Hacking USB Loader GX

[Dcep1501]

Hello,

If that interests you ==>https://theme.rc24.xyz/

Thanks, but i am referring to the very first boot up screen that has the usb loader gx logo and says “loading...”, not the actual menu theme. I already have a custom theme.

 

[fledge68]

Thanks, but i am referring to the very first boot up screen that has the usb loader gx logo and says “loading...”, not the actual menu theme. I already have a custom theme.

you will need to change the image in the code and recompile it.
gxlogo.png in the data folder.

 

[Dcep1501]

you will need to change the image in the code and recompile it.
gxlogo.png in the data folder.

By “recompile”, how do i do that?

 

[FancyNintendoGamer567]

By having DevKitPro installed, and then downloading the src off of GitHub, and then starting a CMD process and typing make and pressing Enter.

 

[Dcep1501]

By having DevKitPro installed, and then downloading the src off of GitHub, and then starting a CMD process and typing make and pressing Enter.

Awesome this helps a lot Thanks for the detailed info!

 

[FancyNintendoGamer567]

You're welcome, @Dcep1501.

 

[livin]

Hi everyone,
I would like to hijack this thread.

I am running the following:
USB LOADER GX v30 rev1272

IOS249[56] (rev 65535 Info: d2x-v10beta52)
IOS250[57] (rev 65535 Info: d2x-v10beta52)

In settings I am using IOS58 for loader, and IOS249 for games.
I tried with IOS250. I didnt bother to change to d2x-v8final yet, but if necessary I can do that.
I have no cIOS on Base 58. If that is necessary I can install it.

All pretty standard as far as settings go, with standard install guide.


My problem is as follows, since I was able to troubleshoot a bit.

I have Wii games and GC games on an Sandisk USB Stick, and they work.
I have some VC games on my Nand installed, mainly N64 games. And they work.
The rest of the VC games I have in EmuNand installed, and they work as well.

But now I run into the problem that SOMETIMES, some Wii games (mainly Smash Bros Brawl) suddenly stop working.

I found out that if I disable EmuNand and Nand Showing in the USBLoaderGX settings, those Games ALWAYS work.
When I have ALL games showing, those games only work ~50% of the time.

I cant make rhyme or reason out of it. Because on one bootup it works, I reset the console, bootup, and it doesnt work anymore.
If I reduce the shown games (from 150 wii/gc/vc games down to only the 30wii games) or even deinstall the Emunand Wads, everything works ALWAYS.

Any ideas? Is this something someone has ever experienced?
Thanks for any help!

 

[Alexander1970]

mainly Smash Bros Brawl suddenly stop working.

Hello.

THAT is understandable and comprehensibly.
This is the most "problematic" Game on Wii USB Loading.

Because of it is an Dual Layer Game (> 4.5 Gb) but mainly of many corrupted and not (correctly) working ISO´s floating around.

The Size has to be about 7 GB.Please be sure you use correct and MD5/CRC-32 Checksum verified Games.You can do this with some Tools like:

http://esrg.sourceforge.net/utils_win_up/md5sum/

and compare it please with this Site´s Information on the Games:

https://www.gametdb.com/


Maybe it is the Solution for your other non correct working Games too.

Thank you and
Good Luck.

 

[livin]

I understand. I tried Smash Brawl and the CRC and MD5 is "wrong". Which has probably to do with the exact ripping method used.
Will try to find a way to get the exact MD5 as on GameTBD, but somehow I doubt its gonna fix the problem.


The main "problem" for me is that in fact the games all WORK.
But just not always, as I explained.

I cant really understand what could be the difference in showing more or less games, affecting if the Game loads or not.
That doesnt change the wbfs data, and the md5/crc is in both cases the same, since the same file.
Still in one situation it loads always, and in the other almost never (but sometimes it does - right now it loads again....).

Relating to the crc/md5, I can almost guarantee that non of my games have the right checksums according to GameTBD. I tried now 5 different games, wii, gc isos mix and all have different data.
Which doesnt suprise me a lot, since checksums change based on 1 bit alone, which is the whole point. But no 2 ripping methods will ever be bit-perfect.
Still 99.9999999999% of the iso rip is still the same and the loader shouldnt make a difference if one bit at the end of the file is missing. Probably a useless bit anyway. It only matters if the game loads.
Which in fact, all games do. Just not always. :/

 

[Alexander1970]

The main "problem" for me is that in fact the games all WORK.
But just not always, as I explained.

I cant really understand what could be the difference in showing more or less games, affecting if the Game loads or not.
That doesnt change the wbfs data, and the md5/crc is in both cases the same, since the same file.
Still in one situation it loads always, and in the other almost never (but sometimes it does - right now it loads again....).

THAT is also understandable and comprehensibly.
This is also the most "problematic" Thing on Wii USB Loading.

The USB Stick.
Not really recommended for USBLoader GX (and maybe also the other Loaders).
This USB Devices are again and again the main Reason why Games not working or loading.
For the best Game Loading compatibility is an HDD with Power Supply recommended.


First Thing to check please,you have formatted your USB Stick with FAT32 and has only ONE Partition on it.
Then,of course,you have plugged it into the correct Port 0:


Then you can try
changing

cIOS249[56] (rev 65535 Info: d2x-v10beta52)
cIOS250[57] (rev 65535 Info: d2x-v10beta52)
to
cIOS249[56] (rev 21 Info: d2x-v10beta52)
cIOS250[57] (rev 21 Info: d2x-v10beta52)

Please check this Points.

Thank you and
Good luck again.

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

An other important Thing:

Did you always use the WiiBackupManager for the Game Transfers ?

 

[livin]

THAT is also understandable and comprehensibly.
This is also the most "problematic" Thing on Wii USB Loading.

The USB Stick.
Not really recommended for USBLoader GX (and maybe also the other Loaders).
This USB Devices are again and again the main Reason why Games not working or loading.
For the best Game Loading compatibility is an HDD with Power Supply recommended.


First Thing to check please,you have formatted your USB Stick with FAT32 and has only ONE Partition on it.
Then,of course,you have plugged it into the correct Port 0:
View attachment 190289

Then you can try
changing

cIOS249[56] (rev 65535 Info: d2x-v10beta52)
cIOS250[57] (rev 65535 Info: d2x-v10beta52)
to
cIOS249[56] (rev 21 Info: d2x-v10beta52)
cIOS250[57] (rev 21 Info: d2x-v10beta52)

Please check this Points.

Thank you and
Good luck again.

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

An other important Thing:

Did you always use the WiiBackupManager for the Game Transfers ?

1. I used the WiiBackupManager for all games
2. I used the right USB Port
3. USB Stick is Fat32 only 1 partition, only Wii and GC Games (everything else on SD Card)

I tried changing to rev21, now the problem is similiar but different.
Now Brawl always loads, but crashes INGAME after about 30sec.
So instead of black screen, wii remote not connecting (no light at player1), and responsiveness. I have running game for 30sec and then crash with a loud BEEEEEEEP, and have to hard shutdown the Wii (same solution as with black screen).

My solution works here too: If I disable "showing" Emunand, Nand games in the USB Loader settings, Brawl (and ProjectM 3.6 ISO patched) work without problems.

Is looking up the games somehow too much energy drain on a non-powered usb stick?
But why would that be? The Emunand and Nand dont drain power from the USB Stick, but from the SD Slot.
The USB Stick has the exact same situation, if I am using Show Emunand/Nand, or not....

Thats the mystery here. I would understand if NOTHING works, but this is just so weird and kind of defies logic.

 

[uyjulian]

Avoid cheap USB sticks, as they are slow and often designed to only work properly with Windows, so they will have problems when using them with the Wii.

Also, just make sure that you are using a ISO that matches the hash exactly, to rule out any problems with bad dumps.

 

[livin]

Avoid cheap USB sticks, as they are slow and often designed to only work properly with Windows, so they will have problems when using them with the Wii.

Also, just make sure that you are using a ISO that matches the hash exactly, to rule out any problems with bad dumps.

I understand that in 9/10 this generic advice is helpful, but if you check my description of the error you would see that it cant be the USB Stick at fault here.
Would it be, then it wouldnt run in the first place.
The same reasoning with the Checksums. They might not match, but it is still running.

As long as I disable showing all games. Which makes no sense to me why this would make a difference.
I'm not technical illiteral, and I can reason what does what, but this just makes no sense. There shouldnt be any difference, technical, what games are showing in the list. Especially if one gamelist is from USB and one is from SD card. They have nothing to do with each other.
Makes only sense if its some undocumented bug in USBLOADERGX.... which I could never know.

 

[uyjulian]

I understand that in 9/10 this generic advice is helpful, but if you check my description of the error you would see that it cant be the USB Stick at fault here.
Would it be, then it wouldnt run in the first place.
The same reasoning with the Checksums. They might not match, but it is still running.

As long as I disable showing all games. Which makes no sense to me why this would make a difference.
I'm not technical illiteral, and I can reason what does what, but this just makes no sense. There shouldnt be any difference, technical, what games are showing in the list. Especially if one gamelist is from USB and one is from SD card. They have nothing to do with each other.
Makes only sense if its some undocumented bug in USBLOADERGX.... which I could never know.

It might be running initially, until it hits a bad spot in the dump, then it will break.

 

[livin]

It might be running initially, until it hits a bad spot in the dump, then it will break.

But thats the thing. Thats not the case.
If that were the case, It would NEVER run under any situation.

I can make it run, consistently, realiable, every time. Under a very specific setting in the USB Loader GX Playlist Show.
When I disable showing Nand and Emunand.

Its not the dump.
Its not the USB Stick.
That should be clear by now, otherwise I couldnt reproduce these results every time.


PLEASE DONT MISUNDERSTAND:
If I cant find a solution that works, I will just live with this situation and disable Nand/Emunand just before playing these games.
It would just be nice to either fix it, or at least understand what the problem is.

I have a working solution, its just not elegant at all.

 

[ChibiMofo]

Avoid cheap USB sticks, as they are slow and often designed to only work properly with Windows, so they will have problems when using them with the Wii.

Please explain that. What exactly do they do to them to make them "only work properly with Windows" or to specifically have a problem with a Wii. That statement makes absolutely no sense to me. I mean it's good advice in general to stay away from unrealistically cheap memory cards, but I don't know how you could make a USB stick to spec and have it only work properly with Windows.

Regarding the "problematic" Smash Bros Brawl, if I didn't know better, I'd suggest that somehow USB Loader GX is holding on to memory after SBB loads, and that it holds on to more memory when it has more games (and covers) to load into memory. But my understanding of how the Wii works (having no actual operating system) leads me to believe that this is impossible. Could it be that the Emunand itself is copied into the Wii's memory so that the Wii has less RAM when SBB (or any other less demanding game) boots?

 

[Jimvr4]

Time after time it has been shown that USB sticks don't play well but folks insist on using them [emoji6]

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[FancyNintendoGamer567]

Clearly you didn't read the posts above.

 

[Jimvr4]

Clearly you didn't read the posts above.

Yes I did and I would still propose changing the storage to a USB hard disk. I did this years ago and it solved all the weird behavior. My setup doesn't even need a Y cable, the USB HDD just plugs in and draws power from the WII.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[livin]

I understand there is a difference between a solid state, non powered USB Stick, and a spinning disk powered Harddrive.

Important difference are especially the WRITE times, which are worse on NandUSBSticks.
But the Wii is mainly reading, not writing. And the read speeds are consistently >60mb/sec, which the Wii cant even do on USB ports, heck not even on the Disk Drive.

So these arguments might be valid from experience, but just saying them out of habit doesn't explain what technically isnt working.



FYI. My solution fixed the problem like this:
I removed 90% of the Nand and Emunand Games. And installed NES/SNES Emulators.
Now I have only about 80games, Wii, GC, N64 VC wads and 2 channels are emulators.

Everything works. I couldnt reproduce any game bootup black screens or ingame crashes anymore.
I can only assume its a bug in USBloaderGx, because its not the hardware, the cIOS used, the iso's or wads. Comes only back to the loader software.
Some people also reported that they were able to remove this problem by using WiiFlow, but I like USBLoaderGX layout way more since its a full Wii menu replacement. (i boot directly into the loader from startup via priiloader dol)