Hacking USB Loader GX - Need help to get it working!

[Lorcan]

Version: 4.3E

I'll walk you through what happened. Basically, I used to have a working USB loader GX which let me play games that I wanted to on my USB. Now when I try, it can't find my HDD or something like that. I looked up tutorials on how to install ULGX (USB Loader GX) but none of them seem to work. I've been told to install cIOS here and there. I tried to install IOS236 through the thing in the Homebrew and that worked, but only because I uninstalled it first. I then continued onto cIOSX_rev20b_Installer, like I'd been told to in the video tutorial I watched. I did as the guy said (Select ios236, click IOS56-64-V5661.wad) and then I always get the same error message. ERROR ret = -2! or something like that. That happens each time I try. I used WBFS Manager to put my games onto my USB stick, and plugged it into the right port just like all the videos said, but USB Loader GX and WiiFlow (I tried both) both say the same thing, Can't find HDD or Plug a HDD into the right port. I don't see why it worked before and doesn't work now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'll also include a few screenshots of my SD Card so you can see what's on it.

ROOT:

APPS:

WAD FOLDER: (I don't know if this matters)

 

[Lorcan]

Edit: The labels for the pictures messed up. I'm sure you can work out which is which.

 

[Cyan]

hi,

1 You shouldn't follow random tutorials (which are often VERY outdated, especially Youtube tutorials done by users who don't understand what they are teaching and don't provide helps afterward).

2 You said you followed a lot of guides and installed many different cIOSes. What would be useful is to know which IOS you currently have to know where to start to help you.
You can follow the "syscheck" guide in my signature to check what's currently installed in your console.

3 I don't know why it used to work and (I assume) it suddenly stopped working without you changing anything (you didn't update or replace anything, add games to HDD, put the HDD to computer, changes a settings, etc.).
You just switch ON, play, it works. Switch off, Switch ON right away and it doesn't work anymore? So, something happened in the few seconds your console has been shutdown. (does your last played game hanged/crashed/froze? did you have a power shortage? etc.)

 

[Lorcan]

hi,

1 You shouldn't follow random tutorials (which are often VERY outdated, especially Youtube tutorials done by users who don't understand what they are teaching and don't provide helps afterward).

2 You said you followed a lot of guides and installed many different cIOSes. What would be useful is to know which IOS you currently have to know where to start to help you.
You can follow the "syscheck" guide in my signature to check what's currently installed in your console.

3 I don't know why it used to work and (I assume) it suddenly stopped working without you changing anything (you didn't update or replace anything, add games to HDD, put the HDD to computer, changes a settings, etc.).
You just switch ON, play, it works. Switch off, Switch ON right away and it doesn't work anymore? So, something happened in the few seconds your console has been shutdown. (does your last played game hanged/crashed/froze? did you have a power shortage? etc.)

Okay, in response to what you've told me.

Here's my SysCheck:

Spoiler

sysCheck v2.1.0b19 by Double_A and R2-D2199, Nano
...runs on IOS58 (rev 6176).

Region: PAL
System Menu 4.3E (v514)

Drive date: 2008.07.14
Homebrew Channel 1.1.0 running on IOS58
HomebrewFilter ist nicht installiert
Hollywood v0x11
Console ID: 57197074
Boot2 v4
Found 117 titles.
Found 47 IOS on this console. 16 of them are stub.

IOS4 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS9 (rev 1034): No Patches
IOS10 (rev 768): Stub
IOS11 (rev 256): Stub
IOS12 (rev 526): No Patches
IOS13 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS14 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS15 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS16 (rev 512): Stub
IOS17 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS20 (rev 256): Stub
IOS21 (rev 1039): No Patches
IOS22 (rev 1294): No Patches
IOS28 (rev 1807): No Patches
IOS30 (rev 2816): Stub
IOS31 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS33 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS34 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS35 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS36 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS37 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS38 (rev 4124): No Patches
IOS40 (rev 3072): Stub
IOS41 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS43 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS45 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS46 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS48 (rev 4124): No Patches
IOS50 (rev 5120): Stub
IOS51 (rev 4864): Stub
IOS52 (rev 5888): Stub
IOS53 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS55 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS56 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS57 (rev 5919): No Patches
IOS58 (rev 6176): USB 2.0
IOS60 (rev 6400): Stub
IOS61 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS62 (rev 6430): No Patches
IOS70 (rev 6912): Stub
IOS80 (rev 6944): No Patches
IOS222 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS223 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS236[36] (rev 65535, Info: rev 3351): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access
IOS249 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS250 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS254 (rev 65281): BootMii
BC v6
MIOS v10

Report generated on 2013/10/30.

Regarding you're question about how and when it stopped working. I stopped playing a game one day and I took out the modified and formatted USB drive. It only had one game so I didn't see a point keeping it on there, since at that time I only had one USB device. I continued to reformat it to defaults and in the process removed the .wbfs game I had stored on the drive. Last week I decided to play this game again, and I downloaded an IOS format of the game, put it through WBFS manager and onto the formatted USB device. Loaded up USB Loader GX, and it couldn't find my HDD. Before when it was working, it said locating HDD and then after about 5-10 seconds it found it.

I hope that's all the information you need and anything else I am willing to provide. Thanks!

 

[Lorcan]

Also there was no power shortage/freeze/crash or whatever.

 

[Cyan]

Thanks for the details.

1. Drive format
So, you formated the drives?
I guess the current format is FAT32 or NTFS? (both should be working fine).
Just verify that it's not using "ExFAT" partition format, which is not compatible.

2. Game format
If you used a backup Manager, it should put the game into the correct format/folder/filename.
Though, different folder and filename exists, some of them are not working with USBLoaderGX.

If you are using WiiBackupManager, verify that the filename convention is "name_" or "name_[GameID]".
games should be stored in folders like this : USB:/wbfs/New super mario bros Wii [SMNP01]/SMNP01.wbfs


3. Console's diagnostics
thanks to your syscheck report, we can see that you don't have cIOS anymore, except IOS236 (which is not used by USBLoaders).
To check it yourself, look in slots :
222, 223 : These slots are usually used to install "Hermes" type cIOS.
2249, 250 : These slots are commonly used to install "Waninkoko" type cIOS. There's also a newer type called "d2x" cIOS, which is an updated version of Waninkoko's cIOS version 21.

Nintendo replace the content of these slots with fake IOS (called "stub") to prevent USBloaders from working.

4. What you need to do
Install a custom IOS in slot 249 and 250 (you don't need any more things). It will install in these slots, replacing existing data (fake) with cIOS capable of loading games from USB.

How to do it :
There are two methods to install a custom IOS :
1 - using a cIOS installer. It's a homebrew that you launch and you select on your screen what you want to install. it will do it in read time, downloading the needed files directly from internet to your Wii. [internet -> Wii]
or
2 - using a Wad Manager, to install cIOS in Wad format. To get these Wad files, you can use modmii (it's a PC program which will download the files from internet to your computer). [internet -> PC -> Wii]

Method 2 is the easiest.
Launch the program, answer some questions and follow generated guides.

Method 1 is good if you understand what you are doing. (you will see a list of available Slots, and you select what you want to install yourself). I personnaly prefer this method. always understanding what you are installing to your console is FAR better for future setup : you know what you have and where it's installed.

5. After the install
If you run syscheck again, it will now display "d2x cIOS version xxxx [base xxxx]" instead of "stub".

USBLoaders are using the slot 249 by default, so if your slot 249 now has a cIOS installed, it will work fine like before

I recommend you update your USBLoader at the same time.
There are newer version after v3.0, but you need to update it manually:
- Download the latest revision (currently 1218) from here : http://www.mediafire.com/folder/t2x95zd9rz3rc/USBLoaderGX
- open the archive (with 7zip), and locate the boot.dol in the /IOS249/ folder
- extract that boot.dol file and replace your old boot.dol in sd:/apps/usbloader_gx/boot.dol with it.
- Launch the loader from Homebrew channel.


6. More Help
If you don't understand a part, or if you want more details and helps on installing cIOS, just ask instead of doing wrong things.

 

[Lorcan]

Thanks for the details.

1. Drive format
So, you formated the drives?
I guess the current format is FAT32 or NTFS? (both should be working fine).
Just verify that it's not using "ExFAT" partition format, which is not compatible.

2. Game format
If you used a backup Manager, it should put the game into the correct format/folder/filename.
Though, different folder and filename exists, some of them are not working with USBLoaderGX.

If you are using WiiBackupManager, verify that the filename convention is "name_" or "name_[GameID]".
games should be stored in folders like this : USB:/wbfs/New super mario bros Wii [SMNP01]/SMNP01.wbfs


3. Console's diagnostics
thanks to your syscheck report, we can see that you don't have cIOS anymore, except IOS236 (which is not used by USBLoaders).
To check it yourself, look in slots :
222, 223 : These slots are usually used to install "Hermes" type cIOS.
2249, 250 : These slots are commonly used to install "Waninkoko" type cIOS. There's also a newer type called "d2x" cIOS, which is an updated version of Waninkoko's cIOS version 21.

Nintendo replace the content of these slots with fake IOS (called "stub") to prevent USBloaders from working.

4. What you need to do
Install a custom IOS in slot 249 and 250 (you don't need any more things). It will install in these slots, replacing existing data (fake) with cIOS capable of loading games from USB.

How to do it :
There are two methods to install a custom IOS :
1 - using a cIOS installer. It's a homebrew that you launch and you select on your screen what you want to install. it will do it in read time, downloading the needed files directly from internet to your Wii. [internet -> Wii]
or
2 - using a Wad Manager, to install cIOS in Wad format. To get these Wad files, you can use modmii (it's a PC program which will download the files from internet to your computer). [internet -> PC -> Wii]

Method 2 is the easiest.
Launch the program, answer some questions and follow generated guides.

Method 1 is good if you understand what you are doing. (you will see a list of available Slots, and you select what you want to install yourself). I personnaly prefer this method. always understanding what you are installing to your console is FAR better for future setup : you know what you have and where it's installed.

5. After the install
If you run syscheck again, it will now display "d2x cIOS version xxxx [base xxxx]" instead of "stub".

USBLoaders are using the slot 249 by default, so if your slot 249 now has a cIOS installed, it will work fine like before

I recommend you update your USBLoader at the same time.
There are newer version after v3.0, but you need to update it manually:
- Download the latest revision (currently 1218) from here : http://www.mediafire.com/folder/t2x95zd9rz3rc/USBLoaderGX
- open the archive (with 7zip), and locate the boot.dol in the /IOS249/ folder
- extract that boot.dol file and replace your old boot.dol in sd:/apps/usbloader_gx/boot.dol with it.
- Launch the loader from Homebrew channel.


6. More Help
If you don't understand a part, or if you want more details and helps on installing cIOS, just ask instead of doing wrong things.

Okay, I'm going to try what you've said, I understand most of what you've said, apart from step four and five. I've got the two wads that ModMii recommended to me (cIOS250[57]-d2x-v8-final.wad and cIOS249[56]-d2x-v8-final.wad) but I don't know what to do with these files. I guess that I go onto my Wii, load up Wad Manager and select cIOS 249 and cIOS 250 and replace them with these files, but I don't know for sure. I'm going to give it a go and get back to you now.

 

[Lorcan]

Thanks for the details.

1. Drive format
So, you formated the drives?
I guess the current format is FAT32 or NTFS? (both should be working fine).
Just verify that it's not using "ExFAT" partition format, which is not compatible.

2. Game format
If you used a backup Manager, it should put the game into the correct format/folder/filename.
Though, different folder and filename exists, some of them are not working with USBLoaderGX.

If you are using WiiBackupManager, verify that the filename convention is "name_" or "name_[GameID]".
games should be stored in folders like this : USB:/wbfs/New super mario bros Wii [SMNP01]/SMNP01.wbfs


3. Console's diagnostics
thanks to your syscheck report, we can see that you don't have cIOS anymore, except IOS236 (which is not used by USBLoaders).
To check it yourself, look in slots :
222, 223 : These slots are usually used to install "Hermes" type cIOS.
2249, 250 : These slots are commonly used to install "Waninkoko" type cIOS. There's also a newer type called "d2x" cIOS, which is an updated version of Waninkoko's cIOS version 21.

Nintendo replace the content of these slots with fake IOS (called "stub") to prevent USBloaders from working.

4. What you need to do
Install a custom IOS in slot 249 and 250 (you don't need any more things). It will install in these slots, replacing existing data (fake) with cIOS capable of loading games from USB.

How to do it :
There are two methods to install a custom IOS :
1 - using a cIOS installer. It's a homebrew that you launch and you select on your screen what you want to install. it will do it in read time, downloading the needed files directly from internet to your Wii. [internet -> Wii]
or
2 - using a Wad Manager, to install cIOS in Wad format. To get these Wad files, you can use modmii (it's a PC program which will download the files from internet to your computer). [internet -> PC -> Wii]

Method 2 is the easiest.
Launch the program, answer some questions and follow generated guides.

Method 1 is good if you understand what you are doing. (you will see a list of available Slots, and you select what you want to install yourself). I personnaly prefer this method. always understanding what you are installing to your console is FAR better for future setup : you know what you have and where it's installed.

5. After the install
If you run syscheck again, it will now display "d2x cIOS version xxxx [base xxxx]" instead of "stub".

USBLoaders are using the slot 249 by default, so if your slot 249 now has a cIOS installed, it will work fine like before

I recommend you update your USBLoader at the same time.
There are newer version after v3.0, but you need to update it manually:
- Download the latest revision (currently 1218) from here : http://www.mediafire.com/folder/t2x95zd9rz3rc/USBLoaderGX
- open the archive (with 7zip), and locate the boot.dol in the /IOS249/ folder
- extract that boot.dol file and replace your old boot.dol in sd:/apps/usbloader_gx/boot.dol with it.
- Launch the loader from Homebrew channel.


6. More Help
If you don't understand a part, or if you want more details and helps on installing cIOS, just ask instead of doing wrong things.

Okay, I'm going to try what you've said, I understand most of what you've said, apart from step four and five. I've got the two wads that ModMii recommended to me (cIOS250[57]-d2x-v8-final.wad and cIOS249[56]-d2x-v8-final.wad) but I don't know what to do with these files. I guess that I go onto my Wii, load up Wad Manager and select cIOS 249 and cIOS 250 and replace them with these files, but I don't know for sure. I'm going to give it a go and get back to you now.

I decided not to try it myself, just incase I brake anything, but I remember doing something similar to this before using WAD Manager on the Wii, and everytime I selected the cIOS versions 249 or 250, my Wii controller shut down and I couldn't continue with the install. I just need a guide on how to install the WADs that I installed from ModMii and if they were the correct WADs. Sorry for asking so many questions

 

[Cyan]

When you launch the Wad manager, it could ask you "which IOS do you want to use", it's the IOS which will grant access to Wii memory to install wad files. You select "IOS236".
Some Wad managers don't need IOS236 to get access to the Wii's memory, they can get access using something called "AHB access". In that case it won't ask you which IOS to use.

Just select the wad files to install, and they will install in their respective slots without asking you where you want to install them.


Edit:
If the Wiimote shutdowns, it could be because your wiimote is a Wiimote+ (in contains a Motion Plus integrated to the Wiimote).
Old wad managers are not compatible with Wiimote+ (because such wiimote didn't exist yet when the managers were released), if you have a normal Wiimote use it instead. If you have only a wiimote+ then you'll need a newer wad manger.
You can try MMM (multiModManager). modmii should have bundled a version for you.

 

[Lorcan]

When you launch the Wad manager, it could ask you "which IOS do you want to use", it's the IOS which will grant access to Wii memory to install wad files. You select "IOS236".
Some Wad managers don't need IOS236 to get access to the Wii's memory, they can get access using something called "AHB access". In that case it won't ask you which IOS to use.

Just select the wad files to install, and they will install in their respective slots without asking you where you want to install them.


Edit:
If the Wiimote shutdowns, it could be because your wiimote is a Wiimote+ (in contains a Motion Plus integrated to the Wiimote).
Old wad managers are not compatible with Wiimote+ (because such wiimote didn't exist yet when the managers were released), if you have a normal Wiimote use it instead. If you have only a wiimote+ then you'll need a newer wad manger.
You can try MMM (multiModManager). modmii should have bundled a version for you.

Cyan, You don't know how thankful I am for all your help. You've got my USB Loader GX working again, and I can finally play all those games I wanted to again. Thank you so much!

 

[dieselboyx]

Thanks for the details.

1. Drive format
So, you formated the drives?
I guess the current format is FAT32 or NTFS? (both should be working fine).
Just verify that it's not using "ExFAT" partition format, which is not compatible.

2. Game format
If you used a backup Manager, it should put the game into the correct format/folder/filename.
Though, different folder and filename exists, some of them are not working with USBLoaderGX.

If you are using WiiBackupManager, verify that the filename convention is "name_" or "name_[GameID]".
games should be stored in folders like this : USB:/wbfs/New super mario bros Wii [SMNP01]/SMNP01.wbfs


3. Console's diagnostics
thanks to your syscheck report, we can see that you don't have cIOS anymore, except IOS236 (which is not used by USBLoaders).
To check it yourself, look in slots :
222, 223 : These slots are usually used to install "Hermes" type cIOS.
2249, 250 : These slots are commonly used to install "Waninkoko" type cIOS. There's also a newer type called "d2x" cIOS, which is an updated version of Waninkoko's cIOS version 21.

Nintendo replace the content of these slots with fake IOS (called "stub") to prevent USBloaders from working.

4. What you need to do
Install a custom IOS in slot 249 and 250 (you don't need any more things). It will install in these slots, replacing existing data (fake) with cIOS capable of loading games from USB.

How to do it :
There are two methods to install a custom IOS :
1 - using a cIOS installer. It's a homebrew that you launch and you select on your screen what you want to install. it will do it in read time, downloading the needed files directly from internet to your Wii. [internet -> Wii]
or
2 - using a Wad Manager, to install cIOS in Wad format. To get these Wad files, you can use modmii (it's a PC program which will download the files from internet to your computer). [internet -> PC -> Wii]

Method 2 is the easiest.
Launch the program, answer some questions and follow generated guides.

Method 1 is good if you understand what you are doing. (you will see a list of available Slots, and you select what you want to install yourself). I personnaly prefer this method. always understanding what you are installing to your console is FAR better for future setup : you know what you have and where it's installed.

5. After the install
If you run syscheck again, it will now display "d2x cIOS version xxxx [base xxxx]" instead of "stub".

USBLoaders are using the slot 249 by default, so if your slot 249 now has a cIOS installed, it will work fine like before

I recommend you update your USBLoader at the same time.
There are newer version after v3.0, but you need to update it manually:
- Download the latest revision (currently 1218) from here : http://www.mediafire.com/folder/t2x95zd9rz3rc/USBLoaderGX
- open the archive (with 7zip), and locate the boot.dol in the /IOS249/ folder
- extract that boot.dol file and replace your old boot.dol in sd:/apps/usbloader_gx/boot.dol with it.
- Launch the loader from Homebrew channel.


6. More Help
If you don't understand a part, or if you want more details and helps on installing cIOS, just ask instead of doing wrong things.

I would like to install the updated USB Loader GX, but I want it installed directly on the wii as a channel and not on the SD card. Can anyone help me wiht that?

 

[Lorcan]

I would like to install the updated USB Loader GX, but I want it installed directly on the wii as a channel and not on the SD card. Can anyone help me wiht that?

I've infact done that since I have followed the guide above.

If you follow the link here to download the channel and the latest version of USB Loader GX: http://www.mediafire.com/?d98dcy7d4qznb6n (For the latest version, all you really need to do is replace your current boot.dol with the new one)

Download that and inside you'll find the apps and wad folders. Move them both onto the root of your SD card. You'll be asked to merge folders, and you should do that, for all the times it pops up. Then It'll say something else, where you just hit move and replace. Once you've got those plug your SD card into your Wii. Assuming you've already got cIOS249 and cIOS250 installed, you should open up WAD manager on the Homebrew channel. If you don't have that, you can download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?e4raymp162rhj8i

Once inside, they'll be a disclaimer that pops up. Press A to accept that. Then for the IOS version to use, select IOS249 and press a. On the next screen, select the 'Disable' option and press A. Next screen, select Wii SD Slot, and press A. Then, browse to the WAD folder you previously added the channel to. Then all you do is select 'USB Loader GX-UNEO_Forwarder_5_1_AHBPROT.wad' and press A. Then select 'Install WAD' It should install itself, and once it's done, press any button to continue like it says. Then press B, followed by the Home button and that should bring you back to the Homebrew channel. Just go back to the main Wii screen and the channel should be there!

 

[Cyan]

Thanks for helping other users back
What you explain is correct, but I'll just add some informations:

There are two different method to launch the USBLoader from the channel (two channel type).
1 - Full channel (TitleID: UNLR/ULNR (it's a typo)): This one installs the loader's homebrew file inside the Wii memory, like any game channels on your Wii.
This one is used if you don't want to use SD card or USB at all. (though, you usually always have at least an USB if you want USBLoaders, and you need either SD or USB connected to save all your settings so you always require at least a device to put your files). This channel could be useful if you don't want to update often/regularly. There's only one release every one years (or more).
To update the loader : Use the internal Update menu, or install the new Wad file


2 - The forwarder Channel (TitleID: UNEO): This one installs a little application on your wii which reload (forward) into another application located on your SD card.
The second is useful if you like testing latest version/revision/beta builds with latests features. You have a channel, but the actual loader program is not on your Wii but on SD or USB.
To update the loader : Only replace the boot.dol file on your SD or USB. very easy to update or test new/old versions.



I recommend to always use the Forwarder, as it can launch newer versions.
The last released "Full channel" is version 3.0 (revision 1180).
The newest released version is revision 1219 (with better GameCube backup launching supports)