Hacking Advice installing WAD

[smacks]

Ahoy there, mateys!

As the tittle states, I need some advice: about a month ago, give or take, I modded my Wii through LetterBomb; I followed the Wii Guide and everything went as expected with no hiccups to speak of. Long story short, I modded my Wii given I wanted to add some WiiWare and VC titles that I missed out on given I pretty much forgot about the console and came to know about the Wii Shop closing rather late. I used Wii Mod Lite to install the WADs, and, just as before there were no hiccups right until I tried to install Chronos Twins DX and Ninja Commando. I get error -1022 for both, and as far as I searched, I can simply select a different IOS to install them. Before that, however, I downloaded both titles from different sources, but they all gave me the same error; I even downloaded MMM and YAWMM to install them, but the same happened. Somewhere--pretty sure it was here--I read about ShowMiiWads and ended up downloading it and learned that Chronos Twins DX uses IOS53 and Ninja Commando IOS33, which brings up my question: is it safe to install them to those respective IOS?

I know this question may seem simple, maybe even stupid to some, especially those who are experienced with modding, but better safe than sorry, as the age-old saying goes. Last night I was messing around (so to speak) with Wii Mod Lite and changed the IOS from 58 to 53 and noticed the AHBPROT got disabled, which seemed odd to me, so I stopped. Granted, it got re-enabled when I exited and launched the app again, but still...

Anyway, that would be it. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cyan]

I tried to install Chronos Twins DX and Ninja Commando. I get error -1022 for both, and as far as I searched, I can simply select a different IOS to install them.

and learned that Chronos Twins DX uses IOS53 and Ninja Commando IOS33

The IOS to use to install a WAD, and the IOS that the game requires to play are two different things.

you have the error at installation step, so it's a problem either with the installer, or with the WAD. or you don't have enough free space on your console.

which brings up my question: is it safe to install them to those respective IOS?

you can't install WAD to respective IOS slot, it's done in nested order:

only IOS install to IOS slot.
The game requires that slot (53 etc.) to launch/work/play
WAD require a WAD manager to be installed (not to a slot or to IOS, but to NAND).
Wad manager require an IOS to launch/work/do the install. that IOS used by the manager needs access to specific functions to fake the eshop ticket signature.

The manager can use either a slot where there is a hacked IOS (cIOS, usually 249/250), or need of a special live patching method (AHB access) using IOS58. (you can't use another IOS with ahb, you need IOS58+AHB, or a cIOS to get access to NAND/USB/ES(electronic ticket to fake WAD install)

so it might be a little confusing about all those slots and IOS numbers.
What you need to know to understand all is that the current active running app need an IOS which grant specific power and features to that app.
you are currently mixing the IOS required by the WAD manager, and the one required by the game once it'll be installed.
the manager need an IOS with ES and NAND access. (cIOS or IOS58+AHB)
that Game need IOS53, for wiimote, savegame, audio, etc.


What's strange is that if it was the manager, you probably couldn't have install any games at all.
I suspect the problem is the WAD itself, even if you found them on different sources it's possible all sources have them wrong.
Often, dumped games had "bad dump" and needed to be redumped correctly.
both the bad dump and good dump are actual "releases" and are both available to download.
changing the download source but still downloading the bad dump won't help.

If these games are effectively bad dumps, you need to look for identical name, but with additional info in the filename, such as : redump, fixed, repack, etc.

But that's another problem :
when dumpers release a game, they have "rules" to name (or rename) the file. it contains the dumper group name, the game title, and whether it's bad dump or not, etc.
But, random piracy website change these "normalized" titles to make it easier to end user who only look for game title, and remove all these info about good or bad dump.


You talked about ShowMiiWad, maybe it is less subject to fail as it's not run on the console which is dependent to IOS features and restriction rights.
But the game might end not working anyway if it's a bad dump.
The good part is that ShowMiiWad works with EmuNAND (redirected copy of NAND content), so it's never affecting your real console's content or system, and you don't risk bricking it.
Plus, you have up to 2TB free space instead of 512MB when using emuNAND features.

I guess you are currently installing to the console's internal memory ? (and soon will reach space issue).
Go check how many free Block you have on your Data management menu!

USBLoaders (and specific old apps) allows you to install and play WAD on copy of your NAND located on SD or USB.
I can help you with USBLoaderGX only.

Requirement:
USBLoaderGX
d2x v8 or v10 r52 in slot 249 or 250
DOES NOT WORK with v10 r53 !
DON'T USE FLASHDRIVE
SD card
USB FAT32 HDD (if you want to do it on USB)

1. settings > user path > NAND channel folder : sd:/nands/01/ <-- you can edit the default path if you want.
sd:/nands/NTSCU/ for example, or sd:/nands/43U/
etc.
01 is just fine for "first emuNAND folder" as you can have many at the same time, so it's using subfolders.

2. settings > features > Dump NAND > Full > (to Channel folder if asked).

3. Main window > top menu > 4th icon > enable "channels on emuNAND"
you can now launch these channels located on SD.

to add more games :
4. settings > features > WAD manager > install > file (or folder) > select wad to install to current EmuNAND.

* You can play games from other region !
* If a game is bad, you won't brick your console! but you might have to edit/fix/recreate the NAND dump.
* You can use ShowMiiWad in "nand mode" (check the option to load the correct path) to see and edit the installed content/IOS/games, manage savegames, etc.
* compatibility is not 100% ! some games will work only on Real NAND, installed to your console, or using "neek" (another emuNAND method, 99% compatibility but not recommended for daily usage)

 

[smacks]

The IOS to use to install a WAD, and the IOS that the game requires to play are two different things.

you have the error at installation step, so it's a problem either with the installer, or with the WAD. or you don't have enough free space on your console.

you can't install WAD to respective IOS slot, it's done in nested order:

only IOS install to IOS slot.
The game requires that slot (53 etc.) to launch/work/play
WAD require a WAD manager to be installed (not to a slot or to IOS, but to NAND).
Wad manager require an IOS to launch/work/do the install. that IOS used by the manager needs access to specific functions to fake the eshop ticket signature.

The manager can use either a slot where there is a hacked IOS (cIOS, usually 249/250), or need of a special live patching method (AHB access) using IOS58. (you can't use another IOS with ahb, you need IOS58+AHB, or a cIOS to get access to NAND/USB/ES(electronic ticket to fake WAD install)

so it might be a little confusing about all those slots and IOS numbers.
What you need to know to understand all is that the current active running app need an IOS which grant specific power and features to that app.
you are currently mixing the IOS required by the WAD manager, and the one required by the game once it'll be installed.
the manager need an IOS with ES and NAND access. (cIOS or IOS58+AHB)
that Game need IOS53, for wiimote, savegame, audio, etc.

Duly noted. I had a feeling it would be a "one thing isn't the same as the other" situation, thus why I asked, which I'm glad I did because I was temped to install them, so I might've possibly bricked the console in the process.

What's strange is that if it was the manager, you probably couldn't have install any games at all.
I suspect the problem is the WAD itself, even if you found them on different sources it's possible all sources have them wrong.
Often, dumped games had "bad dump" and needed to be redumped correctly.
both the bad dump and good dump are actual "releases" and are both available to download.
changing the download source but still downloading the bad dump won't help.

If these games are effectively bad dumps, you need to look for identical name, but with additional info in the filename, such as : redump, fixed, repack, etc.

But that's another problem :
when dumpers release a game, they have "rules" to name (or rename) the file. it contains the dumper group name, the game title, and whether it's bad dump or not, etc.
But, random piracy website change these "normalized" titles to make it easier to end user who only look for game title, and remove all these info about good or bad dump.

Yeah, I downloaded both titles from at least four different sources: from a repository, someone's website, even a blog if I remember correct;y, and some other place I can't recall at the moment--all of them gave me the same error. Space can't be the reason since my Wii has 1987 blocks left; I only have the HBC, alongside the Wii Shop, Mii Channel and the others that can't be deleted...by conventional means, that is. To be perfectly honest, though, I'm not interested in hacking the Wii further than just installing the HBC and using apps from it - all the WiiWare and VC games I installed I moved to my SD in order to play them from there; in fact, I actually had to install IOS80 given I was getting a "failed to load" error whenever I tried to launch some of them. I have Googled and found other places where I can download these two specific WADs, but I keep getting the same error, which leads me to believe these are just essentially re-uploads of the same [bad] dump, so I'm basically downloading the same WAD.

Taking all of this into account, I'm convinced these are indeed bad dumps, so I'll leave it as is and move on; I certainly don't want to install bad dumps. I don't know what's the possibility of these getting redumped, but I don't mind skipping them and possibly wait for a redump. After all, I can play the DS version of Chronos Twins DX and emulate Ninja Commando, so there's no loss if I'm being honest.

You talked about ShowMiiWad, maybe it is less subject to fail as it's not run on the console which is dependent to IOS features and restriction rights.
But the game might end not working anyway if it's a bad dump.
The good part is that ShowMiiWad works with EmuNAND (redirected copy of NAND content), so it's never affecting your real console's content or system, and you don't risk bricking it.
Plus, you have up to 2TB free space instead of 512MB when using emuNAND features.

I guess you are currently installing to the console's internal memory ? (and soon will reach space issue).
Go check how many free Block you have on your Data management menu!

USBLoaders (and specific old apps) allows you to install and play WAD on copy of your NAND located on SD or USB.
I can help you with USBLoaderGX only.

Requirement:
USBLoaderGX
d2x v8 or v10 r52 in slot 249 or 250
DOES NOT WORK with v10 r53 !
DON'T USE FLASHDRIVE
SD card
USB FAT32 HDD (if you want to do it on USB)

1. settings > user path > NAND channel folder : sd:/nands/01/ <-- you can edit the default path if you want.
sd:/nands/NTSCU/ for example, or sd:/nands/43U/
etc.
01 is just fine for "first emuNAND folder" as you can have many at the same time, so it's using subfolders.

2. settings > features > Dump NAND > Full > (to Channel folder if asked).

3. Main window > top menu > 4th icon > enable "channels on emuNAND"
you can now launch these channels located on SD.

to add more games :
4. settings > features > WAD manager > install > file (or folder) > select wad to install to current EmuNAND.

* You can play games from other region !
* If a game is bad, you won't brick your console! but you might have to edit/fix/recreate the NAND dump.
* You can use ShowMiiWad in "nand mode" (check the option to load the correct path) to see and edit the installed content/IOS/games, manage savegames, etc.
* compatibility is not 100% ! some games will work only on Real NAND, installed to your console, or using "neek" (another emuNAND method, 99% compatibility but not recommended for daily usage)

I have read and watched videos about this, but it's something I'm not particularly comfortable with doing, if that even makes sense. I just want to "play it safe" and have my games in my SD card as if I had acquired them through the Wii Shop. I am using USB Loader GX, though for a few Wii and GCN games, specifically JP and PAL games I've always wanted to try out.

Anyway, thank you for your post; it was very thorough and informative and I certainly appreciate it. Stay safe.

 

[Cyan]

installing WAD on console (and moving them to SD), is not really playing safe.
if you install a bad game (not a bad dump, but a game with a bad banner animation), you can brick your system menu. it's rare, but banner brick can happen.

be sure to have Priiloader or Bootmii installed in boot2 to fix banner brick (if it happens).

 

[smacks]

I painstakingly tested each and every game I installed off the SD and there were no problems. But I do admit my console is not brick-protected. I actually went through the LetterBomb installation without doing boot2, so given you mentioned it: would you recommend going through the LetterBomb process again just to install boot2 or through HBC with the boot.elf?

 

[XFlak]

I didn't read through everything in this thread so forgive me if this as already mentioned. But I suggest you look into using neek to run an emulated nand. Not only is it safer (I. E. No risk of banner brick to your real nand) but you would have a ton more space for content (wii nand is only 500mb total).

Edit: use modmii to help you build this as easily as possible

 

[Cyan]

I painstakingly tested each and every game I installed off the SD and there were no problems. But I do admit my console is not brick-protected. I actually went through the LetterBomb installation without doing boot2, so given you mentioned it: would you recommend going through the LetterBomb process again just to install boot2 or through HBC with the boot.elf?

You can only replace boot2 is your console is very old (pre 2008). If not, you can install Priiloader instead.

you don't need to re-do the letterBomb steps, you can just run Hackmii installer directly from HBC now.
put the elf in apps/hackmii/boot.elf and it'll appear on hbc.

it'll tell you if your boot1 is vulnerable and you can replace boot2 with bootMii or not.
while you are doing it, install bootmii as IOS too. (all console can do that)

 

[smacks]

Yeah, my Wii is pre 2008: original white, RVL-001. I already have the .elf in my SD ready to go, as well as Priiloader, I've just been dilly-dallying on installing them.

I'll get back once I've done this.

I didn't read through everything in this thread so forgive me if this as already mentioned. But I suggest you look into using neek to run an emulated nand. Not only is it safer (I. E. No risk of banner brick to your real nand) but you would have a ton more space for content (wii nand is only 500mb total).

Edit: use modmii to help you build this as easily as possible

To be honest, I'm not looking into doing this at the moment, but I do reckon the advantages. At this point in time I'm solely interested in having just a couple of games, mainly those that I missed due to the Wii Shop closing. So far now I have what I wanted, and thanks to USB Loader GX I have managed to also try out a couple of games from other regions that I would've never been able to under normal circumstances. For what is worth, though, I downloaded ModMii while gathering resources when I was looking into modding my Wii, which I ended up using to get the WAD for IOS80.

 

[smacks]

You can only replace boot2 is your console is very old (pre 2008). If not, you can install Priiloader instead.

you don't need to re-do the letterBomb steps, you can just run Hackmii installer directly from HBC now.
put the elf in apps/hackmii/boot.elf and it'll appear on hbc.

it'll tell you if your boot1 is vulnerable and you can replace boot2 with bootMii or not.
while you are doing it, install bootmii as IOS too. (all console can do that)

Well, I was wrong...it turns out my Wii is post 2008; the Hackmii installer gives the "installed boot1 version prevents a boot2 install (-2)" message. I guess I can install it as an IOS as you suggested and also install Priiloader (which i was going to, anyway).

One question, though: can I still backup my Wii as you would normally with BootMii? I know the benefits of having these tools is priceless, but I did what I wanted to do already with the games I wanted, and I feel I'm not doing things that would cause the console to brick. I guess the only thing I can think of that I'm doing that's not normal for the Wii is running Wii-Hexen.

Thanks for your continued advice.

 

[Cyan]

you can still launch bootmii and make a NAND dump to restore it if needed, but not if bricked!
Having bootmii as IOS is useful only to dump/restore nand in case you decide to, but not in case of brick.
The best is to prevent brick.
Priiloader is useful to bypass system menu brick and launch HBC at boot. from here you can still access bootmii. having both is good.

to access bootmii, instead of having it from boot2 at each boot, you access it from HBC > home button > bootmii.

to launch from HBC :
You need to install as IOS
You need to "prepare the SD card" from hackmii installer first (it copies the bootmii to SD)

I feel I'm not doing things that would cause the console to brick.

running Wii hexen is more safe than installing a VC or wiiware !
hexen is just run from SD, it doesn't touch the system files.
installing a channel can brick the console, even if you don't think you are doing something dangerous.


running channels from EmuNAND or Neek is safer, and not that harder to setup.
you said you already have USBLoaderGX.
it's 3 click away ! really. look at the guide I gave you above.
extract the NAND to SD
install WAD to that copy !
that's all.

If you already done all you wanted, then all is good.

 

[smacks]

Okay, you've convinced me; I'm doing it. But for the sake of correctness since things are a bit different on my end...

1) I go to "Settings" (the "Gears" icon) and go to "Custom Path" (user path) and on "Nand Emu Channel Path" (NAND channel) have it as :sd:/nands/01/ (which is the default option).
2) After 1) I go to "Features" and choose/click "Dump Nand to EmuNand", which prompts a box asking "what to extract" and click on "Everything" (Full) to the Emu Nand Channel path from 1). Of note: when doing this it states that all existing files will be overwritten. Does this mean any Nand-related files or everything I have on my SD card? Because if it's the latter, then it goes without saying I should make a backup first.
3) and 4) are pretty straightforward.

Will the WADs I installed already and moved to the SD show up as part of the EmuNand once everything is done, or do I have to install them again to the EmuNand?

Thanks again, and I hope I'm not being a nuisance.

 

[Cyan]

Sorry I don't have the exact menu name in mind, it's usually only the global meaning I provide. but yes, you correctly found matching options

When it says it'll overwrite, it's the files already present on SD card.
it'll extract the NAND content to SD, and overwrite all existing files inside the emuNAND folder (sd:/nands/blabla/), not the full SD card. If you already had a dump in that folder, and for example you played games from it with new progress, savegames, etc. then these files will "revert" back to the version from your NAND.
if one day you want to make another full NAND dump for another reason, but don't want to overwrite, you can make a new folder sd:/nands/02/ for example)


The WAD you installed and moved to the SD menu are not part of the NAND, and they are encrypted using your unique console key.
unfortunately, you can't launch games located on SD menu from the loader's interface, but you'll see their icons.
I suggest you just reinstall the WAD over into the emuNAND wad manager menu (no need to move from SD menu to NAND, or delete them from SD menu, unless you need space on NAND), so the "channel data" will be installed to emuNAND, or else you have only the tickets and animated banner without the actual game's data.

it'll not affect anything on your real NAND or SD menu at all.

you are not a nuisance, it's normal to be wondering and asking question.
Just note that there are known incompatible games with emuNAND : Castlevania rebirth, Bonsai barber, ... and lot of N64 games. I hope these are not the one you wanted.
We have a compatibility list, which is maybe not fully correct because it's only based on "d2x version", when it should instead of a list of "base IOS". Like I said, some games work better with base56, or base57, some might even need base38 which NO hacking guide make you install. this are things you learn by yourself later when trying to use your console and actively make things work. most guides are just "quick steps to make it easy".

For the games which are not working on emuNAND, you can try to use a different slot (well, you have only 249 and 250, so base56/57), if it doesn't work you can look at the compat list to see if someone found a working cIOS/base combination, or just install it to real NAND. (even if I said it could be dangerous, it's still less risk than install everything).

Xflak mentionned Neek, it's an additional layer to emuNAND, where the entire console is redirected (not just the game), and you don't need cIOS anymore to play games, the console don't see any hack and 99% of games are working.
you first need a NAND dump in both cases, so just start with what I said. If you have lot of non working games, you only need 2 more files on SD to use neek

edit:
I forgot the wiki link
https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Wii_cIOS_EmuNAND_Compatibility_List