Hacking USB Loader GX

[blackb0x]

Wanted to know is this version of usbloader gx the go to version to use? I think i have seen different versions of this. I still have the official release from Cyan.

It's the only version that's still being worked on. Cyan doesn't have a working Wii and has lost interest.

 

[cvskid]

It's the only version that's still being worked on. Cyan doesn't have a working Wii and has lost interest.

Thank you blackb0x for keeping usbloader gx going after all this time. I will be sure to switch over to your usbloader gx for this and future updates.

 

[CaptainHIT]

It's the only version that's still being worked on. Cyan doesn't have a working Wii and has lost interest.

Thanks for your precious time keeping this project alive. I appreciate it.

 

[Clutz450]

It should definitely help if you've got almost 2TB worth of games.

I turned it on and I saw an immediate improvement in my loading time. Thanks.

I know that when using IOS 58 the Wii might randomly become unresponsive. I've already fixed the issue for my next release, but you can do it now by simply changing the loaders IOS to 249 and then rebooting.

So since this issue is now fixed, should I change my Loader IOS back to 58?

And final question, do categories work for you? I went into Features and imported the Categories but no matter what boxes I check or uncheck it still shows all my games. Any ideas?

 

[blackb0x]

So since this issue is now fixed, should I change my Loader IOS back to 58?

The default is 249 in the new release, so keep it set to 249.

And final question, do categories work for you? I went into Features and imported the Categories but no matter what boxes I check or uncheck it still shows all my games. Any ideas?

It looks like header caching doesn't cache categories and ends up giving you the full list of games. So the solution for now is to not use header caching if you want to make use of categories.

Personally I've never used categories and I guess Oddx must not either, else I'm sure he would of added category caching. One of us will fix this when we've got a bit of free time though

 

[fledge68]

I've released a new update.

• Automatically patch error 23400 for CoD (Black Ops, Reflex, MW3) and Rock Band (3, The Beatles)
• Automatically patch the Mario Kart Wii remote code execution vulnerability
• Removed BenFi as a private server option because the server went offline
• Added an option to set a custom private server address directly from the loader
• Added HTTP(S) proxy support and improved how connection timeouts are handled
• Added game header caching thanks to Oddx & geoGolem (disabled by default)
• Changed the URL for cheats because geckocodes shutdown
• Other general fixes

Download: https://gbatemp.net/posts/8856063

Special thanks to everyone who's sent me pull requests at GitHub and patches here at GBAtemp.

Is it cool with you if I add the first 2 patches to wiiflow lite? I'm curious about the mario kart wii vulnerability.

 

[blackb0x]

Is it cool with you if I add the first 2 patches to wiiflow lite? I'm curious about the mario kart wii vulnerability.

Sure. I'll send you a private message too

 

[ecto]

I've released a new update.

• Automatically patch error 23400 for CoD (Black Ops, Reflex, MW3) and Rock Band (3, The Beatles)
• Automatically patch the Mario Kart Wii remote code execution vulnerability
• Removed BenFi as a private server option because the server went offline
• Added an option to set a custom private server address directly from the loader
• Added HTTP(S) proxy support and improved how connection timeouts are handled
• Added game header caching thanks to Oddx & geoGolem (disabled by default)
• Changed the URL for cheats because geckocodes shutdown
• Other general fixes

Download: https://gbatemp.net/posts/8856063

Special thanks to everyone who's sent me pull requests at GitHub and patches here at GBAtemp.

Wow thanks a lot for that! I've been silently waiting for your mod since the announcement of the header caching.

I just installed it and it exceeds my expectations! Loading the gamelist is now just like a breeze, where I had to wait several seconds before. Simply amazing! Thanks also to Oddx and geoGolem!

Please keep up the good work and USBLoader alive!

 

[BrandonH988]

The default is 249 in the new release, so keep it set to 249

blackbox, thanks for your work, you should consider creating a new post for your version of usbloaderGX, a lot of things get lost between posts

 

[leseratte]

Is it cool with you if I add the first 2 patches to wiiflow lite? I'm curious about the mario kart wii vulnerability.

The Mario Kart Wii vulnerability that is fixed in blackb0x's USB Loader GX fork is the one that's already been patched on Wiimmfi since 2018. If you plan to add these two patches to WiiFlow please make sure to also add the checks that make sure that WiiFlow doesn't try patching the vulnerability again on an Wiimmfi-patched image.
When you've added that to WiiFlow I can also take a look at your implementation to make sure everything's correct regarding the Wiimmfi patch.

blackbox, thanks for your work, you should consider creating a new post for your version of usbloaderGX, a lot of things get lost between posts

That'd probably be a good idea. A dedicated thread for @blackbox's fork.
And while we're at it: It would be cool if you could add two things to the Github repository - an issue tracker (currently you have that disabled, can be enabled in the repository settings) so issues can be reported there instead of getting lost in a huge thread, and second, it'd be cool if you could use the "Release" feature of Github to upload the released versions of the USB Loader, that way we know which version corresponds to which exact commit, and there'll always be a history of old versions.

 

[fledge68]

The Mario Kart Wii vulnerability that is fixed in blackb0x's USB Loader GX fork is the one that's already been patched on Wiimmfi since 2018. If you plan to add these two patches to WiiFlow please make sure to also add the checks that make sure that WiiFlow doesn't try patching the vulnerability again on an Wiimmfi-patched image.
When you've added that to WiiFlow I can also take a look at your implementation to make sure everything's correct regarding the Wiimmfi patch.
.

ok here's my commit. It should be fine.
https://github.com/Fledge68/WiiFlow_Lite/commit/29d7100bf11ea9711cb64cfcc016d4a59480fc52

 

[blackb0x]

an issue tracker (currently you have that disabled, can be enabled in the repository settings) so issues can be reported there instead of getting lost in a huge thread

I've kept that disabled because I don't plan on fixing long standing issues that might require some major rewrites. And I've said from the beginning that people should send me a private message if they need to report a problem.

Sometimes I'll look at the issues reported on SourceForge, but most of them are user errors, issues that I can't reproduce or feature requests that would require some major rewrites.

it'd be cool if you could use the "Release" feature of Github to upload the released versions of the USB Loader, that way we know which version corresponds to which exact commit, and there'll always be a history of old versions.

I guess I could do that, since I've released a few versions now.

I didn't use the releases feature or create a dedicated thread because originally I just wanted to release a version of the loader that was a little more future proof by updating the networking code. But then Cyan went MIA for a while and I kept fixing bugs and adding features And now it seems like my version is the only version that's still being worked on, although I don't have a lot of free time to dedicate to it.

 

[leseratte]

Especially if you don't have lots of time for the loader, wouldn't it be better to have the bugs on Github so others can see and comment on them as well (and then maybe make PRs to fix them) instead of asking users to send bug reports to you in private?

Cyan's version was last updated in 2018 (except for the small 480p update a while ago), and as you mentioned yourself a couple posts earlier, it doesn't look like he's planning to update that soon. Your version still seems way more active (regarding development) even if you aren't dedicating lots of time to it.

 

[Clutz450]

Personally I've never used categories and I guess Oddx must not either, else I'm sure he would of added category caching. One of us will fix this when we've got a bit of free time though

If you do look into categories, would you be able to look and see if there is a way you can make the category list display in alphabetical order? It's been this way for as long as I can remember but when you import the categories from Features it seems to put them in some random order. But it isn't really random because it lists them the same way every time. It would just make it easier to find the category I wanted if it was listed in alphabetical order. If it's too much to do then don't worry about it. I can always edit the categories file manually in a text editor. Thanks.

 

[Oddx]

The default is 249 in the new release, so keep it set to 249.


It looks like header caching doesn't cache categories and ends up giving you the full list of games. So the solution for now is to not use header caching if you want to make use of categories.

Personally I've never used categories and I guess Oddx must not either, else I'm sure he would of added category caching. One of us will fix this when we've got a bit of free time though

I will take a look... i don't use categories myself so will have to familiarize myself with them.

update: after looking at the code the category filter is part of a function that is skipped with caching on. since categories are dynamic ill see if i can bypass the cache when categories are are on or re-implement the category filter after the cache load. whichever ends up being faster.

 

[Clutz450]

I will take a look... i don't use categories myself so will have to familiarize myself with them.

update: after looking at the code the category filter is part of a function that is skipped with caching on. since categories are dynamic ill see if i can bypass the cache when categories are are on or re-implement the category filter after the cache load. whichever ends up being faster.

Thank you. I don't really use categories either except for when I am looking to play EmuNAND games. And even then I only use the categories of VC-NES, VC-MD, WiiWare, etc, just so I can only display the games from the consoles that I want to play. Typically what I wind up doing is importing the categories and then manually delete every category other than the VC and WiiWare ones. At one point I did manually go into the category file and edited it in a text editor in my PC to have the VC and WiiWare categories at the top and the rest underneath in Alphabetical order. That was very tedious and but unfortunately, I can't find that categories file I modified anymore anyways.

 

[blackb0x]

I will take a look... i don't use categories myself so will have to familiarize myself with them.

update: after looking at the code the category filter is part of a function that is skipped with caching on. since categories are dynamic ill see if i can bypass the cache when categories are are on or re-implement the category filter after the cache load. whichever ends up being faster.

I was thinking of simply caching categories every time someone adds or removes a game to a specific category. Some of the code just needs to be reworked a little.

 

[Gabberhead]

@blackb0x

i tested your new version. but i think there is something wrong. i'm using your new version on a wii u. here is what i found:

wiiu system menu -> over a channel launcher directly to usbloader = works
wiiu system menu -> vwii system menu -> over channel launcher to usbloader = works
wiiu system menu -> vwii system menu -> homebrew launcher -> usbloader = not working. after start get black screen and wii u freezes.
wiiu autoboot menu -> vwii homebrew launcher -> usbloader = also not working. after start get black screen and wii u freezes.

i have testet it with my old config and also with a fresh install without anything. always get black screen. i also tested it with the newer devkippc version, also the same problem.

with your older version, it works without a problem!

ps. perhaps someone can test this also on a normal wii. perhaps there is the same problem.

 

[blackb0x]

@Gabberhead There were some IOS changes, but nothing that should cause any issues. And I can confirm that all works perfectly from a regular Wii.

I don't own a WiiU, so I'd need feedback from a few people to confirm if there's an issue.

 

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

@Gabberhead There were some IOS changes, but nothing that should cause any issues. And I can confirm that all works perfectly from a regular Wii.

I don't own a WiiU, so I'd need feedback from a few people to confirm if there's an issue.

wiiu system menu -> vwii system menu -> homebrew launcher -> usbloader = not working. after start get black screen and wii u freezes.
wiiu autoboot menu -> vwii homebrew launcher -> usbloader = also not working. after start get black screen and wii u freezes.

Both Methods are working correctly with Coldboot Haxchi and your latest Version from the
USBLoader GX r1272 mod (e25c4e4).
USBLoader GX is Booting and working.

EDIT: ...maybe a HDD/USB Device Initialisation Issue ?

Thank you.