Mystery wii mod

morning_glory · Sep 13, 2022

Thanks CoolMe.
Got that mem size checker ready to go. I just want to wait for something else to happen (eg. loss of files). I still have the spare SD card, if I need to do whatever I choose. Most likely to stop a door from rattling

Strangely, I read that Gigastone was a good brand (in the US), but I guess there's always room for screw-ups.

That fresh start was always on the books. I figure I'll do my Au wiis first, only because I can back-up the nands on both of them. The red (US) wii would be the other IOS method. Those wiis without the non-nand backup capabilities, just seem incomplete. I'm sure my views will change over time, & I most likely won't give a crap.

The Samsung brand has failed me & my family many times over. They work well to start with, but failed shortly afterwards. Samsung 128gb of Eu vacation pics, all lost/vanished. That was in the daughter's Samsung phone. 3 weeks after returning home, all gone. Told her to back them up. Err, too late now

I have a 2Tb seagate expansion. Fully externa USB.
Also, 320Gb verbatim, small, thin crap, but it works.
Have several older Seagate 500Gb IDE drives. They have an external USB case with power-supply for a new home. And 4 different models of the HT-LG DVD-roms. My work is cut out for me. Do I feel lucky, punk ? Yeah, I gots to know

3X sandisk 256Gb USB sticks, 1X sandisk 128Gb USB stick. Many other older & smaller size sticks (not worth mentioning). Just want to test the theory why 128Gb sizes fail the most with the wii (in case somebody else mentions it 1st).
I replaced my 4X 64Gb sandisk micro SDxc's to 2X 32Gb SDhc's. The USB adapter failed (too big) to work with 64Gb, but I've ordered compatible adapters, for testing purposes.
The many problems start with USB-3.0/1/2 meant to support large micro cards that don't fully comply with USB-2 standards. They make USB's backwards compatible, but not the micro card compliancy. It's like getting great, grandpa to understand & enjoy "The Matrix". Seriously, most of the memory medias suffer from dementia.

I need another week or so to complete home repair tasks, Then I can spend a week on the wii stuff. Yeah, I like no interruptions or distractions, & I devote my full attention to the task/s.

CoolMe · Sep 13, 2022

morning_glory said:
The Samsung brand has failed me & my family many times over.

There are fake Chinese sd card clones that have capacities just like the ones you got. Those are not genuine and are not Samsung products. Same thing could happen with Sandisk sd cards too..
The rule of thumb is, to test every sd card you get with h2testw, before loading your things into it..

morning_glory · Sep 14, 2022

Strangely enough, Samsung & Sandisk are the main 2 brands, here (Au).
The 3rd brand (here it comes) .... Nintedo for Switch. Made by Sandisk. Which is 4x the price. I doubt they are selling well, because they have huge clearance sales (70%-80% off) on them.

Samsung mem were all purchased from an extremely reputable store. Got refunded & I replaced them with Sandisk. So, they have/sell good Sandisk mem & bad Samsung mem. Apologies if my Samsung mem views don't agree with yours.

It's a shame nobody watches with vigilance the crap that is being made & sold.
But, when the bad reviews start .... Not a happy retailer.
They (retailers) just don't seem to be learning the lessons. Always been about "sell, sell, sell".

morning_glory · Oct 2, 2022

Apologies for not having done the Modmii, because the house maintenance has extended to more work needing to be done.
I have been falling asleep at my laptop, reading up (wii related stuff) at late nights.
I do have most things ready for Modmii, & CoolMe will be glad that I have decided to use Samsung evo+ brand of micro sdxc cards

I couldn't resist the price of the 64Gb & 256Gb evo+. Boy, were they cheap, & they are from a reputable retailer. 64Gb = Au$12 & 256Gb = Au$44. Way better than half-price.

On the other hand, I did a lot of digging on on Samsung evo+ cards, & found that they had a 25%-30% failure rate (due to poor manufacturing). Most effected were the 128Gb evo+. From memory, they had a 45% failure rate.
The failure wasn't eminent, instantly. In fact many people wouldn't even know they owned a faulty evo+, till they started to fill it with data to above 40%. That's when $hit started to hit the fan. Vanishing data, shrinkage of available space. Yep, my daughter has one of those & she lost a month worth of Eu vacation pics

Surprisingly, when the evo+ lost the files, it returned to functioning normally, but only till the evo+ card was exceeding that 40% full mark, again. The evo+ was not a cheap clone. The reputable retailer's price (2 years ago) was Au$125 (128Gb). They refused the warranty claim on some BS basis of high altitude travel, security x-rays. What a load of crap !

I also studied more on these faults. Just need to experiment with her evo+ (kinda glad she still has it). It looks like a poor design within the evo+ data locking system. Yeah, the same data lock system that's present in all large capacity cards.
Daughter will be upgrading her phone soon (always wants the latest), & then I can perform some brain surgery on her 128Gb evo+. But 1st, I need to buy her a new sdxc card. She already requested that it will not be Samsung. By then, I should have more insightful test results with the evo+'s I got for myself

Y'all think I'm crazy for pursuing the large capacity sdxc/USB possibilities, but I strongly believe I can sort it to understand why some people have problems & why some people have no problems. I plan to make an in-depth report, with hopefully, clear explanations/tutorials for better understanding.

Just wish I can complete the bricks & mortar re-pointing, faster. New (7 year old) house & it was built by a turd-brain ! Went broke & ran. I'm left to deal with it

The above mentioned testing & mod will be on my 2 Au wii's. I know for a fact I can backup the nands (darn, more bricks

). The red US wii can't, & will be done with the other way (forgot if it's ios or cios or ?). Darn abbreviations ! There's so many, & it's getting worse

I'm getting to old, I guess. Need to play the wii & kill lots of baddies

I have many more questions I need to ask. In time

Regards

CoolMe · Oct 2, 2022

Make sure to check these sd cards that you bought with h2testw to make sure they're not faulty and/ or fake. Do so with the "read + verify" option. Make sure to format them as Fat32 32kb cluster size (use Guiformat) before and after the test.
The software will check all sectors, and will fill the sd card to reveal its true capacity.

susbaconhairman · Oct 2, 2022

Jayro said:
Dude, you severely overpaid for that modded Wii. I mod them FULL of emulators+ROMs, and sell them for $100 USD FULLY LOADED with the best Wii games on a 128GB USB stick.

i hate bastards who sell homebrew and pirated games

Jayro · Oct 2, 2022

susbaconhairman said:
i hate bastards who sell homebrew and pirated games

Don't care, didn't ask. :rolleyes:

susbaconhairman · Oct 2, 2022

Jayro said:
Don't care, didn't ask.

im going to send the sus to you

morning_glory · Oct 2, 2022

CoolMe said:
Make sure to check these sd cards that you bought with h2testw to make sure they're not faulty and/ or fake. Do so with the "read + verify" option. Make sure to format them as Fat32 32kb cluster size (use Guiformat) before and after the test.
The software will check all sectors, and will fill the sd card to reveal its true capacity.

h2testw will be used, soon. Have every intention to use it. Does sound like a lengthy process & can't wait to start experimenting with "My precious" wii magic

Will be testing the 64Gb Gigastone (the suspect sdxc from the U.S. wii).
I believe the other 64Gb Gigastone (backup) will be fine.
I haven't even had the time to turn on the wii (sigh !).

Why the focus on "32Kb cluster" setting ?
Surely, the wii doesn't demand only 32Kb clusters (?). I've also found many posts of people stating that wii prefers Fat16 (older revisions, I think (?)).
Or, is this for the "read & verify" test only for h2testw (using only 32bit cluster) ?

What is the difference between the 64bit & the 32bit versions (Guiformat) ?

I've been using HPUSBDisk to format sd hc/xc cards in USB adapters (Fat32). It works, but it hasn't got cluster settings.

morning_glory · Oct 3, 2022

If nobody has the 32bit cluster need answers, perhaps the URL can provide some explanations. Beyond me, but questions my logic towards better NTFS compatibility.
I believe XFlak (or others involved) would be familiar with some or all of it :
https://gist.github.com/joshenders/4376942

My fact findings indicate that GC games on USB devices, prefer Fat32 with 32bit clusters (not clear what USB size capacity sizes are/were used), but my other findings indicate the larger capacity USB devices can utilize NTFS which use 64bit clusters to the same or better outcome as Fat32 32bit clusters (for up to 32gb USB's). Just seems to like a larger continuous read that larger cluster allow/provide. Just wii games have an immunity & should not be limited to Fat32 32bit clusters. Go NTFS !!
It seems to be in USBLoader's coding & wii model revisions, ASFAIK.
(Not wii's internal SD card)

The wii's internal SD card ... I will be working on large capacity (256Gb or higher) working answers/solutions. I know I will be stuck with strictly Fat32 with 32bit clusters.
I'm lucky I have 2 different wii models (2x Au & 1x US). The Au wii's are the 1st releases & the US wii is the 2nd/later release. Just don't want to brick the US wii, as a NAND backup not possible. The experiments I intend running, "may" brick (or semi-brick) it.

CoolMe · Oct 3, 2022

morning_glory said:
What is the difference between the 64bit & the 32bit versions (Guiformat) ?

If you have an x64 OS use 64bit, otherwise just use the standard 32bit version.

morning_glory said:
My fact findings indicate that GC games on USB devices, prefer Fat32 with 32bit clusters

That's correct.

morning_glory said:
but my other findings indicate the larger capacity USB devices can utilize NTFS which use 64bit clusters to the same or better outcome as Fat32 32bit clusters (for up to 32gb USB's). Just seems to like a larger continuous read that larger cluster allow/provide. Just wii games have an immunity & should not be limited to Fat32 32bit clusters.
It seems to be in USBLoader's coding & wii model revisions, ASFAIK.

With Wii games you can use either (ntfs or fat32), as they're supported in both USBLoaderGX and Wiiflow Lite..

XFlak · Oct 4, 2022

32bit version may be slightly slower than 64bit, but it will work on both 32x and 64x versions of windows. 64bit version won't work on 32 bit versions of windows. If looking for a one size fits all solution, just use the 32x version.

For cluster size, just leave it as the fat32 gui formatter default. U can't choose 32k cluster sizes in very small devices, like a 2gb sd card for example. I'm pretty sure the default will be optimal in most cases, maybe neek would benefit from 32 clusters but I'm not 100%,it could make minimal difference

morning_glory · Oct 5, 2022

XFlak said:
32bit version may be slightly slower than 64bit, but it will work on both 32x and 64x versions of windows. 64bit version won't work on 32 bit versions of windows. If looking for a one size fits all solution, just use the 32x version.

For cluster size, just leave it as the fat32 gui formatter default. U can't choose 32k cluster sizes in very small devices, like a 2gb sd card for example. I'm pretty sure the default will be optimal in most cases, maybe neek would benefit from 32 clusters but I'm not 100%,it could make minimal difference

Always a pleasure to hear from you, XFlak

Couldn't get the 32bit version to work on my 64bit Emachines laptop.

My aim is to explore the higher capacity micro sd hc/xc cards specifically to use in USB adapters. I intend trying all/most cluster sizes, but in NTFS.
I think the Fat32 clusters & purely wii's internal sd cards have been solidly successful as 32k clusters. But, I want to experiment on the TB+ sizes (sd hc/xc). I believe there will need to be some adjustment required to the cluster sizing.

I will also try to satisfy (sorry, forgot the regular user's name) CO-something. He was doing some storage testing here (at GBA). He asked if anybody would try 64k clusters with a 5TB WD HDD, & there was NTFS format highlighted, to my liking

I also want to try & manipulate NTFS to remove some/all to make it closer to Fat32 (simpler FS).

Really trying to complete my house work, but bad weather is my enemy.
I can't wait to start wii-ing

Summers here are spent indoors. With 45+Cel days, I'll get plenty of time to spend wii-ing

morning_glory · Oct 5, 2022

It was/is ca032769 (not CO-something). Sorry

morning_glory · Oct 8, 2022

Wow !! That was fun (NOT) !
Decided to use h2testw_1.4 & slowly, start preparing for the mod.
Tested & verified both Samsung evo+ 64gb & 256gb micro sdxc cards. Both OK

Forgot to delete test files, & did it manually. So-far-so-good ....
Couldn't re-format with guiformatter or any other 3rd party formatter. Locked

Tried to unlock with disk part, & device not detected

Thought I'd try win10 format. Aha, yes ! Did it blindly & didn't check what it was being formatted (size). I just saw fat32 & I was surprised, as win10 formatter won't show fat32 as an option.
Selected quick format & start.
Wasn't aware that it formatted to 32gb, only.
Anyway, fixed the partition & formatted with HPUSBDisk (fat32).
Guiformatter didn't want to & still won't touch it. Keeps reporting the device in use.
Both Samsung evo+ (64gb & 256gb) were formatted to fat32 with HPUSBDisk, previously. All seemed to be working fine.
Any ideas what went wrong ?

Is there some way to see the "current" (being currently used) cluster size of any storage device ? Conventional suggestions failed, as they only show & allow cluster sizes if formatting is to be done.
I just want to check what my micro sdxc cards are formatted as. Both are fat32, & as I can't use guiformatter (at all), I had to use HPUSBDisk to format, but it doesn't have 32k cluster (or any size) to select from (no selection).
Thank you & yes, the laughs are on me for multitasking. Juggling 3 outdoor jobs & this.

morning_glory · Oct 8, 2022

Ok - Found the 32k info. Displayed just after formatting with HPUSBDisk.
Is there another way ? Don't want to format to know the cluster info.

morning_glory · Oct 13, 2022

G'day - Just updating some, hopefully useful jargon, & seeking advice.

Noticed when using h2testw_1.4, it alters things on USB/Micro-sdxc.
(I haven't tried with a 32gb sdhc (or smaller) card, but will soon)
Once test/verify files are deleted, for some reason all larger (64+gb) become a 32gb size & the rest is unallocated space. Easily fixed, just a pain in the butt

Had no luck with Guiformat (both 32 & 64). Not fussed, as I have other format tools at bay. Bad Guiformat version/copy (1.01), perhaps (?).

I previously mentioned the Hatari file "creatcfg.exe" was being detected as virus. Was advised that it wasn't until .... I noticed that there were 2 of these files (1 was in a .rar), but the other was spelled "CreateCfg.exe & that was a different file size to the other (.rar), but that file was spelled as "createcfg.exe". The "CreateCfg.exe was a virus (strongly believe). The rar one, not 100% sure. It couldn't even be uploaded to a few online virus services. Weird

Played it safe, reformatted & tested with h2testw_1.4 that 64gb Gigastone sdxc card.
BTW - that's the same card that was/is 64gb (& half full), but it was slowly filling with something. The file count remained the same, just filling with "the unknown". Free space was diminishing.
The suspicion was a cheap/fake sdxc card, but h2testw_1.4 showed the card had no errors. I also salvaged some GC, N64, S/NES & other emulated games (PAL & NTSC).

All this & I haven't even started with ModMii. I am a magnet for trouble

But, I will be ModMii-ing the red US wii 1st.

How well can I expect Priiloader region-free all to work with Wii, GC & S/NES games ?
All these region-free explanations aren't fully clear. I know that some Jap. NTSC games need the another (Nintendont, I think) setting aimed at sd-card acceptance.
This red wii is NTSC, most of my games are PAL (some NTSC games), & TV standards here (Au) are Pal. I do have wii2hdmi & I guess that will solve the Pal/NTSC TV issue. I just need to know what else to expect (?). Am also aware of the "progressive scan" setting.
Thanks

morning_glory · Oct 19, 2022

No comments/answers on my last post/s

I will be starting my 1st mod in a few days (haven't completed my house repairs - the weather & floods are $hitting me). The red US wii will be on the chopping-board.
It will be for my grandkids. I don't want to use ANYTHING USB (yet). Just trying to keep it simple & neat. Kids will be kids & anything protruding can be trouble.

In ModMii, will I have a choice of what & how to use for sd card ONLY storage/usage ?
I plan for ONLY wii games on large &/or largest sd card (micro sdxc & adapter).
Yes. Aware of Fat32 @ 32k clusters, but also curios about making a NTFS partition (along side of Fat32 (Fat32 being the 1st/main partition)) ? This is in case issues arise from Wiiflow lite or USBLoader (or others). Also want to see if it's worth experimenting with (?). I think some of you will understand my craving to do so (?).
I'm old, but not that old. Life is there to learn & discover. I tend to think so far out of the box, that it even scares me.

If anybody has tried any of the above experiments, please let me know the outcome & issues that it presented. Thank you

morning_glory · Oct 23, 2022

Help/assistance needed, please.

Modmii mod started & completed but ..... I expected issues & I got it.

Put some GC games on 64gb & 256gb sdxc, both with 2 partitions. 2x 32gb fat32 & the rest as NTFS (wii = wbfs folder, & GC on fat32 partition in games folder). Both sdxc cards start fine, but ....
Firstly, the previous (old mod) channels (geoneo, hatari (several) etc) weren't removed/deleted with the NEW modmii install. Still there

Was hoping Modmii would eliminate all the old mod stuff. I know it's the wii's internal memory, but it's still there & I don't need/want them.

- Is it safe to use wii's own channel management to remove the these unwanted channels, or ... ?

The usual installed mods (priiloader & launcher, usbloader, yawmm, nintendont) are installed & visible in HBC.
No backup nand

. I assumed correctly (red US wii).
Up to here it all works fine.

Tried to access sdxc card contents & got confused as to what to setup is 1st, usbloader or nintendont (?).
Nintendont has less setup functions than usbloader. Both can & do access the 2 sdxc card fat32 partitions.
I can get to GC games list & load them, but it only goes as far as the game intro screens. Wiimote fails, with all battery lights on. Have to power off to restart (native control is "off"). Tried a few other minor (nintendont) setting changes, but to no avail.
I've read & saw that both usbloader & nintendont can run GC games independently (usbloader through nintendont selection).

As stated, usbloader & ninetendont seem to work up until trying to play GC games.
GC games (x6) are from Vimm's (nkit.iso renamed to "game title.iso"). They are suppose to work with nintendont (directly).

- Not clear if I'm to setup usbloader 1st, or nintendont ? My guess is usbloader (?).
At least I can try to setup sdxc fat32 paths (in usbloader). I think this is where my GC games fail (paths) to start properly.

Haven't tried to access wii games from the 2nd NTFS partition (both sdxc cards). They're not visible (yet).

- Another path setup in usbloader ?

I did see the option there. Don't wanna change too many settings. Avoiding ANY possible bricking. I'm trying to stay cautious (no nand backup).

- I think I saw a partition selection/setting in usbloader (?). I will need this to access the NTFS partition of my wii games. These/my wii games are direct, dvd backups & wiibafu scrubbed (game ID & in separate folders, in wbfs folder).

These are the only types of games (wii & GC) I will introduce into my mod/s. At least for now, &/or till I get wiser (thanks to you guys).
Thanks

morning_glory · Jun 27, 2023

Just to conclude this thread ...

It was my beginning/introduction to soft-modding a wii.
I knew nothing about it nor the wii I purchased, online.
Simply, the wii was already modded, not in the usual ways & apps were badly outdated.

All was sorted once I used ModMii, & it totally & fully re-modded to a functioning wii.
Also, a huge thank you to the help/advice I received. Muchly appreciated

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