Wii memory expnasion

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Ken1
Posts: 345
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby Ken1 » November 29th, 2012, 6:52 pm

Hi, what is the best way to expand the Wii's memory so I can download more games from the Virtual Console?

Chaser1
Posts: 232
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby Chaser1 » November 29th, 2012, 8:21 pm

Just buy a bigger SD card and copy your games to that. Wii firmware 4.0 and higher supports up to 32 GB SD cards, which should be more than enough.

a1
Posts: 3032
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby a1 » November 29th, 2012, 8:37 pm

You could order a 2GB SD card for under $5 on eBay. You can play the games off the SD card.

Atarifever1
Posts: 3892
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby Atarifever1 » November 29th, 2012, 8:52 pm

[QUOTE=a]You could order a 2GB SD card for under $5 on eBay. You can play the games off the SD card.[/QUOTE]
Actually, I don't believe that's accurate.  Can't you only store them on there, then play them only when there is room (by moving something else).  Mine made me move some stuff to play a WiiWare demo off the SD the other night now that I had the system memory full.  It was a minor thing.  I hit "move" on one game and it moved it from the system to the SD.  Then I could open the other one.  However, having cleared the room, I just hit "move" on that one too and it went over to the Wii Memory.

As far as I can tell, to play from the SD, there has to be the room there on the Wii's internal storage.   

a1
Posts: 3032
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby a1 » November 29th, 2012, 10:39 pm

[QUOTE=Atarifever][QUOTE=a]You could order a 2GB SD card for under $5 on eBay. You can play the games off the SD card.[/QUOTE]
Actually, I don't believe that's accurate.  Can't you only store them on there, then play them only when there is room (by moving something else).  Mine made me move some stuff to play a WiiWare demo off the SD the other night now that I had the system memory full.  It was a minor thing.  I hit "move" on one game and it moved it from the system to the SD.  Then I could open the other one.  However, having cleared the room, I just hit "move" on that one too and it went over to the Wii Memory.

As far as I can tell, to play from the SD, there has to be the room there on the Wii's internal storage.   [/QUOTE]

You can launch virtual console ones from the SD card at least; I just did the other night. I haven't tried with WiiWare games. When was the last time you connected your Wii to the internet? It was an update a while ago.

Atarifever1
Posts: 3892
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby Atarifever1 » November 30th, 2012, 7:49 am

[QUOTE=a]

You can launch virtual console ones from the SD card at least; I just did the other night. I haven't tried with WiiWare games. When was the last time you connected your Wii to the internet? It was an update a while ago.[/QUOTE]

I connect it to the internet every day.  I actually noticed the update number the other day.  I think it was something like version 4.3U or something. 

All I know is, it said there wasn't room, and the SD card itself had tons of space, while the Wii was almost completely full. 

Chaser1
Posts: 232
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby Chaser1 » November 30th, 2012, 12:00 pm

I have an 8 GB card in mine and I can confirm that games launch directly from SD. This is on firmware 4.3, I think?

a1
Posts: 3032
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby a1 » November 30th, 2012, 9:11 pm

[QUOTE=Atarifever][QUOTE=a]You could order a 2GB SD card for under $5 on eBay. You can play the games off the SD card.[/QUOTE]
Actually, I don't believe that's accurate.  Can't you only store them on there, then play them only when there is room (by moving something else).  Mine made me move some stuff to play a WiiWare demo off the SD the other night now that I had the system memory full.  It was a minor thing.  I hit "move" on one game and it moved it from the system to the SD.  Then I could open the other one.  However, having cleared the room, I just hit "move" on that one too and it went over to the Wii Memory.

As far as I can tell, to play from the SD, there has to be the room there on the Wii's internal storage.   [/QUOTE]

Maybe it's regional or doesn't apply to Wiiware or demos? All I know is I ran out of room on my Wii system memory but was able to launch virtual console games from the SD card. I'll try and see if it doesn't work for a WiiWare game.

Leo1
Posts: 2325
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby Leo1 » November 30th, 2012, 9:34 pm

The games don't play directly from the SD card. The file is quickly written automatically to the console's internal memory before launching when played from the SD card. The copying process is especially noticeable with some of the larger games like Mega Man 9 and 10 where as with something like a NES game it's so instant that you really don't notice it. 

I'll do some experimenting later with moving things off the SD card to the Wii's internal memory and get it as full as I can and then try to launch a file from the SD card that's more blocks than the Wii has open and see what happens. If it successfully launches then it must temporarily reside when copied to an area of the internal flash memory reserved for the system instead of the portion available to the user for storing WiiWare/VC games, DLC, and game saves. 

If someone wants to test it out themselves (My batteries have to be charged first), here's a thread I just pulled up with some block sizes for many of the digital games. Get your Wii's internal memory as full as you can, check how many open blocks are left in the memory management area, then try to launch something from the SD card that is bigger than what's left open on the console and see what happens. 


a1
Posts: 3032
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Wii memory expnasion

Postby a1 » November 30th, 2012, 10:28 pm

[QUOTE=Leo]

The games don't play directly from the SD card. The file is quickly written automatically to the console's internal memory before launching when played from the SD card. The copying process is especially noticeable with some of the larger games like Mega Man 9 and 10 where as with something like a NES game it's so instant that you really don't notice it. 

I'll do some experimenting later with moving things off the SD card to the Wii's internal memory and get it as full as I can and then try to launch a file from the SD card that's more blocks than the Wii has open and see what happens. If it successfully launches then it must temporarily reside when copied to an area of the internal flash memory reserved for the system instead of the portion available to the user for storing WiiWare/VC games, DLC, and game saves. 

If someone wants to test it out themselves (My batteries have to be charged first), here's a thread I just pulled up with some block sizes for many of the digital games. Get your Wii's internal memory as full as you can, check how many open blocks are left in the memory management area, then try to launch something from the SD card that is bigger than what's left open on the console and see what happens. 

[/QUOTE]

I assumed the copy process happened since I had the slight delay with launching the game. I can tell you now that what was on the SD card was bigger than the space on the console (otherwise I wouldn't have put it on the SD card), so it must be moving to a portion of the internal flash reserved for the system. That makes sense since the only point in allowing a game to launch from the SD card is if you can't fit it on the internal memory.


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