Hacking Configurable USB Loader

[Tristar]

Oggzee

It would appear I have wasted some of your valuable time.

The USB drive I was using failed today and, with a new drive, both v48 and 48fat work perfectly.

It seems the failing drive was the cause of the freezes all along!

Thanks for looking into this for me and, once again, apologies for wasting your time

**EDIT

Well not entirely wasting your time - both versions work fine providing I do not have an SD card in the slot.

With an SD card - even an empty one, both versions freeze at the splash screen

Now that is a really weird problem.
Now i will have again to ask you for more details:
Does that mean that the USB drive was not faulty but the problem is related to SD card?
Does using v48b2 with the new usb drive and the SD card inside work fine?
Only v48 with an SD card freezes?
Can you re-format the SD card and retry?
Do you have all your configuration on usb?
Can you re-try the debug=1 and v48 with SD card inside?
I want to understand if this is the same or a different problem?
Because with the info you gave I don't know anymore if the problem lies in the loader or usb drive or sd card or your wii

The change between v48b2 and v48 was so small that i don't understand how could it cause any kind of crashing:
* External ehcmodule improvements (by WiiZ)
* Fixed titles.txt with custom game ids (proper ID6 lookup)
I mean, there is always a possibility that i broke something, but it looks unlikely...
Let me know, it would be good to get to the bottom of this.

The USB Drive was faulty, but that seems to have been a coincidence.

All configuration is on USB. I keep an SD card in at the moment because Triiforce seems much faster from SD.

I didn't realize it was anything to do with the SD card because it is always in. Just pure fluke that I took it out this evening.

Anyway, have tried with debug = 1

I get exactly the same output as with v48b2 or earlier except after telling me no music files are present versions prior to 48 load up the games whereas v48 / fat hangs. The home button does nothing but pressing reset still works

I have tried with 2 different brands of SD. 1 is 512MB the other 2GB same result.
With or without files - same result. Re-format quick and full - same results

With no SD card, all works fine.
With SD card and debug off - hangs at splash screen
With SD card and debug on - displays paths info - displays 'mounting usb device' - displays music info - then clears screen and hangs showing theme background but before loading games

 

[bnm81002]

"by fig2k4: Wii Backup Manager (not recommended until the bugs are fixed)"
quote from first post

Indeed, but it looks like version 0.3.* fixed all the data corruption issues of the previous versions, but i take it fig2k4 is not confident for a release yet since he hasn't updated his first post with a 0.3 release, but i expect that to be any day now and when he does, i will remove the not recommended note.
Until then i think the simple wbfs manager gui based on wbfs_file is probably a more stable alternative.

edit: ah redia beat me in posting

which one doesn't have to use any commands for it to work? I just want a simple way to just transfer from WBFS to my FAT drive without having to use commands in order to process it? thanks

 

[pepxl]

can you make one for USB instead of fat loading for the 2nd forwarder channel? I haven't converted my drive to FAT yet because I'm in the process of buying another drive? thanks

FAT= USB and SD according to the source

so it should look on the SD if nothings in any set folder then it then looks on the USB

 

[VincetOmnia]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To pdawg17:
Yep, drive is plugged in the port closest to the edge. First thing I checked, as that useful piece of advice is also offered by the loader when the countdown ends.

To Dr. Clipper:
In Step 3 I used TBR 1.1 to patch IOS36, which I then used in Step 5 to install cIOS38 to IOS249. The drive is the same on both Wii's. On my Wii, it gets to the splash screen, sits there for about 2 seconds, then goes straight into the game menu. On my sister's Wii, it does the slow countdown and then says it cannot detect the drive. If I change ports on the Wii, it countsdown as normal and doesn't detect the drive. It almost seems like the drive isn't being given enough power by the Wii.

Thanks again for your help fellas.

 

[makiolo]

[...]
ERROR: reading 524288 [32768] from wbfs
Possibly corrupted. Use -g to copy only game partition
read error: No such file or directory

I have this problem when use:
wbfs_file /dev/sda1 add_wbfs RTYP01.wbfs

But if add "-f" it works. why ?

 

[giantpune]

because "-f" means "force" probably.

 

[oggzee]

[...]
ERROR: reading 524288 [32768] from wbfs
Possibly corrupted. Use -g to copy only game partition
read error: No such file or directory

I have this problem when use:
wbfs_file /dev/sda1 add_wbfs RTYP01.wbfs

But if add "-f" it works. why ?

I'm not completely sure, but it seems that some modchips might interfere with copying of the update partition but the partition table is not updated. How have you obtained the .wbfs file? Anyway if by specifying the -g option no error is reported then the game partition will be fine and you can expect no problems, just a missing update partition which you don't need anyway.

 

[r3lay]

wbfs_file Simple Gui 1.0.5

Convert .wbfs to ISO and vice versa also batch convert files
Extract file from WBFS partition
Extract banner from .wbfs file for use with crap




Download:
wbfs_file Simple GUI 1.0.6

 

[Sacohen9665]

"by fig2k4: Wii Backup Manager (not recommended until the bugs are fixed)"
quote from first post

Indeed, but it looks like version 0.3.* fixed all the data corruption issues of the previous versions, but i take it fig2k4 is not confident for a release yet since he hasn't updated his first post with a 0.3 release, but i expect that to be any day now and when he does, i will remove the not recommended note.
Until then i think the simple wbfs manager gui based on wbfs_file is probably a more stable alternative.

edit: ah redia beat me in posting

which one doesn't have to use any commands for it to work? I just want a simple way to just transfer from WBFS to my FAT drive without having to use commands in order to process it? thanks

Neither of then uses commands thats the point of a GUI.
I have not used wbfs_file Simple Gui 1.0.5 that much. but I like WBFS Backup Manager better.
Version 0.3 is a bit stripped down because figh2k4 wanted to make sure the essentials were working properly before adding bells and whistle, but the previous versions had a lot more usability and extras, like downloading covers and exporting a list of games that can be imported into Excel.

Hope this helps your decision.

 

[VincetOmnia]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To pdawg17:
Yep, drive is plugged in the port closest to the edge. First thing I checked, as that useful piece of advice is also offered by the loader when the countdown ends.

To Dr. Clipper:
In Step 3 I used TBR 1.1 to patch IOS36, which I then used in Step 5 to install cIOS38 to IOS249. The drive is the same on both Wii's. On my Wii, it gets to the splash screen, sits there for about 2 seconds, then goes straight into the game menu. On my sister's Wii, it does the slow countdown and then says it cannot detect the drive. If I change ports on the Wii, it countsdown as normal and doesn't detect the drive. It almost seems like the drive isn't being given enough power by the Wii.

Thanks again for your help fellas.

Sorry for quoting myself, it's for the benefit of anyone who may be able to help me, but missed my previous posts.

Had a thought; If I grab a different external HDD, a 3.5" one with it's own power source and use that, it might help me to determine whether its a drive or wii problem. Trouble is, I only have one other external drive and it has no WBFS partition, only FAT32, and I can't wipe it. Will the loader detect the drive, even if it has no FAT32 partition?

 

[stab244]

Is there any theme that looks like the GUI on USB Loader GX?

 

[Sacohen9665]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To pdawg17:
Yep, drive is plugged in the port closest to the edge. First thing I checked, as that useful piece of advice is also offered by the loader when the countdown ends.

To Dr. Clipper:
In Step 3 I used TBR 1.1 to patch IOS36, which I then used in Step 5 to install cIOS38 to IOS249. The drive is the same on both Wii's. On my Wii, it gets to the splash screen, sits there for about 2 seconds, then goes straight into the game menu. On my sister's Wii, it does the slow countdown and then says it cannot detect the drive. If I change ports on the Wii, it countsdown as normal and doesn't detect the drive. It almost seems like the drive isn't being given enough power by the Wii.

Thanks again for your help fellas.

Sorry for quoting myself, it's for the benefit of anyone who may be able to help me, but missed my previous posts.

Had a thought; If I grab a different external HDD, a 3.5" one with it's own power source and use that, it might help me to determine whether its a drive or wii problem. Trouble is, I only have one other external drive and it has no WBFS partition, only FAT32, and I can't wipe it. Will the loader detect the drive, even if it has no FAT32 partition?

I'm confused, at one point you say the say the drive has not WFBS partition on it, only FAT32 the right after that you say it has not FAT 32 partition.

Which one does it have.

The loader will see both, If I remember correctly it will see 9 FAT 32 partitions and 4 WBFS (or the other way around).

 

[Bloodlust]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To pdawg17:
Yep, drive is plugged in the port closest to the edge. First thing I checked, as that useful piece of advice is also offered by the loader when the countdown ends.

To Dr. Clipper:
In Step 3 I used TBR 1.1 to patch IOS36, which I then used in Step 5 to install cIOS38 to IOS249. The drive is the same on both Wii's. On my Wii, it gets to the splash screen, sits there for about 2 seconds, then goes straight into the game menu. On my sister's Wii, it does the slow countdown and then says it cannot detect the drive. If I change ports on the Wii, it countsdown as normal and doesn't detect the drive. It almost seems like the drive isn't being given enough power by the Wii.

Thanks again for your help fellas.

Sorry for quoting myself, it's for the benefit of anyone who may be able to help me, but missed my previous posts.

Had a thought; If I grab a different external HDD, a 3.5" one with it's own power source and use that, it might help me to determine whether its a drive or wii problem. Trouble is, I only have one other external drive and it has no WBFS partition, only FAT32, and I can't wipe it. Will the loader detect the drive, even if it has no FAT32 partition?

I'm confused, at one point you say the say the drive has not WFBS partition on it, only FAT32 the right after that you say it has not FAT 32 partition.

Which one does it have.

The loader will see both, If I remember correctly it will see 9 FAT 32 partitions and 4 WBFS (or the other way around).

So if I use the dol with FAT support, it will see the WBFS partitions as well?

 

[VincetOmnia]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To pdawg17:
Yep, drive is plugged in the port closest to the edge. First thing I checked, as that useful piece of advice is also offered by the loader when the countdown ends.

To Dr. Clipper:
In Step 3 I used TBR 1.1 to patch IOS36, which I then used in Step 5 to install cIOS38 to IOS249. The drive is the same on both Wii's. On my Wii, it gets to the splash screen, sits there for about 2 seconds, then goes straight into the game menu. On my sister's Wii, it does the slow countdown and then says it cannot detect the drive. If I change ports on the Wii, it countsdown as normal and doesn't detect the drive. It almost seems like the drive isn't being given enough power by the Wii.

Thanks again for your help fellas.

Sorry for quoting myself, it's for the benefit of anyone who may be able to help me, but missed my previous posts.

Had a thought; If I grab a different external HDD, a 3.5" one with it's own power source and use that, it might help me to determine whether its a drive or wii problem. Trouble is, I only have one other external drive and it has no WBFS partition, only FAT32, and I can't wipe it. Will the loader detect the drive, even if it has no FAT32 partition?

I'm confused, at one point you say the say the drive has not WFBS partition on it, only FAT32 the right after that you say it has not FAT 32 partition.

Which one does it have.

The loader will see both, If I remember correctly it will see 9 FAT 32 partitions and 4 WBFS (or the other way around).

Apologies for the confusion. Just noticed my typo in the previous post. I meant to say "even if it has no WBFS partition".

Just for clarification: I have a 2.5" HDD with just a WBFS partition, which is the drive I normally use (Drive A). This drive works fine on my Wii (Wii A) but not on my sisters Wii (Wii B). If I plug another 3.5" HDD that I have as a backup device for my PC (Drive B), which has just a FAT32 partition with a bunch of data not related to the Wii, will the loader detect it, just for troubleshooting purposes?

What I'm trying to ascertain, is whether the setup of Wii B just doesn't like Drive A. So, in theory, if I plug in Drive B and it works, then Drive A is incompatible with Wii B's setup, and I need to look at changing drives/cIOSes. Of course, if Drive B doesn't work as well, then I'll be totally stumped

I hope that makes more sense.

On another similar note, I thought harder about the differences between Wii A and Wii B. Wii A has cIOS38 rev10, while Wii B has cIOS rev15. Is it possible that Drive A is incompatible with rev15? Should I try an older cIOS38, like rev10?

 

[Sacohen9665]

Apologies for the confusion. Just noticed my typo in the previous post. I meant to say "even if it has no WBFS partition".

Just for clarification: I have a 2.5" HDD with just a WBFS partition, which is the drive I normally use (Drive A). This drive works fine on my Wii (Wii A) but not on my sisters Wii (Wii B). If I plug another 3.5" HDD that I have as a backup device for my PC (Drive B), which has just a FAT32 partition with a bunch of data not related to the Wii, will the loader detect it, just for troubleshooting purposes?

What I'm trying to ascertain, is whether the setup of Wii B just doesn't like Drive A. So, in theory, if I plug in Drive B and it works, then Drive A is incompatible with Wii B's setup, and I need to look at changing drives/cIOSes. Of course, if Drive B doesn't work as well, then I'll be totally stumped

Yes Drive B should be recognized by the loader even if it does not have Wii related material on it.

QUOTE(VincetOmnia @ Nov 29 2009, 11:37 PM) On another similar note, I thought harder about the differences between Wii A and Wii B. Wii A has cIOS38 rev10, while Wii B has cIOS rev15. Is it possible that Drive A is incompatible with rev15? Should I try an older cIOS38, like rev10?

I don't think so, Drive A, the WBFS drive should be recognized by both of them, is Hermes cIOS 222 on both Wii's?
If anything cIOS Rev 15 is more compatible then older versions.

 

[VincetOmnia]

Apologies for the confusion. Just noticed my typo in the previous post. I meant to say "even if it has no WBFS partition".

Just for clarification: I have a 2.5" HDD with just a WBFS partition, which is the drive I normally use (Drive A). This drive works fine on my Wii (Wii A) but not on my sisters Wii (Wii B). If I plug another 3.5" HDD that I have as a backup device for my PC (Drive B), which has just a FAT32 partition with a bunch of data not related to the Wii, will the loader detect it, just for troubleshooting purposes?

What I'm trying to ascertain, is whether the setup of Wii B just doesn't like Drive A. So, in theory, if I plug in Drive B and it works, then Drive A is incompatible with Wii B's setup, and I need to look at changing drives/cIOSes. Of course, if Drive B doesn't work as well, then I'll be totally stumped

Yes Drive B should be recognized by the loader even if it does not have Wii related material on it.

QUOTE(VincetOmnia @ Nov 29 2009, 11:37 PM) On another similar note, I thought harder about the differences between Wii A and Wii B. Wii A has cIOS38 rev10, while Wii B has cIOS rev15. Is it possible that Drive A is incompatible with rev15? Should I try an older cIOS38, like rev10?

I don't think so, Drive A, the WBFS drive should be recognized by both of them, is Hermes cIOS 222 on both Wii's?
If anything cIOS Rev 15 is more compatible then older versions.

Well, I will definately try Drive B and see what happens.

If memory serves, cIOS 222 is not on Wii A. But that being said I did mod it quite some time ago and my memory may be faulty. Is there any way of checking Wii A to determine what has been changed? Like an IOS checker or some such.

Is there anything else I can do or check to find out why this drive won't detect?

 

[Dr. Clipper]

Is there anything else I can do or check to find out why this drive won't detect?
You could add "debug=1" to config.txt, it might just print out something useful.


As for your earlier question about which versions of Cfg support which formatting types, both 48.dol and 48-fat.dol will work with both drive types. The differences are that they use different default options. From my FAQ:

CODEWhat is the difference between the fat (e.g., v48-fat.dol) and the non-fat (e.g. v48.dol) versions?
ÂÂÂÂ* The differences in the fat version .dols optimise operation of the loader for games on a FAT partition. Specifically:
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo The ios option has a default of 222-mload instead of 249. This is because you can't use 249 to launch games from FAT.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo The partition option has a default of FAT1 instead of WBFS1. Thus the first FAT partition is loaded rather than the first WBFS.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo The hide_hddinfo option has a default of 1 instead of 0. Calculation of free disc space on FAT drives takes a long time. Disabling the hddinfo in the menu ensures the free disc space does not need to be calculated, saving you time when entering the menu.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo Several optimisations that assume the above options will be default are made in the startup sequence of the loader. In any case, it is acceptable to change the options away from their defaults in config.txt and theme.txt as necessary.

Thus, you should be able to use either version with either drive, although if you don't change config.txt or settings.cfg, each will ask you to select a partition as the default partition will not be found.

 

[VincetOmnia]

Is there anything else I can do or check to find out why this drive won't detect?
You could add "debug=1" to config.txt, it might just print out something useful.


As for your earlier question about which versions of Cfg support which formatting types, both 48.dol and 48-fat.dol will work with both drive types. The differences are that they use different default options. From my FAQ:

CODEWhat is the difference between the fat (e.g., v48-fat.dol) and the non-fat (e.g. v48.dol) versions?
ÂÂÂÂ* The differences in the fat version .dols optimise operation of the loader for games on a FAT partition. Specifically:
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo The ios option has a default of 222-mload instead of 249. This is because you can't use 249 to launch games from FAT.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo The partition option has a default of FAT1 instead of WBFS1. Thus the first FAT partition is loaded rather than the first WBFS.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo The hide_hddinfo option has a default of 1 instead of 0. Calculation of free disc space on FAT drives takes a long time. Disabling the hddinfo in the menu ensures the free disc space does not need to be calculated, saving you time when entering the menu.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂo Several optimisations that assume the above options will be default are made in the startup sequence of the loader. In any case, it is acceptable to change the options away from their defaults in config.txt and theme.txt as necessary.

Thus, you should be able to use either version with either drive, although if you don't change config.txt or settings.cfg, each will ask you to select a partition as the default partition will not be found.

I'll try Drive B for troubleshooting and debug on both drives, and report back my findings.

I'm fairly certain I'm using the v48.dol version. I don't believe that is making much difference to my particular problem, which is the Wii not detecting the drive at all (or am I mistaken?), but it's good to know that I can test another drive with just a FAT32 partition.

 

[Dr. Clipper]

I'm fairly certain I'm using the v48.dol version. I don't believe that is making much difference to my particular problem, which is the Wii not detecting the drive at all (or am I mistaken?), but it's good to know that I can test another drive with just a FAT32 partition.

IOS222 does seem to have better drive compatibility than IOS249, so it may work better (although you'll get a similar effect by adding "ios=222-mload" to config.txt).

 

[white wolf]

Hey folks i haope someone can help me with this
Hers what happned

I downloaded the new super mario game and it worked fine(btw great game) then i downloaded wii fit pluss and put it on my flashdrive and put it in my wii. turned the wii on and went into the homebrew channel. When i got in the wii remote curser(the lil blue hand) dosent show up at all. I tried re-starting..nothing. no matter how much i move the wiimote around i cant see the curser. what can i do to fix this? Oh and also i tried taking out the flash drive and sd card which has most of the homebrew stuff on it and still when i went into the hb channel nothing. I did notice that one of the bottom icons in the homebrew channel was flashing(the one on the right side) Please help me someone