Hacking USB Loader GX

[GDX]

hello,

is it this ID (RSCP7D) of your game ==>https://www.gametdb.com/Wii/RSCP7D

Hello,

Yes

 

[blackb0x]

Wow, really? You already fixed the issue with Tintin?

Yep.

When do you release the next version?

I'm not sure yet since there's a few things that I want to look into.

This issue doesn't happen when connected by wifi. What am I doing wrong?

It's a problem with older versions of the loader and WiiFlow too.

Have you tried setting the loaders IOS to 58? Since most homebrew won't use a cIOS and I don't know if maybe that's what prevents your adapter from working correctly.

If I can find a cheap adapter with the AX88772 chipset then I'll try to fix the issue.

Hello,

Yes

RSCP7D should play in your language, but RSCU7D will might default to English because GameTDB don't list any languages for it. So if you're sure it's RSCP7D that you're using I'll look into the issue.

 

[GDX]

RSCP7D should play in your language, but RSCU7D will default to English because GameTDB don't list any languages for it. So if you're sure it's RSCP7D that you're using I'll look into the issue.

Yes precisely this version http://redump.org/disc/54039/

 

[alcab]

It's a problem with older versions of the loader and WiiFlow too.

Have you tried setting the loaders IOS to 58? Since most homebrew won't use a cIOS and I don't know if maybe that's what prevents your adapter from working correctly.

If I can find a cheap adapter with the AX88772 chipset then I'll try to fix the issue.

Wow, thanks a lot. That fixed it!!!

And thanks for your amazing job. You are making a lot of us very happy!!!

 

[blackb0x]

Wow, thanks a lot. That fixed it!!!

And thanks for your amazing job. You are making a lot of us very happy!!!

Okay, that's good to know. But using IOS58 might cause your HDD to stop responding if you let the loader idle for a while and the loader might also fail to create game backups.

If you were to use the second cIOS configuration from the loaders github page then you could try using 251 (base 58).

Yes precisely this version http://redump.org/disc/54039/

With my system language set to French, the global game language setting set to console default and the games settings at their defaults the game displayed everything in French for me.

 

[GDX]

With my system language set to French, the global game language setting set to console default and the games settings at their defaults the game displayed everything in French for me.

really ? strange for me it is set to English with my language set to French I even deleted all the USB Loader GX config to be sure

EDIT:
Problem solved I update wiitdb.xml Thanks @blackb0x

 

[vbarros22]

hey @blackb0x I cant install on my vWii the new d2x
worked fine on Wii but on vWii give me a net_gethostbyname failed: -6

 

[bryceshaw06]

Hi @blackb0x thank you for your updates to USBLoader GX, they are greatly appreciated! I'm so glad I can finally use it with my sd card. However, one problem I've been facing comes with the path that USBLoader picks up for Nintendont boot.dol. I would like to be able to easily switch from loading my games from USB or SD card, but it seems that USBLoader doesn't dynamically pick the Nintendont boot.dol file location depending on the storage device it's booting from. For example, if I have my SD card in and I launch a game from my Wii home menu (Forwards to USBLoader then to Nintendont) it boots and plays great, but if I put the same SD in a USB adapter and launch the forwarder, USBLoader can't find the Nintendont dol.

The one other issue I've had (more of an inconvenience than anything) is that my Wii game forwarders make me press A to play games from the SD, but auto boots ones from the USB. Is there a way to automatically boot into both?

Videos of these can be found here:

 

[blackb0x]

hey @blackb0x I cant install on my vWii the new d2x
worked fine on Wii but on vWii give me a net_gethostbyname failed: -6

You're using the vWii package that's attached to my post, right? Since outdated installers or incorrect DNS settings can cause that -6 error.

However, one problem I've been facing comes with the path that USBLoader picks up for Nintendont boot.dol. I would like to be able to easily switch from loading my games from USB or SD card, but it seems that USBLoader doesn't dynamically pick the Nintendont boot.dol file location depending on the storage device it's booting from. For example, if I have my SD card in and I launch a game from my Wii home menu (Forwards to USBLoader then to Nintendont) it boots and plays great, but if I put the same SD in a USB adapter and launch the forwarder, USBLoader can't find the Nintendont dol.

GameCube games don't require the loaders SD card mode setting to be enabled, so if you had of pressed B in your first video then the game likely would of also worked in your second video.

SD card mode was intended for people who only want to use an SD card for both their Wii and GameCube games. So when you put your SD card into your USB adapter that setting was still enabled and that's most likely why the game didn't boot.

The one other issue I've had (more of an inconvenience than anything) is that my Wii game forwarders make me press A to play games from the SD, but auto boots ones from the USB. Is there a way to automatically boot into both?

That happens when you either don't have a USB storage device connected or it's slow to initialise. So it makes sense to ask the user if they'd like to enable SD card mode here, which if enabled prevents that message from being seen again until the setting is disabled.

I might be able to change some things so that games will boot correctly if you're always using forwarders. And I might be able to remove the countdown for you too, although you'd need to recreate your forwarders.

 

[Nomado]

I read that Homebrew and Emulators use IOS58 mostly but that doesn't do periodical checks or some technique to present HDD Spindown. cIOS on the other hand periodically "wakes up" HDD so it can be initialized or reinitialized quickly without freezing up.

Is there any way to use IOS58 but have it also prevent HDD spin down? Loading emulator from the loader and playing a while enough for the HDD to spin down then returning back to the loader or loading emulator from Wii Menu then returning back to Wii Menu and loading the loader seem to freeze at reinitializing device.

 

[bryceshaw06]

So when you put your SD card into your USB adapter that setting was still enabled and that's most likely why the game didn't boot.

Yeah, that seems to be the case. I guess I'm just wondering if there's a way to get it to dynamically change that setting based on what's connected, or to fallback to sd if usb isn't connected or vise versa. So if the Nintenont boot directory in the USBLoader settings is set to USB://apps/Nintendont/boot.dol and it's not found, it could fallback to SD://apps/Nintendont/boot.dol.

which if enabled prevents that message from being seen again until the setting is disabled.

I could just be misunderstanding or doing something wrong, but that popup appears every time that I boot my Wii game forwarders from SD, even if I don't use anything on USB.

I might be able to change some things so that the games might boot if you're always using forwarders. And I might be able to remove the countdown for you, although you'd need to recreate your forwarders.

Yes, that would be amazing! My goal is to be able to boot up the wii and play games from forwarders, and for it to not matter if it's loading from SD or USB as long as all the needed files are there. I'm fine recreating my forwarders, but I don't quite understand why they would need to be remade though. If it makes any difference, the Wii forwarders were made with WiiGSC, and the GameCube ones were very hackily put together by me.

 

[Sypherone]

@Nomado Just check if you can disable the spin down internaly in the drive -> Drive Spin Down

 

[blackb0x]

I could just be misunderstanding or doing something wrong, but that popup appears every time that I boot my Wii game forwarders from SD, even if I don't use anything on USB.

With your setup it might not behave as intended, but on a normal setup where people are going into the loaders GUI it'd behave this way.

I'm fine recreating my forwarders, but I don't quite understand why they would need to be remade though. If it makes any difference, the Wii forwarders were made with WiiGSC, and the GameCube ones were very hackily put together by me.

My current idea is that you'd pass a parameter to the loader so that it knows that you want to skip the countdown. Since I can't make that the default behaviour without potentially breaking things for anyone who has a USB storage device that's slow to initialise.

Is there any way to use IOS58 but have it also prevent HDD spin down?

I could just have the loader read random sectors every 60 seconds or so. But I don't know how reliable that'd be.

 

[r1vver]

@Nomado Just check if you can disable the spin down internaly in the drive -> Drive Spin Down

I think the USB enclosures themselves also have their own idle timer. For example Asmedia ASM1051 MP Tool has such options for configuring the firmware:

 

[alcab]

Okay, that's good to know. But using IOS58 might cause your HDD to stop responding if you let the loader idle for a while and the loader might also fail to create game backups.

If you were to use the second cIOS configuration from the loaders github page then you could try using 251 (base 58).

Done! Thanks for your piece of advice! LAN Network still working when using this parameters!

 

[Nomado]

Mortal Kombat Armageddon seem to be problematic game. It used to work fine and be able to return back to the loader before. But now if I try to return back to the loader after launching it, it freezes at black screen. So far other wii games I tried return back to the loader just fine. I tried installing previous cIOS and new v11 cIOS. I checked the backup with Wii Backup Manager. Any solutions?

 

[vbarros22]

You're using the vWii package that's attached to my post, right? Since outdated installers or incorrect DNS settings can cause that -6 error.

correct Im using

Post automatically merged: Jan 22, 2023

hi again @blackb0x
so I made it work by downloading the d2x cIOS installer from the vwii guide here: https://wiiu.hacks.guide/#/vwii-modding
seems to be a 2.2 version modified by fix94 and dragbe (I was using the 3.1 from google docs like your readme file recomends)
placed the beta1 files from your download on the installer and worked on my vWii
Thank you again for usb loader and this

 

[Nomado]

@Nomado Just check if you can disable the spin down internaly in the drive -> Drive Spin Down

Unfortunately none of the HDDs I have support that.
Can anyone test MK Armageddon and see if it freezes after pressing HOME button and selecting Wii Menu?

 

[blackb0x]

(I was using the 3.1 from google docs like your readme file recomends)

If you had of used the vWii installer attached to my post then it would of already been the correct version.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon seem to be problematic game. It used to work fine and be able to return back to the loader before. But now if I try to return back to the loader after launching it, it freezes at black screen.

It seems to work perfectly from a Wii. I can't comment on if it works correctly from a Wii U though.

 

[vbarros22]

If you had of used the vWii installer attached to my post then it would of already been the correct version.

I was using the github one that should be ok too