Tutorial A Guide to Creating Rock Band 3 Custom Songs

Did this tutorial help you add songs to RB3?

  • Yes, but my songs are buggy.

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mdsteele47

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Thanks! I've looked through those snippets - nothing seems to match what I'm seeing. I went back through and retraced my steps a few different ways.
I generated BINs for 100 songs, numbered sequentially 001_00000001 through 200_000000c8. meta and song folders for each, edited DTA files to match numbers. Using the Packer Script Creator, this generated BIN files up through 197. Could not get 198, 199, and 200 to go, even going through manually. Nevertheless, loaded BIN files 001-196 into sZAE. Loaded the game through the current version of USBLoader GX. What I get on starting is a status bar that it found new content, 0/1, downloading content 0-1, runs through those very quickly. No new songs load. What's interesting is this seems to delete 001.bin out of sZAE on the SD card reliably. Happens every time.

If I try running RB3 Wii Customs Creator instead of Packer Script Creator, it creates exactly one BIN file. 074.

Tried loading 4 songs into sZGE instead; had to do this through Packer Script Creator, as RB3 Wii Customs Creator tells me there's a Ticket Gen mismatch using the standard packer folder structure you've linked here. When I tried loading those four BINs in, Rock Band 3 told me it was downloading 0/4 songs, but then said the add-on data was corrupted.

So I'm back to square one on this. Have no idea what's going wrong. Tried to use a couple of the APP files and put them into NAND (using real, not emulated) and those didn't show up either.
 
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HarveyHouston

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All right, let me see if I can break this down...
Thanks! I've looked through those snippets - nothing seems to match what I'm seeing. I went back through and retraced my steps a few different ways.
Wow, really? I thought those snippets covered it all! Well, granted, I'm pretty sure I missed a few things there. It's hard to cover everything when you don't have all the answers.

I generated BINs for 100 songs, numbered sequentially 001_00000001 through 200_000000c8. meta and song folders for each, edited DTA files to match numbers. Using the Packer Script Creator, this generated BIN files up through 197. Could not get 198, 199, and 200 to go, even going through manually. Nevertheless, loaded BIN files 001-196 into sZAE. Loaded the game through the current version of USBLoader GX. What I get on starting is a status bar that it found new content, 0/1, downloading content 0-1, runs through those very quickly. No new songs load. What's interesting is this seems to delete 001.bin out of sZAE on the SD card reliably. Happens every time.
Some hexadecimal numbers get skipped. RB3 Wii Customs Manager can reveal the exact hex numbers for each APP file. Also, do you get an error when RB3 attempts to load your songs? The reason 001.bin may be getting deleted is a corrupt meta folder; make sure that the DTA is formatted correctly and all the files are arranged properly. Check it against the folder structure I outlined here.

If I try running RB3 Wii Customs Creator instead of Packer Script Creator, it creates exactly one BIN file. 074.
If you are trying to build from APPs directly, you won't be able to build BINs using Customs Manager or Script Creator, as they require the folders to start with. Edit the Packer Script manually to get WAD Packer to build the APPs for you, leaving out all the lines for U8IT.

Tried loading 4 songs into sZGE instead; had to do this through Packer Script Creator, as RB3 Wii Customs Creator tells me there's a Ticket Gen mismatch using the standard packer folder structure you've linked here. When I tried loading those four BINs in, Rock Band 3 told me it was downloading 0/4 songs, but then said the add-on data was corrupted.
I can double check my copy of sZGE, just to be sure it didn't get corrupted. Are you sure you have IOS 249 installed? If you read my tutorial thoroughly, you will see that most RB3 hacks require it. Make sure it is installed, and that USB Loader GX is set to use it. You can also set RB3 to use it directly by clicking the disc icon, then Settings, then Game Load, then changing the IOS used from Default to 249.

Tried to use a couple of the APP files and put them into NAND (using real, not emulated) and those didn't show up either.
Yeah, sounds like either corrupt songs or you didn't hack your Wii properly. Use IOS 249, and always load RB3 through USB Loader GX or other loader.

As always, read the tutorial thoroughly BEFORE starting to hack. If you think you missed a step, stop and reread, checking what you did against the tutorial.
 
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mdsteele47

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Thanks, Harv! I had a suspicion late yesterday evening in working with this that something may have gone wrong with the original hack to the Wii. Going to use ModMii a little bit later today to try to identify where things stand with the set of IOSes and loop back to the beginning. USB Loader GX was reporting using 249, although on my last attempt last night it loaded up reporting it was using 250. That was a red flag.
I'm not getting any errors as near as I can see when I'm running the Packer Script - I was scrolling through the command line output as I was rebuilding yesterday and it was not reporting errors along the line. I might try to take things song by song on a rebuild just to be certain.
Went back and re-read everything last night and am going to give this another go from the top today.
 
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mdsteele47

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Thrilled to report success! ModMii did a great job of repairing whatever was amiss with the softmod. I then reinstalled 249 and 250 to get the instruments running, and we're rocking out to a new playlist. Thanks so much for writing this and for providing the feedback - I have three very happy children!
 
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HarveyHouston

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Thrilled to report success! ModMii did a great job of repairing whatever was amiss with the softmod. I then reinstalled 249 and 250 to get the instruments running, and we're rocking out to a new playlist. Thanks so much for writing this and for providing the feedback - I have three very happy children!
This is awesome news! I love it when I receive feedback on something that actually works instead of "Dang it! This hack won't work. I guess I haven't got a chance..." Which happens quite a bit, I'm afraid. Glad to know that you've been able to make it work! If you have more questions, don't hesitate to leave more comments! :D
 

HarveyHouston

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All right, so I did some fixes to the tutorial. Hopefully it will help others who just need a quick reference on how to add songs to RB3 on the Wii and vWii. Mainly, I split a section and expanded on the songs step, placing the necessary warnings where appropriate. Believe me, I don't want my account banned because I did something stupid, like distributing Martian technology warez. :wtf:
 
Last edited by HarveyHouston,

L8NiteHashBrowns

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I’m confused when it comes to the picking songs section of the guide. I have many physical ROCKBAND disks for my Wii and have no problems ordering more from eBay, amazon, GameStop or whatever. I’m confused because I was hoping to get the songs that were DLC only. I can’t exactly go buy a physical disk to get those songs as they are not on them and with servers shut down I’m confused on where to download the song files. I would prefer not to have to illegally obtain them of corse, but if their is no longer any way to buy and download them legally I don’t know where that leaves me or what I need to do to proceed.

Thanks for any advice you can prove to me. I did read through the guide the best I could but I do not program and this is the second, maybe third time iv tried to modify a game, my other attempts failed... so it was confusing and a bit over my head. I have modded consoles before with success, but actually game modification is still very new to me.
 

HarveyHouston

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I’m confused when it comes to the picking songs section of the guide. I have many physical ROCKBAND disks for my Wii and have no problems ordering more from eBay, amazon, GameStop or whatever. I’m confused because I was hoping to get the songs that were DLC only. I can’t exactly go buy a physical disk to get those songs as they are not on them and with servers shut down I’m confused on where to download the song files. I would prefer not to have to illegally obtain them of corse, but if their is no longer any way to buy and download them legally I don’t know where that leaves me or what I need to do to proceed.

Thanks for any advice you can prove to me. I did read through the guide the best I could but I do not program and this is the second, maybe third time iv tried to modify a game, my other attempts failed... so it was confusing and a bit over my head. I have modded consoles before with success, but actually game modification is still very new to me.
Ah, a newbie! Welcome to my little section of GBAtemp! :)

First off, I have made it very clear in the guide here and my wiki on GitLab that all discussion on obtaining DLC should be done in RBC Discord. Sorry for the constraints, but that is a rule. If you do not have a Discord account and you want to hack Rock Band, I strongly advise that you get one if you want to ask questions about DLC. Since the Music Store is down on the Wii, downloading songs there is impossible.

You can use songs on the Rock Band discs that you have. I have a guide for this; you can look it over if you're interested.

Make sure to read ALL instructions thoroughly. The way to get them working has been outlined, hopefully as layman's as possible, but it is a TL;DR guide which is not meant to be skimmed. Take your time to get an understanding of what you're using before trying to add customs. Most of all, be patient! Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were the steps to add custom songs to Rock Band 3. :P
 

alexrf39

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For converting APPs to BINs, use the Packer Script

I've been trying for a couple weeks to install customs. I finally found your tutorial that is kinda recent and I went a good way before getting to a deadend where I could not find an answer. What/where is the Packer script ? Is it in your Gitlab repo?
EDIT : I found it, instead of the master download, I just needed to click on master to access the packer. (it was in the gitlab repo)
 
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rjhartman74

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Everything was working great with the tutorial until I got to the execute the packer section. When I pull up RB3WiiCustomsManager, I get an error. In red it says the "Console ID is the wrong length". I followed the tutorial and extracted the id using xyzzy. It is 8 digits, and I input in the ng_id file. Any idea why I would get this error?
 

alexrf39

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I finaly made it through. I followed your guide and Atrujedi's guide ( I can'T link url since I don'T have enough post, but I'm guessing you know the one) to get through. The part I used from the other guide is the following, so OI could use a 2nd generation :''
copy the title.tik file from the packing tools in there and rename it to 735a4645.tik. Let this overwrite the ticket of the same name if it was already there. 735a4645 is sZFE in hex, so that value isn't completely arbitrary. Boot up the game and you should now be able to play your custom songs!''

I tried using sZGE but the RB3 wii customs managers told me the ticket generation : not found.

I also feel like the WAD instalation to get the ticket in the wii NAND did not work. I got nothing to work until I copied both ticket from your packer (sZAE and sZHE) to my Wii's NAND. Sry if i'm not clear, hit me with a pm, I'm a french native speaker.

Now I need to overwrite the 1000 song limit!
 
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Dull

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Hey everybody

Can someone help me? I carry this doubt for a long time and so far nobody has volunteered to answer me. here's the thing, I already know how it works to play custom songs on the SD card, but I'm interested in playing songs in app format, which is from a USB device such as a hard disk or even a pen driver. for the simple fact that some custom songs are over 40MB, you can imagine those from Dream Theater or one that is over 6 minutes long and has all the stems.
Virtual NAND would be the SNEEK? so far I have only tried the USB Loader GX and I am not having success. The app files must be placed in the title/00010005/735a4645 folder, right? did I do everything right but should I use SNEEK to work?
 

touchofkuriz

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Not sure this is the best place to ask...

Do I need to use C3Contools to install Rock Band PRO audio packs into the songs themselves? (for Rock Band customs/dlc)? I'm using an Xbox 360 and Rock Band 3 (non-madcataz version) and TITLE 4 which currently works fine for my customs and DLC, if that matters.

If so, what is the process for that? The upgrades have a Update DAT and a new midi file in them. I appreciate any assistance with this.
 
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almmiron

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I need help:

I'm intend to use customs in rock band 3 only on wii emunand.

I'm stuck on step 3 (hoping step 1 and 2 went right).

Have found con format song on custom creator forums (single file .con extension right?), used c3 CON tools (Properly, Iope) to convert single confile, to the 2 folders

upload_2020-9-6_17-28-31.png


I'm the right path?

Let's say I'm: So input file is the con custom song i found, ouputa file is these 2 folders:

upload_2020-9-6_17-26-13.png


Now what the hek I do with these folders?

I tried the second tab there, Smart folder merge, they ask you to point a folder that has these 2 folders, but on the output the software says output format is incorrect.
 

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HarveyHouston

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Seems like I'm a little behind. Starting with the oldest first...
Everything was working great with the tutorial until I got to the execute the packer section. When I pull up RB3WiiCustomsManager, I get an error. In red it says the "Console ID is the wrong length". I followed the tutorial and extracted the id using xyzzy. It is 8 digits, and I input in the ng_id file. Any idea why I would get this error?
Did you make sure to add it with a text editor and NOT a hex editor? That may be your problem.

I tried using sZGE but the RB3 wii customs managers told me the ticket generation : not found.

I also feel like the WAD instalation to get the ticket in the wii NAND did not work. I got nothing to work until I copied both ticket from your packer (sZAE and sZHE) to my Wii's NAND. Sry if i'm not clear, hit me with a pm, I'm a french native speaker.

Now I need to overwrite the 1000 song limit!
I really should investigate the problems with sZGE, but I've been a bit too lazy to work on it. Also, you should make sure you did install/uninstall/install with ALL of the ticket WADs. If it worked when you added sZAE and sZHE, then those must be the content generations that you were working in, yes? Lastly, there's an Ocarina cheat for that; I think I have a copy in a Snippet in my GitLab Repo.

Sorry if I'm not clear; I speak too much geek and not enough Layman's. :P PM me if you want, but there's no reason why we shouldn't discuss it here.

I already know how it works to play custom songs on the SD card, but I'm interested in playing songs in app format, which is from a USB device such as a hard disk or even a pen driver. for the simple fact that some custom songs are over 40MB, you can imagine those from Dream Theater or one that is over 6 minutes long and has all the stems.
Virtual NAND would be the SNEEK? so far I have only tried the USB Loader GX and I am not having success. The app files must be placed in the title/00010005/735a4645 folder, right? did I do everything right but should I use SNEEK to work?
Great questions, but I don't know that much about SNEEK. My method works fine without it; you just need an emuNAND (a dump, or copy, of the Wii/vWii internal storage), along with the relevant Wii Shop logs in the appropriate places. Just start at the beginning, making sure to follow the emuNAND method. If this guide isn't concise enough, then go to my GitLab Wiki: https://gitlab.com/HarvHouHacker/ro...dding-Customs/Requirements-on-Getting-Started

Do I need to use C3Contools to install Rock Band PRO audio packs into the songs themselves? (for Rock Band customs/dlc)? I'm using an Xbox 360 and Rock Band 3 (non-madcataz version) and TITLE 4 which currently works fine for my customs and DLC, if that matters.

If so, what is the process for that? The upgrades have a Update DAT and a new midi file in them. I appreciate any assistance with this.
Hi, fellow Rock Band hacker! Unfortunately, this guide (and most other Rock Band threads I have on GBAtemp) are for the Wii versions of Rock Band only. However, my Discord server covers almost everything Rock Band, so I recommend going there for your Xbox 360 questions.

I need help:

I'm intend to use customs in rock band 3 only on wii emunand.

I'm stuck on step 3 (hoping step 1 and 2 went right).

Have found con format song on custom creator forums (single file .con extension right?), used c3 CON tools (Properly, Iope) to convert single confile, to the 2 folders

View attachment 224033

I'm the right path?

Let's say I'm: So input file is the con custom song i found, ouputa file is these 2 folders:

View attachment 224031

Now what the hek I do with these folders?

I tried the second tab there, Smart folder merge, they ask you to point a folder that has these 2 folders, but on the output the software says output format is incorrect.
Use my DLC Packers, man! These are the two folders you need to make a song work in Rock Band 3 for Wii. Read this guide, or check out my GitLab Wiki, to see what you can do with those folders.
 

almmiron

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Trying with real nand.

Ok, I installed the szge.wad with yawm
copied the tiket, renamed to the nand>tickets folder.

Placed these 2 folders on the szge packer, renamed the dta file to szge/002;
upload_2020-9-7_16-46-9.png


Renamed the folders accordling
upload_2020-9-7_16-39-18.png


Run RB3Wiipacktool.exe, then the batch file, copyed the 002.bin and 001.bin files to the sd card properly in
upload_2020-9-7_16-40-51.png

Boot game then error: Add-on content cannot be restored to the Wii System Memory
 
Last edited by almmiron,

HarveyHouston

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Renamed the folders accordling
View attachment 224148
002 and 003? Well, there's your problem: You're putting the META folder in a SONG part of one slot, and the SONG folder in the META part of another slot. In other words, you numbered it wrong! Slots are pairs of folders, but for sZAE through sZFE, and all custom generations, it goes 001/002, 003/004, 005/006, etc.

The first file, if you were trying to avoid it, is actually named 000.bin and can not be accidentally overwritten with a custom. This is the header packed on the SD card, and can be present or not. Headers are required with the emuNAND method, though the numbering is much different.
 
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