WiiFlow 3.1 (Mod) Installation and Setup

WiiFlow 3.1 (Mod) Installation and Setup

** This guide and more can also be found on WiiFloWiki 4**

This guide is an attempt to explain how to install WiiFlow 3.1 (mod) on your Wii. It will not go into detail about using the Homebrew channel, wad managers, and partitioning your USB HDD. Here's some links that might help you with them.

HBC - https://sites.google...omebrew-channel
Wad Manager - https://sites.google...use/wad-manager

Just to clarify - this is only for the WiiFlow currently coded by Fix94, Overjoy, and team which I'm a part of.

WiiFlow Basic Installation and Setup:

 

crono141

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ok, thanks. I'll try that. Next question. I just got everything set up with plugins in the sdroot/wiiflow/plugins folder. But when I start wiiflow and go the plugins page, it tells me it can't find any plugins. Plugins are on SD, but I switched device to USB just to see anyway and if found nothing as well.
The "plugins" folder needs to be on the same device and partition where your ROM files are stored.
First, move the folder to the SD card or the partition on your hard drive or USB key or whatever where you have the games themselves even if you have to put the "plugins" folder by itself in another, separate /wiiflow/ folder.
Then look in your "wiiflow.ini" file in the /apps/wiiflow/ folder and under the [GENERAL] section it says (among other things) where each of the different folders is located. Make sure that the beginning where it says SD:/, USB1:/, USB2/:, etc. is the same as where you put the folder.
Finally open WiiFlow and make sure the partition setting is the same.
If it still doesn't show anything, try refreshing the cache (in the home menu).

DId all that. Still no joy. I have a usb1:/wiiflow/plugins folder AND a sd:/wiiflow/plugins folder (they are identical as far as contents go). I then edited the wiiflow.ini and made sure the plugins directory pointed to usb1:/wiiflow/plugins. Booted wiiflow and verified it was pointed to usb1. Refreshed cache. No plugins found. :(
 

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DId all that. Still no joy. I have a usb1:/wiiflow/plugins folder AND a sd:/wiiflow/plugins folder (they are identical as far as contents go). I then edited the wiiflow.ini and made sure the plugins directory pointed to usb1:/wiiflow/plugins. Booted wiiflow and verified it was pointed to usb1. Refreshed cache. No plugins found. :(
:wtf:
Okay ... umm.
What INI files do you have in the folder? Just the contents of the plugin pack I'm assuming?
 

ToddofWar420

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I'm still using r506 and I can't get my NES roms to show up if my life depended on it. My plugin rom directory reads romDir=fceugx\roms and on my SD card I have it set to fceugx\roms as well. I've tried to reload cache and checked my .ini file to and everything looks ok. Any words of advice to what's wrong? Thanks.
 

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DId all that. Still no joy. I have a usb1:/wiiflow/plugins folder AND a sd:/wiiflow/plugins folder (they are identical as far as contents go). I then edited the wiiflow.ini and made sure the plugins directory pointed to usb1:/wiiflow/plugins. Booted wiiflow and verified it was pointed to usb1. Refreshed cache. No plugins found. :(
:wtf:
Okay ... umm.
What INI files do you have in the folder? Just the contents of the plugin pack I'm assuming?


That's correct. I deleted my original plugins folder and started from scratch, just to be sure.

EDIT: Would wiping out wiiflow and starting completely from scratch help? Or would it overwrite the plugins folder upon first run?

EDIT2: Wait! Do the folders in the .ini files need to use forward slashes? I copy/pasted mine from windows explorer, which uses back slashes!
 

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Great work on this Fledge!! I'm sure this will be very useful to a lot of people. I have recently included some info in my cover thread about setting up 'seperated' emulators. If you want to copy/paste that info until you get it set up, feel free. Would be nice to have it all together :)

Also a quick question.. are you planning on updating the "Themes & Source Packs" anytime soon? I've grown to loathe my old button set XD

Here's my most currents source_menu build, put together today source_menu - Frames & Hover Buttons 2nd Edition by mastershoes
Thanks, yes i need to update it again, sorry guys. I missed a background last time. I will include your source buttons but first i need to fix my pc somehow. wish me luck.
 
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fledge68

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DId all that. Still no joy. I have a usb1:/wiiflow/plugins folder AND a sd:/wiiflow/plugins folder (they are identical as far as contents go). I then edited the wiiflow.ini and made sure the plugins directory pointed to usb1:/wiiflow/plugins. Booted wiiflow and verified it was pointed to usb1. Refreshed cache. No plugins found. :(
:wtf:
Okay ... umm.
What INI files do you have in the folder? Just the contents of the plugin pack I'm assuming?


That's correct. I deleted my original plugins folder and started from scratch, just to be sure.

EDIT: Would wiping out wiiflow and starting completely from scratch help? Or would it overwrite the plugins folder upon first run?

EDIT2: Wait! Do the folders in the .ini files need to use forward slashes? I copy/pasted mine from windows explorer, which uses back slashes!
Yes, forward slashes.
 
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fledge68

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I'm still using r506 and I can't get my NES roms to show up if my life depended on it. My plugin rom directory reads romDir=fceugx\roms and on my SD card I have it set to fceugx\roms as well. I've tried to reload cache and checked my .ini file to and everything looks ok. Any words of advice to what's wrong? Thanks.
Do you use categories? i just checked my categories.ini and found it all mixed up. Yours might have gotten changed to a category other than 'All'. Wait - that's probably not it cause that would affect all plugins. Check your categories.ini if it's screwed up delete it. If this doesn't help try going to the wiiflow/cache/lists folder and manually deleting NES list. make sure you have the extensions for your NES roms listed in the fceugx.ini
 

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EDIT2: Wait! Do the folders in the .ini files need to use forward slashes? I copy/pasted mine from windows explorer, which uses back slashes!
Yes, forward slashes.
It's always something simple, isn't it?
By the way, @[member='toddofwar420'], You might want to check this, too. Even if it is just out of habit I noticed in your post you, too, are quoting yourself as having put backslashes in the romDir= setting. You might have done the same in the INI file without thinking about it.
 
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crono141

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DId all that. Still no joy. I have a usb1:/wiiflow/plugins folder AND a sd:/wiiflow/plugins folder (they are identical as far as contents go). I then edited the wiiflow.ini and made sure the plugins directory pointed to usb1:/wiiflow/plugins. Booted wiiflow and verified it was pointed to usb1. Refreshed cache. No plugins found. :(
:wtf:
Okay ... umm.
What INI files do you have in the folder? Just the contents of the plugin pack I'm assuming?


That's correct. I deleted my original plugins folder and started from scratch, just to be sure.

EDIT: Would wiping out wiiflow and starting completely from scratch help? Or would it overwrite the plugins folder upon first run?

EDIT2: Wait! Do the folders in the .ini files need to use forward slashes? I copy/pasted mine from windows explorer, which uses back slashes!
Yes, forward slashes.


Stupid syntax errors! I'll try it tonight. If you don't hear from me, I was successful. Thanks everybody. :D
 

fledge68

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EDIT2: Wait! Do the folders in the .ini files need to use forward slashes? I copy/pasted mine from windows explorer, which uses back slashes!
Yes, forward slashes.
It's always something simple, isn't it?
By the way, @[member='toddofwar420'], You might want to check this, too. Even if it is just out of habit I noticed in your post you, too, are quoting yourself as having put backslashes in the romDir= setting. You might have done the same in the INI file without thinking about it.
Maxternal you are on fire with all the helpful advice. Two thumbs up! :yay:
 

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Ok, the forward slashes were indeed the problem. Now I have a new one. Plugin coverflow mode only allows the linear view (as opposed to a wall like for wii and gc and channels and homebrew). I also have a very large number of roms which make navigating very difficult. Is there a way to plugin files to arrange like wii and gc games? Also, I'm trying to get covers to show up in wiiflow for roms. What folder structure is it expecting? the .ini for fceugx, for example, points to a fceugx folder for cover dir. But dumping cover pngs in that folder does not make those show up in wiiflow. Do the covers need to be on usb or sd?

TLDR, how do I get covers to show for plugin games?
 

Maxternal

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Ok, the forward slashes were indeed the problem. Now I have a new one. Plugin coverflow mode only allows the linear view (as opposed to a wall like for wii and gc and channels and homebrew). I also have a very large number of roms which make navigating very difficult. Is there a way to plugin files to arrange like wii and gc games? Also, I'm trying to get covers to show up in wiiflow for roms. What folder structure is it expecting? the .ini for fceugx, for example, points to a fceugx folder for cover dir. But dumping cover pngs in that folder does not make those show up in wiiflow. Do the covers need to be on usb or sd?

TLDR, how do I get covers to show for plugin games?
There is just one boxcovers folder and one covers folder. They will probably be in your main /wiiflow/ folder unless you manually changed their location in the wiiflow.ini file and that, if I understand correctly, you have on the SD card. Inside that folder there's a separate folder for each plugin. If the INI file in the plugins folder says coverFolder=SNES, for example, it would then be in sd:/wiiflow/covers/SNES/ and sd:/wiiflow/boxcovers/SNES/ that you would put the images. Maybe the most commonly overlooked item is that if the rom is titled mario.nes then the image should be called mario.nes.png. Hope that helps.
 

crono141

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Ok, the forward slashes were indeed the problem. Now I have a new one. Plugin coverflow mode only allows the linear view (as opposed to a wall like for wii and gc and channels and homebrew). I also have a very large number of roms which make navigating very difficult. Is there a way to plugin files to arrange like wii and gc games? Also, I'm trying to get covers to show up in wiiflow for roms. What folder structure is it expecting? the .ini for fceugx, for example, points to a fceugx folder for cover dir. But dumping cover pngs in that folder does not make those show up in wiiflow. Do the covers need to be on usb or sd?

TLDR, how do I get covers to show for plugin games?
There is just one boxcovers folder and one covers folder. They will probably be in your main /wiiflow/ folder unless you manually changed their location in the wiiflow.ini file and that, if I understand correctly, you have on the SD card. Inside that folder there's a separate folder for each plugin. If the INI file in the plugins folder says coverFolder=SNES, for example, it would then be in sd:/wiiflow/covers/SNES/ and sd:/wiiflow/boxcovers/SNES/ that you would put the images. Maybe the most commonly overlooked item is that if the rom is titled mario.nes then the image should be called mario.nes.png. Hope that helps.

Thanks. Just what I needed, and I just saw the update to the op too. Got it all working... mostly. The images I have for the covers are front only, but wiiflow stretches the image over front and back of the 3d "box". Any way to make it just use the front of the box and leave the back blank?
 

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Thanks. Just what I needed, and I just saw the update to the op too. Got it all working... mostly. The images I have for the covers are front only, but wiiflow stretches the image over front and back of the 3d "box". Any way to make it just use the front of the box and leave the back blank?
The "boxcovers" folder if for full covers and it stretches them like you say.
The "covers" folder is for just the front cover and does not stretch them.
 
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ToddofWar420

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I'm still using r506 and I can't get my NES roms to show up if my life depended on it. My plugin rom directory reads romDir=fceugx\roms and on my SD card I have it set to fceugx\roms as well. I've tried to reload cache and checked my .ini file to and everything looks ok. Any words of advice to what's wrong? Thanks.
Do you use categories? i just checked my categories.ini and found it all mixed up. Yours might have gotten changed to a category other than 'All'. Wait - that's probably not it cause that would affect all plugins. Check your categories.ini if it's screwed up delete it. If this doesn't help try going to the wiiflow/cache/lists folder and manually deleting NES list. make sure you have the extensions for your NES roms listed in the fceugx.ini
Thank You for your response fledge. I will go look at it now and check.
 

fledge68

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I'm still using r506 and I can't get my NES roms to show up if my life depended on it. My plugin rom directory reads romDir=fceugx\roms and on my SD card I have it set to fceugx\roms as well. I've tried to reload cache and checked my .ini file to and everything looks ok. Any words of advice to what's wrong? Thanks.
Do you use categories? i just checked my categories.ini and found it all mixed up. Yours might have gotten changed to a category other than 'All'. Wait - that's probably not it cause that would affect all plugins. Check your categories.ini if it's screwed up delete it. If this doesn't help try going to the wiiflow/cache/lists folder and manually deleting NES list. make sure you have the extensions for your NES roms listed in the fceugx.ini
Thank You for your response fledge. I will go look at it now and check.
Don't forget to make sure you are using forward slashes '/' instead of backslashes for the rom folder path. If this works thank Maxternal for noticing that in your post.
 

crono141

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Thanks. Just what I needed, and I just saw the update to the op too. Got it all working... mostly. The images I have for the covers are front only, but wiiflow stretches the image over front and back of the 3d "box". Any way to make it just use the front of the box and leave the back blank?
The "boxcovers" folder if for full covers and it stretches them like you say.
The "covers" folder is for just the front cover and does not stretch them.


This seems to half work. Box covers which I had previously viewed and loaded with the images in the "boxcovers" folder still wrap all the way around. Boxes newly viewed display the front cover properly. Is there a way to clear the cache to get all the covers working properly. I've already tried "reload cache". Thanks.

EDIT: Also, is there no way to get plugin entries to show in full coverflow mode like wii games?
 

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This seems to half work. Box covers which I had previously viewed and loaded with the images in the "boxcovers" folder still wrap all the way around. Boxes newly viewed display the front cover properly. Is there a way to clear the cache to get all the covers working properly. I've already tried "reload cache". Thanks.

EDIT: Also, is there no way to get plugin entries to show in full coverflow mode like wii games?
wiiflow uses the files in covers and boxcovers to make cache files in the cache folder. the problem is it gives priority to the full covers so if it thinks it's already found something in boxcovers it will ignore front covers even if you've already removed the PNG for the full cover. you will need to go into the cache folder yourself and delete them for it to go look at the covers folder again. (if it's easier, delete all the cache files. it will just have to recreate them all again for wii and gamecube games, too, from the PNG's)
 
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ToddofWar420

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I'm still using r506 and I can't get my NES roms to show up if my life depended on it. My plugin rom directory reads romDir=fceugx\roms and on my SD card I have it set to fceugx\roms as well. I've tried to reload cache and checked my .ini file to and everything looks ok. Any words of advice to what's wrong? Thanks.
Do you use categories? i just checked my categories.ini and found it all mixed up. Yours might have gotten changed to a category other than 'All'. Wait - that's probably not it cause that would affect all plugins. Check your categories.ini if it's screwed up delete it. If this doesn't help try going to the wiiflow/cache/lists folder and manually deleting NES list. make sure you have the extensions for your NES roms listed in the fceugx.ini
Thank You for your response fledge. I will go look at it now and check.
Don't forget to make sure you are using forward slashes '/' instead of backslashes for the rom folder path. If this works thank Maxternal for noticing that in your post.
Well I tried everything you listed above.. but still nothing. I changed the "/" cuz it was the the backlash and I thought for sure that was it. I also deleted the one in list file and categories.ini and check the. Do you think it's because I'm changing the plugin .dol file to boot.dol and placing it in emulator app/fceugx? I thought that was what your supposed to do?
Thanks for your help and patient with me
 

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This seems to half work. Box covers which I had previously viewed and loaded with the images in the "boxcovers" folder still wrap all the way around. Boxes newly viewed display the front cover properly. Is there a way to clear the cache to get all the covers working properly. I've already tried "reload cache". Thanks.

EDIT: Also, is there no way to get plugin entries to show in full coverflow mode like wii games?
wiiflow uses the files in covers and boxcovers to make cache files in the cache folder. the problem is it gives priority to the full covers so if it thinks it's already found something in boxcovers it will ignore front covers even if you've already removed the PNG for the full cover. you will need to go into the cache folder yourself and delete them for it to go look at the covers folder again. (if it's easier, delete all the cache files. it will just have to recreate them all again for wii and gamecube games, too, from the PNG's)


Where is the Cache folder?

EDIT: nevermind
 

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