Would a Forwarder Installer be possible or useful?

[Milooo]

Hi, I was wondering if it is possible to create a homebrew app that allows people to install forwarders on the SD via WiFi, so that they can be later installed with a Wad Manager. Kinda like a Homebrew browser but for forwarders. It would work like this:

1. When loading my app, a list of other hb apps appears (let's say, Wii Mod Lite, Homebrew browser, and VBA GX).
2. Clicking one app of the list opens a new page with various forwarders (obviously each one with their respective credits), a small picture of what they look like, and a download button.
3. Pressing "Download" would install the forwarders into the WAD folder of the SD through WiFi, which should then be added to the console with any WAD manager.

I was adding a lot of homebrew stuff recently, and manually searching online for forwarders for each app was really tedious, but this aims to make that process easier without having to extract the SD every time you want a new wad. Plus, it will look more organized than having to search them online.

I have absolutely no idea on how to code this, but I would love to learn and help the community. Now, before I get very hyped, I need to know if it's possible. I suppose I'll need a database containing all of the forwarders, and a Wii with Internet, but idk what else, and idk if it would be very useful either... What do you guys think?

 

[StrayGuitarist]

Possible, I'm not a hundred percent on - but useful, most likely. There are a few roadblocks you might hit with finding a way to have this tool connect to various databases without putting extra strain on them, and getting permission from the owners of said servers to give a third-party tool access to them. You could host the downloads yourself with permission, but then come server costs.

A good question, as well, is why not make this tool for PC? Simply downloading the .wad files to a folder, and letting you move them to your SD card from your PC. Or even a website or thread that just unites download links for all of them.

 

[BETA215]

iirc Homebrew Channel accepts transferring files via FTP? In that case, it would be just a matter of having your Wii connected to the same network as your PC, and using this: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wiiload

 

[XFlak]

Wiiload cannot send wads, just dols and elfs, however sharpii and I think customize mii too can send wads via the hbc/Lan so long as they're not larger than 8mb (forwarders shouldn't exceed this limit anyway)

 

[Milooo]

Possible, I'm not a hundred percent on - but useful, most likely. There are a few roadblocks you might hit with finding a way to have this tool connect to various databases without putting extra strain on them, and getting permission from the owners of said servers to give a third-party tool access to them. You could host the downloads yourself with permission, but then come server costs.

A good question, as well, is why not make this tool for PC? Simply downloading the .wad files to a folder, and letting you move them to your SD card from your PC. Or even a website or thread that just unites download links for all of them.

Well, I don't want to create the tool just for PC because the point is to remove the need of having to extract the SD card from the Wii every time you want a new wad. I want everything to be done directly from the console itself. Maybe once I finish the app I could work on a PC port, but it's not what I'm looking for rn.

Oh and yes, there are websites with links to A LOT of forwarders, thing is that some of them don't have previews, others are confusing, or hard to navigate through (at least in my experience, I suppose other people feel the same). In this tool everything should be more organized and easier.

 

[Milooo]

Wiiload cannot send wads, just dols and elfs, however sharpii and I think customize mii too can send wads via the hbc/Lan so long as they're not larger than 8mb (forwarders shouldn't exceed this limit anyway)

So, you're also saying that it's possible, right? But do you think it would be useful?

 

[BETA215]

Okie, then since the HBC doesn't supports sending files besides the intended formats, you can always use ftpii to copy any kind of files to your Wii via a Wi-Fi network: http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/Ftpii

You just need FileZilla in your computer, and this piece of homebrew in your Wii - while having both devices om the same network.

In my case I use WiiXplorer for both sharing files from my PC, and also for managing files from my Wii without any other external device: https://wiibrew.org/wiki/WiiXplorer

 

[Milooo]

Okay, that involves having both the PC and the Wii turned on to share files, but I only want the Wii to be able to download those files from a certain database, not sharing them from my computer. Like how Wii Flow downloads covers, or how the Homebrew browser installs apps, they connect to a database, gather the necessary files and instantly store them into the SD, without an external PC or ftpii. Just a Wii with Internet.

 

[XFlak]

I think that it's a good idea if executed correctly. You would need to make sure that all wads are safe, lest u bannerbrick someone. As much as we tell ppl to make sure they have priiloader installed, someone will end up using it without proper protection.

I think your comparison to the homebrew browser is a good one. But u should know that the homebrew browser has a PC app equivalent called the open shop channel, and both read from the same database as oscwii.org. So if u were to build a stable library/website, both a wii app and pc app could be developed, if u wanted. Check this out for a good website design idea, currently used for wii themes http://theme.rc24.xyz/

You would want a good preview, so u will probably want to build in some kind of banner player (maybe leveraging some code from usbloader gx). If too challenging then you can probably get away with image previews or something.

Also note that while the hbc only accepts dols/elfs via PC/ lan, it can also be tricked into receiving wads using the tools I mention above. If I understand how they operate correctly, essentially it encapsulates a wad into a dol/elf, which itself is a lightweight single use wad manager. So the binary loaded by the hbc is a wad manager with a single wad embedded into it.

This is similar to apps that install channels. These are super easy to make. If u grab wii game shortcut creator, bundled with it is a tool called Crazy Installer. This tool allows u to create a channel installer app from a wad, so that u can install a channel without dealing with WADs directly. It never really got used much, but it's a cool tool and might be somewhat relevant here so thought I'd mention it.

Hmmm, that just gave me an idea. And this could actually make implementing this idea super easy. You could essentially modify the homebrew browser and/or osc pc tool, or add a new "channels" category to the existing tools, and instead of downloading channels in wad form, you would download them in DOL/elf form and host/download that instead of or in addition to the wad. All u would need to do is convert the wad to dol/elf using the Crazy Installer. The only other thing u would maybe want to do is automatically launch the dol/elf immediately after downloading it.

I hope that wasn't too confusing, lol

I'm actually in touch with the guys running these tools, I'll try to get their opinions

Edit: to clarify, the homebrew browser could also download zipped up wads, but then users would have to run a wad manager and install the downloaded WAD after grabbing new channels. My idea was basically just bundling the wads in crazy installer apps, which may or may not be preferred by everyone

 

[dhtdht020]

I think that it's a good idea if executed correctly. You would need to make sure that all wads are safe, lest u bannerbrick someone. As much as we tell ppl to make sure they have priiloader installed, someone will end up using it without proper protection.

I think your comparison to the homebrew browser is a good one. But u should know that the homebrew browser has a PC app equivalent called the open shop channel, and both read from the same database as oscwii.org. So if u were to build a stable library/website, both a wii app and pc app could be developed, if u wanted. Check this out for a good website design idea, currently used for wii themes http://theme.rc24.xyz/

You would want a good preview, so u will probably want to build in some kind of banner player (maybe leveraging some code from usbloader gx). If too challenging then you can probably get away with image previews or something.

Also note that while the hbc only accepts dols/elfs via PC/ lan, it can also be tricked into receiving wads using the tools I mention above. If I understand how they operate correctly, essentially it encapsulates a wad into a dol/elf, which itself is a lightweight single use wad manager. So the binary loaded by the hbc is a wad manager with a single wad embedded into it.

This is similar to apps that install channels. These are super easy to make. If u grab wii game shortcut creator, bundled with it is a tool called Crazy Installer. This tool allows u to create a channel installer app from a wad, so that u can install a channel without dealing with WADs directly. It never really got used much, but it's a cool tool and might be somewhat relevant here so thought I'd mention it.

Hmmm, that just gave me an idea. And this could actually make implementing this idea super easy. You could essentially modify the homebrew browser and/or osc pc tool, or add a new "channels" category to the existing tools, and instead of downloading channels in wad form, you would download them in DOL/elf form and host/download that instead of or in addition to the wad. All u would need to do is convert the wad to dol/elf using the Crazy Installer. The only other thing u would maybe want to do is automatically launch the dol/elf immediately after downloading it.

I hope that wasn't too confusing, lol

I'm actually in touch with the guys running these tools, I'll try to get their opinions

I think it's a cool idea.
Providing forwarders for homebrew apps is already something we are looking into as part of the work on the Wii Shop Channel client. Not just looking into, but a required step we will have to approach eventually.

Once that's put into place, Open Shop Channel could add the option to download these same forwarders to Homebrew Browser and the desktop tool.

 

[XFlak]

I think it's a cool idea.
Providing forwarders for homebrew apps is already something we are looking into as part of the work on the Wii Shop Channel client. Not just looking into, but a required step we will have to approach eventually.

Once that's put into place, Open Shop Channel could add the option to download these same forwarders to Homebrew Browser and the desktop tool.

Amazing! I love that you're one step ahead!

If it's possible, I think an option to grab the channel in wad form or to just install it directly would be a good addition. So if someone just wants to install it quickly they can (either from hbb or osc via Lan), and if they want to archive the wad to use later with wad managers they have that option.

Edit: for Lan wad installs look at sharpii or customize mii, or crazy installer to build an installer dol and wiiload to send via lan

 

[dhtdht020]

Amazing! I love that you're one step ahead!

If it's possible, I think an option to grab the channel in wad form or to just install it directly would be a good addition. So if someone just wants to install it quickly they can (either from hbb or osc via Lan), and if they want to archive the wad to use later with wad managers they have that option.

Edit: for Lan wad installs look at sharpii or customize mii, or crazy installer to build an installer dol and wiiload to send via lan

Of course, wads are a neat little package.
Edit: As for lan installs, we'll see.

 

[Milooo]

I think it's a cool idea.
Providing forwarders for homebrew apps is already something we are looking into as part of the work on the Wii Shop Channel client. Not just looking into, but a required step we will have to approach eventually.

Once that's put into place, Open Shop Channel could add the option to download these same forwarders to Homebrew Browser and the desktop tool.

So, is someone else already working on this stuff? Just to know as I don't wanna waste my time with something that's already being developed lol

 

[dhtdht020]

So, is someone else already working on this stuff? Just to know as I don't wanna waste my time with something that's already being developed lol

More like planning this stuff. Although we would have to do it for the Wii Shop Channel, practically nothing has been done there yet haha. You can definitely create something like that for the time being. If you'd like you could use the Open Shop Channel API for the apps repository, would save you time on the bringing apps part so you can focus on forwarders

 

[Milooo]

That's neat, thank you very much! Now, idk if this is too much to ask for, but could someone please list a brief summary of what would I need in order to make this tool and where to start..?

As I said earlier, I have experience adding homebrew apps, but not creating them, and I've only found like 2 guides (one is very old and the other one is incomplete). So far I only have devkitPro installed. I would appreciate any kind of help :s

 

[dhtdht020]

That's neat, thank you very much! Now, idk if this is too much to ask for, but could someone please list a brief summary of what would I need in order to make this tool and where to start..?

As I said earlier, I have experience adding homebrew apps, but not creating them, and I've only found like 2 guides (one is very old and the other one is incomplete). So far I only have devkitPro installed. I would appreciate any kind of help :s

The general idea is,
You would have to program a tiny "app" that would be responsible for running the code that launches the actual application you are forwarding to from the SD card or USB drive. It has been done numerous times before, and I believe there are open source ones out there, so look for one.

Then, you would have to create a piece of software that prepares this tiny forwarder app for launching a specific homebrew app, and packing a wad with that tiny app as its dol. This has also been done in several open source software you mentioned, so you can look around there to see how they pulled that off.

 

[Milooo]

Alright then, I'll take a look into that. Thanks for the info!