USBLoaderGX has Gamecube controller support, and WiiU Pro controller support (no wiimote needed to be plugged to it).
you can of course use the Wiimote+Nunchuck or Wiimote+Classic controller(pro), without using the sensor/pointing feature.
USBLoaderGX 1269 mod3 (beta), also has WiiU Gamepad support (when launched from an injected Wii VC channel), but no USB support.
That's good to know, but sadly not helpful for this installation. I have 4 standard wiimotes for each passenger in a vehicle, which can be used to play games (specifically ones that don't need pointing) and que up media (wiimc). One of the many reasons I chose a Wii for this setup is how neat and convenient (and plentiful) wii remotes are. It seems silly to buy additional controllers just to be able to navigate the UI, especially since they aren't needed for anything else after that. I mean, I guess the classic controller would be cool for some SNES games, but then there's a wire and dispute over which seat gets it (unless I buy 4, which is even more ridiculous). I'm trying to keep this as simple and wire-free as possible. Ideally, I'd want it to be simple and intuitive enough that a guest passenger can step into my car and instantly know out what to do. It is totally possible to have an easily navigated UI with the D-pad and A buttons, and its a shame that USBLoaderGX simply isn't it.
What I've settled on for now is using WiiFlow. It allows a very simple visual flow and a press of A to select, and another A again to launch. Very intuitive visually and self explanatory. Its not perfect, but it is as close as I can get without delving into source code and probably making a bigger mess out of this.
My setup for now, if interested (this might get a little off topic):
I removed all sources from the wiiflo config files other than NAND and Wii, and made channel shortcuts to any homebrew we'd want to reach via channel forwarders- this way most of everything I want shows up in the NAND flow (the only thing I can't do is get the Wii backup titles to appear there too).
Then I used the favorites feature in wiiflo to hide any channels which aren't relevant (mii, homebrew, internet, etc- things I don't want to delete, but aren't needed when in this UI).
I turned on "press B for source menu" and enabled Source Flow so sources are navigated in a cover-flow style UI too- even though there are only 2 now, this is the easiest way to jump between them using only buttons.
I then renamed "NAND" to "Main Menu" in the config text, and created a new cover graphic that looks like the blue on white Wii channel menu icon. Then I set it to start on source menu.
The end result is that the user turns on the wii in the car, and is greeted with a cover flow style UI with two choices: Main Menu and Wii Games.
Main Menu has some retro VC games like bomberman (excellent 4-player road trip game) and some NES titles, as well as full blown emulators like Snes9x, and WiiMC for watching movies. Or, one can choose the other menu with Wii games like Mario kart, Mario Sports, DKC, Rayman Origins etc. Pressing B can swap between the two modes, but the options are presented at launch so you don't need to.
What I wish I could do:
Like I said initially, I wish I could put these two on a single menu so that you wouldn't need to switch (makes it less confusing and more intuitive). If not that, at the very least I wish I could turn off the infinite loop of cover-flow in wiiflow. Like, have an end instead of repeating from the beginning. This way the initial source flow menu won't look so strange, as right now it is only 2 choices (main menu and Wii games), but repeated infinitely in both directions! It just looks weird. This would be less of an issue if I didn't need the source menu at all, but if I can't do that, I'd settle for that. Also a feature I wasn't able to find is how to make it start at the same menu each time instead of remembering what was used last. For example, if I play a Wii game, next time I launch WiiFlow, it will default starting on the Wii Games source. If I pick something from the NAND/Main Menu, it will start up again there. I set Source Menu to show at start, but even then, it "starts" on the last selected source. This isn't as big of an issue, however some of the younger users of my setup (perhaps ones who can't read yet) might try to recall how to launch a game from muscle memory (press left, A, right two times, A again). But if there's no guarantee that WiiFlo will start in the same place everytime, it obviously won't work.
Other than those nagging things, I think this is about as close to perfect as my wii car project is going to get.
--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
One more thing to add- I actually find this way of launching titles to be much faster than the stock wii channel system with the sensor-bar pointer, even in my OTHER wii in the living room, where I actually have a sensor bar. I liked it so much I decided to use it inside too.
The autoboot from priiloader loads much faster than the stock menu (no warning screen at start, no awkward pause while it loads the wii menu with the faint grey boxes that do "the wave" before the menu shows up... you know the one). Its loaded and ready to take input from the user seconds after the power button is pressed, and that input also seems faster than scrolling the cursor around with hand movements to get it positioned where you want it. Really makes me wonder why Nintendo didn't make this a more standard way to navigate the menu. I guess they wanted the user to get used to how the sensor bar worked and/or how sensitive it is before launching a game? I don't know.
All I know is that I originally only wanted to do this for my car project because of the sensor bar issue, and I was fine with how my home Wii worked for the last decade or so. But once I realized what a pleasure it is to navigate with buttons again, I can't go back!
Last edited by dishe,