Hacking [TUTORIAL] Compiling a vWii compatible version of SNEEK (restored from @JoostinOnline)

SaulFabre

I like Yoshis and the Wii/Wii U scene.
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NOTE FROM @SaulFabre: This tutorial IS NOT MINE, I've restored this tutorial from user @JoostinOnline (the original author of this thread) from the dead website HacksDen.com, and provided again to GBAtemp.net by me if anytime you want to see it in a live website such GBAtemp. So, If you want to do the steps from this tutorial, DO IT UNDER YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!

The Title of the Original Post from @JoostinOnline in HacksDen.com is:
Compiling a vWii compatible version of SNEEK

Thanks to the website Wayback Machine for archive this tutorial. This made me easy the search of this tutorial. :)

LAST UPDATE: 26-07-2021 08:22 (UTC -05:00)

EDIT REASON: Update some download links ;)

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THREAD:
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How to build vSNEEK

Downloads:
FS Toolbox (last updated 26-07-2021)
devkitPro
devkitARM r32
TortoiseSVN
Python 2.7

Important: Instructions are not suggestions. They are there for a reason. You can only skip a step if it is marked "Optional"

Preparation

Install devkitPro (everything but devkitPSP), devkitARM r32, TortoiseSVN (make sure you install Command Line options), and Python 2.7.X (use the latest 2.7 version, NOT 3+), which are all available in the downloads above. Restart your computer. Open C:\devkitPro\ and rename devkitARM to devkitARM_New. Extract devkitARM_r32 to C:\devkitPro\devkitARM\ so that there are a bunch of files in the directory. This is very important, you can't just skip installing DevkitARM from the installer, or skip restarting.

You will need a vWii NAND dump for this version of SNEEK. Don't even bother trying to use a real Wii NAND dump or files from NUS. They won't work. Run FSToolbox (link in the Downloads section) from the HBC on your vWii and do a full system dump. This will take awhile, but it will create a dump of your NAND in SD:\fstoolbox\. Move its contents to the root of your SD card on your computer, and keep it open. We'll need a file from it later.

Downloading SNEEK
Create a directory named C:\projects\wii\, which is where we will download the source to. Navigate to C:\projects\. Hold Shift and right-click on the "wii" folder. You should see an option to "Open Command Window Here", or something similar (depending on your Windows version). Choose that option, then copy and paste the following into the Command Prompt window that opens:

Code:
svn checkout svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/sneek/code/trunk sneek-read-only

Press Enter, and it will download the source. Open the newly created sneek-read-only folder.
Next we need some files to make sure Windows runs elfins.exe properly. Download ELFIns DLLs.zip and extract the dll files to the ELFIns folder.

Getting the IOS Module
This is the real difference between a Wii and vWii version of SNEEK. We have to manually get a piece of vIOS80 from your NAND, instead of downloading IOS70 from NUS. Copy SD:\title\00000001\00000050\content\0000000d.app to sneek-read-only and rename it 0000000e.app.

If the file doesn't exist, then it might be the method of extraction you used. Copy and rename the one that is about 165KB.

Optional: Enabling Hacks
Open up es\SMenu.h with Programmer's Notepad and scroll down to line 60. Switch any hacks you want to enable from "false" to "true" or vice versa. Some of them only work on the USA\EUR System Menus. Once you've made your changes, save and close the file.

Patches are courtesy of crediar, airline38, and conanac.

Compiling SNEEK
Here's the easy part. All you need to do is double-click build_boot2.cmd. If elfins.exe freezes, see Troubleshooting.

Setting Up SNEEK
Extract SD.zip to (you guessed it) the root of your SD card. Copy kernel_sd.bin to SD:\SNEEK and rename it kernel.bin. Run the SNEEK app from the HBC and after a few seconds, you'll reboot into an emulated NAND. Congratulations!

Optional: Installing a System Menu Theme
DO NOT TRY THIS ON A REAL vWII NAND! This will only work on SNEEK.
Download diddy81's ThemeMii Mod, as well as the MYM file you want. Make sure it matches the region of your Wii U.

Now we need to get the part of your System Menu that has the theme. The file name varies depending on the region you have. Open SD:\title\00000001\00000002\content\. Using the chart below, copy the appropriate vWii file (according to your region) to the New_Thememii_MOD folder, then rename it to match the Theme File column. You should also save a backup copy of it somewhere in case you ever want to restore the original theme.

AppFiles.jpg


If the file doesn't exist, then it might be the method of extraction you used. Copy and rename the one that is largest (about 6-7MB). Give it the name matching the appropriate Theme File on the chart, but remember the original name, because you'll need it later.

Start up ThemeMii and select Options>Standard System Menu>4.3>the region your Wii U is. If you get a message about not having the base app, then you've either selected the wrong region, or you named the app file wrong. Do NOT choose to download the file, you need to use your vWii one. If you get no message, continue and feel good about yourself for doing things correctly. Go to File>Open and navigate to the MYM file you downloaded from diddy81's collection. At the bottom-right click Create csm. When prompted, give it the same name as the original vWii file (I hope you remembered that file name like I told you to), including the .app extension and save it. Choose not to save the MYM file and close ThemeMii.

Copy your newly-themed app file back to the content folder on your SD card, overwriting the original. Next time you start up SNEEK, you should have a custom System Menu.

Running homebrew on vSNEEK
Remember, you have NO access to your SD card when running vSNEEK, because that's essentially your NAND. As far as your vWii is concerned, there is no SD card inserted. Everything will have to be run from USB. In addition to that, the Homebrew Channel will not work, and there's nothing you can do to change that. Just like with the real NAND, all forwarder channels will need to be run through Convert2vWii.

A great alternative to the HBC is the Homebrew Filter (mirror / mirror 2). Download and extract it to your SD card. Run ShowMiiWads, and if it's blank, choose "Change NAND Backup Path" from the Options menu, then select your SD card.

Next drag-and-drop "Homebrew Filter v42 - THBF.wad" to the window. Do the same for any other channels you want on your emunand, then click Install on the bottom of the window. You can close ShowMiiWads when it's done installing them.

Troubleshooting
If eflins.exe freezes, there's only three things to try. It may or may not work though. Delete ELFIns\elfins and ELFIns\elfins.exe. Right-click on the ELFIns folder, choose "Revert..." from the TortoiseSVN sub-menu, and check both the listed files and redownload them. If that doesn't work, try deleting both the dll files in ELFIns. Another option is to download and install both vcredist_x64.exe and vcredist_x86.exe from here.

Credits
  • God for always being there
  • Crediar for developing SNEEK
  • Excelsiior for developing the Homebrew Filter (source code)
  • Anyone I forgot
© 2014 JoostinOnline - You may not copy this material without prior written consent.
 

Attachments

  • SD.zip
    107 KB · Views: 92
  • Homebrew Filter v42 - THBF.zip
    5.2 MB · Views: 52
  • FS-Toolbox.rar
    142.5 KB · Views: 55
  • ELFIns DLLs.zip
    797.9 KB · Views: 52
Last edited by SaulFabre, , Reason: Updated broken download links

godreborn

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you can install a theme on the vwii (sysnand), but the process is different. the tutorial on here I think uses wup server. I still have the theme (blue theme), and it remained after updating to 5.5.5. it's in both sysnand and neek2o. this is the file (have to look in the python script for the location) for usa (different for Europe and Japan). I don't know what the Japanese equivalent is, but the European one can also be found in the script:

upload_2021-7-27_9-30-14.png


I backed up the original too in case I ever want to revert back:

upload_2021-7-27_9-30-43.png
 

Visualwit

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Hey, I Tried Using UNEEK+DI And The DI Menu Isn't Showing Up, It Sometimes Shows Up Though, But Now All The Time, Help?
 

godreborn

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Hey, I Tried Using UNEEK+DI And The DI Menu Isn't Showing Up, It Sometimes Shows Up Though, But Now All The Time, Help?

I think neek on the vwii is a bit buggy. that could be why that's happening. I know that neek2o's menu keeps glitching up on my system. the wording is fine, but it's keep flashing in and out when you make it appear on the home menu. games also play perfectly, so it's just the menu that's a bit glitchy. though, neek2o has always been in beta. I don't know if regular neek is that way, but I assume it's probably a bit buggy as well. sometimes I have difficulty making neek2o's menu show up, not entirely clear on the button presses (1, 2, or B or a combination of them at the same time). it also doesn't usually appear until waiting about 30 seconds. here's what neek2o looks like on mine (yep, I got a red font.bin file) :P:

20210427_181930.jpg


as you can see, it looks a bit glitchy. however, no issues with games, so it's fine I guess.
 

godreborn

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I have my games in the wbfs folder. games is for cube games iirc.

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

you may have to install games to the emunand or the neek nand itself for them to be picked up. I know that when I use neek with my main emunand, it will show over 300 games. here's a photo I took of that one. it does take a few moments for it to boot, which is why I only use neek's nand to do neek games (not all of them):

20200710_001255_HDR.jpg
 

godreborn

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try to use your main emunand with neek and see it games show up like I did above. I only have two games on my neek nand.
 

godreborn

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you should have two emunands: one for neek; the other for everything else. you need to inject wad files into the nand for the games to show up, I believe. regular emunand works for about 80-90% of games; the others require neek. only use neek for games that need it or if you load them this way, it will take a while for the emunand to load up (in some cases minutes).
 

godreborn

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I guess. I'm using usb loader gx myself. you can load the neek channels through there by going into game options. leave the custom folder for emunand as your main nand, and only load the neek nand for the games that need it. one reason you should do this is that the system restarts or at least goes back to the wii u once you exit with neek nand; with your main nand, you can make it go back to usb loader gx. this is normal. @blackb0x or maybe it was @Cyan said it might be possible to make it to where it doesn't do this, but he was unsure. that's how it is now.
 

Visualwit

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gonna dump my nand with wiiflow. if i don't like loading through realnand, i'm gonna try using discex dumps and see if that works.
 
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godreborn

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this is my neek folder or rather sneek on the hdd. everything works perfectly, but some other people report getting a black screen upon exiting a game. this has never happened to me. it always resets the console/goes back to the wii u section upon exiting one of these games:

upload_2021-8-1_11-56-9.png


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

I think some regular games don't work without neek as well, but they're rare. one game, I think, is "we dare." it worked with my wiikey, I remember that, but I haven't tried it normally or with neek.
 

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