Configurable USB Loader

Features
Videos and screenshots
Installation instructions
Download
Other useful download links
FAQ
FAT support FAQ
Archive of OLD stuff

Changes:

07-07-2011 cfg v70 (release)
 * Version
 * Full package changes:
 - New default theme: Glass (v2) (by The-Magician)

05-07-2011 cfg v70b6 (beta)
 * Updated to rodries ehcmodule for hermes cios (222,223,224)

03-07-2011 cfg v70b5 (beta)
 * Fixed occasional crashes in GUI game select
   especially when using WBFS partition
 * Minor cleanups

02-07-2011 cfg v70b4 (beta)
 * Print game requested IOS in game info screen
   (after the GAMEID and size) (tnx R2-D2199)
 * Minor cleanups

02-07-2011 cfg v70b3 (beta)
 * Support for hdd with 4k sector size on fat/ntfs/wbfs filesystems
   Thanks to: dimok (libs) davebaol (cios) and dexter (testing)

28-06-2011 cfg v70b2 (beta)
 * Fixed GUI game options when clear patches is set to all
 * Improved exception stack dump output to show also the debug log and version
 * Improved gui theme switch to reflect text and button color changes immediately

26-06-2011 cfg v70b (beta)
 * Updated devkitPPC to 23
 * Updated libogc to 1.8.7
 * When clear patches is set to all really disable all game patches,
   previously some could still be enabled (anti 002 and some others)
 * Fixed GUI Menu display of game options hook type when ocarina is enabled

25-06-2011 cfg v70a (alpha)
 * updated libraries for improved support of hdd with 4k sectors: (tnx dimok)
   libfat r4700, libntfs r10 (ntfs-3g 2011.4.12), libext2fs r15 (v1.0.2)

Some known issues and suggestions that are frequently asked about:
* Donations: please direct your donations to wiitdb.com
* Black bar at the bottom of screen in console mode with 576i video mode
* Banner animations or icons
* HBC launcher
* Spinning discs
* NAND emulation
* Screensaver
* Coverflow Grid mode
* DONE: GUI settings
* DONE: GUI game start screen
* DONE: HQ cover zooming
* DONE: Disable intro screen (only for direct starting channels)
* DONE: New Gecko OS 1.9.x (aka Ocarina 2 aka Brawl+ support) (by Wiipower)
* DONE: Profiles / Multiple favorite groups
* DONE: WiitDB integration (game info: description, genres, which controllers, number of players, etc...)
* DONE: GC and other controllers
* DONE: DVD launcher
* DONE: Multiple wbfs partitions support
* DONE: Automatic download/update of titles
* DONE: GC launcher (disc only)
* DONE: Return directly to the loader when exiting a game: return_to_channel option (or use preloader)
* DONE: Automatic download/update of themes,...
* NO: Installing / starting games over network

The list is here just so we can tone down the number of repeated requests on the forum
We might or might not work on any of the listed items.

The FAT and NTFS support has raised a lot of repeated questions, so here's a FAQ about that:

Q: Can it play .iso files directly?
A:
NTFS: Yes.
FAT: Yes but only .iso files which are smaller than 4GB such as forwarder .iso files or .iso files compacted with WiiScrubber. To solve the 4GB problem, convert the .iso to .wbfs format using the wbfs_file utility.

Q: Isn't FAT limited to 4GB file size but a game iso is larger than 4GB?
A: Yes, that's why the .wbfs files are scrubbed to save space and if it is still larger than 4GB it is split to 4GB chunks. Split files are named gameid.wbfs, gameid.wbf1, gameid.wbf2,... similar to how the a .rar archive can be split to multiple files (.rar, .r01, .r02,...)

Q: What about the file size, games on WBFS partition are scrubbed / compressed, will it take more space on a FAT/NTFS partition?
A: No, it will take the same space because the files are not in .iso format but instead .wbfs format, which uses the same scrubbing / compression method as on a WBFS partition, actually the file format is the same as the format of the WBFS partition. And to be even more accurate, the .wbfs files will take even less space, because the wbfs block size will be smaller too. (The size depends also on the selection which partitions are copied - all or only game)

Q: I have copied the .iso/.wbfs files to my usb drive but the loader doesn't see them?
A: The files have to be copied to the \wbfs folder on the FAT/NTFS partition.
These filename layouts are supported:
D:\wbfs\GAMEID.wbfs
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID].wbfs
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID]\GAMEID.wbfs
D:\wbfs\GAMEID_Title\GAMEID.wbfs
Same for .iso:
D:\wbfs\GAMEID.iso
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID].iso
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID]\GAMEID.iso
D:\wbfs\GAMEID_Title\GAMEID.iso

Q: Can I extract all the games from a WBFS partition to .wbfs files?
A: Yes, use this command:
wbfs_file.exe W: extract_wbfs_all D:\wbfs
Where W: is your WBFS partition and D:\wbfs is the FAT partition on USB (or on local hard-disk)

Q: How to convert all the .iso files to .wbfs files in one step?
A: Open up CMD where your iso files are and run:
for %i in (*.iso) do wbfs_file.exe "%i"
If you write that in a .bat batch file then you have to use %%i instead of %, like this:
for %%i in (*.iso) do wbfs_file.exe "%%i"

Q: How long does it take to convert one game to .wbfs?
A: Depends on hard drive speed and (scrubbed) game size. It should take the same time as copying a file. That means a couple of seconds for a game like WiiPlay which uses only about 100MB and a couple of minutes for games that take up 4GB...

Q: Are there any GUI wbfs managers that support .iso/.wbfs files on a FAT/NTFS partition?
A: Yes:
by pccfatman: Wii Game Manager - A GUI for wbfs_file.exe
by fig2k4: Wii Backup Manager

Q: Does running games from a FAT formatted SD / SDHC card work?
A: Yes, but only from SD cards, SDHC compatibility is still an issue. (SDHC might work with some cards and cios 249 rev19+)

Q: What is the recommended cluster size when formatting FAT?
A: It's not important - any size should work fine. But 32kb is a good choice as that size is aligned to wii disc sector size.

Q: Is it possible to install a game from a dvd disc to a FAT partition in .wbfs format?
A: Yes. Just press button + to install the game as usual.

Q: Is there any advantage using FAT/NTFS rather than a WBFS partition?
A: Depends on personal preference. These are some of the poins:
advantages:
- no need to repartition in case the disk is already used for other stuff
- the game files can be copied using normal file managers
- the partition space can be shared for other purposes
- better choice of file-system recovery / de-fragmentation tools
disadvantages:
- limited choice of loaders: only CFG, GX and WiiFlow support FAT/NTFS at the moment.
similarities:
- loading speed and compression should be the same compared to WBFS
notes:
- install game on NTFS is disabled by default but can be enabled with option: ntfs_write=1

Changes:

09-06-2011 cfg v69 (release)
 * Updated about window with credits & translators list
 * Full package changes:
 - New default theme: Blue 2011 (by The-Magician)
 - Added tetris.mp3

07-06-2011 cfg v69b3 (beta)
 * changed option: block_ios_reload = 0, 1, [auto]
   'auto' will enable block ios reload if cios is d2x and ver >= 5
   'auto' is now the default
 * Removed detection of hermes ios installed with pimp my wii
   since the hashes were incorrect.

06-06-2011 cfg v69b2 (beta)
 * Use modmii cios identification for d2x version (by R2-D2199)
 * Detection of hermes cios v5.1 installed with pimp my wii (by xFede)

04-06-2011 cfg v69b1 (beta)
 * Support for ModMii cios identification (thanks XFlak, WiiPower)
 * Support for Korean games (by damysteryman)

03-06-2011 cfg v69a7 (alpha)
 * revert to ntfs-3g-2010.10.2 (libntfs-wii r4+r7)
 * Improved support for hdd with 4k sectors

03-06-2011 cfg v69a6 (alpha)
 * Improved support for hdd with 4k sectors

02-06-2011 cfg v69a5 (alpha)
 * Support for d2x v6 IOS reload block on FAT/NTFS/EXT2 fs.

02-06-2011 cfg v69a4 (alpha)
 * Fixed #001 error on hermes cios for fakesigned games (caused by
   Sam&Max fix which is now disabled on hermes cios, Thanks Wiimm)
 * Fixed We Dare (thanks airline38 and WiiPower)
 * Minor cleanups

28-05-2011 cfg v69a3 (alpha)
 * Really fixed d2x v5+ ios reload block on wbfs

28-05-2011 cfg v69a2 (alpha)
 * Fixed d2x v5+ ios reload block on wbfs (tnx WiiPower & davebaol)
   (Now Sam&Max fix is always enabled)

28-05-2011 cfg v69a (alpha)
 * detection of cios d2x v4 (tnx kamiro04 & FIX94)
 * d2x v5+ ios reload block on wbfs (tnx WiiPower & davebaol)
 * d2x v4+ return to channel method (tnx WiiPower & davebaol)
 * added value: return_to_channel = auto
   will try to detect the channel id from where the loader was started.
   (although some forwarders are not auto detected properly,
    but the official one by FIX94 is)

Edited by tj_cool, 11 November 2011 - 11:06 PM.

Edited by djtaz, 11 April 2009 - 02:55 AM.

Edited by WiiShizzza, 11 April 2009 - 03:49 AM.

Edited by ether2802, 11 April 2009 - 07:59 AM.

Edited by rogras, 11 April 2009 - 08:54 AM.