Hacking Boot directly to USB Loader GX in Wii U vWii mode? + other questions

[Bruno Jenso]

Hello, I've made good progress hacking vWii since I got a Wii U a few weeks ago, thanks to the stickies and so on. I'm amazed by the effort of the devs involved and loving me some Gamecube access in particular - thanks so much to everyone helping on the scene and those answering questions. Although I have it working reasonably well I now have a growing list of new questions.

I thought I'd put a list below of some of these but may get told to sub-split it into new treads later as it's quite a lot. Please be patience with me if something is clearly covered in another thread – and also please know I have spent some time trying to find the answer, rather than just bugging the community before applying effort.

1. The main question is: Is there a way to boot directly to USB Loader GX in Wii U vWii mode? I know vWii does not allow priiloader to work - but is there a Wii U vWii alternative method? I can find no clear yes or no to this. It is quite possible the answer is a simple no. Fingers crossed it isn't.

other questions I hope to clarify:

2. Has anyone got the new Retroarch 1.2.1 working – also with a forwarder. I can't get it to start. I did see a note about trouble with invisible files causing boot.dat to fail if a Mac is used for setup - but I've already followed the instructions to remove the files so it isn't that. I'm hoping 1.2 will be a leap forward for N64 compatibility (when the core is added) – esp. or Banjo Kazooie and Conkers B.F.D.

3. does Nintendont MasterMOD work/is it safe to use in vWii mode. I can't find a reference to it or Wii U in that tread. https://gbatemp.net/threads/nintendont-themes-and-custom-mods.374469/. Also to be honest I find I can't understand the instructions on that thread. I'll try again but if someone could suggest a 1. 2. 3. etc... step process that worked for them that would be very kind.

4. Is there threads to help with the following that I have missed (yes I have had a good look) and are they suitable for virtual Wii.

1. Changing the artwork for apps - such as there mid-load screens and the 'focus in' screen when you select one from the vWii system menu. (outside of the Homebrew Channel). Especially interested in changing USB Loader GX.
2. Changing the artwork for forwarders 'focused out' channels on the vWii system menu?
3. Changing the name/s of apps and forwarders?
4. Can the GX series of emulators be themed?

If not could you tell me if they are possible. Some are animated, so maybe this is much more complicated and would only be possible with amazing coding skills.

Any help is much appreciated. If I get no further with the process I already have a single machine that can play nearly everything non-handheld (and a lot of handheld) produced by Nintendo and that's incredible. Playing games I own but no longer have access to the original systems anymore is so good. F-Zero GX just blew me away when I saw how well my hacked vWii handled it.

Bruno.

 

[pedro702]

1-there isnt even a way to boot up durectly on vwii even so yeah no.

to boot in vwii you need to hold the B button when starting the system and this is the fastest way to get into vwii homebrew sadly no priloaders or auto boot in wii mode or homebrew channel and such.

2-Tbh i havent tryed running retroarch 1.2.1 on vwii so i cant say.

3-any reason you want the mastermod and not normal nintendont? i mean if you use nintendont trough usbloader gx or another loader, being mastermod or official nintenedont is the same deal, if you use nintendont directly from homebrew channel the mastermod only has some pictures and such otherwise the games and such play exactly like in offcial nintendont and yes its safe to use but the mastermod will want to download stuff fromt he web like themes and covers so you need an internet connection or you can get them directly but im not usre about the names or folder structure for manual stuff.

4-Never been into useless costumization so i cant say for this questions.

 

[Bruno Jenso]

Hi Pedro702, thanks for the answers.

1. Cool - there is the answer. I thought this would be a no, so I can lay that one to rest. The B button trick is good to know.

2. Still hoping someone will have some experience here.

3 - 4. Your right it is rather useless/unnecessary but a curse of those who are visually obsessive. I think some people care about the form as well as function equally, others are just happy with function. Others take the form over function extreme. I really admire those who don't care what the UI etc... look like, but I'm from a graphic design/illustrator background and I'm forever cursed to care about small visual details. If someone is able to head me in the right direction maybe I can do my little bit by designing some nice graphics to support custom artwork and customization for those similarly afflicted. Mostly BTW, I'm happy with the standard look of the Wii environment – it's more about giving a cleaner look to aspects of some apps, forwarders and loaders.

 

[Deleted User]

1. Not possible for reasons stated above.

2. 1.2.1 works fine. Most forwarders online are hard-coded to the "retroarch-wii" folder, make sure that folder exists on your SD:/apps.

3. Works fine. It assume you had the files from Nintendont already. (Go to Nintendont thread, download the .xml and .dol from there, put them in sd:/apps/nintendont) then just download boot.dol from Mastermod and replace the old one.

4. (all) This has to be done via creating custom channels. (may have changed for WiiU, but it's fairly complicated. (https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-banner-creation-editing-guide.291151/)

 

[Bruno Jenso]

Thanks Gunner007 – I'll check out all of your suggestions. V. helpful.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Regarding the new Retroarch 1.2.x - has anyone found a way to activate the new XMB UI look on vWii/Wii? I can't find it anywhere in the menu structure and I'm wondering if it just isn't available for anything lesser than a PC or Mac and Libretro just didn't bother to mention that little fact. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Deleted User]

I haven't looked, but I highly doubt the XMB exists on anything like the Wii due to the limited memory space it has.

Edit: Confirmed - Doesn't work (XMB option uses GL and OpenGL so you can't change it)
For reference it's Settings>Drivers>Menu Driver

Not to crush any hopes, but you won't be seeing any N64 emulation through any means via Retroarch on the vWii side. Retroarch's N64 core uses OpenGL which the Wii doesn't have.

 

[pedro702]

I haven't looked, but I highly doubt the XMB exists on anything like the Wii due to the limited memory space it has.

Edit: Confirmed - Doesn't work (XMB option uses GL and OpenGL so you can't change it)
For reference it's Settings>Drivers>Menu Driver

Not to crush any hopes, but you won't be seeing any N64 emulation through any means via Retroarch on the vWii side. Retroarch's N64 core uses OpenGL which the Wii doesn't have.

well wiiu gx2 is basicaly an opengl modified so if we ever get full homebrew acess on wiiu it might happen