Hacking WiiFlow Lite

[fledge68]

whats the diff between:
WFL v4.4.0 r1135.rar
&
wfl_r1135_as_wiiflow.rar

Its in the readme but you have to download it to read it.

Basically it works as wiiflow. You put it in apps/wiiflow and use wiiflow forwarders to launch it. Read the readme for more info

 

[Jochte]

I've run into some problems while exiting a number of titles (but not all titles) under retroarch while using them as plugins in wiiflow lite. My observation is as follows: game loads, plays fine, but then after exiting the game/plugin to return to wiiflow lite the wiiflow animation occurs followed by a DSI code dump. The code dump loops indefinitely every time the wii is powered on. If I open wiiflow lite.ini and delete the entry for "current_item=..." under [PLUGINS], the DSI code dump disappears on startup and everything returns to normal. Interestingly, the problem does not occur while using Abz Wiiflow, loading the same problem titles, and exiting the same way. The game exits normally and the "current_item=..." entry appears in the wiiflow.ini.

Perhaps one easy solution to this --(for me anyway) would be if an option were possible to prevent the .ini file from listing "current_item=..." under the [PLUGIN] category? If that were the case maybe my problem would be fixed..

EDIT:
Further testing using wfl_r1135_as_wiiflow.rar (with the working Abz Wiiflow as the base) does not resolve the problem.

 

[fledge68]

I've run into some problems while exiting a number of titles (but not all titles) under retroarch while using them as plugins in wiiflow lite. My observation is as follows: game loads, plays fine, but then after exiting the game/plugin to return to wiiflow lite the wiiflow animation occurs followed by a DSI code dump. The code dump loops indefinitely every time the wii is powered on. If I open wiiflow lite.ini and delete the entry for "current_item=..." under [PLUGINS], the DSI code dump disappears on startup and everything returns to normal. Interestingly, the problem does not occur while using Abz Wiiflow, loading the same problem titles, and exiting the same way. The game exits normally and the "current_item=..." entry appears in the wiiflow.ini.

Perhaps one easy solution to this --(for me anyway) would be if an option were possible to prevent the .ini file from listing "current_item=..." under the [PLUGIN] category? If that were the case maybe my problem would be fixed..

EDIT:
Further testing using wfl_r1135_as_wiiflow.rar (with the working Abz Wiiflow as the base) does not resolve the problem.

just to clarify - when you say "current_item=..." is the "..." really there or is the name of the game there?

 

[Jochte]

My apologies - It's the name of the game in place of the "..." followed by the extension: .zip

 

[fledge68]

My apologies - It's the name of the game in place of the "..." followed by the extension: .zip

Do the names contain any odd characters like !#:_ ? Maybe you post a example list of names that work and dont work

 

[VashTS]

@fledge68 great job on this!

just need a quick pointer - how can i change the path to the emunand on USB? i dont see it in the ini file anywhere or in the settings. my old wiiflow.ini has a [NAND] section and allowed me to swap it there.

 

[fledge68]

@fledge68 great job on this!

just need a quick pointer - how can i change the path to the emunand on USB? i dont see it in the ini file anywhere or in the settings. my old wiiflow.ini has a [NAND] section and allowed me to swap it there.

For wiiflow lite:

your emunand must in a subfolder of dev:/nands for wii or dev:/vwiinands for wii u vwii. you can have multiple emunands and put each in its on subfolder.
example:

dev:/nands/nand1
dev:/nands/nand2
dev:/nands/nand3

the device(dev)/partition can be SD or USB1. to select the dev/partition goto main settings and select 'game partitions' and on that menu set the emunand partition. in your case you would change it to usb1.

then go back to main settings and select 'nand settings'. on the first page at the top select the emunand you want to use. now go back and exit main settings. wiiflow lite will reload to that emunand if you are viewing emunand games or it will use the selected emunand when you do choose to view emunand games.

As for using an emunand for gamesaves of your wii games the same applies except to select dev/partition goto main settings then nand settings and goto the last page and change the savesnand partiton. and back on the first page choose the saves nand you want to use. also don't forget to globally set it to on or goto each games setting and set it to on for individual games you want to use the saves nand.

As for wiiflow_lite.ini everything is under [CHANNELS] for emunand or [WII] for wii gamesaves.

 

[VashTS]

For wiiflow lite:

your emunand must in a subfolder of dev:/nands for wii or dev:/vwiinands for wii u vwii. you can have multiple emunands and put each in its on subfolder.
example:

dev:/nands/nand1
dev:/nands/nand2
dev:/nands/nand3

the device(dev)/partition can be SD or USB1. to select the dev/partition goto main settings and select 'game partitions' and on that menu set the emunand partition. in your case you would change it to usb1.

then go back to main settings and select 'nand settings'. on the first page at the top select the emunand you want to use. now go back and exit main settings. wiiflow lite will reload to that emunand if you are viewing emunand games or it will use the selected emunand when you do choose to view emunand games.

As for using an emunand for gamesaves of your wii games the same applies except to select dev/partition goto main settings then nand settings and goto the last page and change the savesnand partiton. and back on the first page choose the saves nand you want to use. also don't forget to globally set it to on or goto each games setting and set it to on for individual games you want to use the saves nand.

As for wiiflow_lite.ini everything is under [CHANNELS] for emunand or [WII] for wii gamesaves.

Thanks. That works fine as USB Loader GX allows a custom path. I needed a custom path for one or the other

Wiiflow Lite does feel smooth, your work is much appreciated.

Now to figure out why these emunand channels won't launch i think its just the HDD being incompatible but testing shall commence!

 

[Jochte]

Do the names contain any odd characters like !#:_ ? Maybe you post a example list of names that work and dont work

No odd characters/symbols in the .zip titles. As an extra step I also renamed/removed all symbol type characters from the titles via custom_titles file. I did completely clear up the dsi dump problem from games that loaded utilizing one of the cores I was using. I did this by opening up Abz Wiiflow, reloading cache, and then re-highlighting the covers. Opening up games in wiiflow lite and exiting then returned to wiiflow lite successfully with no code dump. (Reloading cache in wiiflow lite previously did not solve problem. I had to reload cache in ABZ wiiflow BEFORE it would work in wiiflow lite.)

So great was able to solve one core. The original problem remains for fba. I tested a different fba core -- problem remains. So it seems to not be a core problem. It also appears not to be a game file problem because once opened and played successfully ALL games successfully exit and return to ABZ wiiflow without a code dump.

Using:
WFL v4.4.0 r1134 + wfl_r1134.patch (for random select a game option) + carbonik Abz WFL v1132
+ wiiflow lite wii forwarder channel -WFLA.wad

 

[VashTS]

I've tried everything imaginable so far but i can't get wiiflow lite to boot EmuNAND channels

I do have them launching just fine in USB Loader GX, so i can confirm at least verify 1. the emunand is fine 2. hdd is compatible with neek.

I've tried launching with d2x v10-52 and 53, sometimes i get a code dump while other times i get INIT Handle Failed.

Any tips on what more i could do to get WFL working with my emunand?

 

[fledge68]

I've tried everything imaginable so far but i can't get wiiflow lite to boot EmuNAND channels

I do have them launching just fine in USB Loader GX, so i can confirm at least verify 1. the emunand is fine 2. hdd is compatible with neek.

I've tried launching with d2x v10-52 and 53, sometimes i get a code dump while other times i get INIT Handle Failed.

Any tips on what more i could do to get WFL working with my emunand?

have you tried force cios on? main settngs>startup settings and set force cios to on. wiiflow will reboot and will use cios for everything - no need to switch from ios 58 to cios which causes problems with HDD sometimes because devices are deinit and reinit and have to spin up. so just using force cios usually solves that problem sometimes.

 

[VashTS]

have you tried force cios on? main settngs>startup settings and set force cios to on. wiiflow will reboot and will use cios for everything - no need to switch from ios 58 to cios which causes problems with HDD sometimes because devices are deinit and reinit and have to spin up. so just using force cios usually solves that problem sometimes.

I did try forcing cIOS and setting it to 249 but no dice.

I think its just this HDD is not very compatible with Wii homebrew. I had everything running using the combo of GX and Wiiflow but I'd like it all in one place.

Do you think housing the app on USB could cause any issues? I normally put apps on SD but this one i set up was for a friend and he had a HDD only. I'm going to move it to SD but I just dropped it off tonight so can't test any further.

 

[fledge68]

No odd characters/symbols in the .zip titles. As an extra step I also renamed/removed all symbol type characters from the titles via custom_titles file. I did completely clear up the dsi dump problem from games that loaded utilizing one of the cores I was using. I did this by opening up Abz Wiiflow, reloading cache, and then re-highlighting the covers. Opening up games in wiiflow lite and exiting then returned to wiiflow lite successfully with no code dump. (Reloading cache in wiiflow lite previously did not solve problem. I had to reload cache in ABZ wiiflow BEFORE it would work in wiiflow lite.)

So great was able to solve one core. The original problem remains for fba. I tested a different fba core -- problem remains. So it seems to not be a core problem. It also appears not to be a game file problem because once opened and played successfully ALL games successfully exit and return to ABZ wiiflow without a code dump.

A few Fba titles that work: wildfang, wc90, wrofaero.
A few Fba titles that dump in Wiiflowlite after exiting and whenever wii turned on until wiiflowlite.ini "current_title=" line deleted: unsquad, teddybb, wb3, skysmash

Using:
WFL v4.4.0 r1134 + wfl_r1134.patch (for random select a game option) + carbonik Abz WFL v1132
+ wiiflow lite wii forwarder channel -WFLA.wad

baffling to say the least. i checked wfl code and could find nothing wrong. i'm leaning to your wiiflow_lite.ini being corrupted or having a NULL at the end. otherwise i really have no clue.

I did try forcing cIOS and setting it to 249 but no dice.

I think its just this HDD is not very compatible with Wii homebrew. I had everything running using the combo of GX and Wiiflow but I'd like it all in one place.

Do you think housing the app on USB could cause any issues? I normally put apps on SD but this one i set up was for a friend and he had a HDD only. I'm going to move it to SD but I just dropped it off tonight so can't test any further.

have you tried setting boot apploader to on? it's a game setting for channels to use the old apploader method of starting a channel.

also have you tried setting the nand emulation to partial or full?

 

[VashTS]

baffling to say the least. i checked wfl code and could find nothing wrong. i'm leaning to your wiiflow_lite.ini being corrupted or having a NULL at the end. otherwise i really have no clue.

have you tried setting boot apploader to on? it's a game setting for channels to use the old apploader method of starting a channel.

also have you tried setting the nand emulation to partial or full?

NAND emulation set to partial. I did experiment with apploader but still same, failed to boot.

its really weird that GX works with launching via neek - i imagine the process is the same, maybe implemented slightly different. even Wiiflow 1054 and 1076 didn't work so i doubt its anything related to your changes.

i'm going to put the apps on SD and see if that improves the performance. i think hosting everything on USB isn't a great idea anyway.

 

[GreyWolf]

Don't use partial emulation for channel titles. It requires the ticket be installed on the real NAND beforehand.

Partial Wii disc save emulation is fine. Partial NAND emulation isn't.

 

[VashTS]

Don't use partial emulation for channel titles. It requires the ticket be installed on the real NAND beforehand.

Partial Wii disc save emulation is fine. Partial NAND emulation isn't.

Thanks I was unaware of that.

 

[mythris1012]

@fledge68
I know this has probably been asked before but I was unable to easily find it in the posts. Any chance that we could get a default setting to disable the game cube memory card emulation?

Also I think I'm an idiot but I can't figure out how to get to the navigation menu using B like on the normal version of WiiFlow...is that not included in this version or am I just crazy? It would just be nice to be able to quickly shortcut into whatever section I need at the time.

Really loving the loader so far and thank you for your work on it.

 

[fledge68]

NAND emulation set to partial. I did experiment with apploader but still same, failed to boot.

its really weird that GX works with launching via neek - i imagine the process is the same, maybe implemented slightly different. even Wiiflow 1054 and 1076 didn't work so i doubt its anything related to your changes.

i'm going to put the apps on SD and see if that improves the performance. i think hosting everything on USB isn't a great idea anyway.

Are you launching every channel with neek? Why are you using neek? Its only needed for a handful of games.

 

[VashTS]

Are you launching every channel with neek? Why are you using neek? Its only needed for a handful of games.

Using cIOS fails on either loader when launching emunand channels.

Using neek, channels work on GX but not on Wiiflow Lite.

 

[Jochte]

baffling to say the least. i checked wfl code and could find nothing wrong. i'm leaning to your wiiflow_lite.ini being corrupted or having a NULL at the end. otherwise i really have no clue.

Well by jove...it was a corrupt wiiflow_lite.ini. I deleted the .ini, restarted wiiflow lite, pointed everything to the correct load locations and by golly the problem titles all work and return to wiiflow lite normally after exiting. My corrupt .ini shows no indication of being corrupted. I will attempt to locate exactly what went haywire at a later time and post if I find it but meanwhile I am elated. Thank you boss for checking the wfl code and for suggesting what you did.

Thanks a million.