Hacking Configurable USB Loader

[jlg6184]

Just a question, what actually is required for improved stability/compatibility? I only ask because I notice that it is beginning to vary in releases. I haven't tested all my games I have on my USB drive, but I notice that some of them played in the first version I used (.34 release) don't seem to work that well now, and games that froze alot during the .34 release work great on the new release candidate. Examples: Smarty Pants ( I know, my fiance plays it though...) worked relatively well on the .34 release (froze about every 45minutes to 1 hour) now barely plays for more than 5 minutes. Whereas I couldn't get through 3 holes on Tiger Woods 2010 previously, I can now on the .35rc can play multiple courses without any error at all (thank you for that added stability!) It isn't a huge deal to me to have to play off the discs, as I only back them up on the HD out of convenience anyway, but I was just curious what could be done to help make strides in stability. Would feed back on what worked/doesn't work help, or is it better to just let you guys do the great work you are doing and leave you alone while you do it?

Either way, Thank you for the loader as it is. And great work so far!

 

[Jodiskett]

USBLoaderCFG_Forwarder-UCXF.wad
ÂÂ
ÂÂ- ID: UCXF
ÂÂ- Region Free 
ÂÂ- Trying to load CFG USB Loader from different paths, the load order is:
ÂÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂÂ1. sd:/apps/usbloader_cfg/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ2. sd:/apps/usbloader/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ3. usb:/apps/usbloader_cfg/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ4. usb:/apps/usbloader/boot.dol

Readme and forwarder dol for Preloader are included ...

Hi all

I tested this forwarder but do not work in my case.
I have installed cfg usbloader in apps\usbloader but in the start
it said don't find apps\usbloader_cfg\boot.dol and restart wii
It did not find (or check) my : apps\usbloader\boot.dol
i have a SD card...

Could you check that ?


@ogzee
How use the wiitdb.zip file ? or it is not implemented yet ?

 

[shgadlic]

the new forwarder works great.
and i think that you guys do a great work on USBLoaderCFG. i still can't figure out all the cool options yet but i will play with it a bit. i second the suggestion that an internal config editor inside the loader it will be most helpful, even a text based one.

 

[oggzee]

I downloaded v35rc. Everything is OK. Very very good job.

Just one suggestion. Your distribution (35rc) now has 13 files in the sd:/usb-loader/ folders. Some of them could conflict with others from different loaders if not renamed in config.txt. In any case everything seems confused if spread in the usb-loader folder used by others.
I simply suggest to consider the opportunity to create a folder for the specific file of Config Loader, for example "CFGloaderFiles" (I provided a similar suggestion to another loader too).
For example you may have:

[...]

The aims of the folder are: group togheter the config and auxiliary files of Config Loader, do not spread them and confuse them among other files of other loaders, allows in the future to simply add functionalities with no conflicts with other loaders, allow future online update of the auxiliary files.
Clearly, covers, titles.txt, ocarina codes, wiitdb.zip, are not specific files of Config Loader and hence can be shared with other loaders, for this reason they should not be placed in the "proprietary" folder "CFGloaderFiles" (again, this is an example name).

I know that it is possible to take everything is inside sd:/usb-loader/ and locate it is sd:/apps/usbloader_cfg/ . In any case, having a distribution with just 4 stuff in sd:/usb-loader/ ("titles.txt" and the folders "codes", "covers" and "CFGloaderFiles") is more clear and elegant in my opinion than the one provided so far (which is awesome, works extremely well and for this very reason deserves of any possible improvements)

Thanks again for your perfect job.

I see no reason to do that. As you already said, you can just move everything to the apps folder and remove usb-loader all together if it really bothers someone. And secondly, with which loader is there a conflict anyway? I don't think there is a single file that is also being used by another loader or is it? If you know of any conflicts, please let me know.

 

[oggzee]

Yes, i know, but i don't know how to do it one channel WAD. In one WAD, i can only inject one dol - forwarder DOL or usbloader DOL. To write "forwarder hybrids" you must implement the forwarder code in the loader, right?

I haven't looked at the forwarder source, but I gues it reads the boot.dol to a memory location and starts it from there?
To integrate a full boot.dol you can add the binary blob to a char[] variable and then you already have it in memory, just need to copy it to the correct location and it's done. You can use bin2c or just add it to stub.S as it's done in the loader for the graphics resources...

on the other hand, as zektor said, on the long run it doesn't seem all that usefull, as when you will want to make an update it will just have to load the boot.dol from sd/usb. The only good use for it would be if you want to remove the sd card and still be able to run it, even though it will be an older version... but by removing the sd card you loose access to all the resources and settings, so even that is kinda pointless...

So in the end I guess the way the forwarder is done now is just perfect.

 

[oggzee]

Just a question, what actually is required for improved stability/compatibility? I only ask because I notice that it is beginning to vary in releases. I haven't tested all my games I have on my USB drive, but I notice that some of them played in the first version I used (.34 release) don't seem to work that well now, and games that froze alot during the .34 release work great on the new release candidate. Examples: Smarty Pants ( I know, my fiance plays it though...) worked relatively well on the .34 release (froze about every 45minutes to 1 hour) now barely plays for more than 5 minutes. Whereas I couldn't get through 3 holes on Tiger Woods 2010 previously, I can now on the .35rc can play multiple courses without any error at all (thank you for that added stability!) It isn't a huge deal to me to have to play off the discs, as I only back them up on the HD out of convenience anyway, but I was just curious what could be done to help make strides in stability. Would feed back on what worked/doesn't work help, or is it better to just let you guys do the great work you are doing and leave you alone while you do it?
Either way, Thank you for the loader as it is. And great work so far!

Feedback is certainly required, we don't have all the games to test with and don't experience problems other do.
Now, can you tell me some more details, what cIOS rev do you have, have you tried different cios versions or types (249/222/223). Is the problem reproducible every time? How it works compared to the NeoGammaR6 loader? Is the hdd a problematic one that goes to suspend mode? Is the alt.dol method used in any of the problematic games? ...

 

[oggzee]

@ogzee
How use the wiitdb.zip file ? or it is not implemented yet ?

Not yet.

 

[Dr. Clipper]

Just a question, what actually is required for improved stability/compatibility? I only ask because I notice that it is beginning to vary in releases. I haven't tested all my games I have on my USB drive, but I notice that some of them played in the first version I used (.34 release) don't seem to work that well now, and games that froze alot during the .34 release work great on the new release candidate. Examples: Smarty Pants ( I know, my fiance plays it though...) worked relatively well on the .34 release (froze about every 45minutes to 1 hour) now barely plays for more than 5 minutes. Whereas I couldn't get through 3 holes on Tiger Woods 2010 previously, I can now on the .35rc can play multiple courses without any error at all (thank you for that added stability!) It isn't a huge deal to me to have to play off the discs, as I only back them up on the HD out of convenience anyway, but I was just curious what could be done to help make strides in stability. Would feed back on what worked/doesn't work help, or is it better to just let you guys do the great work you are doing and leave you alone while you do it?

Either way, Thank you for the loader as it is. And great work so far!

I've been using Configurable since April, and up until this recent problem, stability has always been perfect. There have been bugs and errors here and there with new features, but that's only to be expected. The bugs you experienced, introduced by the coverflow tweaks, are likely to be the only loader breaking bugs you'll ever see (well, maybe I should wait until we see full covers to say that

).

As for feedback, I know I'm neither oggzee nor usptactical, but they have both done an awesome job of finding and fixing almost every small niggle everyone here has had within very short time frames. If you experience a bug, definitely mention it, and it will likely be fixed quickly whereas it may go undetected otherwise.

 

[xzxero]

an idea:
since this displays your cios info and verison info when you press one twice [ i think?]
cant you have that information created in a txt file so that people with problems and just simply explain their problem and copy and paste their info?

 

[Narolez]

I haven't looked at the forwarder source, but I gues it reads the boot.dol to a memory location and starts it from there?
To integrate a full boot.dol you can add the binary blob to a char[] variable and then you already have it in memory, just need to copy it to the correct location and it's done. You can use bin2c or just add it to stub.S as it's done in the loader for the graphics resources...

on the other hand, as zektor said, on the long run it doesn't seem all that usefull, as when you will want to make an update it will just have to load the boot.dol from sd/usb. The only good use for it would be if you want to remove the sd card and still be able to run it, even though it will be an older version... but by removing the sd card you loose access to all the resources and settings, so even that is kinda pointless...

So in the end I guess the way the forwarder is done now is just perfect.

Yes oggzee, this is a solution, but i don't like the sound of this. It's not easy manageable in future releases - as zektor and you said.
For the moment the forwarder is done. Now we have a universal forwarder for sd/usb/preloader.

@Doc Clipper: Please mention the forwarder in your great installation guide, thanks!

 

[Narolez]

USBLoaderCFG_Forwarder-UCXF.wad
ÂÂ
ÂÂ- ID: UCXF
ÂÂ- Region Free 
ÂÂ- Trying to load CFG USB Loader from different paths, the load order is:
ÂÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂÂ1. sd:/apps/usbloader_cfg/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ2. sd:/apps/usbloader/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ3. usb:/apps/usbloader_cfg/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ4. usb:/apps/usbloader/boot.dol

Readme and forwarder dol for Preloader are included ...

Hi all

I tested this forwarder but do not work in my case.
I have installed cfg usbloader in apps\usbloader but in the start
it said don't find apps\usbloader_cfg\boot.dol and restart wii
It did not find (or check) my : apps\usbloader\boot.dol
i have a SD card...

Could you check that ?

please, could anyone test it? I could not test it because i am on work ... thanks!

 

[xzxero]

USBLoaderCFG_Forwarder-UCXF.wad
ÂÂ
ÂÂ- ID: UCXF
ÂÂ- Region Free 
ÂÂ- Trying to load CFG USB Loader from different paths, the load order is:
ÂÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂÂ1. sd:/apps/usbloader_cfg/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ2. sd:/apps/usbloader/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ3. usb:/apps/usbloader_cfg/boot.dol
ÂÂÂÂ4. usb:/apps/usbloader/boot.dol

Readme and forwarder dol for Preloader are included ...

Hi all

I tested this forwarder but do not work in my case.
I have installed cfg usbloader in apps\usbloader but in the start
it said don't find apps\usbloader_cfg\boot.dol and restart wii
It did not find (or check) my : apps\usbloader\boot.dol
i have a SD card...

Could you check that ?

please, could anyone test it? I could not test it because i am on work ... thanks!

changed my folder name from usbloader_cfg to usbloader.
worked fine.
am also using sd card.
make sure there is not an extra folder between apps folder and the boot.dol
used the autoboot preloader verison.

 

[invu]

Thanks guys for the fast answers regarding the alternative dol method!

Seems to be quite self-explaining, now that you told me...

But one more question: So far Sam & Max won't work, right? Is it possible, that this will be fixed in rev14 or must there be a change in the loader?

 

[mjfisher]

* Increase max favorites to 64

Thanks Ogzee - I only requested this yesterday!!! You're a legend!!!!

 

[oggzee]

I received some reports that Force PAL50/60/NTSC modes don't work correctly...
I have made some changes to the Force video modes, can those that use force video modes test this:

cfg 35t2 (test2)

http://sharebee.com/6caadb86

* Changes to Force video modes
(based on 35rc)

And let me know, if compared to 35rc the force video modes are either better or worse, or same as before.
If you don't use force video modes then ignore this.

 

[Narolez]

@xzxero: many thanks for testing the forwarder!

 

[PNo4]

Got a crash when doing download-test from loader (using 35rc).

Checked to see if there was any updates, 5 found, scrolled though them a bit, chose B to go back without download.

Crash!!!!


Stack Dump:

80c099d4 --> 80c09a34 --> 80c27e0c --> 80c2bf88 -->
80c2cddc --> 80c2dd70 --> 80c30a84 --> 80c33990 -->
80c003a4

 

[Nipi]

Sorry for this somewhat off-topic and noobish question, but I can't find the answer anywhere:
What is the difference between a forwarder and a channel?

Thanks in advance for an answer and many thanks to all the great coders and programmers working on this great USB Loader!

 

[usptactical]

I've been using Configurable since April, and up until this recent problem, stability has always been perfect. There have been bugs and errors here and there with new features, but that's only to be expected. The bugs you experienced, introduced by the coverflow tweaks, are likely to be the only loader breaking bugs you'll ever see (well, maybe I should wait until we see full covers to say that

).

As for feedback, I know I'm neither oggzee nor usptactical, but they have both done an awesome job of finding and fixing almost every small niggle everyone here has had within very short time frames. If you experience a bug, definitely mention it, and it will likely be fixed quickly whereas it may go undetected otherwise.

OK, now NO FULL COVERS!! j/k

The coverflow code merge was a huge undertaking - although it went way faster than I expected (5 days between alpha3 and rc!). Because of that, ogg went to an alpha/beta/rc release cycle for this version to help shake out the anticipated bugs. Testing ANY code rates as a "fork-in-the-eye" on the coding excitement meter, so we test as best we can and release to the bleeding-edge peeps out there to help test (thanks guys!). So judging stability is only fair for "official" final releases.

And that's why oggzee has always gone with smaller short releases because it's easier to find and fix bugs. Unfortunately that couldn't really be done in this case. Were full covers already supported prior to the merge? Yes. Can I position the covers and camera wherever I want VERY easily through config params? Yes. So you'll see that stuff....eventually.

But to the original question as to why stability of games has changed over "official" releases? I'm not quite sure about that, as I've noticed the same thing - and I'm talking about all the loaders in general. A lot of the core loading code has changed in a short period of time and people are learning how all this works through trial and error (there's no manual) and all the hooks and hacks probably don't help with stability either - but some do.

And BTW, thanks to all the hard-core USB-cfg users out there for your testing and helping out the new folks get set up! We surely appreciate it.

 

[User423]

Forwarder Channel: Loads boot.dol from SD
(Full) Channel: boot.dol is inside the channel, SD not needed.

/edit

OK, now NO FULL COVERS!! j/k

...Google says: j/k means just kidding /joking...puh...