Hacking WiiFlow - an open source GUI USB-Loader

[Maxternal]

Okay, I finished my category converter app. Here it is :

http://www.mediafire...d0cw0uffxib5a9d (v1.2.1 ... no GameTDB) FIXED
http://www.mediafire...n0zx073dp55ewk1 (v1.4 with GameTDB support) FIXED
source code is included but it's not all that complicated.
It has a EXE file that you can just double click in Windows or for Mac, Linux, etc, there are also the Java files included (although even the Windows version needs Java to be installed.)

All you do is put it in your /wiiflow/settings folder where the old categories.ini file is and run it on a computer and it will create the new categories_v4.ini file based on it.
If you already have the categories_v4.ini file that WiiFlow creates automatically it will use it to determine which entries go in which coverflow sections.
To best take advantage of that fact it would be good to run WiiFlow first and go into each coverflows so that wiiflow will include them all in the file and then exit normally.
If it doesn't find any of the previous entries in the new v4 file it will treat them in the following way :

• anything with a / in it goes under [EMULATOR]
• 4-digit items go under [NAND]
• 6-digit items starting with G go under [DML]
• other 6-digit things go under [GAMES]
• and everything else goes under [HOMEBREW]

but any 6-digit or 4-digit homebrew would end up being misplaced this way so it's better to have WiiFlow's auto-created file available if you had any categor.es set up for homebrew previously.










I ran it with the files from my Wii that I brought with me to work on and it seems to work great but I just finished it and haven't been able to get back to my Wii to put those files files in and see that they're actually working so any feedback is greatly appreciated.

ALSO, if there's any GC game who's GameID doesn't actually start with G, somebody tell me so I can fix it.

---

 

[tueidj]

There are gamecube demo discs that start with D.

 

[Maxternal]

Okay ... so I'm going with P, D, or G.
IF there are any other exceptions, I'd think they'd be few and far between enough that redoing the categories for them won't be too much of a hassle.

EDIT : I also hope there aren't any WII games that start with those letters.
Anyway, for an app that'll just be used once by anyone, just fixing those letters should be enough.

EDIT2 : Okay, I updated the link from my previous post. I'll put it here, too.
link removed

Being kinda in a rush, I just included the java files with a batch file. All you need to do is copy the JAR file and the BAT file to the settings directory and run the BAT file like it was a program. You can delete both when it's done.

EDIT3 :
Alright, fixed it completely this time. The EXE file is back and it uses D, G, U, and P for GameCube (although it also makes a copy of D ones in the Wii section, too, just in case.)
http://www.mediafire...d0cw0uffxib5a9d FIXED
Just run it in your /wiiflow/settings folder from a computer and it will convert it for you.
EDIT4 : I added another one that will download the titles.txt from GameTDB to help it decide what's homebrew and what's not (6-digit and 4-digit entries that are not already in categories_v4.ini and not on GameTDB will be considered homebrew) I'm leaving the old link (above), too, just in case people have a bad internet connection and don't want to wait for it to give up on the download.
http://www.mediafire...n0zx073dp55ewk1 FIXED

EDIT5 : Well, this is rather embarrassing but although at a first glance looking through the generated categories_v4.ini file from my app it looked like it had worked fine, I had accidentally used a backslash \ instead of a slash / on all the [*/GENERAL] sections so when I finally got a chance to run it and try the file out in my Wii, it didn't work. Sorry for having released it prematurely without actually testing it in a real user situation. I have one thing to do first but I will shortly update the fixed versions.

EDIT6 : fixed.

 

[DaveZ_227451]

Okay ... so I'm going with P, D, or G.
IF there are any other exceptions, I'd think they'd be few and far between enough that redoing the categories for them won't be too much of a hassle.

EDIT : I also hope there aren't any WII games that start with those letters.
Anyway, for an app that'll just be used once by anyone, just fixing those letters should be enough.

EDIT2 : Okay, I updated the link from my previous post. I'll put it here, too.
http://www.mediafire...3t8s6uuzhtynyht

Being kinda in a rush, I just included the java files with a batch file. All you need to do is copy the JAR file and the BAT file to the settings directory and run the BAT file like it was a program. You can delete both when it's done.

As per the games database:


Gamecube = D,G,P,U

Wii = 0,A,D,N,R,S,Z
But for the Wii, the letter D denotes a demo disk, but I doubt anyone would have a demo disk over an actual game disk ??!?

 

[mastershoes]

I don't know if it's relevant to categories, but 'D' is also the first letter in the channel id used by gametdb for the majority of the homebrew covers (emu's, apps, & loaders) that would be used for regular nand channels. (Ex - D26A for Wii2600, DWFA for Wiiflow, etc)

 

[Maxternal]

As per the games database:
Gamecube = D,G,P,U

Wii = 0,A,D,N,R,S,Z
But for the Wii, the letter D denotes a demo disk, but I doubt anyone would have a demo disk over an actual game disk ??!?

I knew there was somewhere to look that up. Thanks.
I guess I'll just make it so the D is placed in BOTH places just to be sure. I'm sure it will be a fairly rare occurrence by all means.

I don't know if it's relevant to categories, but 'D' is also the first letter in the channel id used by gametdb for the majority of the homebrew covers (emu's, apps, & loaders) that would be used for regular nand channels. (Ex - D26A for Wii2600, DWFA for Wiiflow, etc)

That shouldn't cause a problem. It really only has to make decision for 6-digit GameID's anyhow.

EDIT : Okay, got that fixed. It does it's job right now sorting between GameCube and Wii game category entries as described above. I updated the links in my two previous posts and I'll put it here, too.
http://www.mediafire.com/?d0cw0uffxib5a9d FIXED
I added the option of the EXE file back in, too, to make it easier for Windows users and I used a new Java wrapping program that gave me better icon support. If anyone has any problems with it just let me know.
(It works on Mac and Linux and anything else that has Java installed, too. The EXE version will actually send you to a Java download page if you don't have at least 1.6 installed.)

If you have categories for set already for Homebrew I would suggest running wiiflow first and going to the homebrew coverflow and then exiting normally to create all the default entries for homebrew so it can go off of that to sort them out because otherwise there's no real way for it to distinguish 6-digit homebrew from Wii and GC games or 4-digit homebrew from NAND channels.
(I could always make it download the titles.txt from GameTDB and go off that if it's causing a lot of problems for people but that would take extra work)

EDIT2 : I added another one that will download the titles.txt from GameTDB to help it decide what's homebrew and what's not (6-digit and 4-digit entries that are not already in categories_v4.ini and not on GameTDB will be considered homebrew) I'm leaving the old link (above), too, just in case people have a bad internet connection and don't want to wait for it to give up on the download.
http://www.mediafire...n0zx073dp55ewk1 FIXED

EDIT3 : Well, this is rather embarrassing but although at a first glance looking through the generated categories_v4.ini file from my app it looked like it had worked fine, I had accidentally used a backslash \ instead of a slash / on all the [*/GENERAL] sections so when I finally got a chance to run it and try the file out in my Wii, it didn't work. Sorry for having released it prematurely without actually testing it in a real user situation. I have one thing to do first but I will shortly update the fixed versions.

EDIT4: fixed.

 

[MassiveRican]

@maxternal I like the idea of having it d/load titles.txt. That way a new user that wants to setup categories wouldn't have to take any extra steps.

Thanks for the app I'm going to use it tonight when I get a chance.

 

[Maxternal]

@maxternal I like the idea of having it d/load titles.txt. That way a new user that wants to setup categories wouldn't have to take any extra steps.

Thanks for the app I'm going to use it tonight when I get a chance.

Okay, maybe I'll just copy and paste the code from my custom_titles.ini app.
I'll probably compile two versions, though, or make it optional just for those still on dial-up. (although it's probably still faster than starting WiiFlow up ... hmm)

 

[Briken]

Hello everyone, I am currently using the latest release 4.0.1 and everything seems to be working great except my covers for my emulators. I will use NES as an example. I have a set of roms and a set of covers that matched up, but when I load of the coverflow in Wiiflow only some show up an others with questions marks. If I open the game and then return to Wiiflow, the missing cover may or may not show up. I have tried reloading the cache, deleting the cache and all settings, but I still have the same issue. Is anyone having this same issue? For me it is happening for all my emulators (GBA, GEN, SMS, SNES, N64, and NES). Thanks in advance for any help!

How did you name the covers? They have a peculiar format.

If the name of the game is:

007 - GoldenEye (USA).z64

The cover needs to be named:

007 - GoldenEye (USA).z64.png

Yes, I have all the names correct matching the extention. The problem is some covers show up and some do not. For example, I added a handful of new nes covers, but when I loaded up the coverflow, the new ones did not show. Only when I opened the game and exited back to wiiflow did some not all actually load. It seems like it stops loading covers after about 10 until I exit and retry again. Then it will load a few more. My TG16 Roms and covers show up fine, but I only have about 36 games there. I have about 850 Nes titles loading up (same for GEN, SNES, N64, etc) Do you think it is an issue because there are so many files trying to load?

If you have all your covers named the right way ie. gamename.nes.png to gamename.nes as rom name, I usually just go to the gears icon and click download cover and the cancel. For some reason it's been working for me for some time now and it seems to be the faster way to get your covers to show.

Thanks for the tip! I will give it a try.

 

[FIX94]

Guys, can you try that rev?
http://www.mediafire...hu0kimsc11rkmb9
Changes from 4.0.1:
-added temporary reload to cIOS for game install and emu nand mode when in IOS58 mode
-corrected a bug that the usb hdd does not get hooked up properly after IOS reload
-increased usable mem for about 11mb by using mem1_lo (10mb) and no mem1_hi limit (1mb)
-WIP moved code to load channels into external game booter
-fixed cheats in wiiware
-cleaned up some stuff, made the booter code looking better

 

[Maxternal]

-added temporary reload to cIOS for game install and emu nand mode when in IOS58 mode

Does this mean, then, that it reloads back to IOS58 when it's done? Is there any real benefit to that?

 

[FIX94]

Does this mean, then, that it reloads back to IOS58 when it's done? Is there any real benefit to that?

Exactly thats what it does, I change that back because of devo, plugins, diosmios and homebrew, also if you boot it with ios58 it shouldnt just change the ios until you reboot, that was my thought.

 

[fledge68]

I know this is a little late (and not to take away from Maxternals app)

But I used wiiflow to make a boot.dol that converts old categories.ini to the new categories_v4.ini.

Download here - http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?7fq7fmdbbrw0m49

either put it in it's own app folder and run it via homebrew channel or backup your wiiflow dol and replace it with this one to launch it via the wiiflow channel.
you should backup and delete your current categories_v4.ini before running if you have already made changes to it.

It shows the wiiflow boot animation while converting and then when it's done it shows a message letting you know it's complete and press 'A' to exit.

 

[Maxternal]

I know this is a little late (and not to take away from Maxternals app)

But I used wiiflow to make a boot.dol that converts old categories.ini to the new categories_v4.ini.

Download here - http://www.mediafire...7fq7fmdbbrw0m49

either put it in it's own app folder and run it via homebrew channel or backup your wiiflow dol and replace it with this one to launch it via the wiiflow channel.
you should backup and delete your current categories_v4.ini before running if you have already made changes to it.

It shows the wiiflow boot animation while converting and then when it's done it shows a message letting you know it's complete and press 'A' to exit.

No worries. That sounds much easier, not having to move it to the computer or anything. It was fun to code in the first place. I can see that it's much easier when you have access to the all the cache lists and everything and can more easily sort out the entries and stuff that is no longer present.

EDIT : I'll still probably add that last feature to my app, anyway, just for fun.

 

[fledge68]

I know this is a little late (and not to take away from Maxternals app)

But I used wiiflow to make a boot.dol that converts old categories.ini to the new categories_v4.ini.

Download here - http://www.mediafire...7fq7fmdbbrw0m49

either put it in it's own app folder and run it via homebrew channel or backup your wiiflow dol and replace it with this one to launch it via the wiiflow channel.
you should backup and delete your current categories_v4.ini before running if you have already made changes to it.

It shows the wiiflow boot animation while converting and then when it's done it shows a message letting you know it's complete and press 'A' to exit.

No worries. That sounds much easier, not having to move it to the computer or anything. It was fun to code in the first place. I can see that it's much easier when you have access to the all the cache lists and everything and can more easily sort out the entries and stuff that is no longer present.

EDIT : I'll still probably add that last feature to my app, anyway, just for fun.

Glad to hear .... speaking of apps. refresh my memory of your custom titles app, what does it do? and if you don't mind I like to post it on the wiiflow 4 wiki site.

 

[Maxternal]

Glad to hear .... speaking of apps. refresh my memory of your custom titles app, what does it do? and if you don't mind I like to post it on the wiiflow 4 wiki site.

Okay, finished the categories converter app. It now compares potential Wii, NAND, and GC to GameTDB for anything that's not already in Categores_v4.ini and put's what's not there under homebrew.
http://www.mediafire...n0zx073dp55ewk1 (v1.4) FIXED
EDIT : and for anyone who plans to use it with a problematic internet connection, here's the old version from previous posts that won't even mess with the internet.
http://www.mediafire...d0cw0uffxib5a9d (v1.2) FIXED

Anyway, my custom_titles.ini app I made back when the GameTDB download for WiiFlow was rather buggy and caused code dumps. It creates a custom_titles.ini file based on the titles.txt file from GameTDB (you can select which language) to correct the titles in WiiFlow for games that the internal disk name isn't very good. If you already had one or more custom_titles.ini files it can import and merge them so you don't loose any REALLY CUSTOM titles you may already had and those can also fill in the blanks for any game you know isn't on GameTDB (You can also use this to merge two existing files without downloading)

http://www.mediafire...afcuy9ueurva1cd

EDIT2 : Well, this is rather embarrassing but although at a first glance looking through the generated categories_v4.ini file from my app it looked like it had worked fine, I had accidentally used a backslash \ instead of a slash / on all the [*/GENERAL] sections so when I finally got a chance to run it and try the file out in my Wii, it didn't work. Sorry for having released it prematurely without actually testing it in a real user situation. I have one thing to do first but I will shortly update the fixed versions.

EDIT3 : FIXED

 

[Elegant]

This is kind of an odd question but I was looking through the files used in old revisions (and I mean OLD revisions) and I found some source files called Riivolution. http://code.google.com/p/wiiflow/source/browse/branches/fat_ntfs/source/loader/?r=43 Is that related in anyway to the on-the-fly patcher? I didn't know what to make of it.

 

[luck_gh0st]

Hello everybody! I haven't been on here much because I've been slaving away $$$$ so I can have more toys than the next guy LOL!
But I just compiled r709 this morning and for some reason (maybe memory stuff) it seems alot snappier, not that it was really slow anyway.
Now I have a question, is it better to run on IOS 58 ? I don't seem to have any probs with 249 so far.

 

[Etheboss]

fledge68, i got some problem with the categories_v4.ini, if i try to make a cover hidden in nand flow, somehow it looks like it is not updating right if you set it from within wiiflow, at least not for me.

I tried it with wiiflow_mod r708.. I checked my hdd with, no errors, i checked if the file was not by accident on "read only", but everything seems to be correct.

The way i do it is: in the nand flow main screen B on the favorites then X the category, then i zoom in on the cover, B on categories there to check it.
the cover dissapeares if i refresh, but if i start a game (and come back to wiiflow) or restart wiiflow, the cover is back again.

When i look at the ini file after i have done this, nothing changed, nothing is added, not even the modification date changed of the file.

Maybe you know what is going on there?

 

[fledge68]

fledge68, i got some problem with the categories_v4.ini, if i try to make a cover hidden in nand flow, somehow it looks like it is not updating right if you set it from within wiiflow, at least not for me.

I tried it with wiiflow_mod r708.. I checked my hdd with, no errors, i checked if the file was not by accident on "read only", but everything seems to be correct.

The way i do it is: in the nand flow main screen B on the favorites then X the category, then i zoom in on the cover, B on categories there to check it.
the cover dissapeares if i refresh, but if i start a game (and come back to wiiflow) or restart wiiflow, the cover is back again.

When i look at the ini file after i have done this, nothing changed, nothing is added, not even the modification date changed of the file.

Maybe you know what is going on there?

Obviously for some reason categories_v4.ini isn't being saved before you launch a game or exit wiiflow. I'm pretty sure that m_cat.save(); is being called when you launch a nand game but on exit of wiiflow it set as m_cat.unload(); I plan on changing that soon, This doesn't make any sense then since you say you launch a game and come back to wiiflow and the game is no longer hidden. I'll take a look at it but can't get on the wii right now. Anyone else experience this problem?

edit: here's a quick thought. maybe it has something to do with Fix94 moving the code to load channels into external game booter (r706) I haven't had a chance to examine the code yet though. try a revision before that one and let me know.

edit2: never mind - i see m_cat.save() right before that code change. still clueless