Hacking Coding vWii 3-core support - everything you need to know.

[Colin Johnson]

Just throwing out an idea here... I have pretty limited knowledge of programming.

Has anyone looked into a way to modify the channel that is used to go from vWii mode back to wiiU mode? Theres a channel that loads the wiiU mode, wouldn't it be possible to modify it to run code at the end of the load sequence for the wiiU? If you have full access to run unsigned code in wiiU mode, you could just modify that channel, add a code sequence to the end, and re-patch it.

Again, just an idea, but what do you think? Possible? Impossible?
Discuss.

 

[Andy A]

Just throwing out an idea here... I have pretty limited knowledge of programming.

Has anyone looked into a way to modify the channel that is used to go from vWii mode back to wiiU mode? Theres a channel that loads the wiiU mode, wouldn't it be possible to modify it to run code at the end of the load sequence for the wiiU? If you have full access to run unsigned code in wiiU mode, you could just modify that channel, add a code sequence to the end, and re-patch it.

Again, just an idea, but what do you think? Possible? Impossible?
Discuss.

Very unlikely that this is possible as all that app probably does is reboot the console, we know that the flags reset when rebooting because pulling the power and turning it back on boots to wii u mode. Equally the tri core support in vWii mode is pretty useless if we can hack wii u mode meaning the latter part of your statement is kinda useless.

As I see it we should just be able to change the boot process a little and have it run our tri core code, I haven't been able to follow this stuff in too much depth or I will start at it and then I will never get any real life work done which I am pretty sure everyone can see as bad.

 

[Colin Johnson]

Very unlikely that this is possible as all that app probably does is reboot the console, we know that the flags reset when rebooting because pulling the power and turning it back on boots to wii u mode. Equally the tri core support in vWii mode is pretty useless if we can hack wii u mode meaning the latter part of your statement is kinda useless.

As I see it we should just be able to change the boot process a little and have it run our tri core code, I haven't been able to follow this stuff in too much depth or I will start at it and then I will never get any real life work done which I am pretty sure everyone can see as bad.

Still might be worth looking into? It could reboot the console, or it would load wiiU mode. Has anyone else looked into this?

 

[Andy A]

Still might be worth looking into? It could reboot the console, or it would load wiiU mode. Has anyone else looked into this?

It isn't all that hard to tell, you could see if it is rebooting by seeing how much power it draws from the power plug, if the power drops then it just reboots otherwise the processor is constantly powered and therefore still running instructions which would be very interesting.

 

[Andy A]

Lol, come on Andy, just "A little bit" here and there. People with knowledge may be able to get farther using this little piece Marcan gave. A/B diagram? Lol. Mostly for now, hoping for coding/linux port help. Thanks for stopping by if this was a brief visit.

Ha, you will have to wait till a TV arrives, old one broke. Which leads me to a side note, any recommendations for a TV that can support the latest consoles all the way back to ps1/n64 in a 21" format? PM me if so because I don't want to clog up this forum post.

 

[Crewman]

I'm starting to get a little confused here, does the code on the front page actually work or is the implementation still being made?

The actual code won't work because of what comex said earlier:

Also stop trying to load constants directly into SPRs, it won't work.

e.g. this line won't work atm.

mtspr 1008,0x110024

It has to be changed to:

lis %r3,hi(0x110024)
addi %r3,%r3,lo(0x110024)
mtspr 1008,%r3

The next thing is that at the system reset vector of core 1 and 2. There is to little space to load the whole code to this memory region.
So you have to preform a jump instruction to Maxternals code.

As you have to jump back to the reset vector, it is better to put the whole code into a function.

 

[izzydeank]

Coding 3 core support in vWii everything you need to know lol. I feel like I need to know a few more things then what is listed there. Just kidding. Good luck to you all.

 

[JoostinOnline]

Coding 3 core support in vWii everything you need to know lol. I feel like I need to know a few more things then what is listed there. Just kidding. Good luck to you all.

Same here, but don't tell anyone. I've got a reputation to uphold.

 

[rednekcowboy]

Joostin and Izzy, thanks for stopping by. If you have ideas you could also send a PM to Maxternal if not on this thread. Joostin, even if limited knowledge (no idea, saw you on wiibrew forums I THINK, a few names are the same there from this site)...maybe you have some influence and could get some to help. Only a thought there, my offer is to test, and I try to mention this thread and effort every chance I get.

I've got some very limited coding knowledge (depending on what platform we are talking) but enough to make a change or two to a line of code if something is not working. I'd also be willing to test, just let me know if you've got anything and I'll load it up.

Sadly, I haven't been able to solder for a few years (hands just too shaky now), so it will have to be a software solution or something that can be injected via usb. I would say, at least for me, the first thing should be to cut the WiiUKey team off at the knees before they even get started. I know it "enables piracy" however someone profiting of enabling piracy seems even more unethical than the actual act of pirating so I propose we find a way to use a softmod to counteract what they are/will be selling hardware for. Though I'm guessing that would require a full on, WiiU side hack but perhaps this is exactly what this system needs.

I've had a look at the drive itself and was hoping (although rather naiively, I admit) that they would be using sata connectors for it, but this is not the case. I was hoping to try a couple of different things. First would be to connect the drive itself to a pc to try and get the FW on it, the second would be to plug a HDD into the drive slot and see what the wiiu did with it (if anything). However neither are these are possible for me unless I can get some sort of ribbon to sata convertor lol

 

[JoostinOnline]

Joostin and Izzy, thanks for stopping by. If you have ideas you could also send a PM to Maxternal if not on this thread. Joostin, even if limited knowledge (no idea, saw you on wiibrew forums I THINK, a few names are the same there from this site)...maybe you have some influence and could get some to help. Only a thought there, my offer is to test, and I try to mention this thread and effort every chance I get.

I wish I could help, but I just know C, Java, Batch, Scheme, and BASIC. They are nothing like ASM, I can't make heads or tails of the code that Maxternal posted. I'm also just a mediocre programmer, and most of my knowledge is self-taught (and therefore incomplete).

 

[Andy A]

I wish I could help, but I just know C, Java, Batch, Scheme, and BASIC. They are nothing like ASM, I can't make heads or tails of the code that Maxternal posted. I'm also just a mediocre programmer, and most of my knowledge is self-taught (and therefore incomplete).

ASM is what the higher level languages like you stated is compiled down to, this is currently just the really low level stuff like messing with registers which normally you wouldn't mess with, soon the hack will be publicly available and usable in the higher level language so you really have a couple options, either learn ASM and give us a hand though by the time you understand it well enough it will probably be complete or just hold tight and help us make cool things with it when it is released.
<sidenote>Bunny has invaded my signature now, he will soon gain world domination</sidenote>

 

[Maxternal]

I wish I could help, but I just know C, Java, Batch, Scheme, and BASIC. They are nothing like ASM, I can't make heads or tails of the code that Maxternal posted. I'm also just a mediocre programmer, and most of my knowledge is self-taught (and therefore incomplete).

Well, I just added a few things to the OP. There's some pseudo-code that needs to be made more correct and complete that would be used to get TO that assembly code.

We'd also be missing the step right before THAT one on that's missing which would be a more normal app or library structure starting from the PowerPC side that would be needed to START from.

anyone who wants to help with those parts, too, is welcome.

 

[JoostinOnline]

<sidenote>Bunny has invaded my signature now, he will soon gain world domination</sidenote>

I stuck Bunny in my signature when I first joined this site (over 2 years ago I think), and almost nobody added him to theirs until 3 weeks ago. Now he's spreading like wildfire, lol.

 

[Foxi4]

...so in other words, you can utilize all three cores in Wii Mode and for all intents and purposes the only benefits of a Wii U Mode hack would be access to the Game Pad and a higher rendering resolution?

...good job with the Sandbox, Ninty.

 

[Maxternal]

...so in other words, you can utilize all three cores in Wii Mode and for all intents and purposes the only benefits of a Wii U Mode hack would be access to the Game Pad and a higher rendering resolution?

...good job with the Sandbox, Ninty.

and more ram and a higher clock speed on the proc ... but basically, yeah.

 

[the_randomizer]

...so in other words, you can utilize all three cores in Wii Mode and for all intents and purposes the only benefits of a Wii U Mode hack would be access to the Game Pad and a higher rendering resolution?

...good job with the Sandbox, Ninty.

Pretty awesome bit of information, the real question is, how does the console react to having all three cored enabled (i.e, temperatures remain stable, unstable) during Wii mode? Has anything been confirmed yet? Would the clock speed be fixed at 729 MHz per core or 1.24 GHz?

 

[Crewman]

We'd also be missing the step right before THAT one on that's missing which would be a more normal app or library structure starting from the PowerPC side that would be needed to START from.

That's right someone has to write a dol loader with AHBPROT support, to load the NAND loader located in 1-200 into ram. I think this can be written in c/c++ using the standard wii libraries.

 

[Foxi4]

Pretty awesome bit of information, the real question is, how does the console react to having all three cored enabled (i.e, temperatures remain stable, unstable) during Wii mode? Has anything been confirmed yet? Would the clock speed be fixed at 729 MHz per core or 1.24 GHz?

According to the OP, the frequency is still fixed however you have three cores at your disposal, meaning you can assign different operations to different cores and have effectively approx. three times the computing power of a standard Wii (some is wasted during assigning the operations to different cores - you don't normally do that in Wii Mode). As for the temperatures, I don't think they're going to be an issue here.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Wii+U+Teardown/11796/1

This teardown shows that all there is to the Wii U's cooling is a heatsink and one fan at the back of the unit so for all intents and purposes a larger number of cores working at the same time in vWii shouldn't be dangerous for the system.

 

[Andy A]

According to the OP, the frequency is still fixed however you have three cores at your disposal, meaning you can assign different operations to different cores and have effectively approx. three times the computing power of a standard Wii (some is wasted during assigning the operations to different cores - you don't normally do that in Wii Mode). As for the temperatures, I don't think they're going to be an issue here.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo Wii U Teardown/11796/1

This teardown shows that all there is to the Wii U's cooling is a heatsink and one fan at the back of the unit so for all intents and purposes a larger number of cores working at the same time in vWii shouldn't be dangerous for the system.

Thanks for that little bit of logic, I think we should just assume it will be ok and that is what logic dictates and if we do run into any problems then we can adjust.

 

[Foxi4]

Thanks for that little bit of logic, I think we should just assume it will be ok and that is what logic dictates and if we do run into any problems then we can adjust.

Well, logically-speaking the Wii U is mostly cooled passively - the fan is there to get the hot air out of the case, the chips themselves don't have active cooling and I'm willing to wager that the fan's speed is adjusted depending on the temperature inside the case so it'll function just as well as it would in full-blown Wii U mode.