Hacking USB Loader GX

[ngs428]

Which version of the loader are you using?
Nintendont changed the host from googlecode to github. If you still use an old version of USBLoaderGX with the old googlecode URL then it will always link to 3.303.
To get the new nintendont versions, you need to update the loader (link in my signature) which contains the new URL to github.

It's currently only a manual update, but I will release this revision into the internal update menu this week.


@ngs428:
if you don't install cIOS files, then like it's explained in what you quoted : "only gamecube and channels (virtual console/WiiWare)".
If you want to play Wii games from USB, then you need to install a custom IOS.

Most guides to softmod the Wii (or WiiU) has steps to install cIOS too, so if you have homebrew there's a lot of chance you also have cIOS.
You need a custom IOS installed in your slot249.
slot 249 : cIOS d2x v8 base56


To install the loader, you can use the windows installer. it will install the latest "stable" version to your SD or USB. You don't need the "all in one package" which is older.
But I recommend instead to download the file in my signature (which is revision 1254 today) and extract it to your SD card.
then launch the homebrew from the homebrew channel.


info: AHB access is granted to all homebrew by The homebrew Channel 1.0.7 or newer.
it provides access to hardware (SD, USB, NAND, Disc, etc.) without the use of a custom IOS. (so IOS58 is enough for Gamecube, Channels, Homebrew, etc.)
but it can't redirect Wii game disc loading to USB, you still need a cIOS for that.

I am about 99% sure I don't have a cIOS. I have not installed one, just installed homebrew via letterbomb and the apps I listed. I will install the files in your sig and go from there. Sounds like I will need the cIOS to get the wii game ability. Thanks for listing the cIOS.

Thanks for the reply. I will review and reply with any further questions. Thanks again!

 

[Cyan]

if you need to install the cIOS, you can use modmii (PC apps that will generate a guide and download needed files), or use the cIOS installer homebrew :
For Wii
For vWii (on WiiU)

run the installer, select slot249, d2x v8, base 56, version 21008. install, exit, done

 

[ngs428]

if you need to install the cIOS, you can use modmii (PC apps that will generate a guide and download needed files), or use the cIOS installer homebrew :
For Wii
For vWii (on WiiU)

run the installer, select slot249, d2x v8, base 56, version 21008. install, exit, done

Great! Will this mess with regular disc loading on the Wii? Will wii or GC game discs still work. Just want to verify before my family yells at me if I bust anything

 

[TecXero]

Great! Will this mess with regular disc loading on the Wii? Will wii or GC game discs still work. Just want to verify before my family yells at me if I bust anything

You should install the cIOSs to empty or stubbed slots. So they won't interfere with normal operation. So no, you can still play discs normally if you choose to do so.

 

[Cyan]

You will have choice of "where to install", choose the slot number 249.
Anything below 200 are official IOS from nintendo, never touch that.
above 200, these are location where homebrew/dev/hackers/pirates are installing patched IOS for their needs.
usually :

236 : a patched version of IOS36, it was used to install Wad files. not needed anymore.
249 : main slot for USBLoaders, usually it's a patched version of IOS56 which is installed here (an IOS based on IOS 56 = d2x base56)
250 : second slot for USBLoaders, usually it's based on IOS57, and is used for games not working with base56 (call of duty, some music games) (d2x base57)
254 : This is Bootmii program installed in slot 254! never delete/replace that slot.

Your slot 249 and some other slots may already contains something and are not empty.
This is Nintendo doing, they installed faked IOS in these place (called "stub"), hoping to prevent users from using them. just install yours and it will overwrite the currently installed data.

 

[OriginalHamster]

the code is not fully there.
I don't remember which was the issue, but it's easy to go back in the thread and search the reason.
I remember there were something which was hard to do (or to choose how to do it).

Will search. I though most features could work individually, but I really don't know how ULGX is coded internally, oh well, I think I can survive playing RE0 in distorted 16:9

 

[Cyan]

just switch the output before launching the game.
it require extra steps to go to settings>features, but it's possible to do.
you are not playing that game every day for a year, and launching it every hours.

I know an option is better, but this "fix" is currently the best choice you have.

I'll see later to add individual settings for wii games (if not hard).
but adding additional settings (code, menu, language, etc.) for a single game is a lot of lost dol size I could use for something else.
4927360 bytes is the last limit.
I had to remove PS3 controller from 1235 and theme menu to add SSL function for nintendont.

 

[Troopage]

just switch the output before launching the game.
it require extra steps to go to settings>features, but it's possible to do.
you are not playing that game every day for a year, and launching it every hours.

I know an option is better, but this "fix" is currently the best choice you have.

I'll see later to add individual settings for wii games (if not hard).
but adding additional settings (code, menu, language, etc.) for a single game is a lot of lost dol size I could use for something else.
4927360 bytes is the last limit.
I had to remove PS3 controller from 1235 and theme menu to add SSL function for nintendont.

You could still always remove the "Theme Downloader" part of the settings to save space. How much space would it save anyway?

 

[Cyan]

not much more.
I already removed all part of the code which displays and download themes.
What's left is only a button and a text explaining to users that the download are not working anymore (they think it's a bug of the loader, but it's an issue with the theme website). I'll remove the button on final v3.1
I went from 4 927k to 4 913k by removing the themes and adding SSL and doing some optimizations. (4.68Mb works, 4.69 crashes)
I tried to relocate the loader in mem2 but it crashes too, I don't know why yet. maybe a bug in the code instead of a file size issue.

 

[Shiranui-san]

@Cyan, can you make a list of things that need to be tested on v1254?

 

[OriginalHamster]

I'll see later to add individual settings for wii games (if not hard).
but adding additional settings (code, menu, language, etc.) for a single game is a lot of lost dol size I could use for something else.
4927360 bytes is the last limit.
I had to remove PS3 controller from 1235 and theme menu to add SSL function for nintendont.

They are actually 4 games in the top of my mind

 

[Troopage]

not much more.
I already removed all part of the code which displays and download themes.
What's left is only a button and a text explaining to users that the download are not working anymore (they think it's a bug of the loader, but it's an issue with the theme website). I'll remove the button on final v3.1
I went from 4 927k to 4 913k by removing the themes and adding SSL and doing some optimizations. (4.68Mb works, 4.69 crashes)
I tried to relocate the loader in mem2 but it crashes too, I don't know why yet. maybe a bug in the code instead of a file size issue.

Hmm, thanks for answering. I wish there was another way...

 

[OriginalHamster]

Sorry, double post

 

[DJPlace]

if i'm right my nintendon't version always stays at 3.334? i will have to double check.

 

[ngs428]

just switch the output before launching the game.
it require extra steps to go to settings>features, but it's possible to do.
you are not playing that game every day for a year, and launching it every hours.

I know an option is better, but this "fix" is currently the best choice you have.

I'll see later to add individual settings for wii games (if not hard).
but adding additional settings (code, menu, language, etc.) for a single game is a lot of lost dol size I could use for something else.
4927360 bytes is the last limit.
I had to remove PS3 controller from 1235 and theme menu to add SSL function for nintendont.

Can I install USBGX r1254 before I install cIOS d2x v8 base56? Does the install order matter?

The way you described things this seems fairly straight forward. Put the USBGX and d2x-cios-installer folder you linked to in the apps folder on the SD, install USBGX via homebrew and the install d2x-cios-installer using: run the installer, select slot249, d2x v8, base 56, version 21008. install, exit, done.

It looks like 2 USB drives can't be used with cIOS d2x v8 base56, v9+ is needed. Looks like the one included in your link V10 is in beta. There is no v9.

I appreciate the help. cIOS scared me a bit, doesn't seem so intimidating now.

 

[tswntk]

Can I install USBGX r1254 before I install cIOS d2x v8 base56? Does the install order matter?

The way you described things this seems fairly straight forward. Put the USBGX and d2x-cios-installer folder you linked to in the apps folder on the SD, install USBGX via homebrew and the install d2x-cios-installer using: run the installer, select slot249, d2x v8, base 56, version 21008. install, exit, done.

It looks like 2 USB drives can't be used with cIOS d2x v8 base56, v9+ is needed. Looks like the one included in your link V10 is in beta. There is no v9.

I appreciate the help. cIOS scared me a bit, doesn't seem so intimidating now.

Installation order doesn't matter. They are independent of each other (installation wise)

Yes, they are pretty straight forwards. In fact, you don't even need an installer for USBGX (or any other HBC compatible homebrews). All you need is to copy the correct\lastest boot.dol, icon.png and meta.xml into SD(/USB):\apps\usbloader_gx (or any other names for other homebrews) and then use HBC to launch it. Of course, on initial launch, you should setup paths and other configurations to your liking and to reflect your system setups. (Well, if you want to launch homebrew directly from the system menu, then you will need to install forwarders)

V10 is in beta but that doesn't mean it is not stable. It just mean it is not fully tested when first released. beta 52/53 replaces v8/v9. Anyway, you can always re-install any version if one is not working for you.

cios is not intimidating at all. It is noobs that tried to "clean up" their systems by uninstalling cios, wads (worse yet, they remove system ios or other wrong files), installing bad wads, mess with system ios or installing things for Wii onto vWii that messed things up.

 

[Cyan]

There's no installation of the loader. You just run it and it launch.
but there's an installation of the cIOS. (run it to select what to install inside the console)

Order doesn't matter.
If you launch the loader before installing cIOS, the loader will use the official IOS58 (which has USB2.0 capability) instead of using cIOS to get USB2.0 functions.
The loader interface works fine with IOS58, but you can't launch Wii games.

if you install cIOS after that, the "loader's IOS" setting will still be set to 58, that's fine but you can change it to 249 in the settings if you want.
You will see that in the settings, you have two IOS options :
Loader's IOS : the IOS slot used by the loader interface, to get hardware access (SD, USB, NAND, Disc). Can be 58 and any 200+
Game's IOS : the IOS slot used by games, usually 249. can be 200+ only
if the loader's IOS is different than the game's IOS, the loader will reload the game's IOS in memory before launching the game.

Having both option set to the same slot is used to speed up a little the launch/boot process. as everything is using the same IOS slot, you skip the reloading part (~1 seconds).


for cIOS d2x :
v8 : latest stable
v9 : beta. more HDD supported and with dual port support, but it had some issues with emulated NAND feature so it was separated in two versions :
v10 : v8 + v9 HDD support + EmuNAND stable
v10-alt : v8 + v9 HDD support + Dual port support + emuNAND unstable

Do you really need dual port support?
I recommend starting with v8
if you really need dual port, go to v10-alt


And IOS are very easy to understand.
IOS are the functions used by the consoles to interact with hardware (Wiimote, SD, USB, NAND, wifi module, etc.)
The console have 257 slots where it can contains these system files.
Each program, homebrew, application, even the system menu, anything which run on the console can use ONLY ONE IOS at a time.
instead of using a "firmware" system like other consoles, nintendo is keeping the old files for old games, and install updated files in new slots for new games, and so on.

Zelda twilight princess uses slot9
Mario kart use slot36
System menu 3.2 use slot60
System menu 4.3 use slot80
USBLoaderGX use slot249
Gamecube mode uses slot257 (nicknamed M IOS)
etc.
One IOS can't mess with another one.
When you reload into an IOS slot, there's only that one in memory. other slots have no interaction.
so as long as you keep the official IOS intact, your console will work as intended with official games.
never edit IOS in slot below 200 and you will be fine.

@Cyan, can you make a list of things that need to be tested on v1254?

like every revision, what needs to be tested is related to the changelog.

1- Nintendont Video scale and video position : it should use the individual setting when set in the game settings, and the global one when set to "use global".
especially the "video scale" setting as it's different than the other one. All settings in USBLoaderGX use the value "-1" to tell the loader to use the global setting. But the video scale option has a range from -20 to +20, so the -1 value can't be use for "global". I set the value -21 for global setting.
This could create issue if I didn't correctly detect that value before launching the game.

2- all version of nintendont should work.
if you can, test nintendont 353, 354, 358, 368 (each are using a different config version)
If it autoboot, then it means it works.
If it stops at "select SD/USB" it means it didn't work.


3- Do you have download issue?
covers, gametdb, banner, language, update?
I still need someone to test that before tomorrow! (today preferably)
if nobody helps for this, I will release the next revision anyway.

Thank you.

 

[suloku]

@Cyan
Did you consider what I posted here? https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-loader-gx.149922/page-1024#post-5615911
I've read about the space constains, which I didn't know about; adding the favorites stars to the code adds 3104 bytes to the r1254 dol file, so I guess that might be a good reason to not include it, even less adding config settings for it, but I still think it is a very useful feature that should be accesible from banner mode.

 

[Cyan]

ohh, thanks for bumping that, I missed your post.
it could be done I guess
oh and you already did a patch!
I just need to add a setting in GUI for the display choice.

Do you have overscan values in your GUI settings? or you edited the projection value in banner menu?
The stars are correctly positioned if I use GUI overscan Y -10
I moved them a littler higher for default overscan value (0, 0 in GUI, and default value in banner menu too)

 

[Shiranui-san]

1- Nintendont Video scale and video position : it should use the individual setting when set in the game settings, and the global one when set to "use global".
especially the "video scale" setting as it's different than the other one. All settings in USBLoaderGX use the value "-1" to tell the loader to use the global setting. But the video scale option has a range from -20 to +20, so the -1 value can't be use for "global". I set the value -21 for global setting.
This could create issue if I didn't correctly detect that value before launching the game.

You mixed the settings: "video scale" ranges from 40 to 120, it is "video offset" the one that ranges from -20 to +20.

Tested with USB Loader v1254 + Nintendont v3.370:

"Video Scale" works fine, I tested it with Soul Calibur II PAL. I set the option to max value (120) in the global settings. I can clearly see how Nintendonts' loading screen is stretched, and the Soul Calibur II logo is also stretched, being closer to the tv edges (with default value of 40, the logo is centered on the the screen).
The "Use global" value (-1) for individual settings works too.
Finally, introducing any value you want in individual settings (and different from the value set in Global Settings) works too, so individual settings have preference over global settings.

Same testings for "Video offset":
"Video offset" works fine, I tested it with Soul Calibur II PAL. I set the option to min value (-20) in the global settings. I can clearly see how the screen is moved to the left, both in Nintendonts' loading screen and once the game loads.
The "Use global" value (-21) for individual settings works too.
Finally, introducing any value you want in individual settings (and different from the value set in Global Settings) works too, so individual settings have preference over global settings.

2- all version of nintendont should work.
if you can, test nintendont 353, 354, 358, 368 (each are using a different config version)
If it autoboot, then it means it works.
If it stops at "select SD/USB" it means it didn't work.

USB Loader GX v1254 + Nintendont v3.353, autoboot works.
USB Loader GX v1254 + Nintendont v3.354, autoboot works.
USB Loader GX v1254 + Nintendont v3.358, autoboot works.
USB Loader GX v1254 + Nintendont v3.368, autoboot works.
USB Loader GX v1254 + Nintendont v3.370, autoboot works.

3- Do you have download issue?
covers, gametdb, banner, language, update?
I still need someone to test that before tomorrow! (today preferably)
if nobody helps for this, I will release the next revision anyway.

Covers from gametdb.com downloaded fine.
GC custom banners downloaded fine from nintendont.gxarena.com.
Wiitdb.xml downloaded/extracted without problems.
Language files downloaded without problems from GUI settings.

However, I noticed something: if you download some covers/banners/language files, and after that, try to download more covers/banners/language files, it will always fail. To download covers/banners/language again, you have to exit to Homebrew Channel and load USB Loader GX again.