Hacking WiiFlow - an open source GUI USB-Loader

[Wiimpathy]

Amstrad CPC plugin : Wiituka_plugin1

Source code

This one wasn't so easy. Well, at least we can learn Spanish thanks to the author's comments.

To use the plugin, you Must run the original emulator first. It generates the .conf files.
Then you put your games in /apps/wiituka/DISKS. You can copy /apps/wiituka/ folder to your usb drive.

The plugin always try to auto boot games. If it doesn't work, like on real cpc, type CAT and RUN"mygame.
There's no more main emulator's menu. The only interesting option is screen color (green or color) and intensity anyway.
You can still edit wiituka_conf.xml : screenTube="0" is for color monitor and screenTube="1" is for green.
Only zip files are supported.

This emulator has a very good and simple gui. The only thing missing is double sided disks.

 

[fledge68]

Hey drakorex check out r916, I think Fledge68 gave you what you were asking for before.. I'm not quite sure I get it, so maybe one of you fine gentlemen can explain it to me a bit better?

Yea I've tried to read it over and over but I have no idea what the helk you guys are talking about lol

in the source_menu.ini under a button such as [BUTTON_3] you can add catpage=3 and then when you select that source and you go to categories it will automatically go to that page. for example - that way if you have movie categories numbered 21-30 (page 3) they will show up when you select mplayer as the source.

 

[drakorex]

Not sure I get the source max plugin thing. What is the benefit? Does reducing the number of plugins allowed free up memory or does it depend on how many are actually present, or something different altogether?

 

[MassiveRican]

in the source_menu.ini under a button such as [BUTTON_3] you can add catpage=3 and then when you select that source and you go to categories it will automatically go to that page. for example - that way if you have movie categories numbered 21-30 (page 3) they will show up when you select mplayer as the source.

Ah I get it now, that's great, especially for people with many categories. This might help shortz1994 too with his genre's but I'm not sure, and yes does minimizing max plugins free up memory?

 

[fledge68]

Ah I get it now, that's great, especially for people with many categories. This might help shortz1994 too with his genre's but I'm not sure, and yes does minimizing max plugins free up memory?

does minimizing max plugins free up memory? not really, it basically tells wiiflow how many source menu pages you need and it's basically there in wiiflow.ini for the user to set without having to change the value in the code and recompile it.

 

[drakorex]

Something else I thought about, would it be possible to make an argument for plugins so when they are selected, they autoboot the selected app? This could be used mainly for programs that the user uses alot. I myself could see assigning this function to power off, eject disc, and boot wiixplorer.

 

[MassiveRican]

Oh well I'd thought we might tackle on the mem issue with some ideas, I wonder how you debug mem leaks.. complicated process I bet XD

 

[MassiveRican]

You can't hide the games with the scummvm plugin, that's the way it's impemented in Wiiflow.
A solution is to put the scummvm-alt.dol and a scummvm.ini in /WiiFlow/plugins/scummvm-alt. Edit your game plugin (zak.ini?) : dolfile=scummvm-alt/scummvm-alt.dol
Then, delete the duplicate in the original /WiiFlow/plugins/scummvm.ini.

Hi Wiimpathy, I'm just double checking, you meant delete the entry in the original scummvm.in in wiiflow/plugins or delete the entire file? I'm basically combining, both plugins using multi-magic for discworld 1&2 and Zak Mckracken, so I'll have one source menu button which will properly display and launch all games, thanks for all your work on this awesome plugin!

 

[Wiimpathy]

Hi Massiverican. You just delete the corresponding entry for the game (not the entire file!) in the original scummvm.ini inside wiiflow/plugins.
Add the entries ([dw-cd], [dw2-cd] etc...) in the other scummvm.ini inside /WiiFlow/plugins/scummvm-alt folder.

in the source_menu.ini under a button such as [BUTTON_3] you can add catpage=3 and then when you select that source and you go to categories it will automatically go to that page. for example - that way if you have movie categories numbered 21-30 (page 3) they will show up when you select mplayer as the source.

Would it be possible to have an option to go to a specific category when you choose a plugin in source menu? For example, if we want all mario games in existence from all machines, we could create a category "mario", combine the related plugins, and then have access to the games directly from source menu. Thanks for your work.

 

[MassiveRican]

Hi Massiverican. You just delete the corresponding entry for the game (not the entire file!) in the original scummvm.ini inside wiiflow/plugins.
Add the entries ([dw-cd], [dw2-cd] etc...) in the other scummvm.ini inside /WiiFlow/plugins/scummvm-alt folder.

Thanks for the clarification, got that going

One more thing if you don't mind; in ScummVM under options there is a paths tab. 2 tabs pique my interest, the save path and the plugins path. Since there is a plugins folder in dev:/apps/scummvm/ with a bunch of files and a saves folder in dev:/scummvmroms/, should I set the paths via the GUI and then transfer my scummvm.ini to my plugins folder in WiiFlow to get the best performance? Or are setting these paths unnecessary?

 

[Wiimpathy]

If you don't want a dozen of savegames in /WiiFlow/plugins/, yes, that's the way you do it, change the savepath to another directory. Regarding the "Extra Path", read this. Not tested but it would avoid all the .dat files in wiiflow/plugins folder and just read the files in apps/scummvm.

 

[AbdallahTerro]

Amstrad CPC plugin : Wiituka_plugin1

Source code

This one wasn't so easy. Well, at least we can learn Spanish thanks to the author's comments.

To use the plugin, you Must run the original emulator first. It generates the .conf files.
Then you put your games in /apps/wiituka/DISKS. You can copy /apps/wiituka/ folder to your usb drive.

The plugin always try to auto boot games. If it doesn't work, like on real cpc, type CAT and RUN"mygame.
There's no more main emulator's menu. The only interesting option is screen color (green or color) and intensity anyway.
You can still edit wiituka_conf.xml : screenTube="0" is for color monitor and screenTube="1" is for green.
Only zip files are supported.

This emulator has a very good and simple gui. The only thing missing is double sided disks.

First thanks for the custom dol as beautiful as always
I really like the slim size almost 1/10 the original size
Few findings: it turns out that original dol has preference for SD
so even if \apps\Wiituka\boot.dol is on usb the conf xml files are created on SD

Best way I found here is to add the official game pack and create the conf files, then add everything to the pack
This way the users won't need the official dol unless they want to add more games

I recommend having everything on SD (\apps\wiituka with the games that is)
Otherwise the plugin won't find the games

I also added the ogg by mastershoes, now I just need to find where to add this to source menu

Edit: Replaced Nestopia (too many NES emulators )

 

[MassiveRican]

First thanks for the custom dol as beautiful as always
I really like the slim size almost 1/10 the original size
Few findings: it turns out that original dol has preference for SD
so even if \apps\Wiituka\boot.dol is on usb the conf xml files are created on SD

Best way I found here is to add the official game pack and create the conf files, then add everything to the pack
This way the users won't need the official dol unless they want to add more games

I recommend having everything on SD (\apps\wiituka with the games that is)
Otherwise the plugin won't find the games

I also added the ogg by mastershoes, now I just need to find where to add this to source menu

Edit: Replaced Nestopia (too many NES emulators )

Why not quickNES? What are pros and cons between them? That way I can make a choice if I prefer one over the other

 

[AbdallahTerro]

Well I had to choose between those 2, I selected Nestopia since page 5 has all the oldies

 

[MassiveRican]

First thanks for the custom dol as beautiful as always
I really like the slim size almost 1/10 the original size
Few findings: it turns out that original dol has preference for SD
so even if \apps\Wiituka\boot.dol is on usb the conf xml files are created on SD

Best way I found here is to add the official game pack and create the conf files, then add everything to the pack
This way the users won't need the official dol unless they want to add more games

I recommend having everything on SD (\apps\wiituka with the games that is)
Otherwise the plugin won't find the games

So if I have everything on USB:/apps/wiituka with the games and conf files you're saying the plugin won't work?

 

[AbdallahTerro]

it might work in a USB only setup (can't test here since Wiiflow is on SD)
I faced similar issues with frodo and amiga too, I have the configs on Sd while roms on USB
With Wiituka it didn't work for me

 

[MassiveRican]

Alright, I already set everything up in source Menu but I haven't made the config files yet, and won't be able to until much later tonight, if you finish your setup before mine I'll tweek it to see if it works with USB only later.

 

[iffy525]

I have an SSBM iso that boots fine with DIOS MIOS Booter, but with Wiiflow I get the fatal error "apploader size is zero" message. Any ideas?

 

[AbdallahTerro]

Alright, I already set everything up in source Menu but I haven't made the config files yet, and won't be able to until much later tonight, if you finish your setup before mine I'll tweek it to see if it works with USB only later.

It's already in the online "extracted pack" folder with around 30 games in Disks foder (go to apps\Wiituka)

 

[MassiveRican]

I just found it a bit ago, it's neat that you can d/load them offline too if you wanted. Can't test on Wii till tonight though, but at least I'll be ready 2 go.

If you don't want a dozen of savegames in /WiiFlow/plugins/, yes, that's the way you do it, change the savepath to another directory. Regarding the "Extra Path", read this. Not tested but it would avoid all the .dat files in wiiflow/plugins folder and just read the files in apps/scummvm.

One last thing, Wiimpathy, thanks for all your help thus far on this btw. I noticed that in ScummVM 1.3.1 there was a plugins path option that is no longer located in the paths tab. Do the files in apps/scummvm/plugins get used automatically as needed or should I transfer the scummvm plugins folder to the wiiflow/plugins folder as well? and I swear this is the last question on this for a while lol.