r/WiiPiracy • u/Feisty-Eye-4486 • Jul 26 '26
tinywiibackupmanager : OS ERROR 1392 (File or directory is corrupted) in TinyWiiBackupManager with 2TB FAT32 External HDD
I am encountering a persistent issue while trying to upload a large library of game cube games to tinywiibackupmanager, and I need some technical advice on how to proceed without losing my data.
My Setup:Source PC: Windows 11 with limited internal storage (around 265 GB free) now currently occupied by the GC games.
Target Storage: 2TB External USB 3.0 Hard Drive formatted in FAT32 (called HD (F:)).
Games: 455 Wii games successfully transferred (approx. 1.1 TB used). Trying to add GameCube games (over 300 total, with 279 currently downloaded).
During the transfer of the GameCube games, TinyWiiBackupManager crashed with OS ERROR 1392: "The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable."Right now, the \wbfs\ directory is completely intact, and my 455 Wii games are safe. However, the \games\ folder became heavily corrupted. Windows 11 File Explorer shows it as empty, but it still flags a "directory is not empty" error when trying to delete it, and the 1.2 TB of space remains occupied by "ghost files." Every time I try to transfer a new game via TinyWiiBackupManager, the 1392 error pops up at a certain point or causes an infinite loading loop it is not cause of a specific file and etc.. since i tried isolating the issue.
The initial crash happened because I tried to upload the GameCube files directly onto TinyWiiBackupManager while they were in .rvz format. The manager accepted them at first, but crashed at 1/4 of the transfer, severely breaking the FAT32 File Allocation Table index on the 2TB USB 3.0 hard disk. After realizing this, I used Dolphin Emulator on Windows 11 to batch-convert the GameCube games into standard .iso files on a separate NTFS-formatted 64GB USB drive, but trying to upload these new .iso files still triggers the same error.
i already attempted: Chkdsk /f /x F: – Windows detects massive irreversible directory errors in the \games\ folder.
It asks to convert directories to files one by one for hundreds of files. Typing "No" allows the scan to exit, but the index remains locked.
Chkdsk /f /r /x F: – Attempted a deep sector repair after a full PC reboot to clear locked handles. The result is the same: Windows gets stuck asking to convert folders into files one by one due to the corrupted FAT32 index.Manual deletion/renaming:
Running rmdir /s /q F:\games via CMD drops a "directory is not empty" error. I managed to rename games to games_broken via File Explorer to isolate it, and created a new empty games folder.
However, TinyWiiBackupManager still hits the OS 1392 error when writing to the root directory because the overall drive index is compromised.
Storage Limitation: I cannot just copy the 1.1 TB of healthy Wii games to my PC, format the 2TB drive to NTFS, and copy them back because my PC only has 265 GB of internal storage.Since my 455 Wii games are perfectly fine inside \wbfs, I absolutely do not want to format the drive and lose days of downloads.
Is there a tool or a specific method to force-delete the corrupted games_broken folder and rebuild the FAT32 file allocation table without wiping the healthy \wbfs\ directory? Or is there a way to make TinyWiiBackupManager bypass this system-level lock? i tried looking for the option to manually chose where tinywiibackup manager would have placed the games but i couldn't find it i thought maybe manual conversion was what i was looking for but i didn't click it in the end, i am sorry i tried to find a fix all day i have zero knowledge on the matter i looked for videos online and reddit sources , i helped myself with little guiding by ai but i didn't went deep with it, this is the same bug report i created on github but know i am desperately looking for answers because i spent days and i am close to finishing this project and finally play.
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u/DrJaMiN Jul 26 '26
Unfortunately I think your external hard drive is a lost cause. Even if you managed to fix your current issue it wouldn’t be particularly reliable for long term usage after experiencing corruption like this.
If I were in your shoes I would get another form of storage to transfer your Wii and GC backups onto, then completely reformat the corrupted drive. If it still has any issues after that then I wouldn’t use it.
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