Hacking cIOSX rev21: controller lag [FIXED!]

[jesquinas]

I think that we know how to resolve the issue but we dont know what is the problem origin.And davebaol claims that "In fact the lag issue is spindown independent". Anycase someone can explain the differences between :
-spinning down
-hard disk stanby mode

or they are the same : when the platters stop to rotate?

Thanks in advance.

 

[xfcrowman]

Thanks a lot davebaol ! Thanks to you, I think we've got the best possible cIOS right now.

Agreed. There seems to be no bad effects and only good effects from this modification.

I suggest that future versions of Modmii should use this modified EHCI module instead of the original Wanin EHCI module.

Xzxero's guide should be changed as well.

 

[XFlak]

this will definitely be added to ModMii.

The only question is, should the recommended cIOSs change? I recall some ppl saying that cIOS rev21 was unable to detect their hard drive (a different issue than the lag problem), can anyone who had the drive detection problem confirm that this has been fixed by using davebaol's modified EHCI module?

Also, should I still support the original rev21 cIOSs? Or are these modified rev21 cIOSs considered superior? I don't mind supporting the originals and the mods... but there's no point to supporting both if the original rev21 cIOSs have no benefit over the rev21 cIOS mods.

 

[zizer]

supporting both is optimal decision

 

[jesquinas]

supporting both is optimal decision

I think so

 

[xfcrowman]

this will definitely be added to ModMii.

The only question is, should the recommended cIOSs change? I recall some ppl saying that cIOS rev21 was unable to detect their hard drive (a different issue than the lag problem), can anyone who had the drive detection problem confirm that this has been fixed by using davebaol's modified EHCI module?

Also, should I still support the original rev21 cIOSs? Or are these modified rev21 cIOSs considered superior? I don't mind supporting the originals and the mods... but there's no point to supporting both if the original rev21 cIOSs have no benefit over the rev21 cIOS mods.

I remember Davebaol reporting (can't remember which thread) that cIOSx rev 21 improved hard drive detection. I agree that the original cIOS rev 21 doesn't need to be supported if there are no benefits over the mod. So far, it looks like there is no benefit of the original vs. the mod, but some more testing should probably be done.

 

[justmike]

Awesome thanks for this, going to try it out with Rock Band 3 now.

 

[FIX94]

Also, should I still support the original rev21 cIOSs?

Yes, simply let it in the list, this would be better.

 

[justmike]

Excellent no more lag in Rock Band 3!!! Fantastic!!

 

[davebaol]

@xfcrowman and XFlak
Yes, it was me.
It was christmas time and I got plenty of new wii to be modified and hard drives to be prepared (I mean formatted to FAT32. of course).
I've noticed a few hard drives were detected by rev21 and not by rev17 (only recently I switched to fat32 from wbfs).
And at that time I was mainly interested in testing base 58, which then turned out to be less compatible for the games.
Also now I know rev21 EHCI module included in base 58 cIOS is not the same included in the other cIOSs, so this could be misleading and might have partially invalidated my tests.
However I'm not retracting my earlier statements but certainly more tests are needed to prove if rev21 really improves hard drive detection or not.

 

[TheRealVisitor]

Also, should I still support the original rev21 cIOSs?

Yes, simply let it in the list, this would be better.

I think it would be the best for now to let the original r21 optional downloadable but recommend the fixed one in the guide/wizard.

Using cIOS249[57]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad and cIOS250[56]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad with no issues. Tested a few games.

 

[davebaol]

I think it would be the best for now to let the original r21 optional downloadable but recommend the fixed one in the guide/wizard.

I fully agree

 

[iancer]

guys, thank you all but, how do i create
cIOS249[57]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad???
thanks one mo again!

 

[xfcrowman]

guys, thank you all but, how do i create
cIOS249[57]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad???
thanks one mo again!

Read this post.

 

[TheRealVisitor]

guys, thank you all but, how do i create
cIOS249[57]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad???
thanks one mo again!

Instructions for building cIOS249[56]-v21 with fixed lag:[*]Download and unzip ModMii4.4.5B-BETA [*]Replace "modules\W19Modules\EHCI.app" with mine. [*]Launch ModMii4.4.5B-BETA[*]Choose download page 4[*]Select 249BETA[*]Enter D to download the wad[*]Ignore the warning message
QUOTEChecking entries in COPY_TO_SD\Download_Log.md5
COPY_TO_SD\WAD\cIOS249[56]-v21[EHCI-v19].wad: Invalid
Results: 1 files processed, 0 good files, 1 bad files.

It's absolutely normal since the EHCI module has been replaced so MD5 check fails.[*]Use MultiMod Manager to install cIOS249[56]-v21[EHCI-v19].wad
NOTE: despite the file name it's a real rev21 without lag[*]Enjoy it

CAUTION:
After replacing EHCI.app in modules folder ModMii4.4.5B-BETA will actually generate all rev19 cios with mine EHCI module.
If you want to download real rev19 wads you need to restore the original EHCI.app or else use standard ModMii4.4.5

...

Use davebaols instructions in the quote BUT instead of replacing "modules\W19Modules\EHCI.app" replace "modules\W21Modules\EHCI.app" and create "2492157" and "2502156" with ModMii like you done it before. It creates
cIOS249[57]-v21.wad = cIOS249[57]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad and
cIOS250[56]-v21.wad = cIOS250[56]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad.

"cIOS249[57]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad/cIOS250[56]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix].wad" is how I name them because thats what they are.

 

[davebaol]

I'm going to update my previous post as below

For building cIOS[]-v21 with fixed lag where is the slot and is the base follow this steps:[*]Download and unzip ModMii4.4.5B-BETA [*]Replace "modules\W21Modules\EHCI.app" with mine. [*]Launch ModMii4.4.5B-BETA[*]Choose download page 4[*]Select the slot and the base you want, for example "2502156 = cIOS249[56]-v21" and/or "2502157 = cIOS250[57]-v21"
NOTE 1: You can also choose base 37 or 38.
NOTE 2: Don't select the one with [EHCI-v19] appended.[*]Enter D to download the wad[*]Ignore the warning message

Checking entries in COPY_TO_SD\Download_Log.md5
COPY_TO_SD\WAD\cIOS[]-v21.wad: Invalid
Results: 1 files processed, 0 good files, 1 bad files.

It's absolutely normal since the EHCI module has been replaced so MD5 check fails.[*]Use MultiMod Manager to install the wad(s)
NOTE: despite the file name it's a real rev21 without lag[*]Enjoy it

CAUTION:
After replacing EHCI.app in modules folder ModMii4.4.5B-BETA will actually generate all rev21-LagFix cios with my EHCI module.
If you want to download official rev21 wads you need to restore the original EHCI.app

 

[tueidj]

Ok guys, sorry for double posting.

Since I can't post the changes right now and also a few people asked me via pm how I actually fixed the lag issue I'm gonna try to explain you what happened in EHCI module of rev 20 and 21.

Let's start looking at the diff in timer.c between rev19 and rev20 (first time lag issue appeared):
https://github.com/waninkoko/ehci-module/co...922c9837#diff-5

As you can see in rev20 the messages 0x555 and 0x666 have been unified in a single message 0x666.
Also the send/receive sequence has been changed by removing the send_message(0x555) above the cycle and the reveive_message() below the cycle.
And the start time of the timer has been set to 0 instead of 1 million.

Not sure, 'cause the issue is really subtle, but I suspect the timing logic in rev20/21 triggers 2 watchdogs in rapid sequence maybe even overlapped, so generating the tedious lag for certain drives.

If someone else has a better explanation I'll be glad to read it.

That's all for the time being

The code for rev19 is just plain wrong, the restart_timer syscall is meant to have 3 arguments instead of 2. From a quick look at it I would say it doesn't work properly at all and you would see the same "improvements" simply by disabling the spindown watchdog, like somebody else already did.

 

[netspy]

Can someone try playing DLC from SD card with Guitar Hero : Warriors Of Rock ?
I tried to play "Bad Reputation" (from Band Hero import) from my SDHC card, using cIOS249[56]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix], and I encountered a strange lag in the middle of the song (as if the image was frozen for half a second, and then as if the missing images had been skipped). I played the song once again just after that, and once again, I had this issue.
I switched back to cIOS249[56]-v21[EHCI-v19] to see if it made any difference -> No problem.
I switched back again to cIOS249[56]-v21[EHCI-v21-LagFix] -> NO PROBLEM!

Strange ... Now I can't reproduce the issue. If someone could try to play some DLC songs with GH:WoR and tell us if they notice anything, it would be fine. I really hope it's a false alarm (I guess it is, but I'd like to be sure).

 

[nando]

netspy. i reported something similar with cios249[56]-v21 + v19 ehci in rb3. first time i booted the game the menu was lagging. i'd scroll down then the menu would pause, the screen would blink and then it would jump down to my selection. i had no problems with game play.

after i rebooted the problem was gone and i couldn't reproduced. then i plugged in the midi pro and a similar thing happened during "learn a song" mode. navigating between songs parts was slow, when playing the song it would pause then blink and then skip. then it would stutter (play the same segment over and over) finally the image got all scrambled and froze. i could still hear the navigation sounds as i tried to move around.

i rebooted, and didn't get the same issue again.

 

[tueidj]

RB3 is a buggy piece of shit, that happens with the original game on an unmodified wii quite regularly.