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Author Topic: Wii Data Moving Problems  (Read 11131 times)

kirbyman

  • Tourette's
« on: January 03, 2010, 01:46:59 PM »
Hi everyone, it's been forever since I posted anything here, so I'll make my return with a question.
Some time ago our Wii stopped reading discs, so for Christmas this year we got a new Wii.

Now here's the problem.

When I try to move some data (Brawl, MKWii, etc.) it won't allow me to move this data onto an SD Card so I can move it to the new Wii.
Is there any way to move this data? I'd want to be able to do this before getting the old one fixed.

Thanks.

« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2010, 01:48:09 PM »
Any official way? No. But there's a homebrew app somewhere out there that can be used to do that.

« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2010, 03:30:01 PM »
All I can say is, your save files are temporary. The console's gonna die or the memory card's gonna die (even official ones). Might be twenty years, might be two. I wish save files weren't occasionally tied to consoles. I'd understand the angle of "we don't want you to cheat by loading up someone else's save" or "your save may contain personal information that would be a breach of privacy to copy over". But if it's just for the purpose of backup, then let us back it up! I suppose then they'd counter with something like "it's illegal to copy a cartridge/CD because it might be used for distribution, so too it should be illegal to copy someone's saved games because they may be distributed".

You can't move data for WiFi games like Smash Bros. Brawl, I guess because of network settings. Maybe it includes username/password to authorize the Internet connection, or maybe it's that the info wouldn't apply if used on a console that doesn't use the same internet connection. They can't just strip out the network data, no, they have to prevent the whole enchilada of Brawl data from being moved. You can't move data for some non-Wifi/GameCube games like F-Zero GX. Why? I don't know, probably to prevent cheating. Which sucks when said save game files are by far the biggest files. And this topic for the Xbox360/PS3 version of Rock Band suggests you can't move saves because downloadable songs are part of that save. If you used someone else's save, you'd be able to play songs that you didn't pay for. But then, apparently there's a one-time process you can use to transfer all data from an old hard drive to a new hard drive... why can't Wii have that?

I wish Nintendo would be straightforward and have an easy-to-find page explaining exactly why some save files can't be moved. I haven't read the Wii manual, but I don't think they say anything about immovable files. And if they do, they probably say "it can't be moved because we say so". People should know going in whether there will be any restrictions on saves. At least the box says how many blocks a save is, thank goodness for that, but they need to supply more info.

This thread mentions somewhere a possible cause for why GameCube memory cards might get corrupted while in the Wii: the Wii gets warm in standby mode, and warmer when running. Heat rises. If you have your Wii in the vertical position, then the memory cards are at the top (right where the heat's going), so they're getting all this heat and possibly dying off. You can try keeping the Wii in the horizontal position (I prefer that so I don't have to guess which side to insert the CD). Oh, and general advice for any game console: have it in a well-ventilated area.
You didn't say wot wot.

Trainman

  • Bob-Omg
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2010, 12:26:17 PM »
I never understood why Nintendo kept the "block" system. It's much easier to say, "Okay, I have 7 gigs of memory... installing this game to my hard drive will take up 5 gigs. I will have two left for game saves, etc." on the 360 for example, rather than the Wii: "Okay, I have... 314 blocks free on this... um, okay, this game requires 1 page and 43 blocks to save [or whatever the hell Nintendo calls them] and another page or whatever to save on the level editor... okay now I saved it... aaand I have uhhh... 154 blocks left? What?"
Formerly quite reasonable.

Chupperson Weird

  • Not interested.
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2010, 04:12:57 PM »
Because the Wii only has 512MB of memory so they needed a way of making it sound bigger.
That was a joke.

kirbyman

  • Tourette's
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2010, 08:29:02 PM »
Okay, thanks guys.

Somewhat new question;
If I were to get the old Wii fixed, would this affect the data in any way?
I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing you would know, but I'm just curious.

« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2010, 09:54:14 PM »
Because the Wii only has 512MB of memory so they needed a way of making it sound bigger.
Which they ought to. You tell anyone an N64 cartridge is actually only about 32MB, they'll go ballistic and wonder why on Earth Nintendo would be content with something that small.

I wasn't aware blocks were also divided into pages, but that just ups the confusion. Reminds me of how I go crazy at the difference between "size" and "size on disk" when I try to put stuff onto CDs. I understand the need to show both, but in most cases what I should care about is the size on disk, and I always ignore that field. Tip: Folders with a bunch of small text files are taking up more space than you realize.
You didn't say wot wot.

Chupperson Weird

  • Not interested.
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2010, 12:11:09 AM »
No, cartridges were always measured in megabits and bits are 1/8 the size of a byte.
That was a joke.

« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2010, 04:43:13 PM »
Okay, thanks guys.

Somewhat new question;
If I were to get the old Wii fixed, would this affect the data in any way?
I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing you would know, but I'm just curious.
Depends on what Nintendo does. If they just repair it, probably not. But if it gets replaced and only has Wii Shop Channel information moved over, then that would (obviously) affect the data.

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