Hacking USB Loader GX (Pluggin mod) need help showing ROMS

spinoman · Oct 19, 2018

fledge68 said:
i had an older version of usbloadergx which made a config folder on the root of my sd card.
i believe now the config or images folder is located in the apps/usbloadergx folder.
you need to use the same images folder that all your other covers are in. so if there's one in apps/usbloadergx with all your wii covers thats where you need to be putting your gbacovers.

well, it works, i can see the right images in 2d and 3d...
but now the weird part: besides the right game, i have an entry for every wii cover and any other file (gc, emunand) under apps/usbloader_gx/images + apps/usbloader_gx/images/2d!
this happens in the list and the other two rotating views (7, 8 and 9th upper icons).

edit: my fault, i've surely messed up something with file types in vbagx.ini and now the search for games are on entire sd and not only on the romdir i've indicated...

spinoman · Oct 19, 2018

finally i've done it, i rewrite here my experience hoping will be useful to someone.

source materials:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/x8anxwhp6umauzn/usbloader+gx+r1262+plugin+mod+v2.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/file/3mxh2azkbza43db/WiiFlow_v4.2.3_Nintendont_MasterMod_Pack_Full_2016.7z
https://gbatemp.net/threads/cover-collections-for-emulators-with-cover-support.324714/

i suppose using sd card, already having usbloader_gx for wii & ngc, wanting to emulate nes.
first update the usbloader_gx with the files from the first archive. they go in:
sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\.
then make a folder "plugins", so you have sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\plugins\.
navigate the mastermod pack in \wiiflow\plugins and copy fceugx.ini and
fceugx-mod12.dol to your sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\plugins\.

open fceugx.ini in a text editor, you'll have:

[PLUGIN]
displayname=FCEUltraGX
magic=46434555
coverfolder=fceugx
dolfile=fceugx-mod12.dol
romdir=fceugx/roms
filetypes=.nes|.fds|.nsf|.unf|.nez|.unif|.zip|.7z
consolecoverid=nintendo
covercolor=ff0000
bannersound=nes.ogg
arguments={device}:/{path}|{name}|{loader}

you can edit to this:

[PLUGIN]
displayname= Nintendo Entertainment System
magic=46434555
coverfolder=covers-nes
dolfile=fceugx-mod12.dol
romdir=games-nes
filetypes=.nes|.fds|.nsf|.unf|.nez|.unif|.zip|.7z
arguments={device}:/{path}|{name}|{loader}

make these three folders:
sd:\games-nes\
sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\images\covers-nes\
sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\images\2d\covers-nes\

put your games in sd:\games-nes\, now you'll have:
sd:\games-nes\game1.zip

find the right covers in gbatemp thread indicated and put your 3d cover in
sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\images\covers-nes\
and your 2d cover in
sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\images\2d\covers-nes\. now you'll have:
sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\images\cover-nes\game1.png and
sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\images\2d\cover-nes\game1.png ;
rename both game1.png to game1.zip.png.

open usbloader_gx and check these settings:
"plugin covers 3d" ->on/off on "gui settings";
"plugin default partion" ->sd on "loader settings";
"plugin file path" ->sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\plugins on "custom paths".

if you've done right these lines will be in your gxglobal.cfg file:
PluginsPath = sd:/apps/usbloader_gx/plugins/
pluginMode = 1
enabledPlugin = 46434555
Plugin3DCvrs = 1
PluginRomPart = 0

choose the plug icon in the main view and you'll see your games!

you can use sd:\config\plugins\ instead of sd:\apps\usbloader_gx\plugins\
to avoid homebrew launcher shows you other dol files inside usbloader_gx folder.

a big thank to all the people who worked on this fantastic software,
hoping they will continue to develop and improve it!

earithramir · Oct 19, 2018

spinoman said:
hi, i also have some problems:
i can play games and return to loader, but no luck with the covers.
according to original istructions from fledge68 i made a folder of 2d covers and put it in /config/images/2D folder in sd, and another one of 3d covers in /config/images/.
the covers are from mastershoes collection post and was renamed.

so this is my setup:

sd/config/plugins/vbagx.ini - content:
[PLUGIN]
displayname=Nintendo Gameboy Advance
magic=56424158
coverfolder=gbacovers
dolfile=vbagx-mod13.dol
romdir=roms
filetypes=.gba|.zip|.7z
arguments={device}:/{path}|{name}|{loader}

sd/roms/Advance Wars.zip
sd/config/images/2D/gbacovers/Advance Wars.zip.png
sd/config/images/gbacovers/Advance Wars.zip.png

what am i doing wrong? any help appreciated, thank you guys.

First:

You image paths look okay.

Next, read carfully the fact that the magic=[hash]coverfolder=[path] are on 1 line is not an accident!: (i needed to do this to get the cover working, as do more people i found this in another topic on this forum.)
For me to be able to use the images i needed to edit the ini
magic=56424158coverfolder=root:/config/images/2D/gbacovers

e.g. the magic=[hash]coverfolder=[path] are not separated by whitespace!
and for the sd youll need to add root:/ infront of the path.

fledge68 · Oct 19, 2018

earithramir said:
First:

You image paths look okay.

Next, read carfully the fact that the magic=[hash]coverfolder=[path] are on 1 line is not an accident!: (i needed to do this to get the cover working, as do more people i found this in another topic on this forum.)
For me to be able to use the images i needed to edit the ini
magic=56424158coverfolder=root:/config/images/2D/gbacovers

e.g. the magic=[hash]coverfolder=[path] are not separated by whitespace!
and for the sd youll need to add root:/ infront of the path.

Are you sure your gba 2d covers are showing usbloadergx? And are they actually in config/images/2D/gbacovers? Because root:/wouldnt even work. Coverfolder is not a full path. Its just the name of the subfolder your covers should be in.

spinoman · Oct 19, 2018

earithramir said:
First:

You image paths look okay.

Next, read carfully the fact that the magic=[hash]coverfolder=[path] are on 1 line is not an accident!: (i needed to do this to get the cover working, as do more people i found this in another topic on this forum.)
For me to be able to use the images i needed to edit the ini
magic=56424158coverfolder=root:/config/images/2D/gbacovers

e.g. the magic=[hash]coverfolder=[path] are not separated by whitespace!
and for the sd youll need to add root:/ infront of the path.

i can confirm the setup described in post #22 is fully functional, i'm using it just now adding missing covers.
to made it simple, i started from a clean install of usbloadergx, no wiiflow at all is necessary.
i can post my plugin.ini files if necessary...

spinoman · Oct 19, 2018

i converted and resized some wiiflow covers from mastershoes's post
to be suitable for this mod.
here they are:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/5n31cw3xxaw673e/Genesis_2D_164x224_729_Covers.zip/file
Genesis 2D 164x224 729 Covers.zip 57M

https://www.mediafire.com/file/pg5uzqwdq8p4nwq/Master_System_2D_164x224_344_Covers.zip/file
Master System 2D 164x224 344 Covers.zip 25M

fledge68, if you are reading this, i hope you will release a v3 version.
now it's great and if you implement categories management it will be perfect.
i'm sure there a lot of people out there using usbloadergx that will be
very happy to use emulators in the same enviroment...
i could be a tester for that! thanks, spinoman.

earithramir · Oct 23, 2018

fledge68 said:
Are you sure your gba 2d covers are showing usbloadergx? And are they actually in config/images/2D/gbacovers? Because root:/wouldnt even work. Coverfolder is not a full path. Its just the name of the subfolder your covers should be in.

Yes this was the only way of getting them to show up.
The only thing left to do is resizing my images (they are waaaayyy too big)

fledge68 · Oct 23, 2018

earithramir said:
Yes this was the only way of getting them to show up.
The only thing left to do is resizing my images (they are waaaayyy too big)

Could you upload a copy of your gba plugin ini and post a screen capture showing your folders containing your gba covers. Ive really got to figure out why that is working for some people.

earithramir · Oct 24, 2018

fledge68 said:
Could you upload a copy of your gba plugin ini and post a screen capture showing your folders containing your gba covers. Ive really got to figure out why that is working for some people.

Will do later today..

spinoman · Feb 8, 2019

i'm sorry to revive this thread, but perhasp someone having this mod can help me...
i've successfully set up usbloadergx to work with plugins for snes, nes, megadrive, cps1, neogeo and so on but i've a problem with fbalpha2012.
i can list games in the usbloadergx but when i trying to start a game i obtain only black screen and my wiimote switches off.
to make it works i have to launch from usbloadergx another retroarch plugin/game (for instance pacman on mame2000), then close content, then switch core to fba2012 and then load the content i wanted to play from the beginning!
anyone can confirm the same strange behaviour?
anyway this is my fba.ini:

[PLUGIN]
displayname=Final Burn Alpha
magic=46422D41
coverfolder=fba
dolfile=fba-last.dol
romdir=roms/fba
filetypes=.zip
arguments={device}:/{path}/|{name}

i use dols from retroarch 1.73 and i tried some older versions too. every other fbalpha2012 core (cps1, cps2, neogeo) works fine with usbloadergx plugins mod.
thanks, spinoman.

spinoman · Feb 9, 2019

mhh, maybe is this an available memory problem? the fba2012 dol is the largest of all the retroarch core...
if it was a rom or path problem it should be return on loader within seconds, but it stays on black screen forever...

spinoman · Feb 12, 2019

i've tried on wiiflow mastemod and wiiflowlite:
using the same fbalpha2012.dol, the same ini file, the same rom in the same path it works correctly.
when i use usbloadergx plugins mod, it doesn't.
can anybody help me? or confirm that error?
perhaps am i the only one using this mod? if it is so, this doesn't make justice to this great piece of software...

fledge68 · Feb 13, 2019

spinoman said:
i've tried on wiiflow mastemod and wiiflowlite:
using the same fbalpha2012.dol, the same ini file, the same rom in the same path it works correctly.
when i use usbloadergx plugins mod, it doesn't.
can anybody help me? or confirm that error?
perhaps am i the only one using this mod? if it is so, this doesn't make justice to this great piece of software...

try rewriting the plugin ini from scratch. delete the old one and make a new one. maybe the code in usbloader gx plugin mod is not reading the ini properly.

spinoman · Feb 14, 2019

thanks for your reply!
i've already tried with new fba.ini file, i've also created a new magic number but, while there's no problem with wfl, nothing seems to work in usbloadergx.
does the fbalpha2012.dol works for you in usbloadergx? i have no problem with other dols from retroarch...

edit: i've also tried the original and untouched ini and dol files from wiiflow mastermod pack (recreating the right paths on sd), same result.

Wiimpathy · Feb 14, 2019

spinoman said:
mhh, maybe is this an available memory problem? the fba2012 dol is the largest of all the retroarch core...
if it was a rom or path problem it should be return on loader within seconds, but it stays on black screen forever...

I can confirm this issue. This also happens with the latest stable fbalpha2012_libretro_wii.dol 1.7.6 from https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms
You may be right, the only real difference is the dol size which is around 13MB.

spinoman · Feb 14, 2019

thanks for your reply. i could recompile the dol to include only few drivers for the games i'm interested in, but i don't know even how to start.
i'm not a total beginner on programming but i'm using an old winxp laptop and automated installer of devkitpro doesn't work for me, so the tutorials i've found online are useless.
i downloaded retroarch sources and i'm aware of https://wii.leseratte10.de/devkitPro/ but i need some important help to install the whole thing and where to search into sources...

Wiimpathy · Feb 14, 2019

Well, I could give you a bit of help recompiling but since it works in WiiFlow the problem is not Retroarch but Usbloader-gx here.

spinoman · Feb 14, 2019

if we can recompile the dol to include only one game (for instance pang.zip), we can understand if is a size problem or not.
i'm here to accept every advice and any help will be apprecieted, merci!

Wiimpathy · Feb 14, 2019

Can you test other large dol files. In the masterpiece pack, there are mame-wii.dol or scummVM(not sure it's implemented in Usbloader-GX though).
Installing the devkits and recompiling/removing drivers won't be very easy.

spinoman · Feb 14, 2019

ok here the results with dol files from mp pack:
1) mame-wii.dol, same behaviour of fbalpha2012 dol;
2) scummvm-mod13.dol, code dump and dsi error when i choose the plug icon, even before listing games.

Hacking USB Loader GX (Pluggin mod) need help showing ROMS

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