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

[Ray Lewis]

Its only useful for homebrew, and also to beat the Failoverflow challenge. If Max et al can get tri-core linux running on vWii, they've promised to share more information on their WiiU level hack that they've been keeping to themselves.

Marcan said "maybe" access to more hardware. Read his "shot of espresso" post.

 

[the_randomizer]

I'm probably far from the best to answer this. But from my understanding the Wii-U shuts down two cores and reduces the clockspeed of the final processor core in order to achieve perfect Wii backwards compatibility, hence, I don't think having all three cores open would help at all. I signed up and donated my $10 for Linux, I for one hope this really doesn't get used for game back-ups and piracy.

Three cores would help tremendously with emulators for N64, PSX and maybe even Dreamcast

 

[jammybudga777]

Three cores would help tremendously with emulators for N64, PSX and maybe even Dreamcast

i was thinking the same thing but wasnt sure if the emulaters had/could be programmed to use multiple cores. as poo as this myt sound to most of you ide like to be able to have music playing (my music) over the top of a game. so a media player using one core and the game/emulators using another

 

[obcd]

The whole point of the racing attack is to take over control of the system before it shuts down 2 of the 3 ppc cores.
At that moment, the speed is already reduced and the extra wiiu memory isn't accessible anymore.
The same linux running on 3 core vwii could probably run with minor modifications on wiiu as well.
Having 3 cores running at full speed and having all the wiiu memory would be very usefull and would open new possibilities for emulators and homebrew.

 

[Henke]

Donating 50$ when sallery comes

 

[Clarky]

Given as much as I can right now, best of luck

 

[mcchase]

The whole point of the racing attack is to take over control of the system before it shuts down 2 of the 3 ppc cores.
At that moment, the speed is already reduced and the extra wiiu memory isn't accessible anymore.
The same linux running on 3 core vwii could probably run with minor modifications on wiiu as well.
Having 3 cores running at full speed and having all the wiiu memory would be very usefull and would open new possibilities for emulators and homebrew.

I didn't know about the memory restriction. That's a bit of a kick for running an OS like Linux (far more in my opinion than the reduced clock speed), let's hope there's a work-around.

 

[victor.m]

So, does the WiiU and Wii share the same architecture? If we got access to 3 cores and full WiiU hardware in vWii mode, could that mean implementing upsampling/IQ improvements in vWii for Wii games (not necessarily backed up/pirated, could be retail discs), at the cost of stability?

I can't imagine doubling the rendering resolution of something to improve quality would be beyond the scope if WiiU's hardware...Dolphin does it, admittedly with much more powerful PCs, but it has to emulate the PPC instructions...wouldn't this run much faster? Theoretically?

 

[the_randomizer]

So, does the WiiU and Wii share the same architecture? If we got access to 3 cores and full WiiU hardware in vWii mode, could that mean implementing upsampling/IQ improvements in vWii for Wii games (not necessarily backed up/pirated, could be retail discs), at the cost of stability?

I can't imagine doubling the rendering resolution of something to improve quality would be beyond the scope if WiiU's hardware...Dolphin does it, admittedly with much more powerful PCs, but it has to emulate the PPC instructions...wouldn't this run much faster? Theoretically?

Both use the same architecture, but for rendering the resolution beyond native 480p would require helluva lot more processing power even if is PPC.

 

[victor.m]

Both use the same architecture, but for rendering the resolution beyond native 480p would require helluva lot more processing power even if is PPC.

I mean..if the WiiU is inherently much faster hardware (at least 3x the amount of processing power with 3 cores, right? I'm not sure on the specifics), and I'm assuming a much more powerful graphics chip, alongside a wider memory bus/more RAM...shouldn't it theoretically be possible to implement some improvement? I'm just talking out of my ass, but it doesn't seem like it would be impossible..

Anyways, when I get some extra cash for working over the holidays I'll be donating to the project. Regardless of what will come of it, it'll be cool to see it done.

 

[Maxternal]

I mean..if the WiiU is inherently much faster hardware (at least 3x the amount of processing power with 3 cores, right? I'm not sure on the specifics), and I'm assuming a much more powerful graphics chip, alongside a wider memory bus/more RAM...shouldn't it theoretically be possible to implement some improvement? I'm just talking out of my ass, but it doesn't seem like it would be impossible..

While in vWii mode the extra RAM is locked down and there's no way to get it back without resetting the whole system (and losing control of it) so for THAT part you'd need to START running in Wii U mode with an exploit.
The video card there might be some boost still while in vWii compatibility mode but it's not too clear. Other hardware games access through the IOS so you could theoretically patch the IOS to make any changes but games access the GPU directly so to improve graphics in games you'd probably have to patch the game itself since otherwise the game wouldn't know to ASK it to show better quality images. Better graphics in homebrew would be more likely. Either way the answer still is "Might be possible bug don't know yet" at this point.

[EDIT]
Of course, most of the above limitations are for vWii mode. The idea is that by porting Linux with 3-core support, fail0verflow would have a lot less to do in just making a few tweaks to it to make it work in Wii U mode and releasing the Wii U mode exploit to make it run. At that point you'd have all the extra GPU/CPU/RAM you needed.
[/EDIT]

Implementing a virtual machine (like VMWare) would definitely have it's uses both, possibly, in vWii mode as well as Wii U mode (if not also on a XBOX360 as well as other PPC based systems) BUT, of course, it would require a good amount of work. It's "just" a matter of finding someone with the time/know-how/willingness for such an undertaking.

 

[mcchase]

I mean..if the WiiU is inherently much faster hardware (at least 3x the amount of processing power with 3 cores, right? I'm not sure on the specifics), and I'm assuming a much more powerful graphics chip, alongside a wider memory bus/more RAM...shouldn't it theoretically be possible to implement some improvement? I'm just talking out of my ass, but it doesn't seem like it would be impossible..

Anyways, when I get some extra cash for working over the holidays I'll be donating to the project. Regardless of what will come of it, it'll be cool to see it done.

The processor's roughly 5 times as fast in terms of raw theoretical number crunching. It's an IBM chip that's very nearly the same architecture as later model Macintosh G3 but at a higher clock speed, higher cache and tri-core. I would *think* you're right about the emulation enhancements - if not upscaled then graphical filtering surely? I suppose much would depend if the emulator was programmed to make use of the three cores effectivly.

 

[victor.m]

While in vWii mode the extra RAM is locked down and there's no way to get it back without resetting the whole system (and losing control of it) so for THAT part you'd need to START running in Wii U mode with an exploit.
The video card there might be some boost still while in vWii compatibility mode but it's not too clear. Other hardware games access through the IOS so you could theoretically patch the IOS to make any changes but games access the GPU directly so to improve graphics in games you'd probably have to patch the game itself since otherwise the game wouldn't know to ASK it to show better quality images. Better graphics in homebrew would be more likely. Either way the answer still is "Might be possible bug don't know yet" at this point.

Implementing a virtual machine (like VMWare) would definitely have it's uses both possibly in vWii mode as well as Wii U mode ... if not also on a XBOX360 as well as other PPC based systems BUT, of course, it would require a good amount of work. It's "just" a matter of finding someone with the time/know-how/willingness for such an undertaking.

Thanks for the detailed response! The possibilities do seem pretty wide, if the team can crack open the WiiU and gain access to the extra hardware in vWii mode.

Also, the bug in your signature made me poke at my screen a few times.

 

[victor.m]

The processor's roughly 5 times as fast in terms of raw theoretical number crunching. It's an IBM chip that's very nearly the same architecture as later model Macintosh G3 but at a higher clock speed, higher cache and tri-core. I would *think* you're right about the emulation enhancements - if not upscaled then graphical filtering surely? I suppose much would depend if the emulator was programmed to make use of the three cores effectivly.

Or maybe vWii can be modified to add these enhancements itself? I guess it's a leap to go from accessing extra hardware to patching the vWii software itself to render at a higher resolution/add IQ enhancements.

 

[crono141]

Marcan said "maybe" access to more hardware. Read his "shot of espresso" post.

I never said they'd give us the hack, only that they'd share more information about it. Personally I think they're going to engage in a bit of goal post moving once the tri-core team is successful, trickle out barely any more info, and set an even harder and more lofty goal before they're convinced the community is interested beyond just getting isos to boot. That in turn will be met by even further goal post moving.

Maybe I'm wrong, and I hope I am. Its just a feeling that I get.

 

[Ray Lewis]

Don't hold your breath. I flamed them so badly they ignore me, block pm, and hide their profiles. One of their worshippers put a spoiler saying to ignore me to enjoy threads more. I stopped flaming, apologized, and even praised Marcan. They don't forgive as they want to be forgiven and don't treat others as they want to be treated. I am not politically correct, and bow to no king but king Jesus Christ. Yay, give credit, envy them, and be teased.

I don't trust them except one person who is kind, respectful, honest, and is likely not a direct member of f0f but has like 100,000 Twitter followers for a reason. Maxternal is not in f0f afaik. If so, that makes two I trust. Anyone who vouched for a $2,000+ 3ds decapping fund scam is not trustworthy. Know a tree by its fruits. Good trees cannot give bad fruit and bad trees don't give good fruits. Gather good or gather bad? I appear to be correct about decapping fund and obviously correct on linux over VWii.

Edit: I try to live this way, not intending to preach. I owned up to my flaming. I respect Marcan, Sven, and a few others for their skills. I guess I would like Marcan to say he forgives my idiotic flaming, and only if I turn from it. Marcan/Sven never said they vouched with 3ds decapping fundraiser. The comments on 3ds was not about f0f. Not like they seem to care either way but I think I stopped the flaming.

 

[edwardbirkholz05]

Just please shut the hell up Ray.
If you really believed "treat others as you would want to be treated" like you're preaching, you wouldn't have flamed anybody in the first place and wouldn't still be making disrespectful comments like these. You're just a whiny little hypocrite, frustrated that you can't have what you want and nobody is interested in hearing your rants.

 

[the_randomizer]

Just please shut the hell up Ray.
If you really believed "treat others as you would want to be treated" like you're preaching, you wouldn't have flamed anybody in the first place and wouldn't still be making disrespectful comments like these. You're just a whiny little hypocrite, frustrated that you can't have what you want and nobody is interested in hearing your rants.

You really needn't clutter these threads with such negativity. You're better off doing that elsewhere. Oh and insulting/flaming members, yeah, that won't bode well.

Keep up the ad hominem!

 

[Ray Lewis]

Just please shut the hell up Ray.
If you really believed "treat others as you would want to be treated" like you're preaching, you wouldn't have flamed anybody in the first place and wouldn't still be making disrespectful comments like these. You're just a whiny little hypocrite, frustrated that you can't have what you want and nobody is interested in hearing your rants.

Ad hominem, needling. Refute what I said.

 

[edwardbirkholz05]

Hello there Pot, my name is Kettle.
Ray's reputation is already terrible and every time he opens his mouth it just gets worse, because he can't help making snide comments about others while trying to make himself look like a victim. If he really supported this project he would realize that and shut up, rather than ruin it by association.