How to play GameCube games off a USB HDD.

Welcome to my guide! This will teach you to "backup" your games that you TOTALLY legally own. Right?
This guide is completely compatible with Windows, Mac (Wine), and Linux (Wine). I do not have access to an Apple machine, but theoretically, it should work. Please note that this guide requires you to format your HDD, however you can still use it for storage after we're done, so just back it up before we begin.


NOTE BY A MODERATOR :

There are different methods to play Gamecube games off a USB HDD, and this outdated guide will only tell you ONE method.
It will not explain to you how to run gamecube games from USB HDD, but instead will tell you to do things blindly and install specific outdated files and use a specific outdated USB Loader version.
It doesn't cover other USB HDD methods or other Gamecube loaders.
Don't follow this guide if you want updated informations, updated loaders or if you want to use a different gamecube loading method.

You can follow it only if you want DIOS MIOS 2.8 (outdated) and CFG Loader v70 r36 (outdated).
Thanks for reading,
Cyan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You will need:
-An SD Card
-A USB HDD
-Wii Mote
-GameCube Controller
-A Wii with Homebrew Channel installed
-A GameCube iso

Download Links:

COMPUTER:


1.) Download WiiFlow from the Download List above. Put it in the apps folder of your SD Card.

2.) Download the DIOS MIOS v2.8 RAR. Go to 'DM', then move 'DIOSMIOS_2.8' to the root folder of your SD card, or for easier installation put it in a folder on the root titled 'wad'.

3.) Download MMM, and put it in your apps folder.

4.) In the DM folder in the RAR, there will be a file named DMToolbox.exe, run it, select your games iso file, and choose where you want the game's folder to go (Desktop will do.). Hit 'Install', and the folder will appear where you wanted it to, it will be named the game's ID, which will, to you, appear to be a bunch of random characters.

5.) Download and Install EaseUS Partition master, and open it. Find your HDD, and right click it, and select 'format'. Format it as FAT32 with 32KB Clusters. *DON'T IGNORE! Press OK, and then "Apply".

6.) Look at your empty HDD, and make a 'games' folder. Put the folder with the Game ID in there.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WII:




1.) Plug in your HDD in USB Slot 0. Turn on your Wii. Launch Homebrew Channel. Then launch MMM.

2.) Choose WAD Manager on the menu and install DIOSMIOS_2.8.wad

3.) After you're done, exit MMM. Launch WiiFlow.

4.) Go to Settings, and change game partition to USB1

5.) Press 'B', and select the Gamecube icon

7.) Choose a game and press Start. Every time you add new games, you have to hit the home icon, and hit update cache, and your game list will refresh.

Congratulations! You can now play GC games from your USB HDD!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CFG USB LOADERv70 r36:

COMPUTER:
Follow steps 3-7 in the COMPUTER guide above.

WII:

1.) Follow step 3 in the guide above.
2.) Install DIOS MIOS using MMM.
3.) Launch CFG USB Loader.
4.) Click the icon with tools on it
5.) Set "DML Version" to DM.
6.) Launch your game!
 

LunarKnight

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CFG USB LOADERv70 r36:

COMPUTER:
Follow steps 3-7 in the COMPUTER guide above.

WII:

1.) Follow steps 1 & 2 on the guide above.
2.) Install DIOS MIOS using MMM.
3.) Launch CFG USB Loader.
4.) Click the icon with tools on it
5.) Set "DML Version" to DM.
6.) Launch your game!



This part. Step 5. I don't have the option to set "DML Version"
I've been through every option on every screen, and I do have CFGUSBLoader version 70.


USB Loader GX:

Getting an error launching from usb on USB Loader GX, + you probably should've said in the first post that you NEED the USB Loader GX Mod to add the "Launch from USB" option to the Start screen as it was frustrating as shit trying to figure out why I didn't have it.

EDIT:
Apparently I can't use USB Loader GX version 3.0.
I'm trying different versions at the moment, specifically r1201.
EDIT2:
With r1201 I got rid of the first error, but now I'm getting the "Fatal error apploader size is zero" others are getting. I have a disc in, have DIOS MIOS 2.6 (not lite), have USB Loader GX r1201 + mod, gameid folders in the "games" folder on the root of my USB formatted in FAT32 with 64KB clusters(so the game doesn't lag), Wii games are running perfectly fine and they're on the same USB in the WBFS folder.
 

Conmore

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CFG USB LOADERv70 r36:

COMPUTER:
Follow steps 3-7 in the COMPUTER guide above.

WII:

1.) Follow steps 1 & 2 on the guide above.
2.) Install DIOS MIOS using MMM.
3.) Launch CFG USB Loader.
4.) Click the icon with tools on it
5.) Set "DML Version" to DM.
6.) Launch your game!



This part. Step 5. I don't have the option to set "DML Version"
I've been through every option on every screen, and I do have CFGUSBLoader version 70.


USB Loader GX:

Getting an error launching from usb on USB Loader GX, + you probably should've said in the first post that you NEED the USB Loader GX Mod to add the "Launch from USB" option to the Start screen as it was frustrating as shit trying to figure out why I didn't have it.

EDIT:
Apparently I can't use USB Loader GX version 3.0.
I'm trying different versions at the moment, specifically r1201.
EDIT2:
With r1201 I got rid of the first error, but now I'm getting the "Fatal error apploader size is zero" others are getting. I have a disc in, have DIOS MIOS 2.6 (not lite), have USB Loader GX r1201 + mod, gameid folders in the "games" folder on the root of my USB formatted in FAT32 with 64KB clusters(so the game doesn't lag), Wii games are running perfectly fine and they're on the same USB in the WBFS folder.

Awesome! Someone to test DM 2.6. You MUST use 32k clusters. I don't get any lag in Killer 7, Super Mario Sunshine, Smash Bros, or Resident Evil 4.
 

LunarKnight

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Awesome! Someone to test DM 2.6. You MUST use 32k clusters. I don't get any lag in Killer 7, Super Mario Sunshine, Smash Bros, or Resident Evil 4.
Thanks for replying! I heard in another guide that lag is caused from not having 64KB clusters but I guess that's not true. (I tried it before on a 4GB SD card and every game had unplayable FPS, but now I'm working with a 64GB USB that is supported)
I'll reformat in 32KB clusters, set the games up on the drive, and try again.

EDIT:
No DIOS MIOS error screen this time, but now it's black/blank and I tried pressing A on the Wiimote and GC controller, no luck. I have to restart the Wii.
Going to mess with settings.
EDIT2:
Changing some settings give me the 2 common DIOS MIOS screen errors, other's don't and continue to the blank screen. The Wii was forcefully turned off after launching the game a couple times.
I'm positive the games aren't faulty and they're set up properly in the drive. It may be my settings, but I've ran out of ideas on what to change. I've seen other people get the black screen problem as well.
I'm not sure if the blank screen is a step forward or back from the DIOS MIOS screen.
I am running USB Loader GX through the HomeBrew channel, not a forwarder.
All of my settings are default at the moment besides setting the Main GC Path for the USB.
I'm loading 249, I have 248 too and apparently my 222 is "stub." Is this a problem?
EDIT3:
I deleted the WBFS folder from my USB so all that was there was "games," and instead of a black screen, it gave me the DIOS MIOS config error.
That... shouldn't have made a difference. I'm lost.
 

arcsy

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Hi everyone, I've been having the black screen problem too when I try to load NGC games on either USB/SD.

I already updated my USB Loader GX to get rid off the incorrect config version error but now when I load the games (again, either USB/SD) it will load in the DIOS MIOS screen then the screen will go black and that's it.

I also installed DIOS MIOS v2.6 in my v249. Is that correct?

I ran a sysCheck hoping that someone can tell me if I have to update my Wii after all?


sysCheck v2.0.1 by Double_A
...runs on IOS58 (rev 6175).

Region: NTSC-U
System Menu 4.2U (v481)
Hollywood v0x21
Console ID: 125690047
Boot2 v4

Found 200 titles.
Found 40 IOS on this console. 4 of them are stub.

IOS3 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS4 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS9 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS11 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS15 (rev 523): No Patches
IOS16 (rev 512): Stub
IOS17 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS20 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS21 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS28 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS30 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS31 (rev 3349): No Patches
IOS33 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS35 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access
IOS36 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access
IOS37 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug NAND Access
IOS38 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access
IOS40 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS41 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS43 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS45 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS46 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS48 (rev 3867): No Patches
IOS50 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS51 (rev 4864): Stub
IOS52 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS53 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS55 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS56 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS58 (rev 6175): No Patches
IOS60 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS61 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS70 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug
IOS202 (rev 4): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access USB 2.0
IOS222 (rev 4): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access USB 2.0
IOS223 (rev 4): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access USB 2.0
IOS236 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access
IOS249 (rev 21006): Trucha Bug NAND Access USB 2.0
IOS250 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug ES Identify NAND Access USB 2.0
IOS254 (rev 65281): BootMii
BC v6
MIOS v10




Thanks everybody!
 

Maxternal

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Tried DM 2.2, now I get "Fatal error apploader size is zero."
You'll need the LATEST version of GX, PostLoader, WiiFlow, or CFG (click the desired link)
on a couple of these, you might have the last RELEASE but need the latest BETA since older versions were not compatible with newer versions of DM(L).
 

Randomarchitect

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You will need:
-An SD Card
-A USB HDD
-Wii Mote
-GameCube Controller
-A Wii with Homebrew Channel installed
-A GameCube iso

Download Links:

COMPUTER:


1.) Download the USB Launcher easy installer from the Download List above. Run the easy installer in the folder, put it on your SD Card.

2.) Download the USB Loader mod. Open the zip file. Choose the folder with your right IOS. Extract the boot.dol to SD:\apps\usbloader_gx\

3.) Download the DIOS MIOS v2.0 wad. Move it to the root folder of your SD card, or for easier installation put it in a folder on the root titled 'wad'. Also download and put MMM in your 'apps' folder.

4.) Download DiskEx and put the zip contents on your Desktop, along with your iso. (To get a backup, use CleanRip.)

5.) Drag n' Drop the iso into DiskEx. It will create a folder on your Desktop. It will create a folder named after the game id. So to you, it's random letters and numbers.

7.) Download and Install EaseUS Partition master, and open it. Find your HDD, and right click it, and select 'format' Format it as FAT32 with 32KB Clusters. *DONT IGNORE! Press OK, and then "Apply" .

8.) Look at your empty HDD, and make a 'games' folder. Put the Folder with the Game ID in there.

WII:
1.) Plug in your HDD in USB Slot 0. Turn on your Wii. Launch Homebrew Channel. Then launch MMM.

2.) Choose WAD Manager on the menu and install DIOS MIOS v2.0.wad

3.) After you're done, exit MMM. Launch USB Launcher GX.

4.) Go to Settings, and on Page 2, select Custom Paths.

5.) Make the Path for Main GameCube Games "usb1:\games\"

6.) Go to your menu, and select the Button on top that shows a menu that has Check Boxes saying GameCube, Wii, NAND, and EmuNAND. Choose GameCube, and any other you want to display.

7.) Choose a game and press Start, then choose 'Launch from USB'.

Congratulations! You can now play GC games from your USB HDD. This only works if you have a Disc in the Wii Disc Drive. Note: I got this working without a disc, but I might have updated something. Thanks to Cyan for the modified USB Loader.


CFG USB LOADERv70 r36:

COMPUTER:
Follow steps 3-7 in the COMPUTER guide above.

WII:

1.) Follow steps 1 & 2 on the guide above.
2.) Install DIOS MIOS using MMM.
3.) Launch CFG USB Loader.
4.) Click the icon with tools on it
5.) Set "DML Version" to DM.
6.) Launch your game!

I keep getting a message saying "incorrect config version. please update your loader" and the background has dios mios on it. Any ideas?
 

ryujose

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I keep getting a message saying "incorrect config version. please update your loader" and the background has dios mios on it. Any ideas?
Yep, you have to install one of these http://www.mediafire.com/?fywqichbzdktn7w using the same method. i.e. extract one of the .dol files into sd\apps\usbloader_gx

Also, just in case you get rid of the 'incorrect config' message and it still doesn't work, you should know that I used EaseUS to format, I didn't remember seeing an option for 32k cluster size, I had to use another formatting tool that gave me that option, so make sure it absolutely is formatted to fat32 WITH 32k clustersize. Those were the two things that were screwing me. Hopefully they help you.
 

LunarKnight

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Yep, you have to install one of these http://www.mediafire.com/?fywqichbzdktn7w using the same method. i.e. extract one of the .dol files into sd\apps\usbloader_gx

Also, just in case you get rid of the 'incorrect config' message and it still doesn't work, you should know that I used EaseUS to format, I didn't remember seeing an option for 32k cluster size, I had to use another formatting tool that gave me that option, so make sure it absolutely is formatted to fat32 WITH 32k clustersize. Those were the two things that were screwing me. Hopefully they help you.

Already had mine set up like this, no luck.
 

Maxternal

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Already had mine set up like this, no luck.
Now that you're sure you have the a new enough beta version (like the one he linked) in that folder, try running it from the HBC directly and see if that helps. It's always possible you don't have a FORWARDER channel but just have a channel that has the DOL file built in. In that case, updating what's in the fold wouldn't do anything to help unless you run from HBC or change to a forwarder channel.
 

metallicasf

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I just want to say that this is my first post and that i've been trying to load GC games from USB on Wii since i bought it years ago. At some point it looked like it was not going to happen and i gave up. I don't know if this is something that was discovered in 2012 but man i'm happy. Worked at the first time and only read the first page of the topic. Only tried one game so far though...
ok sorry about the long text, bottom line is: Thank you very much!
 

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