Hacking Homebrew Emulator Wii/vWii Single ROM Loaders (SRLs) launched from Wii U Forwarders Project.

[SaulFabre]

Hi there all,

I recently managed to make some of my custom Single ROM Loaders (SRLs) that were made for use on original Wii and the vWii mode of the Wii U for be able to launch (boot) them from Wii U channel forwarders (from the Wii U Menu).

The order line i've used for make this possible is:

Wii U Channel Forwarder made for the Wii/vWii SRL >> Wii U DOL forwarder (compiled custom version of the Nintendont autoboot forwarder) >> Wii DOL forwarder which will launch the SRL >> Emulator SRL main boot.dol file
EDIT: Now it's just Wii U Channel Forwarder made for the Wii/vWii SRL >> Wii DOL forwarder which will launch the SRL >> Emulator SRL main boot.dol file

I don't have enough time at the moment for make a tutorial for get this working, however i will share a sneak peek of this working, in this example with my SRL of Mortal Kombat 4 (N64) running on Mupen64GC-FIX94:

(thanks @pedro702 for testing this for me! Sorry if the video is of a bit bad quality and if it's inverted )



EDIT: A more clear explanation of how this works: you launch the game autolauncher (for example, using @niuus' Snes9x RX as emulator base for that) from the Wii U Menu (via a Wii U Channel Forwarder made for the SRL, can be overclocked or not), which inside has a DOL file (i used Nintendont autoboot forwarder by @FIX94 for this) which will load a file called "wiiu2wii_boot.dol" (a normal Wii DOL Forwarder with meta.xml support (originally by @FIX94, can be made using @XFlak's ModMii) inside the SRL folder that then once loaded will load the emulator DOL and read the meta.xml arguments. But since we're launching the SRL from Wii U Menu and not from vWii Menu, you are able to use the Wii U GamePad and enjoy the full speed of Wii U in the SRL (specially on SA-1 games and when some games require a Super FX overclock, in the case of Snes9x RX), by using sign_c2w_patcher by @FIX94.

EDIT 2: Now you can simply inject the Wii forwarder DOL you made with ModMii Forwarder Builder directly to the Wii U VC title (forwarder), without needing anymore the Nintendont autoboot forwarder, with TeconMoon's WiiVC Injector Mod by timefox (i didn't test this using UWUVCI AIO v3.99.0+ though). (thanks @ploggy!)

In this video, for make the banner and icon for N64 Wii U VC i used @NicoAICP's UWUVCI AIO tool, then i injected my compiled custom Nintendont autoboot forwarder (original from @FIX94) with my custom paths using @TeconMoon's WiiVC Injector (since it has support for enable/disabling vWii overclocking feature).

A more clear tutorial for how to make Wii Single ROM Loaders, with their forwarder channels for the Wii U Menu, you can go in this link: https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-...ls-of-your-favorite-retro-games-d-wii.602640/

For know how to make Wii U forwarder channels for vWii homebrew, check this tutorial made by @Trudes: https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-...for-any-vwii-homebrew-gamepad-support.614406/

What do you think?

- saulfabreg (@SaulFabre)

 

[V10lator]

Thanks, was able to reconstruct it:

1. Create a SRL like described in your howto
2. Grab these sources: https://github.com/V10lator/nintendont-autoboot-forwarder
3. Change lines 17-19 of source/main.c to the SRLs name
4. Compile (build.sh or Build.bat)
5. Inject the resulting boot.dol with Teconmoon's Injector

//EDIT: I wonder if it works to skip the modified Nintendont forwarder / inject the SRLs boot.dol directly. Don't have the time to test this right now through.

 

[SaulFabre]

I wonder if it works to skip the modified Nintendont forwarder / inject the SRLs boot.dol directly. Don't have the time to test this right now through.

You can't just insert the boot.dol of the emulator on a Wii U forwarder if your interest is making custom SRLs. If you try to do that, you'll not have arguments support, so the emulator will load the menu and not directly to the game.

 

[ploggy]

@SaulFabre Heres a quick Vid of the Crash Bandicoot 2 SRL I made the other day

I used Modmii to create the Forwarder dol and TeconMoons app to inject

 

[V10lator]

you'll not have arguments support, so the emulator will load the menu and not directly to the game.

That explains a lot. What arguments are needed?

 

[SaulFabre]

That explains a lot. What arguments are needed?

@V10lator

The required arguments for use for autoload the games depends of the emulator you're using.
You can get my SRLs with all the required arguments, ready for edit them with the game you want to load: https://gbatemp.net/threads/my-coll...-for-some-best-wii-homebrew-emulators.591509/

A guide for how to use them:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-...ls-of-your-favorite-retro-games-d-wii.602640/

 

[V10lator]

@SaulFabre Thanks again, adjusted codes and will try tomorrow.
Anyway, if I understand this correctly you need just one SRL for multiple forwarders (as arguments are moved from meta.xml to the forwarder) ?

 

[SaulFabre]

@SaulFabre Thanks again, adjusted codes and will try tomorrow.
Anyway, if I understand this correctly you need just one SRL for multiple forwarders (as arguments are moved from meta.xml to the forwarder) ?

No.

One forwarder will point to one SRL.
So, if you want to make for example 25 SRLs, you'll need to make 25 forwarders (1 forwarder per SRL).

 

[V10lator]

One forwarder will point to one SRL.

Why?
Say I want to install two SNES forwarders.
I'm putting one SNES SRL onto my SD card.
Now I'm using these codes: https://github.com/V10lator/nintendont-autoboot-forwarder/blob/master/source/main.c - compiling and injecting as is.
After that I'm changing this line to point to a different ROM: https://github.com/V10lator/nintendont-autoboot-forwarder/blob/master/source/main.c#L19 - compiling and injecting (with a different title ID) again.

Now I have two forwarders with one SRL, no? Seriously: Where am I thinking wrong?

 

[SaulFabre]

Why?
Say I want to install two SNES forwarders.
I'm putting one SNES SRL onto my SD card.
Now I'm using these codes: https://github.com/V10lator/nintendont-autoboot-forwarder/blob/master/source/main.c - compiling and injecting as is.
After that I'm changing this line to point to a different ROM: https://github.com/V10lator/nintendont-autoboot-forwarder/blob/master/source/main.c#L19 - compiling and injecting (with a different title ID) again.

Now I have two forwarders with one SRL, no? Seriously: Where am I thinking wrong?

Oh, I understand.
So you're using just one dol file for the emulator (in this case Snes9x RX) you want to use, but you're using several forwarders for several games (ROMs).
I didn't know that this can be done, i will try your modded version of the Nintendont autoboot forwarder.

(PD: Yes I know some homebrew uses 2 arguments for autolaunch games, but others have 3 arguments or even just one)

 

[V10lator]

I didn't know that this can be done, i will try your modded version of the Nintendont autoboot forwarder.

I just tried it for myself (3 different ROMs/injects over one SRL) and it seems to work.

//EDIT: Tried with upstream SNES9xRX instead of your SRL and it works, too.

//EDIT²: Works with upstream WiiSXRX, too. So it seems some of your SRL patches are no longer needed.

 

[ploggy]

This same method also works for Dosboxwii games too I have Kings Quest 7 running from WiiU!
Wiimote works as a mouse pointer too!!

 

[SaulFabre]

Another video of this method working, on this SRL of Turok 3 running on Not64 (since there's no Wii U GamePad support on Not64, it was played with Wii U Pro Controller).

Tested by @pedro702

 

[sergillo_8]

@SaulFabre he intentado compilarlo pero las instrucciones no están muy claras a ver si puedes hacer un tutorial mejor y si te puedo servir como tester pues perfecto

 

[SaulFabre]

@SaulFabre he intentado compilarlo pero las instrucciones no están muy claras a ver si puedes hacer un tutorial mejor y si te puedo servir como tester pues perfecto

@sergillo_8

1. English only forum, sorry (please write in English)
2. Looks like compiling the Nintendont autoboot forwarder it's not needed anymore in this project (you can inject the normal Wii DOL forwarder into WiiVC injects using timefox's TeconMoon's WiiVC Injector Mod)
3. If you want to be one of my beta testers, i will send you a PM or add to one of my PMs with beta testers.

 

[SaulFabre]

@SaulFabre he intentado compilarlo pero las instrucciones no están muy claras a ver si puedes hacer un tutorial mejor y si te puedo servir como tester pues perfecto

@sergillo_8
A more detailed tutorial:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-...ls-of-your-favorite-retro-games-d-wii.602640/