Hacking USB Loader GX

[PhoenixCodes]

I don't think that's normal that it overlaps.
they are supposed to be touching each others, not overlapping.

Interesting. Here's a photo of the way they overlap, after going to themes and selecting default. I've also included a photo of with my modifications, within my tweaked version of the KH theme I'm using. You can see it best with the list view button - after I roll over it, it's 'on top of' the grid button and category button - like they aren't placed a full 40px apart. And then if I take a look at default.them (can't link to it, but it's the one in the sourceforge files), I notice that widescreen 'x' placements are only 32px apart: For instance, grid layout favorite button x pos is 144, grid layout search button x pos is 176. Am I missing something here as to why the buttons would only need to be 32px apart in the 16:9 version of the settings?

Here's the settings I'm using instead, that seem to work just fine... As near as I can tell, they work both in 16:9 and 4:3. This is just the button layout for bannergrid, but if it's useful I can share the rest of the button layout for inclusion, if necessary .

Spoiler: Settings

msgid "100 - bannergrid layout favorite btn pos x"
msgstr "90"
msgid "144 - bannergrid layout favorite btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "90"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout favorite btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "140 - bannergrid layout search btn pos x"
msgstr "130"
msgid "176 - bannergrid layout search btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "130"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout search btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "180 - bannergrid layout abc/sort btn pos x"
msgstr "170"
msgid "208 - bannergrid layout abc/sort btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "170"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout abc/sort btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "220 - bannergrid layout loadermode btn pos x"
msgstr "210"
msgid "240 - bannergrid layout loadermode btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "210"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout loadermode btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "260 - bannergrid layout category btn pos x"
msgstr "250"
msgid "272 - bannergrid layout category btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "250"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout category btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "300 - bannergrid layout list btn pos x"
msgstr "290"
msgid "304 - bannergrid layout list btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "290"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout list btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "336 - bannergrid layout grid btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "330"
msgid "340 - bannergrid layout grid btn pos x"
msgstr "330"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout grid btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "368 - bannergrid layout carousel btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "370"
msgid "380 - bannergrid layout carousel btn pos x"
msgstr "370"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout carousel btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "400 - bannergrid layout bannergrid btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "410"
msgid "420 - bannergrid layout bannergrid btn pos x"
msgstr "410"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout bannergrid btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "432 - bannergrid layout lock btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "450"
msgid "460 - bannergrid layout lock btn pos x"
msgstr "450"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout lock btn pos y"
msgstr ""
msgid "464 - bannergrid layout dvd btn pos x widescreen"
msgstr "490"
msgid "500 - bannergrid layout dvd btn pos x"
msgstr "490"
msgid "13 - bannergrid layout dvd btn pos y"
msgstr ""

 

[Dragon91Nippon]

I don't think that's normal that it overlaps.
they are supposed to be touching each others, not overlapping.

The theme site used by usbgx can't be used anymore directly in the loader, and someone spend time uploading a lot of the themes directly in GBAtemp's download section.
you'll have to install the theme manually on your sd card.

If you want to share your own theme, you can either upload them to the download section, or promote them by creating a new thread for "fixed" themes for users with overlapping button problem. or actually do both, upload the download section and have your own thread where you maintain, or fix user requested themes or talk about your themes?

anyway, thank you for wanting to share them
as you are new, you might need at least 5 message to post links, but you'll probably find threads you are interested in where you can post useful comment (don't just spam or bump random thread to get 3 more posts )

There's a site that has many spiffy360 themes on it called theme.rc24.xyz I'm sure that it would be possible to use that in the theme downloader. I was trying to add it in but I wasn't able to find the link to replace in the source code so I gave up on it and only made the changes to the files in the attached zip.

 

[Cyan]

The button are supposed to looks like the second picture, just "touching side by side" withut overlaping. at least that's how it looks on mine using widescreen display (Wii, and vWii), but NOT widescreen option in the GUI ! I think lot of option's names are badly chosen and should be fully reworked for better understanding.
it also has nothing to do with the "wiiu widescreen" option, which is the real widescreen mode but works only on vwii.

Maybe it has to do with the GUI setting ? I thing there's an option so you can quizzes/stretch the GUI.
go to settings > GUI settings. look for some option related to width/height scale maybe? sorry I don't have the option name in mind but they are definitely there.



the loader has reach its limit in available memory (or maybe I don't know how to work with more without crashing it, or making it unstable, like 1272 and freeze bug when dumping disc).
I had to remove the theme downloader menu to get few Mb of memory to do other features.
I don't know if I would be able to re-add that. Maybe if coded differently, or we find a way to make it manage memory better? or maybe there's a memory leak but it's hard to spot and fix.

 

[Dragon91Nippon]

the loader has reach its limit in available memory (or maybe I don't know how to work with more without crashing it, or making it unstable, like 1272 and freeze bug when dumping disc).
I had to remove the theme downloader menu to get few Mb of memory to do other features.
I don't know if I would be able to re-add that. Maybe if coded differently, or we find a way to make it manage memory better? or maybe there's a memory leak but it's hard to spot and fix.

Oh I see, does the memory limit effect the possibility of more private server options If not a field to enter a custom private server URL?

Here's a picture for clarification

 

[Cyan]

there are other private servers?
I know only wiimmfi, but if there are others I can add them. or like you said allow user defined url from a config file, but I think hardcoding the url is better as there's not a lot of people who are willing to reverse engineer and maintain game servers.

 

[PhoenixCodes]

The button are supposed to looks like the second picture, just "touching side by side" withut overlaping. at least that's how it looks on mine using widescreen display (Wii, and vWii), but NOT widescreen option in the GUI!

Turns out this was screwed up by 'Widescreen Factor' in GUI Settings, which defaults to 0.8 - 0.8 of 40px is 32px... So it squishes GUI elements down to 0.8 of their normal size... All the buttons and such, which gets 'em looking 'normal', from their stretched out size. I remember accidentally screwing that option up, but didn't know what it's default was, took some looking around to find it. So, apparently, I can just use defaults now that that has been fixed.

 

[Dragon91Nippon]

there are other private servers?
I know only wiimmfi, but if there are others I can add them. or like you said allow user defined url from a config file, but I think hardcoding the url is better as there's not a lot of people who are willing to reverse engineer and maintain game servers.

Yeah I see how it wouldn't be needed to have the URL be user defined however I think it would be a good idea even just as an experimental setting in case a server's domain changed/moved, But other than that it's not really necessary

 

[BillyBlaze]

So I am trying to force some games to 480p output, all PAL games which do not have 480p by default.

Can Usbloader do this? And which settings should I actually mess around with?
- Force Video Mode - 480p PAL
- DOL Patching(?) - (Off-Region Patch-On)
- VIDTV?

I have set the "Force 480p-PAL" setting, and some setting to patch the DOL (Off-Region Patch-On).. Have not been able to do it though (Tried Gottlieb Collection, Tony Hawks downhill jam and Looney Toons). I have at least read on random forums that Downhill Jam should be possible to force. Are there more settings I should look for?

Using 1272, blackb0x mod if that is relevant.

 

[Cyan]

Force Video mode : PAL 480p (to sets the video mode used by the console before launching the game)
dol patching : Full !

you might want to understand why this settings, or what are the other choices:

the video mode is checked and set at two different points:


1. when the loader launches a game, it first set the console's video mode to the settings set by the user (video mode)
it should be set to "disc default" to automatically set PAL if you play a PAL game, NTSC if NTSC game.
Or you can "force" one of the available video mode in the loader's settings. this is NOT necessarily the video mode used by the game! only the state you want your console to be into "before launching the game".

2. Then the game is launched, and the boot.dol contains "all the compatible video modes" information.
For example : PAL 480p, PAL480i 4xAA, PAL 480i without AA, PAL576i, PAL576p, PAL240i, PAL weird resolution, NTSC480p (YES, pal game can contain NTSC in its compatible list!), etc.

if the current video mode of the console is not part of the "compatible list" inside the dol, the game changes the video mode to the "best video mode" found in its list of compatible mode. (I suppose the first from that list?)
So, even if you set "force NTSC480p" to a pal game, the game will not use that mode if it's not part of it's compatible list, and will reload to "PAL480p" instead, or would not reload another video mode and could just black screen, or refuse to boot (might depends on the developers and the game itself)



The dol patch option does this :
OFF : doesn't change anything
Region : convert the full list (ie: PAL480p, PAL480i) to the counter part signal (if you set "NTSC480p" in "video mode", it will change all "PAL" to "NTSC", keeping the other information :
PAL480p -> NTSC480p, PAL480i->NTSC480i

The console will still find multiple and different video mode in the dol, but matching the region you "forced" the video mode to.


ON :
I forgot?

Full :
Replace ALL the video mode to one single mode, not only the region, but also the resolution :
force video mode : NTSC 480p
PAL 480p -> NTSC480p , PAL480i -> NTSC480p too !! (all signal become 480p)

This is to ensure that the game doesn't ask the console to "480i" as best choice, even if you wanted 480p.
It's useful when, for example, the game's dol doesn't have 480p in the compatible list. setting the video mode to 480p would still change back to 480i if the dol only has interlace in its compatible list.
replacing all video mode to the exact one you chose force the game to keep the current and selected mode you wanted.

But attention, doing that could break some games. for example some games are not designed to work in progressive at all, and it's not just omit but really not compatible.

Most games are compatible with PAL/NTSC 576/480 i/p
so just setting the "force video mode" option before launching the game is enough to keep that current setting and not change back to another mode by the game.

 

[BillyBlaze]

Cheers @Cyan !

Now it actually does something! Do you know - I actually thought that all Wii games were 480p less than two days ago... Then I realised, they are not (just the ones I had played)... And we PAL-ers were even ripped of on some games for no apparent reason (Martio Party 8 supposedly has 480p on US release, but not PAL).

Did testing with a few Games
- Call of Duty 3 - Game Menu Loads in 480p, but falls back to 480i in Video and then gameplay
- Gottlieb Pinball Classics - Actually looks to be running perfect in 480p!
- Madworld - Black screen
- Tony Hawks Downhill Jam - Black screen

Now, found a lot of list floating around of which games do not support 480p/Widescreen etc.. Question is; would it be possible to extract this information from a file inside a WBFS? (Thinking aloud, I know its not really the topic of this thread)

 

[Cyan]

I knew madworld didn't work. If I remember correctly, USA version works in progressive, not PAL
I didn't know about tony hawks


Possible to "extract" video mode from dols, yes.
someone to do it ... not sure
The way the loader checks and patches the video mode can be applied on a tool.
Like Wit/wwt parsing each ISO one by one, parsing the found dols one by one, and looking for all found video modes in the dol.

that's how I found some games have really weird modes.
MotoGP08 : PAL 264i AA deflicker
why games would have a 264 interlace mode? why not 240p or 480i?

when you enable the dol patching, USBGX logs all found modes at game launch (you need to recompile with log to SD or wifi if you don't have an usbgecko)

 

[BillyBlaze]

I found you mentioned Waninkos Video Mode Changer and Generic Wii Patcher can also change the video mode (but in the files themselves). My question; is there any reason to do this, or will it have the same effect as doing it in USBLoader?

So the mode(s) are some values in main.dol I assume? Will see if I can find a (open) source for how the values are read tomorrow.

Cheers again!

 

[crunchewy]

I have been using USB Loader GX on our Wii and the private server option works great there, set to wiimmfi. I've now modded our Wii U and vWii, following the guide on wiiu.hacks.guide and it worked great. I also got USB Loader GX working. However the private server option doesn't seem to be working for me. I enabled it globally and then launched Excitebots Trick Racing, but when I try to go online it errors out saying I was disconnected. Should this work in vWii or is there something else I need to do to get it working?

EDIT: An update to this that may be relevant. The Wii U had all our old Wii saves, which was nice to find. So I was trying to connect with my old profile in Excitebots. It was created and last played online when the official Nintendo servers were up. Would that be the problem? I have now read that this is an issue with MK Wii, is it also an issue with other games? If so then I need to either make a new profile in the game, or maybe copy over my save from the Wii that does work, at least on the Wii. There's also a method to create a new profile in Excitebots, get it online, then copy in all the unlocks from another profile. So then you have a new profile, with a new FC, but all your unlocks. That's what I'll do if this is in fact the issue.

EDIT2: yes that was the problem. Wiimmfi didn't recognize the FCs so it disconnected me. A new profile can connect fine. There is a way, at least for Excitebots, to get your old unlocks/stars into a new profile/new FC, so that's what I did. Actually I'd done it before to try playing on Dolphin, but the computer wasn't up to the task. So I just moved the save to vWii and all is well. Though installing that save proved a LOT more difficult than I expected. Save Game Manager GX would error out when I tried to install the Excitebots save (it works for at least some other games, but not Excitebots). I finally managed to do it via WiiFlow's emunand saves option. It's a long story, which I hope to write up in case others run into this issue as well.

 

[SyrusHedgie]

Okay so, having a bit of a problem dumping wii games with this. It takes long as if it actually installed the games to my HDD, but when I plug it into my pc to view the files, there's only tmp files with 0 bytes...What's the issue with this? I'm using the vWii By the way.

 

[JoJoJoestarMario]

The fork that he links to is actually mine, although he's used the master branch instead of my enhanced branch.

I'm not sure why Dragon91Nippon can't get any version of the loader to compile, but I can probably include his changes when I start pushing my latest changes to GitHub. Although I guess his changes haven't even been tested yet.[/QUOTE]
Hi I'm wondering if you would ever do SD Card support on your Enhanced Version. That would really help and is an important thing missing from it. Thanks!

 

[BigPimpin]

If I want my roms to load off USB do I put romdir=usb1/

 

[viktormax]

Sourceforge marks 1271 instead of 1272 as the latest version

 

[The_Wacho]

Hi, I just got a 4TB WD My Passport and did all of the steps that ca032769 mentions but after trying a couple of Wii games the console just freezes, black screen and unresponsive, have to hold the power button to shut it off. It usually happens when I try to load a game for the first time but sometimes it does it with games I've already loaded and played without problems. It doesn't happen with GC games tho.

 

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

Sourceforge marks 1271 instead of 1272 as the latest version

Yes,because r1272 has some little "Issues".
So it is recommended to use r1268 or 1271 instead please.

Thank you.

 

[jeannotte]

Hi, I just got a 4TB WD My Passport and did all of the steps that ca032769 mentions but after trying a couple of Wii games the console just freezes, black screen and unresponsive, have to hold the power button to shut it off. It usually happens when I try to load a game for the first time but sometimes it does it with games I've already loaded and played without problems. It doesn't happen with GC games tho.

Hello

In what format is your external hard drive ??
Recommend ==> fat 32
do you use "" wii backup manager "" to manage your games ??

Copying and pasting your games directly to the external hard drive may not work (avoid)

I believe that the wii does not exceed more than 2TO for the external hard drive (I may be wrong). (See with other members)

You can partition your external hard drive into two separate partitions (2TO + 2TO).