I've got a hard drive here that only works with the swap trick, I think if a developer lends a hand with a quick diagnostic program we might be able to figure out why it only works with the swap trick, and perhaps fix/add some stuff to the USB Loader code to enhance the compatibility with more devices.
Here's the scoop -- I have a 120GB external USB hard drive that gives the ret -1 error when trying to load USB Loader with the hard drive connected.
However, I saw a note on the Compatibility List mentioning a 'swap trick' -- that is, to start the USB Loader with an unformatted USB flash drive inserted, so the USB Loader says "No WBFS Partition Found - Press A to select a partition to format". At that point, I remove the USB stick and plug in the USB hard drive, and then press A... it shows the primary 120GB partition (already formatted with WBFS Manager on my computer), and by pressing B it takes me back to the main menu and I'm able to use the hard drive without issue, until the Wii is rebooted.
I was thinking, if someone familiar with Wii coding made some quick hacks to the USB Loader code (or copy/paste some code into a new project), we should be able to print some kernel messages to the screen when the USB hard drive is swapped with the flash drive. I'm thinking kinda like when you type 'dmesg' in Linux and it prints the kernel messages, showing the USB device info and relevant driver information. Perhaps this diagnostic info will give us a clue as to why the hard drive needs the swap trick to work.
Is anyone willing to lend a hand with this task? I would love to attempt it but I don't have any Wii or C development skills. I have the hard drive and am familiar with my Wii setup, so I can do all the testing required... unfortunately just not the coding.
Here's the scoop -- I have a 120GB external USB hard drive that gives the ret -1 error when trying to load USB Loader with the hard drive connected.
However, I saw a note on the Compatibility List mentioning a 'swap trick' -- that is, to start the USB Loader with an unformatted USB flash drive inserted, so the USB Loader says "No WBFS Partition Found - Press A to select a partition to format". At that point, I remove the USB stick and plug in the USB hard drive, and then press A... it shows the primary 120GB partition (already formatted with WBFS Manager on my computer), and by pressing B it takes me back to the main menu and I'm able to use the hard drive without issue, until the Wii is rebooted.
I was thinking, if someone familiar with Wii coding made some quick hacks to the USB Loader code (or copy/paste some code into a new project), we should be able to print some kernel messages to the screen when the USB hard drive is swapped with the flash drive. I'm thinking kinda like when you type 'dmesg' in Linux and it prints the kernel messages, showing the USB device info and relevant driver information. Perhaps this diagnostic info will give us a clue as to why the hard drive needs the swap trick to work.
Is anyone willing to lend a hand with this task? I would love to attempt it but I don't have any Wii or C development skills. I have the hard drive and am familiar with my Wii setup, so I can do all the testing required... unfortunately just not the coding.