Hacking [HELP] Questions about vWii and USB Loader GX

[Cyan]

glad you didn't have any corrupted games
good choice converting to FAT32.

If dumping gamecube games goes to SD card, then your loader is old or you didn't set the path correctly (after updating from an old version it kept the SD path)
go to settings, don't remember HDD settings or Loader's settings, (probably HDD settings), and select "Main gamecube path" to USB:/games/
the "main" path is the one used to dump games.


Ustealth device or not, you can have Wii and GC and EmuNAND and emulators and other homebrew on the same HDD (same or different partitions).

 

[mja7011]

IIRC, Wii games off of USB Loader GX does read the actual save files from the Wii System Memory.... like I don't need to make a special save file for USB Loader GX specifically. However, how do I transfer my old Gamecube saves on my physical gamecube memory cards to vWii so USB Loader GX can read them via Nintendont?

If dumping gamecube games goes to SD card, then your loader is old or you didn't set the path correctly (after updating from an old version it kept the SD path)
go to settings, don't remember HDD settings or Loader's settings, (probably HDD settings), and select "Main gamecube path" to USB:/games/
the "main" path is the one used to dump games.

Ohh I thought it could be only be transferred to the SD card. Ohh well, I only have 8 games left, so ill just continue to have them installed on the SD card and then transfer them to my HDD.

Now, once I have all my Gamecube ISO's ready, do I load them up in Wii Backup Manager (like Wii games)? And where on my HDD do the Gamecube games need to be in order for USB Loader GX to find and read them correctly?

 

[Cyan]

if you want to transfer your gamecube memory card, there are different tools to dump the card to a binary file.
I don't remember the name of all apps, but I'm almost sure SavegameManagerGX can do it too.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/savegame-manager-gx.210111/page-87


then, if the format is not fully "raw" but gci (individual game's savegame) then you can use Dolphin emulator's memory card manager menu.
in that manager, generate a new empty memory card, and import all individual gci files you dumped.

 

[godreborn]

if you want to transfer your gamecube memory card, there are different tools to dump the card to a binary file.
I don't remember the name of all apps, but I'm almost sure SavegameManagerGX can do it too.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/savegame-manager-gx.210111/page-87


then, if the format is not fully "raw" but gci (individual game's savegame) then you can use Dolphin emulator's memory card manager menu.
in that manager, generate a new empty memory card, and import all individual gci files you dumped.

this is what I did myself. it sounds like a pain, but it really doesn't take that long to do. oh, and without dolphin the saves came out as corrupted.

 

[mja7011]

if you want to transfer your gamecube memory card, there are different tools to dump the card to a binary file.
I don't remember the name of all apps, but I'm almost sure SavegameManagerGX can do it too.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/savegame-manager-gx.210111/page-87


then, if the format is not fully "raw" but gci (individual game's savegame) then you can use Dolphin emulator's memory card manager menu.
in that manager, generate a new empty memory card, and import all individual gci files you dumped.

hmm... is there possibly a video tutorial on this?

 

[Cyan]

I don't understand why people can only use something with a video tutorial.

what is your problem ? downloading savegame manager gx ?
extracting a zip on your computer?
creating a folder on your SD and copying files from computer to SD?
launching Wii homebrew ?
using savegame manager gx ? just try what you see on screen ? it's all self explaining "backup" is probably used ... to backup ! and "SD" is probably used to list SD content, while "Wii" is probably used to list content on Wii, while Mii is probably used to list Miis
"put the wiimote cursor on the button you want to activate, press A !"?
find the savegame you want to backup, click on it, select delete .... oh, wait, .... something is wrong here, will you find the problem without a youtube video?

put your SD back to computer to copy gci file from /savegames folder to computer ?

use your browser to load google and search dolphin website?
find the link and actually download dolphin ?
install a program? launch it ? (hint : double click on the icon on your desktop )

problem understanding that you have to launch the memory card manager ? it's probably located in "option > memory card manager" ohhh, that's funny, who would have thought it had the same name than what it actually does.

now you have two menus, with some option, where you can "create a new card" or "open an existing card" .... let me guess that if you want to create an empty card you shouldn't open a non existing one, so pick the "create" choice instead of "open".

then select something written on your screen which its word resemble the action you want to do, something like "copy" or ... "open gci"... "load" ... "inject" ? I don't know, something is probably obvious, and "noob friendly". no option will be named in braille, morse or klingon, all the options available will be explicitly corresponding to the action it can do.

or maybe you have issue understanding the filename you need to rename the memory card you created so that nintendont read it ? I'm pretty sure that you have to rename and replace the existing memory card that nintendont created on your SD or USB, not a different name, not a different path.


really, just try before thinking you will not succeed.

voila, a written (irony) guide without even trying myself or seeing the programs.


if you are stuck on a specific step, just ask about it.
but asking for a "full tutorial" we don't even understand what you really need (computer side ? console side ? all from learning how to launch a Windows program or how to use the file explorer? because, YES some users don't understand how to use explorer)

 

[mja7011]

I don't understand why people can only use something with a video tutorial.

what is your problem ? downloading savegame manager gx ?
extracting a zip on your computer?
creating a folder on your SD and copying files from computer to SD?
launching Wii homebrew ?
using savegame manager gx ? just try what you see on screen ? it's all self explaining "backup" is probably used ... to backup ! and "SD" is probably used to list SD content, while "Wii" is probably used to list content on Wii, while Mii is probably used to list Miis
"put the wiimote cursor on the button you want to activate, press A !"?
find the savegame you want to backup, click on it, select delete .... oh, wait, .... something is wrong here, will you find the problem without a youtube video?

put your SD back to computer to copy gci file from /savegames folder to computer ?

use your browser to load google and search dolphin website?
find the link and actually download dolphin ?
install a program? launch it ? (hint : double click on the icon on your desktop )

problem understanding that you have to launch the memory card manager ? it's probably located in "option > memory card manager" ohhh, that's funny, who would have thought it had the same name than what it actually does.

now you have two menus, with some option, where you can "create a new card" or "open an existing card" .... let me guess that if you want to create an empty card you shouldn't open a non existing one, so pick the "create" choice instead of "open".

then select something written on your screen which its word resemble the action you want to do, something like "copy" or ... "open gci"... "load" ... "inject" ? I don't know, something is probably obvious, and "noob friendly". no option will be named in braille, morse or klingon, all the options available will be explicitly corresponding to the action it can do.

or maybe you have issue understanding the filename you need to rename the memory card you created so that nintendont read it ? I'm pretty sure that you have to rename and replace the existing memory card that nintendont created on your SD or USB, not a different name, not a different path.


really, just try before thinking you will not succeed.

voila, a written (irony) guide without even trying myself or seeing the programs.


if you are stuck on a specific step, just ask about it.
but asking for a "full tutorial" we don't even understand what you really need (computer side ? console side ? all from learning how to launch a Windows program or how to use the file explorer? because, YES some users don't understand how to use explorer)

Jesus crist, no reason whatsoever to be sardonic... I guess not everyone is as gifted as you.

I will try these steps when I get home.

 

[tswntk]

well, we "hate" video tutorials.

1. They can be fake or inaccurate
2. It is not easy to update a video
3. most ppl just don't play attention to the release date or the creditability of the source

So what do you expect from fake/outdated videos? Just watch them for fun if you have to and never take them too seriously.
The same holds true for even text tutorials though text are much more easily update-able and the authors should be more willing to update them - just do more research and ask if confused

 

[Cyan]

like I said, first see if you manage to do it, as you are not less capable than someone else.
Anybody can click on a button labeled "backup" to do a backup, I'm sure you fear that it will be hard even before knowing what you have to do, I can understand that, but I always says : take your time, don't panic, analyze what you see and read what's written, 80-90% of the problem is solved by reading.

if you have an issue or see something you don't understand then don't force yourself and don't try random things. it can be dangerous.
instead, just stop what you are doing and please specify where you have difficulties (computer, console, emulator, creating the memory card, having nintendont use it), and detail steps you did so far, so we can focus our help on just what you need.

 

[mja7011]

Anyway...

Last night I was able to complete dumping all my Gamecube games. I looked into SaveManagerGX and I was able to back up my Wii saved data onto my SD card. However, I could not find an option to backup my Gamecube saved data from the physical memory card. After doing some googling, I found a program called GCMM, in which I was able to extract the gamecube saved data onto my SD card. Now they are in the .GCI format.

Now to my understanding, my next step is that I need to download Dolphin onto my PC and create a new "memory card" so it was be used with nintendont/USB Loader GX. Is this correct or did I miss something?

Also, when I get to the point of transferring the Wii and Gamecube games into vWii, would I use SaveManagerGX and GCMM to extract the saved date from the SD card to the vWii System Memory?

Thanks!

 

[Cyan]

yes, GCMM is good.
I thought Savegame Manager GX had the option too, maybe it's not an option easy to find, or he removed that option.

today, dj_skual just released a new version of SavegameManagerGX
you should look here :
https://gbatemp.net/threads/savegame-manager-gx.210111/page-87#post-7564759

he added an option to copy .gci files into a virtual memory card image.
that's just what you want! you don't need dolphin anymore.
all can be done with the Wii homebrew, no more computer program required.

I'll suggest that :
1. you create a memory card with nintendont (if you plan using the same card for multiple games, make is big enough. but don't worry, if you don't have free space anymore you can always manage its content or activate the individual memcard option for other games)
2. you use SavegameManagerGX to load that card
3. inject gci into it

note: if you want individual memory card, you can use small bloc value, it will create a small .raw file, you can store multiple games saves inside, but just focus on puting one savegame per card, and rename the memory card to the game's titleID
I'm not sure you follow what I mean, sorry I'm not explaining very well today.



If you want to restore savegames from Wii to vWii, you will have to FIRST play the game on vWii or savegame Manager GX will refuse to copy the save to the console.
when you play a game, it creates a ticket (register the game as "played") and create the path for the savegame.
if SavegameManagerGX can't find that path or ticket, it won't create it. it could create the path and savegame file, but the ticket can't be created, you have to play the game.

I don't know why we can't do it in that order (restore -> play to create ticket). not sure if it will cause issues or not.
So, you can't restore ALL your savegame in batch, you will have to play, then restore, one by one


there's no way to restore Gamecube savegame on vWii, as there's no gamecube functionality.
you'll just use your existing memory_card.raw file with nintendont.
it works the same on Wii and vWii, no need to convert.

 

[godreborn]

I checked my saves on the wii u. everything is working. I noticed I hadn't put the game iso files in the correct directory though. it was using diosmios directory listings which list each game disc as its own entity. I've since corrected that. I was playing a bit of my tales of symphonia save. I need to check out that new save manager gx without the need for dolphin. thanks, @Cyan .

 

[mja7011]

yes, GCMM is good.
I thought Savegame Manager GX had the option too, maybe it's not an option easy to find, or he removed that option.

I'll suggest that :
1. you create a memory card with nintendont (if you plan using the same card for multiple games, make is big enough. but don't worry, if you don't have free space anymore you can always manage its content or activate the individual memcard option for other games)
2. you use SavegameManagerGX to load that card
3. inject gci into it

So I "think" I created a memory card through Nintendont... I went into Settings and Enabled Memcard Emulation and set The Memcard Blocks to 251 and Memcard Multi to off.

So did I create it? Did it make a special memory card? Where is the memory card located on my SD card. After I make a memory card and try to exit out of Nintendont I get a black screen and freezes.

 

[Cyan]

I think you need to launch a game to actually generate the memory card.
look in your SD or USB (same partition than where you have your ISO):/saves/

in that folder there will be either :
- ninmem.raw (the common card for multi game), so if you set "multi" to off, I think it will not use that file. The "multi" name is confusing, it's not telling you that you will use multiple cards, it's telling you whether you want multiple games saved on the same card, or each games his own card. Whether the card is multi-games or not. (personally I prefer USBLoaderGX text label, where it explicitly says "individual" when it uses one card per game)
- gameID.ext (I don't remember the real filename, maybe .raw too), this one is used as individual card per game's ID. each game will have its own file for the memory card.

so, look into that folder and see if the memory card file has been created or not.
you will have the path, the filename, and an already generated memory card file that you can load in SavegameManagerGX (in the setting, you can choose the path to the card)

Remember to create either a big "multi" memory card, or small individual ones. no need to create big individual cards. you'll waste your hdd space.
SavegameManagerGX is (will?) allow you to expand the memory card size if it's too small, so don't worry about creating too small cards. Also, some games have issues with big cards! some games don't work at all on 251 blocs. best size is the default size suggested by nintendont and the loaders.

After I make a memory card and try to exit out of Nintendont I get a black screen and freezes.

that's probably a bug from nintendont, or it's not actually freezing but "still working", for example the memory card creation could take a LONG time (I once had to wait more than 1 minute on a black screen).
it's not really frozen, it's just waiting for the current action to complete. but your freeze was when exiting and not when launching a game, so it wasn't the memcard creation bug.
Nintendont had the "very long to generate memory card" bug around the first 4.x released version, I don't know if it's fixed.

note that (in general, on all consoles and all applications) you should always wait at least 1min (or more) when it freezes, or you could corrupt your SD or USB FAT32 partition by shutting down the console while there is a file currently being written to the partition table. on computer you need to use the "safely remove device" to be sure nothing is currently writing to the card, like Windows disk cache mode.

 

[mja7011]

- gameID.ext (I don't remember the real filename, maybe .raw too), this one is used as individual card per game's ID. each game will have its own file for the memory card.

I was able to figure out the black screen so no more issues there.

Each game has a special ID? So the gamecube save files I extracted from my Gamecube memory cards, do I need to rename those to those certain game ID's? Where can I find a list of ID's?

For example, I started Sonic Adventure DX and after that it asked me to make a file and I did. I think it created a file under a folder called "saves" on the root of my SD card. So I tried to transfer my Sonic Adventure DX save file with SavegameManager DX to the "saves" folder, but when I started the game, my save file wasn't an option. Maybe it was because I have not renamed the file yet.

All my save data is still in .GCI. Does Nintendont read .GCI or .RAW save files? Or both?

 

[godreborn]

I believe nintendont reads raw saves.

 

[Cyan]

nintendont reads raw (it's a dump of a full memory card data), it doesn't read individual savegames (gci).
you need to put the gci inside a memory card image (raw or bin).

I don't know how SavegameManagerGX sees the raw memory card, nor how it manage the path to the card (path to folder containing the memory card or path a a single raw card?)
you need to "mount" the memory card to see which games are stored inside.
ninmem.raw for the "multi" memory card, or TitleID.raw for the individual memory cards.


Each game has a TitleID.
if you used proper program to dump your disc, you probably already have the titleID in the game's path :
games/Zelda twilight princess [GZLP01]/game.iso

The gameID is "GZLP01" for zelda PAL version, if you set nintendont to use an individual memory card, it will be named GZPL01.raw

If all your paths don't contain the game's ID, you can find a program in Greywolf signature to fix all your path name easily.

 

[mja7011]

I finally understand the memory card concept!! (omg can you believe it?)

I couldn't find out how to inject the save file into the memory card .raw in SavegameManagerGX, so I decided to download Dolphin and follow the previous instructions and it finally works. I'd like to make a save file for every game.. so I guess that means I'll have a memory card for every game. This is the safer route right? Because If I dedicate one memory card for all of my game saves, and if it were to become corrupted, I'd loose everything, compared to only loosing one game save.

Can I keep my save files for the gamecube on my SD card and have the games loaded from my HDD, or would the HDD also have to act as hosting my save files also?

I'd also like to use my PS4 controller to play my gamecube games. Do I just plug'in'play, or do I have to dl a special program for Nintendont to read my ps4 controller? I do have a Wavebird controller from way back in the day, but I don't want to f around with another connector which would take another 2 usb ports on my WiiU.

 

[Cyan]

yes, it's safer to have one card per game.
some games have some bonus if it sees another game's savegame already present (for example "ohh, you played zelda twilight princess ? ok, I unlock Zelda in Smash bros !")
Of course, to do that, you need both "compatible games" on the same memory card. that example is only an example, I don't know if these games are "compatible" with each other.

Glad you could understand how dolphin worked, and you finally understand how memory cards are working


Nintendont can only mount one partition at a time. if your ISO is on USB, you need your savegame on the same USB partition, or nintendont will not see it.
I thought about adding an automated function in USBLoaderGX to copy to USB/restore savegame file to SD when playing an USB game, but it's not practical in real environment, it would require all users to properly exit to USBLoaderGX after playing a gamecube game. It can't crash, user can't shutdown the console from the game, etc.


about PS4 : yes, plug and play I think.
for wavebird, there's something special needed (if it didn't change), read the nintendont first post for more information on controllers.

 

[mja7011]

Alright , OK I have successfully downloaded USB Loader GX, put all my Wii ISO in the wbfs folder and all the gamecube games in the games folder on my USB.

However, when I try to play a Wii game, it automatically goes back to the homebrew channel page, and when I try to load a gamecube game, nintendont appears saying an error "Checkformultigameandregion () failed" in red letters and then goes back to the vWii Warning Health and Safety screen. What am I missing to make my games load correctly?

Also I think it is worth to mention that when loading up USB Loader Gx it says "Running on IOS 58. Wii disc based games and some channels will not work". Maybe this is the reason why they won't load?

Thx all, I feel like I'm close to getting everything done.