Ugh?


This tutorial describes a method to play backups from a SD card using a SNEEK emulated nand.

I dedicate it to my nephew who's not allowed from his mother to buy an usb harddisk for his Wii (What do you need that for? how sad..)
He decided to sacrify his media player 16Gig micro SDHC card to become a tester for my Wii research projects. (Not so poor after all.)

So, it makes it possible to play backup(s) without the need for a usb harddisk

Please note (before you sell your harddisk on ebay.) that the storage capacity of an sd card is limited.
You can store approx. 1 - 8 games on an 8 Gig SD card. It all depends upon the size of the games in question.

The only other method I found that does nearly the same is using neogamma with a wbfs formatted SD card.

It has some small disadvantages:

1. The SD card is not accessible directly with a pc as it's wbfs formatted.
2. The SD card can only be used to store the game. It can not contain additional homebrew or the bootmii folder.
3. The neogamma program needs to be installed as a channel on the real nand due to 2
4. The neogamma program is unable to save some settings due to 2 This means that every change to the default settings needs to be done every time.



What do you need?

Hardware:

1. A PC with a windows OS and a working internet connection.
2. A SD(HC) card with a capacity of 4 - 16 Gig (2Gig can also be used for just 1 or 2 small games)
3. A method to transfer files from your PC to your SD card. (We will say SD when we mean SD or SDHC)
4. A modded Wii (HBC Installed)
5. A piece of paper and a pen to write down the serial number of that modded Wii

Software:

1. ModMii 4.5.4
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=207126

2.Crediar sneek installer files
http://code.google.com/p/sneek
SneekInstallerv0.6c-cred.rar
DiscEx-v0.7c-cred.rar
font.bin
armboot.bin

Very good info site:
http://gbatemp.net/t218725-sneek-di-quick-guide?

3. Showmiiwads
http://code.google.com/p/showmiiwads
ShowMiiWads_1.4.rar

4. Multi Mod Manager v13.4
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=208281

5. The obcd sneaky package
http://www.mediafire.com/?bgsbp7sfth76swa



Letse go:

1. Check that your SD card is FAT or FAT 32 formatted.
Go to My Computer and right click the drive letter that represents your sd card.
Select properties. You should see something like this:

Spoiler

As you can see, mine is fat32
If yours would show raw, it's probably in wbfs or unformatted. You will need to reformat it as FAT(32) before you proceed.
2. Unrar my obcd sneaky package
You will find an SD folder in that package. Copy the contents of that folder to the root of your sd card.

Spoiler

Level II:

We will install IOS253 on our Wii real nand with Multi Mod Manager.

1. Unzip the Multi-Mod-Manager_v13.4.zip and copy the MMM folder and it's contents to the apps folder of your SD card.
2. Insert the SD in your Wii and launch the homebrew channel. Choose to launch the MMM program.
3. Navigate to the bottom line of the program "Load another IOS"
4. Navigate to and Select IOS236.
If that IOS is not in the list, Navigate to and execute "Install & patch IOS 36" first.
5. Navigate to and select "WAD manager"
Navigate to S/wad
Navigate to obcd.wad and press A
Make sure the top line reads [.] Selected file operation: < Install >
Hit A to proceed with the install.
Hit the home button 3 times to return to the homebrew channel.

Level III:

We will create a modified sneek kernel.bin for our system with the Crediar Sneek installer.

1. Unzip the sneek installer in a folder of your choice. (I used the Crediar folder)
2. Create the 4 additional folders.

Spoiler

3. Copy the armboot.bin, dimodule.elf, esmodule.elf, fsmodule-sd.elf and fsmodule-usb.elf from the obcd sneaky.rar package PC\sneek folder to the
obcd_sneek_files folder you just created.
4. Run the sneekinstaller program. Wait for the 5 seconds warning message to dissapear.

Spoiler

5. Press the "get files" button for the ios files only.
6. Press the "Install Sneek" button
7. Copy the COPY_TO_SD\sneek\kernel.bin to your SD\sneek folder.


Level IV:

We will create a clean nand file structure with the modmii program.

1. Run the Modmiiinstaller.exe and install Modmii in a folder of your choice.
Simply follow the on screen instructions. You really don't need a tutorial for this.
2. Wait until the main modmii program starts.
3. Be gentle and start by typing I Agree <cr>
4. Choose option: S = SNEEK Installation, Nand Builder, Game Bulk Extractor
5. Choose option: 2 = Emulated NAND Builder (for SNEEK)
6. Choose option: UD = UNEEK+DI
7. Choose option: D = Default Setting: COPY_TO_USB
8. Choose your region: E = Euro (PAL) (yes, this time you need to make a choice)
9. Choose your firmware: 4.3 (I have not tested with 4.2)
10. Choose N to not install the homebrew filter (It won't work since it can't read from your sd card.)
11. Choose N to not install CIOS249 rev. 14 (You won't need it trust me)
12. Choose Y to install Priiloader 0.4
13. ......This item is intenionally left blanc
14. Choose N to not install a Joyflow channel (Overjoy is a nice guy but it won't work)
(The screenshots are those with the Joyflow channel installed.)
15. Choose N to not use the Switch2Uneek (You can still change that afterwards.)
16. Type in your Wii 12 digit serial number to create settings.txt (something like LEH 0000 0000 1)
It's important to keep your wii remote synced when you switch over to sneek.
17. Choose an alternative Theme if you like them (yes, this the second time you may choose yourself)
18. Add some additional channels. I have added the Mii channel. (I look outside to know the weather.)
19. Copy the WiiXplorer-WXPL2.wad from the obcd sneaky package \PC\WAD folder to the Modmii\temp\install2sneek folder
20. Verify that the WiiXplorer-WXPL2.wad jou just copied is not in a subfolder of the install2sneek folder
21. Take a good look at the overview screen if everything is correct, and hit the Y when it is.

Spoiler

22. Relax a little, get a drink.
23. It's possible that the application freezes. (Nothing on the screen moves anymore) In that case, you can run the Unfreezemii.bat file as explained on the program window.
It's also possible that an exception windows suddenly shows up. In that case, close and restart the program.
My third run was finally successfull.
24. When the program finishes it's task successfull, you can exit it.
25. Copy the created nand folders in COPY_TO_USB to the S\nandsneek\nand43 folder of your SD card.

Spoiler

Cheating on level IV:

We will use our bootmii nand backup to create the emulated nand folders.

A nand created with this method is usually bigger in size. For that reason, I prefer the previous method.
If you really have troubles to create a nand with the previous method, you can try this one.

1. Extract the ShowmiiWads 1.4.rar
2. Run the showmiiwads1.4.exe
3. Accept the disclaimer note about bricking your wii.
4. Select "Tools" "Create common key" and follow the instructions
5. Select "Tools" and "extract bootmii dump". Point to your bootmii backup nand.bin file.
6. The program will become irresponsive and appear frozen for a while. This is normal while it is extracting your nand dump.
7. Select "Options" "Change nand backup path" and navigate to a subfolder of your nand folder called nand-extracteda.
That folder was just created by the program when you extracted your nand backup.
8. Select "Tools" "ShowMiiNand"
9. Select one of the installed tik files (click on it). Right click with your mouse and select "install file"
navigate to the Wiixplorer - WXPL2.wad from the sneaky package. and install the wad. This procedure can be used for other wad's as well.
10.Copy the created nand folders in nand-extracteda to the S\nandsneek\nand43 folder of your SD card.

This procedure to install wad's on your emulated nand works with the nand created in previous level IV as well.

Level V:

We will decrypt a game to the discex format needed by sneek.

Sneek+DI refuses to start if it can't find at least 1 game in the games folder.
The source game can be an iso, wbfs or ciso.

1. Run the Modmii program again.
2. Be gentle again and start by typing I Agree <cr>
3. Choose option: S = SNEEK Installation, Nand Builder, Game Bulk Extractor
4. Choose option: 4 = Game Bulk Extractor (for SNEEK)
5. If you still have a floppy drive on your pc, a window might show up that there is no disk.
Simply hit the "continue" button.
6. Type the name of the folder containing your game. (Something like C:\wbfs)
7. Select D to use the default COPY_TO_USB as your destination folder
8. Hit Y to start the conversion.
9. Locate the "Any key" on your keyboard and press it.
10. Exit the ModMii program
11. Copy the contents of the games folder in COPY_TO_USB to the S\games folder on your SD card.

Congratulations, if you finished all levels till here, your SD card is ready to be tested in your Wii


Level VI:

We will test our SD card in our Wii.

1. Insert the SD card in your Wii
2. Start your Wii
3. Go to the homebrew channel and choose Boot IOS253 (Start sneek)
4. Watch the screen go black..If everything is well, after 1 - 2 minutes you should see:

Spoiler

5. Sync your remote. Press the small button in your remote battery compartment, and press the button on the left of your wii sd slot while the wii remote leds are flashing.
If everything goes well. The first led on your remote should become steady on.
6. Choose your system preferred language
7. Set the position of the sensor bar
8. Set the date and time
9. Set the TV proportions to 4:3 or 16:9
10.Give your system a name
11.Choose your country
12.You don't want parental control (at least not at my age..) and you know about the screen saver already....
13........This item is intentionally left blanc.
14. You should see something familiar:

Spoiler

oops, sorry, wrong picture...

Spoiler

15. You can hit the A button or simply wait and...
Watch the screen go black for 15 minutes
16. Yes, that's right, the first start with a modmii created nand takes 15 minutes (and I even have a fast Wii...)
17. If you are using the files of your real nand, things should go faster. It won't ask you all these initial setings either.
18. If you are patient enough, the following should appear. Simply confirm with the A button. Note that I had choosen dutch as preferred language.

Spoiler

19. And finally, we see the following:

Spoiler

20. As you can see, the game is ready to be launched.
21. You should also be able to launch Wiixplorer, and you can setup a smb connection to transfer contents to and
from your SD card while it's still in your Wii (You will need your Wii connected to your network and networking
properly initialised for that.)

Congratulations again, you have just finished all the levels.


Things you want to know, read this first:

1. Special thanks go to:

Wintermute for the devkitpro toolchain
Xflak for the ModMii tool
Crediar for sneek / uneek and it's installer
ChokeD for the SNEEK+DI quick guide
Leathl for the ShowMiiwads program
Wiiwu for his multi mod manager program
Dimok for his Wiixplorer program
Overjoy for answering my (sometimes difficult) questions
Scooby74029 for helping and testing whenever he can
dj_skual for his believe in my concept of uneek_usb_fs
My girlfriend for giving me time to interact with my computer instead of her
My nephew for bringing up the silly idea to launch a game from a sd(hc) card
GBA Team for this contest
Many many others..... all those I have forgotten...


2. The smaller your nand files, the faster it will boot.

3. With the clean nand, it takes approx. 20 seconds to reach the health screen, and another 10 seconds to reach the main menu
when it's not the initial launch.

4. If you put some homebrew on your SD card, you will be dissapointed. Since sneek uses the SD card for it's emulated nand, it
doesn't allow SD card access from homebrew applications. For that reason, I made the uneek_usb_fs routines. They require
modifications to the homebrew, so every homebrew needs to be recompiled. The routines shouldn't interfere with the normal
operation of the homebrew program. (running on real nand)

5. You can install channels and wiiware on the emulated nand. However, the limitation of subject 4 is also present on your WAD
installer.

6. I will provide the sources. I am still extending the uneek_usb_fs routines. One of those extensions was the sddi.bin routine
(Actially di.bin on the sd card sneek folder) that made this possible by emulating the DVD from the SD card. If you are unpatient
for the sources, just PM me and ask me (friendly). I will archive a snapshot and sent it over to you. Providing sources that aren't fully
finished and debugged can lead to problems, if people aren't using the most recent stuff. If I look at the number of times my uneek_usb_fs
got downloaded, and the feedback I got already, I don't get the feeling the community is rushed for it.

7. I am well aware about the fact that my sneaky package contains 2 wad files. To my knowledge, they don't contain any Big N copyrighted
material. The one is simply a modified forwarder to the wiixplorer program, and the other one is a modified Team Twizzers mini launcher.
It's not like I am reposting the Team Twizzers material. Due to the mod, the WAD is getting a new function. (launching the Sneek mini.)
It makes it possible to have the "bootmii ios" an sneek happily together on the same wii. I think this is an advantage for Bootmii as well.
If you really would feel this is violating some rules, I will remove it. The whole thing can work without it.

8. As you might notice, I am trying to draw attention to my uneek_usb_fs package. This is still a work in progress. I will try to adapt some
homebrew to work with it. As every popular radio station would say: STAY TUNED

9. If you wonder why you would want to launch a game from a SD card, talk to my nephew. The methods of building a s(u)neek kernel.bin can be used
for a normal uneek_usb_fs compatible system as well. (what's normal) A detailed description of the bootup sequence with a freshly created nand
looked interesting to me as well (basically it's all interesting stuff..)(sorry, couldn't resist..)

10.Sometimes, it's needed to delete the diconfig.bin and channelcache.bin in the sd:\sneek folder when things don't work. This is probably the case
when you remove a game from the sd card game folder or delete a channel.

11.I am not responsible for any damage you do to your wii or your roommates when you try this out.

12.You can have multiple nands on your sd card. Just create another folder under the nandsneek folder and copy your nand folders in it.
Open the nandpath.bin folder in the S\sneek folder with a text editor. (That's right, it's a simple text file) and adjust the path into it.
Upon the next startup of sneek, it should use the emulated nand found in that path.

13......This item was intenionally left blanc.

14.As some of you might notice, my sneek setup has some changes to the normal one.

1. It checks for the presence of the nandpath.bin folder. It will redirect all access to nand folders to the location of the path in that file.
If the file doesn't exist, it will boot from the root as a normal sneek setup.
2. It works together with the uneek_usb_fs routines.
In case of sneek, it redirects SD access to the ISFS routines. Those access the SD card on a sector based level. (Only the first partition.)
In case of uneek, it redirects USB access to the ISFS routines. Those access the USB drive on a sector based level. (Only the first partition.)
3. It has a modified DI module that in case of sneek, redirects the dvd access to the SD instead of the USB drive. (Why would you put your emulated
nand on your SD card if you have plenty of room on your USB harddisk?..Right, if you don't have a harddisk at all.)

15.The wiixplorer forwarder was modded as well.
The forwarder program in it has uneek_usb_fs enabled. If it ses that it's running in Sneek or Uneek, it will use uneek_usb_fs to launch the wiixplorer
boot.dol from the SD card or USB disk. It will not reload to IOS58 in that case, as it's just a waste of time.
The wiixplorer was modified the same way, to allow it to access the SD card under sneek + sddi.

16.The installation of IOS253 has an issue on the syscheck program. As the program doesn't know it, it will hang when it tries to test that IOS.
So, I made it a little OBCD aware.

17.When I was writing this, I realised that sneek has moved from rev. 153 to 154. One of the changes is the IOSKpatch.exe program used to create
the kernel.bin. I am unaware if this new patcher is already used in the Crediar installer, and for what wii's this new version is needed.

18.That's pretty much it right now. I appreciate feedback, even if it's negative (Altough not that much as positive.)

Hope you liked it.

Regards

 

[F. Lobot]

I'm curious, can't I already do this with Neogamma? What advantage do I get from using Sneek?

 

[zizer]

1. 100% compatibility for vc , wiiware
2. nand memory = hdd memory
3. +di and you can play without alt dol method (metroid trilogy and .......)

 

[obcd]

Besides what zizer is saying, as noted in the turoial from line 9 - 15

The only other method I found that does nearly the same is using neogamma with a wbfs formatted SD card.

It has some small disadvantages:

1. The SD card is not accessible directly with a pc as it's wbfs formatted.
2. The SD card can only be used to store the game. It can not contain additional homebrew or the bootmii folder.
3. The neogamma program needs to be installed as a channel on the real nand due to 2
4. The neogamma program is unable to save some settings due to 2 This means that every change to the default settings needs to be done every time.

It's posible to have multiple nand's on your sd card (With uneek on your harddisk as well.)
Some games that don't work very well with cios work fine with sneek and uneek. (With others, it's the other way around)
The chanche on bricking your wii is minimal, as the nand flash filing system is emulated on sd or hdd.
You can safely experiment with the wii menu and other stuff on your emulated nand.

I am still working on the adaption of several homebrew programs to make them compatible with sneek sd and uneek hdd access.
I have given priority to this tutorial (for the contest, I admit).

 

[doyama]

I mean it's interesting and all. It's a very good tutorial for which I give props.

But can't you do almost all of this via well documented methods of NeoGamma or USBLoader GX? I'm not too aware of many WiiWare/VC issues, though admittedly I don't play those at all.

 

[Ergo]

While I can't see myself ever using it, it's still an interesting read, so thanks

Also: just buy your nephew the damn HDD!

 

[obcd]

@doyama:

Yes, Neogamma can do it as well. See my previous post.
Usbloader_gx can load pretty much everything from a sd card (covers, it's config files, cheat files), but I haven't found how it can launch a wbfs file from an sd card. Did I miss something?

@Ergo:

In my opinion, it can also be helpfull for people doing a normal uneek/di setup.
I remember abandoning the sneek/uneek road a couple of times due to it's complexity and incompatibility with a lot of homebrew.
I am trying to solve most of them now, but I have to admit myself that using a usbloader is an easier way of doing things.

If it would be easy, nobody would need a tutorial for it

I already do sponsor my nephew a lot. Maybe, if he studies well, I will donate him the HDD. (I hope he reads this as well.)

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

I followed all these steps, and as far as I know, it loaded the NAND from my SD card, but I don't see the any option to load the game I installed (New Super Mario Bros 2- The Next Levels; it was small). Shouldn't there be a channel for it?

I tried following this same exact guide for USB, and it failed. So I take it this doesn't work for USB?

EDIT: Nevermind, I used some of the info from this guide to make a UNEEK+DI install, and that worked.

 

[obcd]

@UndeadSquirrel
Good to hear you figured it out.

@everyone
A few side notes I figured out after writing the tutorial.

1. If you have an usb gecko plugged into your wii, you will need to monitor it's output or the sneek setup won't start.
The menu is producing debug output as well, and, probably due to some patches, you need to look at them, or the menu doesn't start.
I hve one of the last generations usb gecko's. I don't know if the first version is having those issues as well.

2. Read speeds from the sd are pretty acceptable. Write speeds are terrible.

3. Playing Monster Hunter 3 doesn't work with this setup. A new release of sneek (154) came out that solves the issue.
One of the things that has changed is the IOSKpatch.exe. This newest version of this program is probably only used if you compile the s(u)neek
sources yourself. I don't think the crediar sneek installer you download already uses that IOSKpatch.exe.
You could compile the sources yourself with the sneakycompiler from scooby74029

http://gbatemp.net/t261927-sneekycompiler

It's important to have the devkitarm rev.24 instad of the one that comes with the devkitpro updater.
If you need the files that work with that game so you can build your own kernel.bin (rev154), just give me a PM. (They should work for uneek+di as well)

4. Altough this tutorial describes a very specific setup (loading backup games from a sd card), some parts, like the way to create your emulated nand,
and the way to create the s(u)neek files using the crediar sneek installer can be used for a normal s(u)neek setup as well.
The way to extract games to the format used by s(u)neek + di is standard for all s(u)neek + di setup's as well. The only difference is that in my case,
the games folder is on the sd card, and with a normal setup it's on the usb disk.

5. For those of you interested, I have a couple of homebrew that are compatible with s(u)neek. (My version with uneek_usb_fs)
I have a savegame_manager_gx that can extract games from the emulated nand, and copy them to it.
I almost have a wadinstaller_gx that can get it's was from sd, usb or a smb share.
I also have a couple of console emulators that work without issue.
I am trying to prepare a package with those compatible applications (and their sources). If you are in a rush to get them, just PM me.

 

[Sorlin]

I followed this guide and when I load Boot IOS253, there is a black screen that goes on indefinitely and my drive keeps flashing.

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

It's too bad you can't trick the Wii into using a USB drive for saves and DLC....
I've had bad luck with SNEEK and JoYflow. Got it running for a while, then one day it just stopped working entirely. Haven't gotten it to work ever since. I just wanted to use it with GH/RB games.

 

[obcd]

@Sorlin

The dvd drive slot flashing is a way for neek to indicate an error. Usually, this happens when some of the nand stuff can't be found.
If there is a flashing pattern (like 3 short flashes pause, 3 short flashes again..) than this can give more details about the problem.

@UndeadSquirrel.

If a neek setup stops working, there are a few things to try:

1. Delete diconfig.bin and channelcache.bin. Try again without those.
2. Run a diskcheck on your harddisk and sd card (with a pc) to check if the file system didn't became corrupt.
3. Replace your nand folders by those of a working nand.
4. Backup the stuff of your harddisk and reformat it, or try with another disk.

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

@Sorlin

The dvd drive slot flashing is a way for neek to indicate an error. Usually, this happens when some of the nand stuff can't be found.
If there is a flashing pattern (like 3 short flashes pause, 3 short flashes again..) than this can give more details about the problem.

@UndeadSquirrel.

If a neek setup stops working, there are a few things to try:

1. Delete diconfig.bin and channelcache.bin. Try again without those.
2. Run a diskcheck on your harddisk and sd card (with a pc) to check if the file system didn't became corrupt.
3. Replace your nand folders by those of a working nand.
4. Backup the stuff of your harddisk and reformat it, or try with another disk.

@Sorlin

The dvd drive slot flashing is a way for neek to indicate an error. Usually, this happens when some of the nand stuff can't be found.
If there is a flashing pattern (like 3 short flashes pause, 3 short flashes again..) than this can give more details about the problem.

@UndeadSquirrel.

If a neek setup stops working, there are a few things to try:

1. Delete diconfig.bin and channelcache.bin. Try again without those.
2. Run a diskcheck on your harddisk and sd card (with a pc) to check if the file system didn't became corrupt.
3. Replace your nand folders by those of a working nand.
4. Backup the stuff of your harddisk and reformat it, or try with another disk.

I actually tried all of the above. No go. I eventually reformatted and went back to regular USB loaders (which are also giving me crap) so I'm thinking it actually may be the hard drive itself. I don't have a free one to try but I do have a few USB sticks in varying sizes, one or two which might be empty. I'll try those.

 

[obcd]

neek is more critical than usb loaders considering harddisk compatibility. This is due to the fact that the system is regulary restarted, and the harddisk initialised again.
For instance, every time when a program switches to another ios, the neek system is reloaded. Even when the system menu comes up after running a homebrew, neek is reloaded as well.
Even if your usb sticks aren't empty, you usually find enough free space on your pc to temporary store the stick contents.
If a system works one day, and stops working the other, you would expect a kind of hardware failure, unless something was changed in the software setup?
Are you still capable of launching homebrew from that harddisk with the homebrew channel?,

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

neek is more critical than usb loaders considering harddisk compatibility. This is due to the fact that the system is regulary restarted, and the harddisk initialised again.
For instance, every time when a program switches to another ios, the neek system is reloaded. Even when the system menu comes up after running a homebrew, neek is reloaded as well.
Even if your usb sticks aren't empty, you usually find enough free space on your pc to temporary store the stick contents.
If a system works one day, and stops working the other, you would expect a kind of hardware failure, unless something was changed in the software setup?
Are you still capable of launching homebrew from that harddisk with the homebrew channel?,

If you're directing the question at me, yeah, homebrew works fine loading both from SD and USB.