Hacking The Definitive vWii Hacking Guide!

[julienbdes]

I've read a bit but i'm still incertain. I just followed you'r guide. HBC and backup done. Now, there's many USB Loader Gx . i want the forwarder one, do i still need the sd/apps file or no need? I wish to integrate nintendont with that.

Also since i am looking to get an External Hard drive like this one:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=c62220e5b97ec757a891b512a044d83ben02

I do not have an Gamecube adapter but i do have some old controller.
The adaptor use 2 plug ?

If i plan to play alone, what should be my setup and if four?
I think about getting an USB hub but is it worth it?

Thanks for everything!

Edit: The usb hub are between 20 and 100$ how to get the good one?

 

[CJB100]

I've read a bit but i'm still incertain. I just followed you'r guide. HBC and backup done. Now, there's many USB Loader Gx . i want the forwarder one, do i still need the sd/apps file or no need? I wish to integrate nintendont with that.

Also since i am looking to get an External Hard drive like this one:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=c62220e5b97ec757a891b512a044d83ben02

I do not have an Gamecube adapter but i do have some old controller.
The adaptor use 2 plug ?

If i plan to play alone, what should be my setup and if four?
I think about getting an USB hub but is it worth it?

Thanks for everything!

Edit: The usb hub are between 20 and 100$ how to get the good one?

A) Regarding installing USB Loader GX and it's forwarder channel, just follow the section on USB Loader GX, it tells you everything you could possibly want to know about setup. Once you are done, follow the section on Nintendon't and then the Section on Installing Forwarder Channels. I have linked the USB Loader GX Forwarder Channel. The guide is meant to basically be a full run through. You could follow from the very first word, to the bottom of the page in one go, and you would be set up the way you want to be. If it seems this isn't helpful, or seems like I'm just saying "look at the guide," its not that I'm not trying to be helpful. It's just that he guide goes through all those steps and there isn't too much more left to say about it. Do exactly what the guide says and then if you have issues, we can help. Right now you aren't experiencing problems, you just need to actually follow the instructions.

B) I have used the 500GB version of that hard drive and it works, so I'd assume the one you've picked out should also work, but you will need the USB Y Split Cable, see Req1 under Requirements and Setup for USB Loader GX.

C) Nintendon't has support for the Wii U Pro Controller, Classic Controller, and I believe event the gamepad. If you don't have a Gamecube adapter, though, I would highly recommend buying it. But make sure you get the official Nintendo one, it seems to be best supported.

D) I'm pretty sure Nintendon't has 4 player support, but I believe you need 4 of the same type of controller. So best to use either 4 Pro Controllers or 4 Gamecube Controllers with the official Nintendo Gamecube adapter.

E) I personally don't think a USB Hub is worth it unless you play a lot of Rock Band / Guitar Hero games with the USB Peripherals.

 

[7Robins]

One thing I've found out (and @CJB100 can confirm) is that using WBFS manager, you can effectively hide your drive from the WiiU Menu and bypass using UStealth, at least I did using a flash drive. USB Loader GX also correctly detects the drive, and UMode doesn't pester you about formatting the drive. WBFS Manager also has several useful features, and you can load ISOs using your PC using the program (since it acts like a WiiU format in that your computer won't recognize the drive.

EDIT1: Also, for some reason GX freezes while trying to dump an ISO from a disc. Any ideas why? My drive is formatted to WBFS, which I read could help but it didn't.

EDIT2: I rebooted my console and tried installing it again, and it got to 0.75% dumped (rather than freezing immediately) and then it froze, so I don't think it's an issue with the flash drive (as asked about in the FAQ).

 

[CJB100]

One thing I've found out (and @CJB100 can confirm) is that using WBFS manager, you can effectively hide your drive from the WiiU Menu and bypass using UStealth, at least I did using a flash drive. USB Loader GX also correctly detects the drive, and UMode doesn't pester you about formatting the drive. WBFS Manager also has several useful features, and you can load ISOs using your PC using the program (since it acts like a WiiU format in that your computer won't recognize the drive.

EDIT1: Also, for some reason GX freezes while trying to dump an ISO from a disc. Any ideas why? My drive is formatted to WBFS, which I read could help but it didn't.

EDIT2: I rebooted my console and tried installing it again, and it got to 0.75% dumped (rather than freezing immediately) and then it froze, so I don't think it's an issue with the flash drive (as asked about in the FAQ).

I would not format the drive in WBFS. Fat32 is really best. I believe NTFS and even exFat have better support at this point, and you can put other things besides Wii games on a drive formatted in FAT32. WBFS is really only meant to store Wii games.

Regarding the dumping error, it could be a variety of things. Try a different game. If another game goes through fine then USB Loader GX is getting hung on a bad section of the disc it can't read from. If a different game gives the same issue, then it is probably the HDD. Most likely cause is insufficient power or using a flash / thumb drive instead of a proper HDD. What kind of hard drive you using?

 

[7Robins]

I would not format the drive in WBFS. Fat32 is really best. I believe NTFS and even exFat have better support at this point, and you can put other things besides Wii games on a drive formatted in FAT32. WBFS is really only meant to store Wii games.

Regarding the dumping error, it could be a variety of things. Try a different game. If another game goes through fine then USB Loader GX is getting hung on a bad section of the disc it can't read from. If a different game gives the same issue, then it is probably the HDD. Most likely cause is insufficient power or using a flash / thumb drive instead of a proper HDD. What kind of hard drive you using?

I tried to dump the game (Skyward Sword, unfortunately its the only game I have access to ATM) a third time, and it got farther and then froze again.

I'm gonna try and format back to FAT32 and then see if that works.

 

[CJB100]

I tried to dump the game (Skyward Sword, unfortunately its the only game I have access to ATM) a third time, and it got farther and then froze again.

I'm gonna try and format back to FAT32 and then see if that works.

That's what I would do. What kind of Hard Drive are you using?

 

[7Robins]

That's what I would do. What kind of Hard Drive are you using?

It freezes at "Initializing USB device" after I formatted to FAT32.

It's actually a 32GB flash drive.

 

[CJB100]

It freezes at "Initializing USB device" after I formatted to FAT32.

It's actually a 32GB flash drive.

That's why. Flash drives have typically worked for me in the past, but I've seen them get pretty poor compatibility reputations amongst my friends and some people on here. My suggestion is to get an actual portable hard drive and the y cable if necessary. You don't need a big one. A 500GB would prolly be slightly overkill for Wii and GameCube games, and can be had for $40. Instead of spending that money on a game, get an HDD instead, and you will essentially be able to unlock the full Wii and GC library.

See the official Nintendo Compatibility list in the FAQ or at the top of REQ1 in Setup and Requirements for USB Loader GX if you wanna be extra sure you'll have something that works.

 

[7Robins]

That's why. Flash drives have typically worked for me in the past, but I've seen them get pretty poor compatibility reputations amongst my friends and some people on here. My suggestion is to get an actual portable hard drive and the y cable if necessary. You don't need a big one. A 500GB would prolly be slightly overkill for Wii and GameCube games, and can be had for $40. Instead of spending that money on a game, get an HDD instead, and you will essentially be able to unlock the full Wii and GC library.

See the official Nintendo Compatibility list in the FAQ or at the top of REQ1 in Setup and Requirements for USB Loader GX if you wanna be extra sure you'll have something that works.

Hmm well that sucks. I don't have the money at the moment to buy a hard drive. I'll probably just set it back to WBFS and download ISOs instead of dumping them and see if that works.

 

[CJB100]

Hmm well that sucks. I don't have the money at the moment to buy a hard drive. I'll probably just set it back to WBFS and download ISOs instead of dumping them and see if that works.

I would definitely stay away from WBFS regardless, it's a very limited file system. Set it to FAT32 and see if it will boot games you back up to the computer and then transfer over using Wii Backup Manager as stated in the guide under the last section of the USB Loader GX part. Per Cyan in a previous post and the FAQ in the guide, sometimes thumb / flash drives will read (ex read a game file) but not write (ex not dump a game file).

EDIT:: Sorry, forgot you mentioned it won't load to USB Loader GX after converting to FAT32.

 

[Cyan]

One thing I've found out (and @CJB100 can confirm) is that using WBFS manager, you can effectively hide your drive from the WiiU Menu and bypass using UStealth, at least I did using a flash drive. USB Loader GX also correctly detects the drive, and UMode doesn't pester you about formatting the drive. WBFS Manager also has several useful features, and you can load ISOs using your PC using the program (since it acts like a WiiU format in that your computer won't recognize the drive.

EDIT1: Also, for some reason GX freezes while trying to dump an ISO from a disc. Any ideas why? My drive is formatted to WBFS, which I read could help but it didn't.

EDIT2: I rebooted my console and tried installing it again, and it got to 0.75% dumped (rather than freezing immediately) and then it froze, so I don't think it's an issue with the flash drive (as asked about in the FAQ).

1. you can format to WBFS partition format without a partition table, and WIIU will not ask to format the device because no partition will be found.
BUT never use "WBFS Manager", use wwt/wit if you want to manage a WBFS drive. WBFS Manager is corrupting the games.

2. Flash drives have write issues with cIOS.
Dumping a disc will freeze. it's not only USBLoaderGX, but also CFG and Wiiflow. It's a cIOS issue.

Try dumping the game with IOS58 (change the IOS in the loader settings and reboot), or try with CleanRIP (which also use IOS58).


3. I didn't read all the replies you got since your message, maybe you already had the same information.

i want the forwarder one, do i still need the sd/apps file or no need?

Yes, you still need the files on your SD or USB.
That's the purpose of a forwarder channel : it's "forwarding" to another program.
It means, the channel itself doesn't contain the main program you want to launch, but only a "re-loading" program which points to a specific place on SD or USB and launch that one instead.
It allows you to have a channel and never need to update the channel. When there is a new homebrew version, you replace the homebrew files on your SD or USB and the channel will launch that new file.

Edit: The usb hub are between 20 and 100$ how to get the good one?

HUBs are not working with USBLoaders !

I would not format the drive in WBFS. Fat32 is really best. I believe NTFS and even exFat have better support at this point

exFAT is currently only supported by Nintendont.
USBLoaders are working with ext2/3/4

I also recommend using FAT32 + UStealth.
There's a homebrew to switch UStealth mode if you don't want/can't to use the windows program.

 

[Blakus]

Hey just used your guide over the last few days and it was super helpful. Thank you!

Some features of Nintendon't:

• Controller support for the Gamepad
• Controller support for the Wii U Pro Controller
• Controller support for the official Wii U Gamecube Controller Adapter

I was wondering if this was an error? I haven't be able to get my Wii U gamepad to control my gamecube games. Is there something I have to do to set it up?

 

[Cyan]

there's no error.

WiiU gamepad (not compatible)

WiiU Pro controller (working with Nintendont and some other Wii homebrew)

If you tested the "pro controller" and it's not working, be sure it's sync to the console first. Press the red button on the controller and the console while you are on the main WiiU menu (or the Wii's system menu)

 

[7Robins]

1. you can format to WBFS partition format without a partition table, and WIIU will not ask to format the device because no partition will be found.
BUT never use "WBFS Manager", use wwt/wit if you want to manage a WBFS drive. WBFS Manager is corrupting the games.

2. Flash drives have write issues with cIOS.
Dumping a disc will freeze. it's not only USBLoaderGX, but also CFG and Wiiflow. It's a cIOS issue.

Try dumping the game with IOS58 (change the IOS in the loader settings and reboot), or try with CleanRIP (which also use IOS58).

1. I'm assuming I can do that using wwt/wit? Also, how is manager corrupting the games? I only ask because one of my friends is currently using it (which is where I got the idea to use it) and his games seem to run fine.

2. I'll try using IOS58 and/or CleanRip, thanks for the ideas.

 

[Cyan]

WBFS manager is relying on an old WBFS library and is not properly marking the bloc of data as used when installing a game. As a result, installing a new game overwrites bloc of data used by another (already present on the drive) game, thinking it's available.
Two games share the same bloc number, but only one will find the correct data.
The corrupted game with the wrong bloc of data can boot if the overwritten bloc is not located at the start of the game, it could crash or freeze later in the game (loading a map, a menu, a movie, etc.)

wwt and WiiBackupManager both are the WBFS library bug fixed.

WiiBackupManager can fix the "mark as empty" blocs to prevent overwriting them with another game install and mark them as used (option>wbfs>fix empty bloc table), but it can't fix already corrupted games.

wwt probably has a command line to check blocs integrity and if a game is corrupted or not.
WiiBackupManager can check the game too : option > sha1 check

 

[7Robins]

WBFS manager is relying on an old WBFS library and is not properly marking the bloc of data as used when installing a game. As a result, installing a new game overwrites bloc of data used by another (already present on the drive) game, thinking it's available.
Two games share the same bloc number, but only one will find the correct data.
The corrupted game with the wrong bloc of data can boot if the overwritten bloc is not located at the start of the game, it could crash or freeze later in the game (loading a map, a menu, a movie, etc.)

wwt and WiiBackupManager both are the WBFS library bug fixed.

WiiBackupManager can fix the "mark as empty" blocs to prevent overwriting them with another game install and mark them as used (option>wbfs>fix empty bloc table), but it can't fix already corrupted games.

wwt probably has a command line to check blocs integrity and if a game is corrupted or not.
WiiBackupManager can check the game too : option > sha1 check

Ohhh.., no wonder. We were playing a game on his vWii (he was using WBFS Manager as I said previously) and after a cutscene his WiiU crashed and froze at a black screen, so that explains it. I need to talk to him .

So with wwt or WiiBackupManager, I can format the drive back to WBFS, and then load games using that program? Are they PC apps or homebrew? How would I use them in conjunction with USB Loader GX?

 

[Cyan]

They are PC apps.
wwt/wit are a set of command line tools, working on Win/mac/linux. (wwt = WBFS tool, wit = ISO tool)
WiiBackupManager is Windows only.

WBFS partition type is fine, as long as you know about that free bloc issue (but shouldn't be an issue if you don't use WBFS manager anymore).
Though, it's now recommended to use FAT32 instead, the partition can be used for other purpose : gamecube backup, homebrew, emuNAND, Neek, etc.

If you want, you can convert the WBFS partition to FAT32 instead of formating and losing all games.
Once on FAT32, you can check all games one by one and delete only the corrupted ones.
converter : wbfs2fat and guide in my signature.
check the game : wit or WiiBackupManager.

There's no "conjunction" with the loader. they are just tools to manage the games on the drive. the loader only list the games it finds.

There is a WiiBackupManager section on the first post guide. edit : I just read that section, it's incomplete and miss important informations. But it should be easy enough to use without a guide.


Once you are in FAT32, the HDD will have a partition table. the HDD can hold up to 4 partitions.
WiiU will display the format hdd message. If you want, you can alter the partition table signature to "hide" the drive from the WiiU, but also from the PC.
Wii and vWii homebrew will see the drive, even hidden.
There is a homebrew to switch the stealth state, and there is also a windows program. you need to make it visible before managing your games on computer as WiiBackupManager is not detecting the partitions if the drive is stealth'd.

 

[7Robins]

They are PC apps.
wwt/wit are a set of command line tools, working on Win/mac/linux. (wwt = WBFS tool, wit = ISO tool)
WiiBackupManager is Windows only.

WBFS partition type is fine, as long as you know about that free bloc issue (but shouldn't be an issue if you don't use WBFS manager anymore).
Though, it's now recommended to use FAT32 instead, the partition can be used for other purpose : gamecube backup, homebrew, emuNAND, Neek, etc.

If you want, you can convert the WBFS partition to FAT32 instead of formating and losing all games.
Once on FAT32, you can check all games one by one and delete only the corrupted ones.
converter : wbfs2fat and guide in my signature.
check the game : wit or WiiBackupManager.

There's no "conjunction" with the loader. they are just tools to manage the games on the drive. the loader only list the games it finds.

There is a WiiBackupManager section on the first post guide. edit : I just read that section, it's incomplete and miss important informations. But it should be easy enough to use without a guide.


Once you are in FAT32, the HDD will have a partition table. the HDD can hold up to 4 partitions.
WiiU will display the format hdd message. If you want, you can alter the partition table signature to "hide" the drive from the WiiU, but also from the PC.
Wii and vWii homebrew will see the drive, even hidden.
There is a homebrew to switch the stealth state, and there is also a windows program. you need to make it visible before managing your games on computer as WiiBackupManager is not detecting the partitions if the drive is stealth'd.

Well, I'm actually not worrying about formatting and losing games, since my drive is empty(unless you were meaning so that I can help my friend which if so thanks ). Also, FAT32 doesn't work with GX on my drive for some reason.

I'm also not really worried about not being able to use the drive for anything else, so WBFS is fine for me, as long as it can hold Wii and GC games.

Thanks for your help and info so far.

 

[CJB100]

Hey just used your guide over the last few days and it was super helpful. Thank you!

I was wondering if this was an error? I haven't be able to get my Wii U gamepad to control my gamecube games. Is there something I have to do to set it up?

Actually, yes, that is an error. I will correct that now, than you!

They are PC apps.
wwt/wit are a set of command line tools, working on Win/mac/linux. (wwt = WBFS tool, wit = ISO tool)
WiiBackupManager is Windows only.

WBFS partition type is fine, as long as you know about that free bloc issue (but shouldn't be an issue if you don't use WBFS manager anymore).
Though, it's now recommended to use FAT32 instead, the partition can be used for other purpose : gamecube backup, homebrew, emuNAND, Neek, etc.

If you want, you can convert the WBFS partition to FAT32 instead of formating and losing all games.
Once on FAT32, you can check all games one by one and delete only the corrupted ones.
converter : wbfs2fat and guide in my signature.
check the game : wit or WiiBackupManager.

There's no "conjunction" with the loader. they are just tools to manage the games on the drive. the loader only list the games it finds.

There is a WiiBackupManager section on the first post guide. edit : I just read that section, it's incomplete and miss important informations. But it should be easy enough to use without a guide.


Once you are in FAT32, the HDD will have a partition table. the HDD can hold up to 4 partitions.
WiiU will display the format hdd message. If you want, you can alter the partition table signature to "hide" the drive from the WiiU, but also from the PC.
Wii and vWii homebrew will see the drive, even hidden.
There is a homebrew to switch the stealth state, and there is also a windows program. you need to make it visible before managing your games on computer as WiiBackupManager is not detecting the partitions if the drive is stealth'd.

What should I update on the Wii Backup Manager Section? PM me, but keep in mind I don't ever use Wii Backup Manager as I don't pirate and don't back up games to PC. The guide is only for vWii, I don't think the typical user will need the program all too often, especially for the process of hacking the vWii, but if they want to use it, they can, and if they need assistance for further use, they can ask someone on the forums that knows more about it than I do.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Well, I'm actually not worrying about formatting and losing games, since my drive is empty(unless you were meaning so that I can help my friend which if so thanks ). Also, FAT32 doesn't work with GX on my drive for some reason.

I'm also not really worried about not being able to use the drive for anything else, so WBFS is fine for me, as long as it can hold Wii and GC games.

Thanks for your help and info so far.

Could be mistaken, we should wait for Cyan's reply, but I am pretty certain GC games won't work on WBFS. As I said, it is really made with only Wii games in mind.

 

[7Robins]

Could be mistaken, we should wait for Cyan's reply, but I am pretty certain GC games won't work on WBFS. As I said, it is really made with only Wii games in mind.

Hopefully it is, since as I understand, that format is specifically for the Wii, and since the Wii had direct backwards compatibility, it might possibly work. If it doesn't, then couldn't I technically create two partitions, one for WBFS and one for FAT32?