Internal Hard Drive - Wii Hack

brakken · #1 04-18-2009, 06:00 PM

Deynet has successfully installed a Samsung HS120JB 1.8" IDE/PATA with zif connector mini hard drive into his Nintendo Wii. What's cool about this mod is the fact the 120GB hard drive is directly wired to the Nintendo Wii's USB port allowing you to use it as a mass storage device.

Additionally, due to the small form factor of the hard drive Deynet was able to keep the Nintendo Wii's DVD-ROM drive intact. We'll have more details about this hack soon along with detailed diagrams on how to do it yourself.

For now you can click on the "replies" link below to see more pictures of this really cool modification.

brakken · #2 04-18-2009, 06:01 PM

More Photos - Installation Guide Coming Soon!

brakken · #3 04-18-2009, 06:02 PM

Further noted ... I will be doing this mod myself. It'll be great to have the hard drive in the Wii. Then I can get rid of my physical backups and keep them on the drive.

Deynet · #4 04-18-2009, 06:20 PM

Hi!

I have to do some temperature tests. For the 1,8" HDD I had to remove about 40-50% of cooling rips. In the next days, I will release exact temperature rates. And I will change and add some cooling pads. Temperature is on a good level at the moment, a little bit hot, but with new cooling pads it will be no problem.

Please note that this mod is not perfect at this time, I will make some changes and next weekend I release a tutorial with the final resolution. So better wait for it

And it will be possible to transfer data between PC and Wii, but I have to do some tests with the USB cable to find out the right pinout.

Sorry for my bad english

luck_gh0st · #5 04-18-2009, 06:26 PM

WOW! impressive......

hitman43 · #6 04-18-2009, 06:27 PM

An english guide for ModYaWii will come soon.

ModYaWii baby!

djdynamite123 · #7 04-18-2009, 06:36 PM

cool, still allot of pussies wouldn't dare open their wii, to avoid the little boys warranty, i wouldn't really want a hard drive in the wii like, if the cooling is ok then yeah, mind you their are cooling stations aswell which i have myself, never have the fan on though.

snowolfvx900 · #8 04-18-2009, 07:04 PM

I will be doing this as well. My computer is in my media stand with all the consoles so this would be perfect. Just have a USB cable connecting the Wii to the PC at all times. Not sure how the ZIF connection works though. Now I get to look on ebay for ZIF drives. Great news!

Deynet · #9 04-18-2009, 07:31 PM

All time connection USB from Wii to PC doesn't work at the moment because the HD is soldered to one of the two USB Ports in the Wii.

You can connect the wii (must be turned off, red LED on!) with a USB A-Plug to A-Plug cable to PC. In my case I have to change D+ and D- Wire on one side of USB cable because of the harddrive pinout. But i haven't tested it yet because my solder station has been broken yesterday, so I can test it first in a few days.

IBNobody · #10 04-18-2009, 08:27 PM

Nice idea, but I'll wait until they get the WBFS bugs straightened out.

gamergomer · #11 04-19-2009, 03:09 AM

This is a cool idea, but really it's just putting an external usb drive inside the wii.

It has pros and cons.

Pros:
-takes up less room on your entertainment center.
-My hard drive has been kinda sitting where I'm afraid it will fall. This would solve that.
-It's easier to take both your wii and games places.

Cons:
-voids your warranty if you care.
-Always uses a usb port. (have one less usb port in the back of the wii to use)
-You have to bring your wii to bring your games unless you have another usb hard drive around.
-You can't easily get the games off the internal wii drive.
-You can't plug your friend's external drive into this wii if he brings his games over (may be fixed in the software later, but right now you can't use 2 drives on one system and this one is currently always on).

The thing that scares me:
No matter how cool it seems to run, removing some of the heat fins is scary to me for two reasons:
-not many games really push the wii so will this kill your wii later?
-heat buildup can cause failures over time. You're putting a heat source that will always be hot on what is supposed to cool your cpu & graphics chip.

The big deal that I'm not absolutely sure about:
Now, I assume the usb ports are on in standby with wiiconnect24 on because some people use usb neworking rather than wireless. THE FAN IS NOT ON IN STANDBY! Some people have already found issues with this when they stupidly left their wii on their 360 and it got really hot in standby. I again don't know for sure if the HD would be on here (and I assume it would only be on if wiiconnect24 is on and it it is in standby).

The keep the fan on in standby when wiiconnect is on hack:
http://diy.sickmods.net/Tutorials/Wi...t_Overheating/

Even with the above hack, I think the heat is a bad idea, but at least do the above hack! Also if you do this hack make sure your wii is in an open, cool area.

trispin · #12 04-19-2009, 03:10 AM

The 45nm Wiis should be coming out soon. That may solve any heat issues (assuming they're still hackable to want to do this mod anyway).

dadudeondacouch · #13 04-19-2009, 08:11 AM

Nice mod I like it my only problem is I have trouble getting my wii to detect usb devices when I have 2 in at once and I use a usb network so if i have the hdd wired into one of them I would always get error msg's. some apps glitch up when I have usb devices in for some reason aswell.

bcas9472 · #14 04-19-2009, 09:45 AM

Just a quick question,
After you install the drive,
How do you continue to add games to it? Through the USB port????

badsector · #15 04-19-2009, 10:10 AM

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=36244

Wow, look at the source! Did somebody grow up?

theuser · #16 04-19-2009, 10:25 AM

Seriously, if your warranty isn't expired yet, you waited way too long to get on the bus, not to mention the large gray area implicit in the nature of wii homebrew relative to warranty validity. Of course, if you're a complete wreck with a soldering iron, this obviously might not be something you'd want to try on your own.

HCK91 · #17 04-19-2009, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badsector

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=36244

Wow, look at the source! Did somebody grow up?

Impressive XD

monoufo · #18 04-19-2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theuser

Seriously, if your warranty isn't expired yet, you waited way too long to get on the bus, not to mention the large gray area implicit in the nature of wii homebrew relative to warranty validity. Of course, if you're a complete wreck with a soldering iron, this obviously might not be something you'd want to try on your own.

I agree. When my almost launch (took me a couple weeks) Wii was stolen, I replaced it with a used wii of the same type. I have a DMS wii and it runs great. I don't need a warranty and they are all long expired.

I don't think I can do this because I don't have soldering skills. Maybe someday I can get a friend or someone to do it for me.

Seriously, the life span of a console is about 5 years. We are already halfway through that. The Wii hasn't even had any price drops. If you don't have one yet, don't even bother. The wii 2 will be so much better.

abdeldark · #19 04-19-2009, 06:49 PM

A great news , lol
Some wii are dead because of overheating!!!
Someone come and have the good idea of providing an additionnal source of heat.
You can't put an hard drive in the wii case , too much heat.
Question is who will die the fist the cpu/gpu or the hard drive.
The hard drive , cpu , gpu will be at 70°C.

What solution put a fan , on the hard drive , this one will be at least bigger than the hard drive

TVarmy · #20 04-19-2009, 09:46 PM

Interesting.

About the Wii fan, would it be possible to enable the fan to stay on during Wii Connect 24 if the dol for the system menu were modified? Could this be done via bootmii/preloader/starfall? Or is this a more low-level, firmware sort of thing? I don't think I'd need it, but it does worry me that the solution is to resolder the fan wires for something that really seems more like a software issue. If future Wii games start doing taxing things during Wii Connect 24, or if someone writes something for the Wii to do during idle times, like Folding@home, a software solution would be really useful.

Granted, the fact that the next revision won't even have a fan seems to indicate the Wii doesn't have much of a heating issue to begin with.

gerome · #21 04-20-2009, 11:33 AM

I don't see the point of putting a hardrive inside the wii when you can now easily plug one on the usb port without having to bother opening your wii...

What's the point really?

monoufo · #22 04-20-2009, 01:06 PM

It is more convienent and much more cool.

abdeldark · #23 04-20-2009, 03:12 PM

The hdd prevent the wii fan to cool as it should be ( less air flow )
Keeping the wii fan always on won't be a solution.
Making a hole on the top of the wii case and putting a fan is a solution , or putting a self build copper heat exchanger

theuser · #24 04-20-2009, 03:22 PM

Quote:

A great news , lol
Some wii are dead because of overheating!!!
Someone come and have the good idea of providing an additionnal source of heat.
You can't put an hard drive in the wii case , too much heat.
Question is who will die the fist the cpu/gpu or the hard drive.
The hard drive , cpu , gpu will be at 70°C.

What solution put a fan , on the hard drive , this one will be at least bigger than the hard drive

Timberling, lol!
A pick of the wrers, not to be adding the dicsussions!!
The question of which you will die, first the source, then the on fire?

You might want to reconsider criticizing a person's ideas until you've learned to clearly reproduce their language with proper punctuation, spelling, and diction. Another problem with your argument is that the over heating issue is relative to a design flaw and largely affects earlier Wii units. Additionally, overheating can be attributed to buildup of dust around the unit which is generally only a problem if you're a slob. Either way, you should never bitch about progress. It might require a case mod to make it more feasible, but it's a step in the right direction and your criticism is counter-productive. I don't put much stock in a theoretical Wii2 either, but that does draw a corollary proposition to this advancement. Housing an internal drive brings us one step closer to full replacement of the Wii's NAND, which in turn will force Nintendo to admit that they could have included the hardware but decided (poorly) that it wasn't necessary. Eventually, this will force their hand and the next release will be much improved. Coincidentally, we've seen this before. After the Game Boy Advance was revealed to have no internal screen lighting, homebrewers set to work putting together light-mod kits for the Game Boy Advance. Nintendo had said that it wasn't possible because it would put too much strain on battery life, but after seeing it successfully implemented, they had to admit that they were wrong. The Wii is no different. Nintendo assumed that their customers would generally not be interested in buying enough games to fill the meager capacity of their game machine. As the customer, we have a responsibility to show them, yet again, that they're wrong. What's disturbing about this is that we're seeing a recurring trend of being far out-of-touch with the target audience. Getting back to my original topic, people like you who attack others for their original ideas and think a product is perfect as-is out of the box are really part of the problem in this industry. Of course, you're likely no one of consequence, just an average Joe-Game-Player like myself, but seriously, if you're not enjoying the ride, just get off the bus and stop trying to make other people as miserable as you.

Deynet · #25 04-20-2009, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abdeldark

A great news , lol
Some wii are dead because of overheating!!!
Someone come and have the good idea of providing an additionnal source of heat.
You can't put an hard drive in the wii case , too much heat.
Question is who will die the fist the cpu/gpu or the hard drive.
The hard drive , cpu , gpu will be at 70°C.

What solution put a fan , on the hard drive , this one will be at least bigger than the hard drive

Don't judge over me if you don't know what about you are talking. I know no wii broken because of overheating in regular use!

In my first longtime tests with case closen I had no real heat problems, only a little bit hot, so I will fix it in the next days.

Also, I will change the position of HDD a little bit an add some cooling pads.

The original cooling solution from Nitendo is very bad, stupid work from Nintendo! I ordered some better parts for 10 Euro that fix the stupid Nintendo work!

If all parts are here in a few days, I can do final tests with temperature sensors and I will release all temperature (original Nintendo Wii vs. my HDD modded Wii)!

I will prove that it's possible with the HDD inside the Wii without any heat problems!

theuser · #26 04-20-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

The original cooling solution from Nitendo is very bad, stupid work from Nintendo!

Well said. I get that they were going for a small form-factor and it's difficult to maintain heat management within a tight space, but if they'd increased the width of their case design by just 1cm, it would have made a world of difference.

Deynet · #27 04-20-2009, 06:16 PM

On the GPU and CPU is a 1mm thick layer thermal compound and it's not on the hole surface, it's separate in the cente. That's really stupid. But seen all together, it's enough to hold the non modded Wii on a good temperature level! So it's a cheap solution from Nintendo, but not the best solution.

So I will replace bad thermal compound with silicone cooling pads, replace standard cooling fan with Wiisper (I'm not sure if Wiisper is better then original cooling fan) an add some cooling pads for HDD and change HDD position a little bit for better airflow.

brakken · #28 04-20-2009, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deynet

(I'm not sure if Wiisper is better then original cooling fan)

It's much better :)

brakken · #29 04-20-2009, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badsector

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=36244

Wow, look at the source! Did somebody grow up?

He's done this a few times now. I wonder if it's about growing up or his boss man told him to start sourcing properly. Either way it's progress.

Deynet · #30 04-20-2009, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brakken

It's much better

LED cooling fan is very nice, but:

Are you sure, do you have temperatures from original Wii and Wii with Wiisper?

I will check it if I have the Wiisper