Before the launch of the Wii U, Nintendo confirmed that software could not be played from an SD card, but it would appear that it is technically possible - provided you have one of those cheap USB card readers handy.
YouTube user Shokio discovered that if you pop your SD card into one of these readers and then insert it into the Wii U USB port, the system will treat it as a standard USB thumb drive, and therefore allow you to move - and play - software from it.
The video evidence is below - let us know if you've also discovered this ingenious workaround.
[source gonintendo.com, via youtube.com]
Comments 35
Yeah..Good to hear. I'll try as soon as i get my Wii-U.
That's awesome. I have a SD card adapter and a 32GB SD card, so that's almost twice the Deluxe/Premium memory right there.
Pretty nifty solution since it only says USB storage and nothing about any specific HDD requirement. Would be nice if Nintendo allowed for this to continue and don't patch it to make it go away or something.
Wonder if the same thing would work with Micro SD cards, and using a Micro SD to USB adapter.
Now what if someone uses an SDXC card. WIll you need to reformat it to FAT32? I'm interested because I have a Class 10 128GB SD Card.
@akabenjy
Well, it seems like the WiiU only recognizes the USB adapter itself as a HDD unit of some kind. So as long as the SD card adapter can read SDXC cards it should work I assume, since the WiiU isn't the unit reading the SD card (so what the WiiU can or can't read by itself shouldn't matter).
And this wasn't obvious to everyone in the beginning?
@19Robb92 I'm interested in this because although Flash memory is more expensive I prefer the smaller form factor and I personally feel like SD cards are more reliable in the long term. Plus I wouldn't need any more space that 128GB
@Lan
It should have been?
Nintendo said that you wouldn't be able to save games on a SD card. So I assumed that meant you wouldn't be able to.. Silly me.
@akabenjy
Same here. I'm very interested, and I have an adapter so I'm definitely going to try it out (once the WiiU hits EU). Hopefully it'll work fine.
@19Robb92 SD card means device in the SD slot. An SD card in an SD to USB adapter acts exactly the same as a flash drive.
@Lan
And this is considered common knowledge to you?
@KneehighPark Yeah, that'd work.
@19Robb92 In this day and age, I'd sure hope so.
@19Robb92 and @Lan
There's no point getting into a slinging match, but just to lay down some facts:
P.S. Having said all that, the 3DS uses the SD slot [I have a 32GB Class10 in mine] and that works fine, but I expect the overall system architecture is very different, and the majority of games are unlikely to be over 4GB.
What's the front SD slot used for on a Wii U anyway? Game saves or pictures and music or somethin'?
Hope it doesn't affect performance, but I'm planning to get a HDD to use exclusively with the console.
Lan, the SD slot is there for the Wii. Wii U won't use it for it's games.
@Lan
Really? Well, okay then. I guess that depends on where you live then, no one I know, except the guys who are very tech knowledgeable, would know this. Definitely not common over here.
Nice tip, but unfortunately a SD card in a USB card reader is still only USB 2.0 speed and slower than a SD card in Wii U's SD port. At least in theory.
I still wouldn't recommend running games from a SD card like that, their access speeds are not on par with USB flash drives or external HDDs.
Thats rather brilliant in my opinion, not that its an extraordinary discovery but its something most people probably wouldn't think about unless they had one lying around.
The only remaining question is how well does it work?
Well, when I get my Wii U I'm getting an external hard drive for it. There's no reason for me to care about SD card support for a console that's not portable. I mean, if I have to take the console somewhere else, I can't fit it in my pocket, so an SD card for extra storage is not precisely convenient.
The 3DS, on the other hand, is an entirely different thing. If I was forced to use an external hard drive for it, it would be ridiculously inconvenient.
Hmm. Just unlocking a function even the Wii had from beginning.
Isn't worth much, since SD cards aren't that big (approx 32 GB), and you need a real hard drive (1000GB at least) if you download most of your games.
cool. so thats opens door to the hackscene...
kinda like any R4i, DSTWO or ACEkard. I can bet you will see these guys making cards for the WiiU eventually.
@Samholy - This was my 2nd thought.
My first thought was - another security hole like the "hacked" menu yesterday.
If the SD card used for Wii transfers works faster in the Wii U SD slot then this doesn't matter, but if somebody has a bunch of SD cards laying about but no thumb drives for some reason then I could see this being useful and saving some money in the process.
@Samholy no it doesnt. Just like using a USB harddrive doesnt. Security is not bypassed by simply using external media.
@Lan The SD card slot is used for Wii data
That's cool. I have an SD reader so that could come in handy when I eventually get a Wii U.
This sounds useful. However, I doubt that I will be downloading many retail games, at least in the beginning.
That's good! I have one of those already for my LT
@drdark Why would USB-only HDDs be bad? If AC-powered HDDs were being used and there was a power outage, that kind of HDD would suffer as well.
I don't think Nintendo could block it, even if they wanted to. Although it would be silly for them to block it.
@Lan it was obvious to me. In fact I suggested it myself in post 131 of this thread:-
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/11/wii_u_software_storage_on_usb_devices_detailed#comments
Are we talking about Wii u e-shop downloads? I thought you could simply play them straight from a SD card, like you can on the Wii nowadays! Don't tell me Nintendo has taken another step back!!
TROLL! Time to buy a 1TB flash drive......
This is news? It was always stated Wii U could read usb storage. So why is this a surprise?
Shokio is so flaw... i posted that on his youtude... said i got the 8gb with black ops and a 32gb sd card for 379.00 and to put it in a adapter ... i put mario u on my sd card and it works fine.. im a at@t system tech and you can use that to fool cpus that its a hhd.. hes so flaw..."i found it out" you fake dude lmao unsubscribe lmao
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