Hacking vWii Emunand uses?

[cookie15]

I've been doing a lot of reading on vWii Emunand so I wanted to confirm if it is something I need.

I want to install a lot of VC .wad files. Are these installed to the SD card or the NAND of the vWii? If so, would having emunand allow these to be stored on the USB hard drive instead?

What are the pro's and con's of having set up Emunand? What is the difference between setting up emunand as such:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/vwii-sneek.360615/

VS. in the USB loader
https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-loader-gx-emunand-on-vwii.379607/

Which of these two options is easier?

 

[Cyan]

Wad files are installed to the (limited sized) NAND.
Once on the NAND, you can move the data to SD card (using the official SD card menu).
And install more wads to NAND, repeat etc.

At the end, when you will launch a game located on SD menu, the console temporarily copy the data back to the NAND before launching the game.
if you launch another game, it deletes the temporary files, and copy the new one to NAND, etc.

The USB loaders can display and launch channels only located on NAND. The one on the SD menu can't be launched.


If you plan to have all your games channels on SD and launch them from a loader, then EmuNAND is what you want.
It creates a copy of the NAND to SD or USB, and the loader use that copy as if it was your real console.
You can install as many channels as you have enough free space (2TB partition).



Like you noticed, there are two different emuNAND method:
Neek and cIOS.
neek is a fully emulated environment, all games (almost 100%) are working. but you need to setup neek files, and launch the emulated system menu to launch a channel. The system menu can display only 48 games at the same time.
so if you have more, you can't see them, but neek has a menu to launch additional/hidden channels.
neek (or only neek2o?) has internal patches to set region free and different hacks to the vWii system menu.


the cIOS emuNAND is a redirection done on realNAND.
when the loader launches the game, it reloads to cIOS d2x and tell cIOS to redirect all NAND access to external device.
The cIOS and the environment runs on RealNAND but all NAND access are redirected.
Advantage is easier setup, faster launch and return to loader at game exit. You can list all your games directly from the loaders.
Disadvantage is a less compatibility (75-80% maybe)


The easier is cIOS:
launch USBLoaderGX
go to main menu>top bar>4th icon>enable EmuNAND
go to Settings>features>dump NAND.
go to Settings>features>wad instal to install new games to emuNANDl.
Done !
all is done directly from the loader. dumping, listing, launching, installing wads to emuNAND.


go to Settings>User path>nand path : edit the "EmuNAND channel" path if needed.
set the "EmuNAND save" path to the same location before creating a dump as it's the path that the dump will be created to.



Maybe the issue is not region free? I never tried to launch a channel from another region.
On Wii, modchips can help for region free, but I don't know if channels from other regions need to be patched first vWii.

 

[cookie15]

Wow a very informative post! Thanks for replying. I'll try the cIOS method then.

Wad files are installed to the (limited sized) NAND.
Once on the NAND, you can move the data to SD card (using the official SD card menu).
And install more wads to NAND, repeat etc.

At the end, when you will launch a game located on SD menu, the console is temporarily copy the data back to the NAND before launching the game.
if you launch another game, it deletes the temporary files, and copy the new one to NAND, etc.

The USB loaders can display and launch channels only located on NAND. The one on the SD menu can't be launched.


If you plan to have all your games channels on SD and launch them from a loader, then EmuNAND is what you want.
It creates a copy of the NAND to SD or USB, and the loader use that copy as if it was your real console.
You can install as many channels as you have enough free space (2TB partition).



Like you noticed, there are two different emuNAND method:
Neek and cIOS.
neek is a fully emulated environment, all games (almost 100%) are working. but you need to setup neek files, and launch the emulated system menu to launch a channel. The system menu can display only 48 games at the same time.
so if you have more, you can't see them, but neek has a menu to launch additional/hidden channels.
neek (or only neek2o?) has internal patches to set region free and different hacks to the vWii system menu.


the cIOS emuNAND is a redirection done on realNAND.
when the loader launches the game, it reloads to cIOS d2x and tell cIOS to redirect all NAND access to external device.
The cIOS and the environment runs on RealNAND but all NAND access are redirected.
Advantage is easier setup, faster launch and return to loader at game exit. You can list all your games directly from the loaders.
Disadvantage is a less compatibility (75-80% maybe)


The easier is cIOS:
launch USBLoaderGX
go to main menu>top bar>4th icon>enable EmuNAND
go to Settings>features>dump NAND.
go to Settings>features>wad instal to install new games to emuNANDl.
Done !
all is done directly from the loader. dumping, listing, launching, installing wads to emuNAND.


go to Settings>User path>nand path : edit the "EmuNAND channel" path if needed.
set the "EmuNAND save" path to the same location before creating a dump as it's the path that the dump will be created to.



Maybe the issue is not region free? I never tried to launch a channel from another region.
On Wii, modchips can help for region free, but I don't know if channels from other regions need to be patched first vWii.

 

[shabbyblue]

OK, I'm following the cIOS instructions for setting up emuNAND, and I just dumped my NAND to a folder called "emunand" on my FAT32 formated USB drive. (Before dumping, I set the NAND save and channel paths to this folder.) This USB drive is the same one that I'm using to play backed up games, incidentally.

After dumping the NAND, I then set USB Loader to look only at the emuNAND. I saw a number of channels and games, which was to be expected. But when I clicked on a game to play it, I got a message saying that I needed to set the game load setting to d2x cIOS. I'm not sure how to do this. Can someone tell me what needs to be done here? I did go to Settings and try to change the loader game load settings, but I wasn't sure what to put in. It was set to 249 already, and I wasn't sure how to enter in "d2x cIOS". I only had a numeric keypad to use.

Also, per the cIOS instructions, it looks like I need to install the wads that were save to my USB drive as part of the NAND dump, but I don't see any wad files on the drive in the folder I saved to, or anywhere else for that matter. Is this necessary step or am I'm misunderstanding the instructions?

 

[Cyan]

what is your current cIOS version?
go to settings>Credit page, look at the top.

If you have an old cIOS (like rev17 or rev20 or 21) it will not work.
You need to update your cIOS, use d2x cIOS installer to install d2x v8

if you are on Wii
if you are on vWii

install :
what : v8 (or v10 beta52 on vWii. do not install v8 on vWii!)
slot : 249
base: 56
version 21008 (or 21010 on vwii)

that's all.
your "249" will now be d2x and USBLoaderGX will not warn you anymore.



You don't set "d2x" in the loader, you just select the slot where you installed d2x.
if you install d2x in slot249, then in the loader's setting you set the number to "249".

 

[xem]

Wow, having a vwii cIOS is as easy as that? We can have it directly from the usbloadergx menus?...
Why no one told us that earlier? ^^
I gotta try that! I have so many wad files I was too afraid to use.

 

[Cyan]

yes, if you already followed the softmod guides for vWii, you already have d2x v10 (beta52) or v10alt (beta53).
beta53 has less compatibility with EmuNAND, so you should install beta52.


Then, just use USBGX menus to dump NAND and install wads to it.
that's all you need.
1. dump nand
2. select "channels on emuNAND" in 4th icon at the top menu
3....
4. enjoy

like I said, I don't know if vWii is region free or if you need to patch wads.
also note that not all games are working with the cIOS method and you will need neek method for 100% compatibility.

 

[cookie15]

So I tried both methods. Doing it with cIOS is my preferred way but unfortunately not all VC titles work.

vWii SNEEK would be better but I haven't figured out how to get my channels working in emuNAND (mainly USB Loader GX). SNEEK has the ability to load Wii games directly from the disc channel but I don't like the interface used to switch games and also I need to convert all my Wii iso's into SNEEK format which is a pain. Ideally if I can use SNEEK in emuNAND for VC titles with USB Loader GX for Wii titles that would be the best. If anyone has pointers I can continue testing.

 

[Cyan]

Sneek mode launched from USBLoaderGX is a work in progress and will be released shortly (r1247).
It will take advantage of "neek2o" autoboot feature for channels.

So, if you install a clean neek (by following tutorial to install create neek emuNAND) it will only boot to system menu.
If you install a "neek2o" version of neek, it can autoboot channels launched from USBLoaderGX.
Additionally it can list and launch Wii games in .wbfs file extension in wbfs folder without you to convert the format.


neek2o is r96 for wii only.
an unreleased beta for vWii exists, but it's like I said unreleased by its author.
if you are on vWii, you should use the cIOS emuNAND method, or sneek launching to system menu + launching channel from there.

Here is the current possibilities:

Wii and vWii :
USBLoaderGX > sneek > system menu > channel
USBLoaderGX > sneek > system menu > Wii games in extracted format

Wii (vWii not released):
USBLoaderGX > neek2o > system menu > channel
USBLoaderGX > neek2o > system menu > Wii games in extracted format
USBLoaderGX > neek2o > system menu > Wii games in wbfs file format
USBLoaderGX > neek2o > autoboot > channel

future feature:
USBLoaderGX > neek2o > autoboot > Wii game in wbfs file format (so you can launch tintin or other protected games directly from the loader)

Some users are doing it the reversed way, by launching the loader from neek to list channels installed on neek:
neek > system menu > ubloaderGX > channel on realNAND (which is not the real NAND but the emulated one, it just acts as if it was the real one)

 

[xem]

So I'll try cIOS, thanks!
But I'm curious if there is a simple tutorial explaining the other way (neek on vwii)?
A tuto as simple as the one cyan made for cIOS, in a few lines, will do.
It's to add both tutos in my beginner's guide
Ty!

 

[shabbyblue]

Cyan, I had an old cios. It was ver 20. So per your suggestion, I downloaded the installer for d2x cIOS and ran the setup per the accompanying readme file in the v8 folder.

I was only able to update to v6, howerver. V8 wasn't an option. So I tried playing a few of the games again to see they would now work and this time instead of getting the message about setting the game load setting to d2x cIOS, I now get a black screen and nothing happens. The only way out of it is turning off the wii and turning it back on.

Any suggestions?

 

[Cyan]

if you used my links, you have all the version from v6 to v10 (use D-pad Left and Right to select the version to install)

If you used your own installer and "ran the setup" (? what do you mean?) and didn't copy the files correctly to the correct location, then v8 is not found by the program.
Please, just use the link I gave above.
extract to your SD, run it.


Running a game just black screen ... because you probably tried the game which is not compatible.
I don't know why, but all users trying emuNAND for the first time have the strange habit to try it with the wrong game, one which is not compatible.
Don't try a virtual console, don't try N64 games.

or it's just because v6 is not working with your particular game.
different version of cIOS have different EmuNAND compatibility.
http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Wii_EmuNAND_Channel_Compatibility_List

 

[xem]

Sorry to bother you again, but I did everything you said (install d2x cIOS beta52-vwii, use USBLGX, extract nand, install a bunch of games on emunand 1 by 1, show them with the 4th tab of USBLGX) and it doesn't work.

Each .wad I installed appear as a black channel and if I try to launch them the screen stays black and i have to reboot my wiiu.

I didn't specify a path for my emunand so I don't know where it went by default (HDD or SD?).

I tried both PAL and RegionFree wads, and none of them works. Did I forget something?

PS: My HDD is formatted in NTFS, is that a possible reason for this bug?

Thanks!

 

[Cyan]

yes, that's the reason.
It didn't tell you that you needed FAT32?

I'll check where the warning is located, it should warn you if you try to launch EmuNAND without FAT32.


But it's strange that you got only black banners, it should display them correctly as long as you are in the loader.
something went wrong.

 

[xem]

Oh okay. I saw the FAT32 restriction on http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Wii_EmuNAND_Channel_Compatibility_List but it says it's for "old cIOS". I thought I had a new enough one. Okay, I'll format it then. But no, I didn't get any warning. The nand dump and wad installs worked fine.
Or use the SD...
The above site says we can use SD instead of HDD, but I also don't know how to do that. Do I have to dump my nand to the SD by specifying a custom path?

 

[Cyan]

the default path is already on SD card (if you launch USBLoaderGX from SD).
sd:/nand/

to change the path, it's in the settings>user path>EmuNAND save and EmuNAND channel.
I will update the emuNAND dump function to let the user choose where to dump the NAND (save or channel path)

it's not intuitive enough to have to set both path to same folder to dump NAND.

 

[shabbyblue]

Thanks, Cyan. I was able to get v8 installed. and it looks like I'm now able to play 1 game.

I don't think the issue was the version, though, since I'm still unable to play the games I'd tried to play initially.

Per your point the games that I was having trouble with were all VC games.

I want to try the neek method instead. Can you direct me to the proper tutorial? I did find a tutorial (https://gbatemp.net/threads/emulate-a-wii-nand-to-keep-your-wii-clean.291814/) but it said that the neek method wouldn't work for wii's sold prior to 2010 (and mine falls into this category).

 

[Cyan]

old tutorial have only old and wrong informations.
at the time of writing, launching neek was limited to consoles with boot1 vulnerability (to launch neek with boot2).

Now neek can be launched from a homebrew like any other apps.


I did a "quick guide" here :
https://gbatemp.net/threads/driver-san-francisco-hangs-on-load-screen.389252/#post-5508831

I hope it's good enough.

 

[xem]

Yay! I mean, nooooo, it's just for wii, not vwii =(

 

[shabbyblue]

Thanks for the guide, Cyan. I actually decided to go another route. The whole reason I wanted to use emunand was so that I could have my VC and wiiware games show up along with my wii games. I'd was sort of able to do this initially by simply checking off the NAND option in addition to the Wii games option, but this allowed HomeBrew, USB Loader and other channels to show up that I didn't want, not just the wiiware and VC games which is what I was shooting for. So to "get rid" of these other channels, I implemented the lock feature on them. Now when selecting NAND, with the lock on, I only see the channels I want, which are all games. I think this will do for now. I guess if I should reach a point where my NAND is filled up, I'll look into emuNAND again. Thanks for you help, though. Much appreciated.