. All my discs are unreadable already but i have them on the drive.
I had turned off my ocarina on the usb loader gx and tried playing a game, but nothing but black (this is normal for me so I just restart). but this time i go to usb loader it gives me:
“No WBFS or FAT/NTFS partition found
you need to select or format a partition
(Select) (Format)
(Return)”
I select (select):
“partition 1: 400.76 gb
partition 2: cant be formated
partition 3: cant be formated
partition 4: cant be formated ”
I select partition 1, and gives me a black screen with white letters saying “expection” at top and “reloading in 5 seconds…” then im taken to the wii menu.
someone please help
Out of curiosity, why are all of your discs unreadable?
Hi, cool instructions, i have read a few hundred times and think i am ready to go for it. I have homebrew used V1 bannerbomb as i am on version 3.2 so have to hit the home button to access bootmii, will this guide be ok with my set up. Also Q- i have followed the link cIOS38_rev14 and it is not available for DL just takes to another page. I can get a more up to date one. will this still work with this tutorial, i have google this installer aswell and keep going round in circles- have you got a reliable link please? thanks
Not sure why rev 14 is no longer available, but you could try using the latest version (cIOS38_rev19). I haven’t tested this version as I’m still running rev14, so doing so would be at your own risk. I assume the other steps would be the same.
Hi, thanks, i have just done a NAND so even if i totally screw it up i can do a restore? However, have not got a clue how fool proof this is! Thanks for the advise, zo
Yes. As long as you have BootMii and a saved backup you can restore. I’ve done it several times as I’ve accidentally bricked my system.
does your external hd need to have a wall plug in and can you format any hd into Fat32
No, most USB hdds pull power from USB, and yes.
Hi,
I do upgrade to my wii but i forgot to backup NAND. where can i get the default NAND so that i can restore if my system have problem.
Thankyou
Each Wii’s NAND includes a key that is specifically tied to your system so it’s not exactly easy to do so, but there is a tool available.
If your system isn’t already bricked and you’ve performed any of the steps, you’re probably okay. I will still make a backup ASAP so you’ll have a a fallback no matter what happens.
im a newb to all of this, is there a way to save your mem card files/folders etc. to the external hd?
What do you mean? Are you talking about homebrew stuff?
Yes and no. I don’t believe homebrew can read from the hdd as far as apps are concerned, so everything under the /apps/ folder will need to stay on the SD card. However, specific homebrew apps (such as emulators, ftp, etc.) may be able to read from the HDD.
Here is a question. my HDD works on the Wii but only in one Port I believe this is because that port is powered. I can hook up my rock band set and play that through my wii on the same usb port but it will not work on the other port either! How can I play by rock band on the HDD?! AKA how can I use both USB ports?!
@dave, you’ll either need to try and use a USB hub or use Hermes 222/223 instead of cIOS 249. Unfortunately my guide is a little outdated, so it needs some refresh as a lot of things have changed in the past year.
i believe this should suites your need IOS58 –
http://hackmii.com/2010/08/the-usb2-release/
me doesn’t have tme to test it yet .. just finish rollback to v4.0U
how do i delete wii games from my hard drive that i will not play, also i have emulator that i do not play i would like to get rid of as well. any help would be appreciated.
so just to confirm i can move everything but the apps folder to the HDD and should be ok to go as far as running roms and such to the on the wii and running homebrew?
Hi there, is it possible to run 2 hard drives, given that there are 2 usb ports in the wii??
@Fiona, I don’t think there is. Why would you need two hard drives?
Besides, I think that CFG USB Loader only supports the far right USB port.
Hey Guys, I am having an issue, and any assistance would be appreciated. I have everything in the wii and hacked properly with cios v 4. now i have a wd passport gigs, and it won’t load with cfg, but when i use gx, it takes forever, gx tells me that it is a slow or difficult disc, and will eventually start up after ten minutes. What am I doing wrong? Do I need to upgrade the CIOS? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Your tutorial was very helpful. I have encountered one issue that I hope you can help with. Everything works great, however, once I power off the Wii and then power it back on again, my usbloader cannot find the hard drive. The drive is a Seagate and has a powersaver feature, so when the Wii is powered down, it goes to sleep. However, it is waking up when the wii is powered up. I am using USB Loader GX. It gives the message about waiting for a slow USB drive and has a countdown. If I unplug the power to the drive and power it back up during the countdown, then the loader finds the drive and runs correctly. I have even tried the option to not powerdown the wii but to put it in standby mode. In this case the drive never goes to sleep, but I have the same issue.
Do you have any ideas on what I can do to fix this?
hey jason im having alittle problem i was just wondering If u could help….I have a soft mod wii which has a ext hard drive but i can’t play any other soft ware like a cam or my rock band gear is there a way to use a USB spliter so i can use my gear again thanks ….
when i try to rip the game to my external hard drive it says not enough free memory. How do i get tid of some games i do not want so i can add more of the ones i do want?
@Steven. I had the same problem. easy fix. unplug your hardrive from the wii, then plug it into the other harddrive slot. waalaa. If it still wont work transfer everything off ur hardrive.Format it and transfer everything back. HOpe that helps. Im new at this but it worked for me.:)
I’m having the same problem as Shawn. I bought a usb splitter to play skylander’s spyro’s adventure but it doesn’t work. Any ideas ?? The external hd won’t work in the inside usb slot but neither does the usb key for the game. Why are there 2 usb slots on the wii if only one works ? Any idea how I can get both working in the one usb slot ?
Hi,i´ve bought a wd elements 1 TB and i want to format it to WBFS,i´m using USB LOADER GX,and a friend of mine told me i have first to reformat the hard drive to NTFS,then to FAT32 and finally to WBFS with WBFS Manager 3.0,i´m also usinf windows xp professional sp3.
Can you help me troughout all the right steps not ot screw things up?
Thanks
@Pedro There’s no need to format drives as WBFS anymore. Recent versions of usb loader gx allow you to use FAT32 or NTFS. FAT32 will be more widely support by MAC/PC in case you want to use your hard drive for other things.
Thanks for the advice :)
But i´m going to keep that version of Usb Loader GX,because it´s not my Nintendo and HHD,so i don´t want to screw things up.
Jason, I’ve soft modded before, but this time through I hit a snag. All steps went smooth except the formatting (I couldn’t format to FAT32), or usr the ext hd. Im using a Toshiba 500G, and just modded a 4.3U(blue model)
when I load up usb loader gx it stalls during loading and my message reads ‘initialize usb device’
What am I missing?? I’ve tried reformatting, a few times.
Please any help is appreciated!
Can you email me the instructions written so that a brand new wii owner and very oignorant of what you are talking about can do this? I have read many blogs and everyone writes as though everyone knows what is being talked about, but i just do not…tell me exactly what to download, exactly how to put the files on a card, exactly what to do to get the hard drive attached and running, etc…thanks so much!!!
Hi, I need a little bit of advice… My ex had put the usb loader and homebrew channel onto my wii. I have the external hard drive connected to the wii. I tried to back up one of my games onto the hard drive, and it told me the memory is full. I can ‘t figure out how to delete any of the games from it, as there are a few that we don’t play frequently. Regardless, I was wondering if I would be able to purchase an additional external hard drive and if it would work if I plugged it into the wii, without any additional work that needs to be done. I have tried to read through several tutorials, but it is all confusing and jibberish to me. Any advice, in very simple terms, would be greatly appreciated!!!
any on luck how to use 2nd usb port. I would really appreciate as I am faced with the same issue. I would love to be able to use my other devices along with the HD i tried splitter and no luck. My HD has it’s own power source
My friend tried to do this (he did it for himself and others) on a WD Passport but he said the drive kept going to sleep and wouldn’t let him complete the process.. thoughts?
Does this work with cIOS58 or does it have to be 38?
i have been using a hard drive to play games with for some time now, but for some reason twice now the games the whole lot have vanished the first time it happened i thought my daughter had formatted instead of downloading missing covers, but i don’t think she did, as it just happened to me i just put on the missing games after days of downloading to find in an instant them all gone, i have no idea why, so i hope some one can help ?