Hacking USB Loader GX

[KB89]

Wow, thanks Cyan. I had a strange feeling it was the flash drive. I bought the flash drive because of its small form factor. That's ok though, because I don't mind buying something else and returning it. Other drives seem to be cheaper anyway.

I'll check out the recommended list of drives, but do you have a personal preference?

 

[Cyan]

if you don't need a big one (less than 2TB) then any drive should work.
If you plan to get a bigger one, only choose Western Digital, as you'll have to change something in the firmware and only that brand allows it.

still, you better just go with WD even for small drives
"WD element" are fine, but needs you to set "IOS58" in the settings like explained on my previous post.

Seagate are fine, but can't have their "sector size" changed. Some homebrew might be affected (like Sneek)
Toshiba seems to have the most init issues, some users are even returning the drives to get WD instead.

 

[Alexander1970]

no, there's no way to launch channels "backup'd" to the official SD menu.

It's completely possible to add that feature, but to me it's too much work.

Detailed, simple and accurate explaination.

you better just launch it from the official Wii system menu first, it'll copy the game to internal. now you can launch it from USBLoaderGX's interface as long as you don't launch another game from official SD menu (which would replace the game located on internal)

I understand.Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Cyan]

I didn't test myself that trick to launch the game first to put it into hidden channel state.
let me know if that works

 

[KB89]

Sorry, one more question. I have a bunch of WADS. Once I format a HDD to FAT32 and am able to start backing up Wii games to it. It will also run WADS from the HDD? I'd like to be able to backup Wii games and have the WADS accessible/playable at the same time, without any uninstalling/installing to pay them. Do it all at once and be done.

 

[Cyan]

yes, usbloadergx can launch wads installed to emuNAND.
it's a redirected NAND access.

You make a copy of your Wii memory to your SD (or usb), and then install WADS to that copy (up to 2TB) instead of your internal memory (512MB).
USBLoaderGX will list games located on that emuNAND folder along with all other games (wii on USB, gamecunbe on USB/SD, channels on internal, and channels on SD/USB)

this emuNAND has 2 different launch mode : cIOS and neek.
cIOS mode has 80% compatibility.
remaining games (very few Wiiware, N64VC and some neogeoVC) will require neek mode. it's an additional layer of redirection method, you need additional files on your device (sd or usb) to use it.
some users struggle to setup that neek mode, but it's not that hard if you understand how the console works, or follow steps without inventing hacking methods by yourself

 

[Alexander1970]

I didn't test myself that trick to launch the game first to put it into hidden channel state.
let me know if that works

Here are the steps i made:

- installed the .wad with YAWMM
- moved it within the Wii System settings to the SD Card
- launched it in the Wii System Menu (the SD Card Icon at the Bottom) and played a little.
- returned to the Wii System Menu
- launched Homebrew Channel (from within the Wii System Menu)
- launched USBLoader GX
- It is sadly not there
- looked also into Homebrew Launcher/Title Launcher - nothing.

Somewhere an thinking error i made ? Maybe some UBSLoader setting i forget to change ?
I dont have something like Neek installed.I don´t use EmuNAND.My Gamesaves are set to SD.The Nand Channel Emulation is set to Full.The Nand Saves Emulation to Partial.

Thank you for reading.

 

[KB89]

Cyan, I just ordered a WD 1TB Elements It will arrive Monday. Thanks for all your info. I'll see what I can do on my own when it comes in and if I have anymore questions I'll be back and hope to hear from you or someone else that's knowledgeable.

A well written guide is easy to follow, but I still don't understand what I'm doing sometimes. NANDs, IOS', BASE's, WADS.... Is their somewhere I can read/view a breakdown of how the systems work in the Wii? How it all communicates with each other.

 

[Maeson]

Going back to the Revolution SDK and the 480P discovery for a moment, Extrems said very clearly that affects every piece of software created with support for 480p, because it was something from the very software used by official developers; it's just not homebrew applications, they are included because they were created with libogc, which uses a decompiled Revolution SDK. Meaning that not only USB Loader GX itself could be visually improved, but also the quality of the games themselves (just like any other homebrew application, if they were recompiled with that improvement).

So theoretically speaking, once this change is pointed out to the system, anything it shows would be improved. I'd like to see a comparison of how much of a change it makes, but this discovery is sounds like one of the most exciting finds in years for the system to say the least.

 

[Cyan]

launched USBLoader GX
- It is sadly not there

did you enable "channels on NAND" display option ?
4th icon in top menu

 

[Alexander1970]

The Icon with "Select title sources" ?
If you mean that,they are all checked.I´ve also tried only "EmuNAND Channels".Then it shows me nothing/no game.

 

[Cyan]

Is their somewhere I can read/view a breakdown of how the systems work in the Wii? How it all communicates with each other.

I started one : https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-hacking-explained.501605/
it's now missing the pictures due to host not online anymore. I'll upload new pictures later.

A well written guide is easy to follow, but I still don't understand what I'm doing sometimes.

I always try to explain why do something and its effect instead of just giving steps, but sometime I just assume it's common knowledge and don't explain few things.

The Icon with "Select title sources" ?
If you mean that,they are all checked.I´ve also tried only "EmuNAND Channels".Then it shows me nothing/no game.

you don't need the emuNAND channels (these one are the channels installed on the NAND copy on SD/USB)
what you want is display the channels located on the console, so you need "channels on NAND".
NAND being the console's chipset memory.

if it's not displayed, maybe the loader set to not display hidden channels at all instead of just hidding specific titleID (or else, you'd have things like EULA and region select channels).
I'll have to read the sources and see how the channel listing is done.

until then, you'll have to officially restore the game from SD to internal (not launch from SD) so it's visible on your system menu. then the loader will list your game.
if you want cheatcode to work with channels, be sure to edit the channel "boot mode" in loader's settings.

Going back to the Revolution SDK and the 480P discovery for a moment, Extrems said very clearly that affects every piece of software created with support for 480p, because it was something from the very software used by official developers; it's just not homebrew applications, they are included because they were created with libogc, which uses a decompiled Revolution SDK. Meaning that not only USB Loader GX itself could be visually improved, but also the quality of the games themselves (just like any other homebrew application, if they were recompiled with that improvement).

So theoretically speaking, once this change is pointed out to the system, anything it shows would be improved. I'd like to see a comparison of how much of a change it makes, but this discovery is sounds like one of the most exciting finds in years for the system to say the least.

I thought official games used their own SDK and their own video mode settings.
but that's only if the games are forcing a specific video mode instead of using the current one.
having their own SDK and own way to init the video, I thought that missing option would be properly initialized by the game.

the loader is initializing the console's video before launching the game, then the game check in its own compatible video mode list if it matches or if it has to be reloaded to another one. I guess it's partially affected then.

 

[Alexander1970]

Please be patient with my "old" brain.I have to look very calmly over this before I make it worse.
Thank you for the explaining of how Channels and USBLoader GX "basically" works.I have to learn with this (i never done this before).I appreciate any tips or hints from you.

Thank you for teaching me to learning "new stuff" on my Wii.

 

[Maeson]

Well, quoting Extrems himself:

Every piece of software ever released on the Wii that supports 480p is affected.
---
libogc is the homebrew equivalent/wholesale copy of the Dolphin/Revolution SDKs.

This piece of code originate from the Revolution SDK. The Revolution SDK is used by Nintendo and its licensees to build everything that runs on the Broadway CPU.

This piece of code is called by all software when they initialize video. Including BootMii and Wii Linux.

I suppose it's not just one of the more interesting things in Wii modding in some time, it could very well be a rather big blunder software wise coming from a console maker.

 

[FancyNintendoGamer567]

IMO flash drives are an item roulette. It's kinda random when a flash drive works with the Wii. Mine's does work but I definitely know others don't. As I said, it's a gamble. And some stuff can work and others don't using a flash drive. So I'd still recommend getting an USB HDD.

 

[KB89]

Epic job Cyan on the start of this guide. Way more than I could ask for already.

Have you always been this active on the Wii forums and what keeps you going?

 

[Marxastix]

Can USB Loader GX Load Games Outside Your Region?

 

[Maeson]

Can USB Loader GX Load Games Outside Your Region?

Yes it can. Seeing as your as from UK, you'll have a PAL console and may want to play NTSC games. What I do for a NTSC game to work on my PAL Wii is go to the game, select Settings, go to the first option, and force it to play in NTSC 480P.

After that you launch the game and it should work. At least, is what I do, and hasn't failed me (this also works for me with digital NTSC games). Really useful for those few games that for some stupid reason are only 50hz in Europe, such as Little King's Story or the DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi games.

 

[Cyan]

Well, quoting Extrems himself:

I didn't read correctly the first time and misinterpreted.
when he said the official SDK "was doing it that way" I thought he meant the correct way (as he was talking about that patch and fix) and that libogc was wrong.
but now I understand that the official SDK had that bug, and libogc mimic'd that behavior. So, official games can't benefit from it, but homebrew can now have proper display in 480p if recompiled with that fix.

What I understand now is official games might be able to use it if they are launched from a loader and don't reload their own video mode. if they keep using the current video mode set by the loader before launch, then it could benefit from the fix too. if it forces a video mode reload, it'll be gone.
am I right?

Epic job Cyan on the start of this guide. Way more than I could ask for already.
Have you always been this active on the Wii forums and what keeps you going?

Thank you.
too bad you didn't see the pictures, I'll have to add them back.

I'm here since the beginning! before even GBAtemp existed. At first, I was only lurking and learning everything about GBA, I started helping people with the release of the NDS, then the Wii, then I helped developers by debugging and reporting to them, to finally being part of that loader's project.
I like to learn how things are working more than using them. I read a lot so I can help others, even for consoles I don't own or use. lot of reading, all answers are there, somewhere !

what keeps me going? I only know do to that.
I like helping, but don't have enough time to do it properly now.
I don't have that much passion to other things, everything else feels blend and like I'm wasting my time. development and hacking is always interesting and innovative.

 

[Extrems]

am I right?

No, the AVE-RVL is reinitialized on VIInit. The game executable has to be patched.