Tutorial
Updated
WiiFlow Lite Setup Full Tutorial
Initial Setup:Main Setup:Graphic Setup:Troubleshooting:Other Languages:
Initial Setup:Step 1:
To start off I am assuming you guys have already have been able to install the Homebrew Channel onto your Wii or vWii using your method of choice. If not, refer to here. Here is a newer guide I found that is a quick rundown how to properly hack your Wii. You MUST have Homebrew in order for this to work!
Also I am assuming that you already loaded the IOS to the back USB port so that the Wii or Wii U can read your USB. if not you can find how to here (Wii and vWii have different CIOS, make sure to download the correct one!)
You must have an SD card and/or an external drive of some sort. Can be a Hard drive, flash drive(reported to have issues but I have used a 256 GB flash drive on my vWii and hasn't given me any issues. I used this tutorial on how to load the CIO'S for your drive), SSD, you name it. For this purpose I will be using my 64 GB SD card and 256 GB Flash drive. You MUST have CIOS's if you are loading from a USB or HDD.
Make sure both drives are FAT32 format. If drive is too big, download a software that will force format your SD into FAT32.
In my case, my USB Drive will hold all my games (Your own copies) and SD card to hold all my other files.
Step 2:
Download WiiFlow Lite here and click and drag both files into the root of your SD (DO NOT DOWNLOAD if you are using the master pack, also If you already have an apps folder, open it and place the folder inside).
Download Abz Master Piece Pack from here. (It's advised to NOT use it due to being outdated! Use at own risk!)
Here is my Danimalz Masterpiece Pack (v5.4) (If you want the original theme, Download from Tetsu's Rhapsodii Shima then replace!)
Once downloaded, Navigate to ROOT://WiiFlow folder and extract plugins, settings, and source_menu.
Copy and paste into WiiFlow Lite folder.
This will create the source menu when you press on B(on the Wii remote) in the Wiiflow app(This is the source_menu from Abz, If you like it like this, make sure to download the Abz Masterpiece Pack and extract his source_menu folder, however, with Danimalz Master Pack it will look like the hyperspin.
Now you have the shell of wiiflow installed.
Main Setup:Step 3:
The next step is to download the home brew applications to run and test your Wii ISO'S and GameCube ISO'S. I would recommend for Wii to use Configurable USB Loader and for GameCube games, to use Nintendont (configurable USB loader is needed to be downloaded if you want to test your ISO's, if you don't need the test, disregard downloading but Nintendont MUST be downloaded in order to play GameCube games)
Follow the same steps of downloading and dragging and dropping the contents of apps folder into your SD card apps folder and the main files into the ROOT of the SD.
On your USB, make it nice and organized. Split your emulators by their intended systems. For gamecube, do ROOT://games/GAMENAME/game
For Wii Games I would use Wii Backup Manager. All you have to do is drag your legitimate ISO and have it transfer and format the games for you so it is readable and playable by the Wii or vWii.
The backup manager will convert your ISO's into .wbfs files, and it will put it into a format that is readable by wiiFlow.
These two names can most likely be changed, but for sake of simplicity, I would keep them at these names.
Now plugging the USB into the system, you notice that it is not reading any files. As default, WiiFlow scans for files on the SD card. In WiiFlow, On the bottom right hand corner, press the gear icon to enter the settings menu, and select game partitions. From here set Wii Partition GameCube and plugin(this allows all your other games from other emulators to run from USB) partition to USB1.
Then go to your GameCube section, and choose a game, press on the gear icon located to the right. Select for GameCube Loader Nintendont, widescreen patch on, Wii U (If this applies to you) on, and Emulate MemCard Enabled.
For Wii Games, some games might not run due to the ISO being from another country, so make sure to select the patch country strings to on in the settings of the Wii ISO'S.
The nice part about Wii and GameCube games, is that you can just download all the banners. When you see the cover flow, press the gear icon on the bottom right, select Go on Download covers and banners (WARNING make sure that you are connected to WiFi) and select Download for each option.
Congrats! your Wii games should be displayed here and working and your GameCube games! There are some settings you can play around with inside of the Homebrew app Nintendont. From here now it depends on what type of emulator you would like to use and a bit more configuration. Abz and Danimal Masterpiece come pre-loaded with many different plugins for your choosing, but many that are not found there like Game & Watch, you must find custom .dol's for.
Step 4:
Now I will show you how to add emulators from plugins that can be found already located in the plugins file.
For instance, lets do the NES emulator. Each plugin has attached to itself a magic number. The magic number is important so that wiiflow can call that specific file, location, and other files in order to execute the program specifically intended for in this example NES. Currently, I am using the application FCEUGX to emulate my NES games. Using Notepad++ right click the fcegx.ini file, and edit it.
This is how my file is setup. A rundown, the displayname is the name of the application you are using and what the name of the emulator you are using. The magic is the specific number associated to this specific emulator. The coverfolder is the location of your box art (All covers for different emulators, you will have to download by hand and upload for each title!), I will get more into it a bit later. The .dol file should be kept the same but this is the file in the same folder in which wiiflow uses to boot from when you select the game. Filetypes is associated with the extension of the file of your rom/game. For ex: metroid.nes The file extension is .nes in this case. The console cover id is set to Nintendo but I don't mess with this. The cover color changes the color of the box covers. Bannersound sounds are files that are used by wiiflow to use when the game boots up. Its that sweet jingle of the system when you select the game (Later I will show how to make custom ones). Arguments is a default that should not be messed with, but it allows wiiflow the basics of finding the locations of your files so it provides the specific path format.
For romdir, we must first create a location for our files to be read from. In my case, my roms are located on my USB drive. On the ROOT of the USB create a new folder. In my case, I named this folder to fceugx. Then I upload all my .nes files into a folder I created called roms, so all of my roms directly associated with this emulator. I also added the saves files so that the games can be saved there. The romdir in this case would be fceugx/roms and this allows wiiflow the path and the location of the rom files needed for this specific plugin.
Here I changed the names to what I want to see on the wiiflow side of the titles on the flow. ***WARNING*** some emulators like PS1, NEOGEO, MAME, etc. changing the file name will not allow the game to be played, so if you notice the game isn't playable, just change the name back (It is advised to change the names in the custom_titles.ini file tutorial here or using the titles found in databases in the ROOT://wiiflow/plugins_data folder).
Now wiiflow looks for the displayed title first in custom_titles.ini then in .xml and finally the actual filename not including the extension.
The naming of file will be important for cover/box art. You must find all box art and cover art online here. There is a large collection on here but if you do not find the one you need, just download paint.net, photoshop, or paint, and just download a random one and edit it to your liking. (Make sure to look around on the comments of the thread, some people have linked more files, they just haven't been uploaded to the master list like for example Game&Watch)
In order for the cover art to be read, you must specify the location where it is located, and the name must match exactly to the rom name and including its extension.
As you can see from earlier, the coverfolder was set to NES so the folder I am using is called NES. From there each image has the name of the game + the extension. For example, Duck Hunt is the game name but it has to be "Duck Hunt.nes.png"(Not including the "") to be readable as a cover. The .nes extension of the rom MUST be included in order for wiiflow to read it!
Now go to wiiflow, press the home button on the Wii remote, and press reload cache. This will update the covers and cache it so that it loads much quicker next time you log on.
If you change a file image just go to the cache folder and delete the cache image that you are changing, and the image located in the covers, then reload cache in wiiflow.
Step 5:
For some games, there is no game associated with a plugin like Game & Watch. In this case, we need to find a custom .dol online. In these cases, finding a .dol through Retroarch is your best bet. Retroarch uses cores in order for it to run specific games, and many emulators are being pushed onto Retroarch due to the great outcome for games working on the platform.
We have to find our .dol files online for instance gw_libretro_wii.dol, which can be found here with many other files. We must now create a .ini file for it respectively and edit the file using HXD. A well created explanation of how to do this trick can be found on Wiimpathy's page (THIS ONLY WORKS for Retroarch .dol files!)
When you edit the file, you can place the file into SD:\wiiflow\plugins\retroarch-wii\ folder and wiiflow will call these .dol files in the .ini file from here.
Each .dol file needs a corresponding configurable file. To make an configurable file, I would copy and paste an already used one, and rename it to whatever you renamed the retroarch.cfg to. From there you must create a custom magic number that is not being used by any system (Use a Text to Hexadecimal Converter Ex: 4e444453 converted to text is NDDS for Nintendo DS.) Also a custom .ogg can be created and linked here so that you hear the start up. Both the .ogg file and .ini need to be located in SD:\\wiiflow\plugins\
As you can see:
my custom magic number is 59876549. I created this one to only be used for this this specific emulator. It is advised to use the next magic number from the last one. Meaning increment from the before one ex: 1000 to the next value to be 1001. With simplicity this allows for easier troubleshooting when problems arise. In my case, I chose a random number and it can cause issues in the future if I do not keep track. A better hex to use would have been 4726574E which in text value expresses G&WN for Game & Watch Nintendo.
You can use a converter to convert a YouTube video into .mp3, then convert the .mp3 file to .ogg using this website.
Clip the audio file to your liking using audacity.
Make sure to change your ROM directory to match what it will be on your USB and same process with uploading cover art.
One last step is to edit the platform.ini file located in SD:\wiiflow\plugins_data
You must open this file and as seen:
place the magic number equal to the system. You must also set a specific cover flow (some cover flows can be sideways, long ways etc.) as seen:
Now your emulator is set to be able to be used!
Step 6:
Setting up cores for MAME can be quiet difficult and a pain to handle. But, Wiimpathy has made it easy for us to download cores A-G here and H here. The reason why we have so many cores comes down to where each game has a specific core to where it needs to be tied to in order to work. Here you can check each games compatibility list and connect the correct core to each one(WARNING! Some games are not listed here, you will have to find which core it works in!)
To setup, make sure to place all mame2003core#.dol into ROOT:\\wiiflow\plugins\retroarch-wii folder, and place all core#.ini into the ROOT:\\wiiflow\plugins folder. From here each core has a specific magic number assigned to it.
I found it best to name on the root MAME, then inside that folder to name ROMS, then separate folders for each core (I added my csp1 and csp2 here as well) as seen:Now from there place your ROMS into the indicated folder. From there, like how I wanted all my games to be located in the same arcade section, when adding a button, I added multiple magic numbers seen:
Separation through commas, allows you to add multiple magic numbers per button, and when you check it out on the system end, all the games will be located in 1 library titled "MAME" yet when played, the corresponding core is selected.
CSP1, CSP2, and FBA can all be found in the retroarch folder downloaded earlier.
Graphic Setup:Step 7:
Now its time to edit the source_menu.ini to have your custom buttons (if you want a cool theme with different button styles skip to step 9)
From here download the source menu editor.
When you run the java file, select your wiiflow folder in your SD card. From there a gui will show you how your buttons look. You can change the button locations, delete some, add some etc. In order for the buttons to work, make sure to link the specific magic number associated with each specific emulator(WARNING! Do not use this method on sourcemenu's if you are using hyperspin)
Step 8:
Editing coverflows can be a pain but are best done on the Wii or vWii side. When you change the coverflow in the settings, it will change the settings for all the emulators in that same style. For example, you edit the cover flow layout of Wii, it will change gamecube and any other emulator that is equal to _sourceflow in platform.ini. In order to change it make sure to turn off locking sourceflow in the settings option on the Wii, then on the top left corner, clip on the 1 to change it to the next flow. Now changing this flow and keeping it specifically for that emulator will only change that one.
Here you have the power to change the titles, how they flip, how everything looks, moves etc.
Step 9:
Make sure to cache all your covers from each system, this allows the covers to boot up as quickly as possible.
You can also change or add background music to your wiiflow background. Make sure to dump your music file that is .ogg into the music folder located in SD://wiiflow/music
If you find any games you do not want you can simply delete them by pressing on the game, then pressing the 'X' icon and confirming deleting the game. It will only delete the one you have selected.
Some emulators like NeoGeo for instance, has a bios file called neogeo, and it can be read by wiiflow as if it is a game and appear in your library. The simplest way of getting ride of it is by going to your categories and placing all files you want to be invisible into category one. Then click on the the categories 1 check box twice until you see a red 'X' then close out of it. All files placed into this category will have disappeared. Do not fear! They are safe and still there. If you want to see them again, simply go back into the settings and uncheck the box and it should be back.
Step 10:WARNING!! Your categories might just be: Category 1, Category 2..... etc. Still works the same way!
Themes are a great addition to where you are able to upload pre-made or your own themes to make your wiiflow to look nicer, smoother, or add a bit of fun.
My current theme is Rhapsodii Shima by Tetsuo Shima (v5.4) It is a very nice slick, clean cover flow that makes everything look beautiful and elegant. You can look around and find many on the forum and upload them by following their specific setup. Make sure to change your theme from default to "theme" you want in the settings.
***WARNING*** Some themes will be broken if you use the sourceflow editor downloaded from WiiFlow Wiki. Make sure you edit the files. For instance for Shima's theme, there are .ini files located in ROOT:\\Wiiflow\source_menu\(file).ini These .ini files are the locations for each button present in each category for example arcade.ini refers to all the arcade systems you see sliding in the arcade menu:
Here you can remove buttons so you have less, or even add more via editing the .ini file using Notepad++. If you are creating a new button make sure you increment by the next button (i.e: last button is Button_0 next would be Button_1) and update the photos of the image, the magic, source location (usually plugin), etc.
The images will be pulled from the same location as your .ini file. So either make one, or find the corresponding .png file to your system.
List:
- Hakaishi Rhapsodii link
- Tetsu Shima Rhapsodii Shima link (v5.4 1.1)
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- Fledge 8bit playground, orchid, violet, carbonik, and carbonik Abz link (USE at your own RISK!! Highly incompatible!!)
Step 11:
A feature, lost and has not been really used, are Trailers. Trailers can be accessed using the '-' button on the Wii remote(IF you have a trailer for that specific game). Trailers are located in the ROOT:\\wiiflow\trailers folder.
In this location, you should have 2 files for each game. The audio file, .OGG and the video file, in .THP. A database for trailers is being compiled, the current ones can be found here. For Wii games and GameCube games, it is advised to use the [NAM3] associated with it. For instance, if Mario Party Cool [MP45W] was call like this, both of your files should be called MP45W.ogg and MP45W.thp.
Most likely, for Wii games and GameCube games, the files go into that folder. It depends on the coverfolder location you set in the wiiflow plugins .ini folder. The setup should mirror the same setup as your boxcovers. Meaning if NEOGEO is in a folder called NEOGEO, then you must have a folder called NEOGEO with the NEOGEO trailers in it.
For all other roms, the naming of the file will be the same as before. The full name of the game, the extension, and the end one. For example, metroid prime.nes would be "metroid prime.nes.ogg and metroid prime.nes.thp". You can make your own trailers as well! Just go onto YouTube, find your video, copy the link, download it from here (make sure to select .mp4), upload it to this website and trim it to your desired length. From here download the .ogg converter and .thp converter from here.
Open the .thp converter, and upload the file into it, then when it is done, click and drag the .thp file of your game onto the WiiflowVideoConverter and a command prompt will appear. type '3' then press enter. It will create a .ogg file for you once the process completes. Then press 'enter' to exit. Now you have your own trailer created! More information can be found on the database page.
Step 12:
Last but not least are Channel Forwarders. Looking online you can find a channel forwarder for Wii and vWii. Here is the vWii forwarder These forwarders can be installed using a WAD manager here or others will work.
Common Issues Troubleshooting:Refer to step 1, many issues of USB not being read can be the CIOS isn't properly installed make sure you follow the specific steps for Wii or vWii. Another solution can be that you did not set the partition in wiiflow correctly. Name sure the partition options are set to USB1 if you are using the USB!UPDATE to beta 14!! This should fix the issue present in all other betas. If not, try this out. This will be the solution for the time being until a fix is found. make sure to report on here or wiiflow lite thread. This is an issue I have experienced and wouldn't be surprised if others have it. I fixed this problem by copying and pasting over the apps folder from SD card to the USB. Also copy the wiiflow folder from the root onto USB. Then allow a new wiiflow_lite.ini file to generate in the ROOT:\\apps\wiiflow folder, and it should be working again. MUST REGENERATE .ini FILE!! Specifically in apps you MUST bring over nintendont, and bring over wiiflow or else GameCube games will not load, nor will the wiiflow run.Wii files are very specific and can make it a challenge to setup. Make sure emuNAND is set to off in the wii settings, vipatch is off, 480 patch is off. The problem can arise that the default IOS doesn't work with the corresponding video mode. I had to start at 250, then change video mode, test, see if it runs, doesn't, unplug wii/wiiu, then restart with a different mode until I find the correct mode. If not found, change IOS and do the same thing with gamemode. Should either be 250/251, unless you find one working on 249.Refer to step 2, I would download my Master Piece Pack also located in Recommend packs section.Refer to step 3, common problems is that you do not have a GameCube ISO loader. I would choose nintendont, install to apps, and in wiiflow select nintnedont as your loader, emu mem card enabled, etc. a couple of times it might mess up, but just reload.Refer to step 3, make sure you use Wii backup manager. The files will be converted to .wbfs files and put in a format readable by wiiflow. I would download configurable USB Loader to test to see if the .wbfs file works. If it works, settings on wiiflow are what are not allowing the game to be run, then refer to "Every time I run a Wii game, it black screens!" to find how to make them work. Also make sure they are your system, if not, for instance a pal .wbfs, make sure to set patch country on as well and find video mode.Refer to step 4. If it is GameCube or Wii games, make sure to just download them through the wiiflow settings. This will be the easiest way for them to work. For all other systems, make sure you are putting all your files in a specific folder for the specific rom. Meaning if for instance, SuperMario.nes you have this ROM you want a box cover for. Make sure the fceugx.ini file (unless you use a different loader) and in the boxcovers="blahblahblah" you set the correct destination. meaning boxcovers root folder is boxcovers located in ROOT:\wiiflow\boxcovers. From here lets say you create another folder called NES, then boxcovers="NES". The system reads for the NES folder located in the boxcovers folder in wiiflow. From here make sure your .png file is named correctly. The proper name for this games .png file would be "SuperMario.nes.png" This file name will allow wiiflow to link the .png to the specific game. Make sure also delete the cached cover in the ROOT:\\wiiflow\cache\nes\supermario.nes.png.wfc or your ROM specific file. The cache MUST be deleted or it will not update to new cover!Use Notepad++ its a free editor that keeps it clean and neat and will let you know if format is incorrect.Either name it back to what it was before, or re-download. Some ROMS will not work if file name is changed, sorry!Refer to step 5 and 6. These are not that easy to setup. You must have multiple cores created for a group of retroarch ROMS. Thanks to Wiimpathy, we have many cores that work great with ROMS. Thanks to Tetsu and Mastershoes, they compiled a compatibility list of known working ROMS in which core.Refer to step 5. You will have to edit retroarch-wii .dol files to create a .cfg file that will be read and played like for ex. my game&watch.dol file.Refer to step 5. Make sure you are calling the correct file in the .ini file. The file must be converted to .ogg. make sure the .ogg file is located in the ROOT:\\wiiflow\plugins folder.Either A: you have to find the correct sized and laid out format in mastershoes cover collection, or B: edit the cover art using photoshop or paint.net(free) and dimension the .png so it fits perfectly, or C: make your own! You can find countless covers online, use them to your advantage!Refer to step 10 to find a new theme. If you are leaving the hyperspin style and want buttons, make sure to download ABZ wiiflow\source_menu in order to make it to buttons again(if you are using the Danimal Master Piece) WARNING! Some themes will not be supported, overlapping can occur and this will not be fixed unless the owner does, or you do.Well make sure you throw all of it onto one device, and edit all paths in wiiflow, edit all partition locations in wiiflow, etc. A lot of files ROOT locations ie sd:] mut be changed to usb1:\ or vice versa.Refer to step 11. You cannot use vWii forwarder on Wii or Wii forwarder on vWii. Each .wad must be specific to which system you own. I included a vWii forwarder that looks nice, simple, and works ONLY for vWii.You can check out fledge68's thread of wiiflow Lite, or checkout the wiiflow wiki included in the links section.Make sure go into wiiflow's main settings, and cache covers. This will allow your covers to load up quickly!Don't be shy, ask away! Create an account, and ask on here. Currently I am really active and I believe that many are more than happy to help out
ITS A THREAD FOR A REASON!!
Other Languages:List:
Thank you:
- Thank you to @fledge68 for this great homebrew application and the constant updates!
- Thank you to @Wiimpathy for the trick to edit retroarch .dol files to work with wiiflow and uploading so many cores for us as a community to use.
- Thank you to @Tetsuo Shima for the custom theme, very smooth and elegant, and for the compatibility list for MAME cores!
- Thank you to @mastershoes for the large compilation of cover art and box cover for wiiflow, really makes it a masterpiece in the end, and the compatibility list for MAME cores!
Links:
Here is the wiiflow wiki that is the same to wiiflow lite (which is a fork that is up-to-date. Support is gone for the original wiiflow)
Read up upon Fledge68's wiiflow lite support, updates, and general information here.
Youtube Video:
Here is an entire YouTube video dedicated to this thread, hope it helps and enjoy click here.
Recommended Packs:
Many retroarch cores and missing systems compiled by Wiimpathy here, here, here, and hereHere is an entire YouTube video dedicated to this thread, hope it helps and enjoy click here.
Recommended Packs:
I am attaching my personal SD + USB/HDD files for wiiflow and other apps. Most of what someone wants as in basics are all here + a little extras. I am using Tetsuo Shima's theme, I modified some .pngs as well. If you dislike the modded themes by me, just re download Tetsuo's theme from his page, and replace everything that comes in the pack. My file is located here Danimal Master Piece (here the hyper-spin source_menu is used, this all must be edited within the .ini files, CANNOT use source_menu editor on this! it will break!)
Questions:
Feel free to asks question and asking for help on here. More than happy to help! What can really help is if you download SysCheck here ,throw it into your apps folder and run it in Homebrew channel, and include all the information presented in there with your question, the best solutions will be provided knowing some information about your system.
v3.1 | 03/12/20 - Uploaded YouTube video that follows this thread!
v3.0 | 03/02/20 - Re-uploaded all images, updated broken links, and added new version (5.4) into the mix.
v2.2 | 11/21/19 - Added trailer tutorial onto this page and linked the database thread to step 11.
v2.1 | 11/17/19 - v5.3.0 beta 14 is out! Updated the Danimal Master Piece pack to have beta 14 included.
v2.0 | 11/13/19 - Fixed grammar, added tabs, added a new title, took all the here links for photos, uploaded into the page, added more visuals, and previews of themes!
v1.8 | 11/12/19 - Fixed grammar, added visuals, and added a new troubleshooting section for common problems, added versions for each update!
v1.7 | 11/11/19 - Fixed grammar, color coded for easier visualization as well ass updated YouTube video date.
v1.6 | 11/06/19 - Fixed grammar, updated with more information, and added some important side notes.
v1.5 | 11/05/19 - Updated New section called MAME core Setup, compatibility list + cores, as well as, updated the thank you section to reflect everyone who made this possible.
v1.4 | 11/04/19 - Updated the Danimal Master Piece Pack, file size shrunk from 1.34 GB to 353 MB.
v1.3 | 11/01/19 - Changed wiiflow to one word.
v1.2 | 10/24/19 - Updated general information on retroarch and changing names of files, and other
v1.1 | 10/23/19 - Minor spelling errors.
v1.0 | 10/22/19 - Created thread.
v3.0 | 03/02/20 - Re-uploaded all images, updated broken links, and added new version (5.4) into the mix.
v2.2 | 11/21/19 - Added trailer tutorial onto this page and linked the database thread to step 11.
v2.1 | 11/17/19 - v5.3.0 beta 14 is out! Updated the Danimal Master Piece pack to have beta 14 included.
v2.0 | 11/13/19 - Fixed grammar, added tabs, added a new title, took all the here links for photos, uploaded into the page, added more visuals, and previews of themes!
v1.8 | 11/12/19 - Fixed grammar, added visuals, and added a new troubleshooting section for common problems, added versions for each update!
v1.7 | 11/11/19 - Fixed grammar, color coded for easier visualization as well ass updated YouTube video date.
v1.6 | 11/06/19 - Fixed grammar, updated with more information, and added some important side notes.
v1.5 | 11/05/19 - Updated New section called MAME core Setup, compatibility list + cores, as well as, updated the thank you section to reflect everyone who made this possible.
v1.4 | 11/04/19 - Updated the Danimal Master Piece Pack, file size shrunk from 1.34 GB to 353 MB.
v1.3 | 11/01/19 - Changed wiiflow to one word.
v1.2 | 10/24/19 - Updated general information on retroarch and changing names of files, and other
v1.1 | 10/23/19 - Minor spelling errors.
v1.0 | 10/22/19 - Created thread.
Last edited by x65943,
