Hacking Loading Wii and Gamecube backups from SD card on Wii U?

[Dinierto]

I just hacked my Wii U and vWii. It's my understaning from what I've heard and what I found from Google that I can run Wii and Gamecube games from the SD card, which is what I'd like to try. However I'm confused about the exact process that needs to happen to make this work. When I looked at the vWii guide here it mentions all about formatting a hard drive a certain way, but I'm not sure if any of that applies to the SD card. Is there a way to do this, and if so, what guide can I use? Thank you for any help!

 

[godreborn]

I can't help with wii backups, but cube ones can be with nintendont. it will actually ask if you want to read from the usb or sd card when you boot up the app. I'm using a forwarder for my games, since injections use up spots to which you can only install 292 games.

 

[Lacius]

I just hacked my Wii U and vWii. It's my understaning from what I've heard and what I found from Google that I can run Wii and Gamecube games from the SD card, which is what I'd like to try. However I'm confused about the exact process that needs to happen to make this work. When I looked at the vWii guide here it mentions all about formatting a hard drive a certain way, but I'm not sure if any of that applies to the SD card. Is there a way to do this, and if so, what guide can I use? Thank you for any help!

You should not be running Wii and GameCube games from the SD card. SD cards are very slow compared to USB devices, and you will see that in the loading times. Nobody recommends running games off the SD card on the Wii U/vWii.

 

[Dinierto]

You should not be running Wii and GameCube games from the SD card. SD cards are very slow compared to USB devices, and you will see that in the loading times. Nobody recommends running games off the SD card on the Wii U/vWii.

I'm fine with extra loading times to be honest, I already have one hard drive with Wii U games and I don't want 2 hard drives connected or to have to switch. I do have a 256 gb card though so I might as well use the space.

 

[godreborn]

256gb is what I use.

 

[Lacius]

I'm fine with extra loading times to be honest, I already have one hard drive with Wii U games and I don't want 2 hard drives connected or to have to switch. I do have a 256 gb card though so I might as well use the space.

You can install vWii and GameCube games to the Wii U formatted drive. Use Wii virtual console games (and virtual console injects when needed).

Also, the loading times can be unbearably slow. Even if you have a fast SD card, the SD card controller on the Wii U has limitations.

 

[godreborn]

Cube games run fine for me, but there is a slight delay when booting up. I'm not sure about wii games though.

 

[Tyson TH]

You should not be running Wii and GameCube games from the SD card. SD cards are very slow compared to USB devices, and you will see that in the loading times. Nobody recommends running games off the SD card on the Wii U/vWii.

I'm not too experienced with Wii backups on an SD since I use vWii injects for those but GameCube games on an SD card have ran just fine for me. It's never slower than reading from an actual disc and unlocking read speed basically makes load times non-existent.

I'm fine with extra loading times to be honest, I already have one hard drive with Wii U games and I don't want 2 hard drives connected or to have to switch. I do have a 256 gb card though so I might as well use the space.

256GB should be plenty if you're only using it for GameCube and Wii. 2 hard drives can be feasible but you'd have to do some trickery with a program called UStealth so the Wii U doesn't constantly ask you to format the drive.

 

[godreborn]

I do have emunand, neek, and my wii games on an hdd.

 

[Dinierto]

I can't help with wii backups, but cube ones can be with nintendont. it will actually ask if you want to read from the usb or sd card when you boot up the app. I'm using a forwarder for my games, since injections use up spots to which you can only install 292 games.

Good to know! What kind of forwarder are you using? Does it forward individual games or Nintendont?

 

[godreborn]

Just nintendont.

 

[Dinierto]

You can install vWii and GameCube games to the Wii U formatted drive. Use Wii virtual console games (and virtual console injects when needed).

Also, the loading times can be unbearably slow. Even if you have a fast SD card, the SD card controller on the Wii U has limitations.

I'm out of home screen spots so injects aren't an option now

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

I'm not too experienced with Wii backups on an SD since I use vWii injects for those but GameCube games on an SD card have ran just fine for me. It's never slower than reading from an actual disc and unlocking read speed basically makes load times non-existent.


256GB should be plenty if you're only using it for GameCube and Wii. 2 hard drives can be feasible but you'd have to do some trickery with a program called UStealth so the Wii U doesn't constantly ask you to format the drive.

I've heard of the stealth thing. What's the procedure for playing Wii games off the SD card?

 

[godreborn]

I'm out of home screen spots so injects aren't an option now

if you don't want to use sd card, you can use the vwii hdd. afaik, only certain backup launchers work with wii games from sd card. I use usb loader gx, but I think I read that wii games don't work from sd card with that. cube games do though.

 

[Dinierto]

if you don't want to use sd card, you can use the vwii hdd. afaik, only certain backup launchers work with wii games from sd card. I use usb loader gx, but I think I read that wii games don't work from sd card with that. cube games do though.

Trying to avoid another hard drive which is why I was hoping to use the big SD card I have

 

[godreborn]

I think wii flow can do wii games from sd, but I'm just remembering that, so I could be wrong.

 

[Lacius]

I'm out of home screen spots so injects aren't an option now

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



I've heard of the stealth thing. What's the procedure for playing Wii games off the SD card?

Delete some stuff from your home menu. You're clearly not using most of what you have installed.

 

[Dinierto]

Delete some stuff from your home menu. You're clearly not using most of what you have installed.

I'd rather not, I'd like to try the SD card route first. I can always explore other avenues if it doesn't work like I want

 

[godreborn]

I'd rather not, I'd like to try the SD card route first. I can always explore other avenues if it doesn't work like I want

there's a way around that. I think creating a separate profile will allow for more games, but I don't really know how it works. the file that limits you is called the barista file. there's a separate one per profile/account from what I remember, but I don't know how that looks on the home screen.

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

you can also get around it with system config tool, but you'll just have a list of games. a third way is separate hdds. separate hdds will mess up your folders and things though. unplugging an hdd is fine, but plugging in a new one will reset the arrangement.

 

[Dinierto]

there's a way around that. I think creating a separate profile will allow for more games, but I don't really know how it works. the file that limits you is called the barista file. there's a separate one per profile/account from what I remember, but I don't know how that looks on the home screen.

Ahh, interesting!

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

there's a way around that. I think creating a separate profile will allow for more games, but I don't really know how it works. the file that limits you is called the barista file. there's a separate one per profile/account from what I remember, but I don't know how that looks on the home screen.

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

you can also get around it with system config tool, but you'll just have a list of games. a third way is separate hdds. separate hdds will mess up your folders and things though. unplugging an hdd is fine, but plugging in a new one will reset the arrangement.

That's all good info! I think I'd still like to try the SD first, but I'm going to make a note of all this

 

[Tyson TH]

I've heard of the stealth thing. What's the procedure for playing Wii games off the SD card?

If you haven't hacked your vWii yet, you can follow this: https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-definitive-vwii-hacking-guide.425852/#4. Once you've installed cIOS you should be able to run WBFS files (most common way to run Wii backups to my knowledge) from the SD card. From there you can install WiiFlow as it's the only backup loader I'm aware of that you can use to run backups off an SD card. It will require putting your games in a folder called wbfs on the root of the SD card.

The guide can get a little convoluted so be sure to follow it to the letter and once you're set up running backups is very straightforward.