Hacking Configurable USB Loader

[usptactical]

This is awesome! I've always hoped a more common file system could be used to store the games, so the same drive can be used for multiple purposes! Congratulations on finally breaking the limitations of the WBFS file system.

I have a question: Is there a way to choose what cIOS to use for each session, before you have to choose your device? Or is setting a default cIOS in the config.txt the only way?

Check the front page. Narolez's forwarder allows you to select your cIOS. Just be aware that you MUST use hermes cIOS for games on FAT32.

 

[zektor]

The WBFS container is a true stroke of genius! You guys really never cease to amaze me.

I have already started the extremely long (for me..hehehe) conversion, so yes, the tool is incredibly useful

It will continue to maintain its usefulness on new downloaded scene isos.

This is a BIG development for sure. Finally I can escape my WBFS partition limitation

After the conversion is complete, I say *goodbye* to the wbfs file system forever.

For those looking for a way to format your larger hard drives to FAT32 to utilize all of this (because you cannot format larger drives to FAT32 in Windows natively), look into Swiss Knife...a free app that will do the job quite well for you:

http://www.compuapps.com/download/swissknife/Swissknife.htm


Also, I have been thinking....

With this new development, I would now consider Waninkoko's cIOS to be the inferior custom IOS at this point....with Hermes cIOS actually being ABLE to read/utilize FAT32 for image playback. Would the consideration now be made to make this cIOS the default for CFG, and IOS249 the adjustable cIOS in the config.txt? It only makes sense, as I can see many people converting as soon as they see the true benefit of a standard file system in use. Just my personal opinion of course....

Also, some thoughts on the .wbfs converted titles:

I think it works just fine and dandy, but the only (very minor) issue I can see is that the outputted files are named in the title ID convention. Makes it kind of difficult to discover what is what exactly on the HD

Perhaps someone can write a small win32 file explorer with basic copy/delete options that can convert the title ID to game title in a browser for the ease of distinguishing exactly what we have

Just another thought for down the road. Heck, maybe even an Altap Salamander or Total Commander plugin that'll perform the task. Been some time since I have looked into plugins for these explorers....maybe I'll take a look down the road.



All in all, again, what a fantastic job. Best news since usb backup loading in general in my honest opinion.

 

[boondoklife]

Hmm personally I would have liked ext3 instead, but hey beggars can't be choosy.

Nice work really though, my favourite loader by far.

 

[pepxl]

And here's a little tool that does .iso to .wbfs file conversion:

http://sharebee.com/4054de10
(wbfs_file_0.9.zip)

Note: install from dvd to a fat32 partition from inside the loader works as well, but this might be handy.

Spoiler

wbfs_file.exe v0.9 by oggzee
============================

Based on wbfs by kwiirk and wbfs_win by hermes

New functionality:
------------------

* Conversion from .iso files to .wbfs files and vice versa.

* Handling of split .wbfs files, so that they can fit on a FAT filesystem.
by default the split is done at 2GB - 1 sector (512 bytes)

* Extraction of .wbfs files directly from a wbfs partition and back


Usage help text as printed by wbfs_file -h :

CODEwbfs_file.exe v0.9 by oggzee, based on wbfs by kwiirk

Usage: wbfs_file.exe [OPTIONS] [COMMAND [ARGS]]:

ÂÂGiven just a filename it will convert from iso to wbfs or vice versa:

ÂÂÂÂwbfs_file.exe filename.iso
ÂÂÂÂWill convert filename.iso to GAMEID.wbfs

ÂÂÂÂwbfs_file.exe filename.wbfs
ÂÂÂÂWill convert filename.wbfs to GAMEID_TITLE.iso

ÂÂCOMMANDS:
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ create
ÂÂÂÂÂÂls
ÂÂÂÂÂÂdf
ÂÂÂÂÂÂinit
ÂÂÂÂÂÂaddiso
ÂÂÂÂÂÂaddwbfs
ÂÂÂÂÂÂrm
ÂÂÂÂÂÂextractiso
ÂÂÂÂÂÂextractwbfs
ÂÂÂÂÂÂextractwbfsall
ÂÂÂÂÂÂlsfile
ÂÂÂÂÂÂextractfile

ÂÂOPTIONS:
ÂÂÂÂ-s SIZEÂÂ:ÂÂSet split size [2147483136] (4194303 sectors)
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂMust be a multiple of 512 (sector size)
ÂÂÂÂ-hÂÂÂÂÂÂ :ÂÂHelp

im not the best in the world with DOS, any chance of a GUI version or a WBFS Man that can extract to .WBFS

 

[zektor]

im no the best in the world with DOS, any change of a GUI version or a WBFS Man that can extract to .WBF

It is extremely simple. What are you trying to do? Simply get your wbfs games off and onto another drive in the new .wbfs format? My wbfs drive (when connected) is drive H, and the drive I wanted to get the images converted to is drive I:. I created a folder on my I: drive called "backups" and ran the program as follows:

wbfs_file h: extractwbfsall i:\backups

this command told the app that my drive is H:, and I wanted to extract all of my games to the I: drive in the folder "backups". Just an example, but it is really quite simple and straightforward.

 

[pepxl]

im no the best in the world with DOS, any change of a GUI version or a WBFS Man that can extract to .WBF

It is extremely simple. What are you trying to do? Simply get your wbfs games off and onto another drive in the new .wbfs format? My wbfs drive (when connected) is drive H, and the drive I wanted to get the images converted to is drive I:. I created a folder on my I: drive called "backups" and ran the program as follows:

wbfs_file h: extractwbfsall i:\backups

this command told the app that my drive is H:, and I wanted to extract all of my games to the I: drive in the folder "backups". Just an example, but it is really quite simple and straightforward.

yes its quite straight forward for a whole drive but i dont want the full drive only a select few, 15-20 to test before i dump 600GB of data to my pc, looks like ill be typing them in 1 by 1 lol

EDIT

this Manager can extract to .WBFS but my pc doesnt want to run it properly any more
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=148...t&p=2155157

 

[mgrimmenator]

So swiss knife app will allow my to partition my 1tb drive entirely to fat32? Currently I have a 4gib fat32 partition and the rest of the 1tb is wbfs. I run all my homebrew from fat32 and put all iso's on the other. If I can't partition the entire tb to fat32 this won't help much.

Never mind, after looking apparently swiss army knife will convert up to 2048gig of fat 32 so it should work.

 

[zektor]

So swiss knife app will allow my to partition my 1tb drive entirely to fat32? Currently I have a 4gib fat32 partition and the rest of the 1tb is wbfs. I run all my homebrew from fat32 and put all iso's on the other. If I can't partition the entire tb to fat32 this won't help much.

Never mind, after looking apparently swiss army knife will convert up to 2048gig of fat 32 so it should work.


Yep, it works fine. I used it previously on a 1TB drive for use with the PS3....since the PS3 can only read FAT32 devices (last I checked). Great free application, and precisely what I used to get my Wii 1TB drive to FAT32

Posts merged

QUOTE(pepxl @ Oct 25 2009, 01:38 AM) yes its quite straight forward for a whole drive but i dont want the full drive only a select few, 15-20 to test before i dump 600GB of data to my pc, looks like ill be typing them in 1 by 1 lol

Solid point. I am sure something will become available when the format becomes more popular/widely used....which I can bet will not be too long

 

[quepaso]

I am doing the extrawbfsall command now. I only had 48 wii games installed after i deleted all the crap on the drive (like tmnt, excess rock band/guitar hero stuff). Im excited to try it out. Does it matter what the filenames are named btw? I doubt it would matter but thought i'd ask anyway, i plan on renaming them (in proper sequence of course) when its all finished.

 

[mgrimmenator]

just fyi. I convert one title to see how it goes.

converted 1.62gig file in 46sec

new file on disc is 1.59gig

looks like this may even save a little more space. Great job.


Although riddle me this. What is your goal or future outlook for this project? Just wondering why the change to fat32. Must be something else you guys are gearing towards to put this much effort into this.

 

[zektor]

Although riddle me this. What is your goal or future outlook for this project? Just wondering why the change to fat32. Must be something else you guys are gearing towards to put this much effort into this.

Although I am not one of the authors, I would make an educated guess that the change/addition of FAT32 was incorporated simply because it is something *many* of us wanted quite badly. Not to be constrained to special managers and a proprietary file system is a DAMN good thing. I like having more control over my files in the FS, and converting to a standardized format is definitely the way to go. Not only that, but I can use the same drive for other things...something I could only previously do with some oddball hybrid partitioning. As you can tell, I am not at all heartsick to see WBFS move out on my drive

As for the future....who knows what they have up their sleeve. I am truly floored at this advancement, that is for sure!

 

[mgrimmenator]

Although riddle me this. What is your goal or future outlook for this project? Just wondering why the change to fat32. Must be something else you guys are gearing towards to put this much effort into this.

Although I am not one of the authors, I would make an educated guess that the change/addition of FAT32 was incorporated simply because it is something *many* of us wanted quite badly. Not to be constrained to special managers and a proprietary file system is a DAMN good thing. I like having more control over my files in the FS, and converting to a standardized format is definitely the way to go. Not only that, but I can use the same drive for other things...something I could only previously do with some oddball hybrid partitioning. As you can tell, I am not at all heartsick to see WBFS move out on my drive

As for the future....who knows what they have up their sleeve. I am truly floored at this advancement, that is for sure!

have you tested any games yet? just wondering if you even notice the 2-3sec extra load time or not. I'm still leary on jumping all in and if something isn't just right I won't even be able to go to another loader with out converting files back.

 

[mgrimmenator]

Although riddle me this. What is your goal or future outlook for this project? Just wondering why the change to fat32. Must be something else you guys are gearing towards to put this much effort into this.

Although I am not one of the authors, I would make an educated guess that the change/addition of FAT32 was incorporated simply because it is something *many* of us wanted quite badly. Not to be constrained to special managers and a proprietary file system is a DAMN good thing. I like having more control over my files in the FS, and converting to a standardized format is definitely the way to go. Not only that, but I can use the same drive for other things...something I could only previously do with some oddball hybrid partitioning. As you can tell, I am not at all heartsick to see WBFS move out on my drive

As for the future....who knows what they have up their sleeve. I am truly floored at this advancement, that is for sure!

have you tested any games yet? just wondering if you even notice the 2-3sec extra load time or not. I'm still leary on jumping all in and if something isn't just right I won't even be able to go to another loader with out converting files back.

Not knocking this loader at all seeings how people are consistently working on it and of course new ideas and functionality are being added, but I prefer the gui on wiiflow of this. Where wiiflow appears nicer to me, I still think this loader is faster, more stable and functionally better. I just wish the gui had more effects like wiiflow.

 

[mgrimmenator]

Just wondering if anything else new in this version besides the fat32 stuff? Not saying that isn't enough just wondering. Also when you plan on the full v46 release?

 

[zektor]

Although riddle me this. What is your goal or future outlook for this project? Just wondering why the change to fat32. Must be something else you guys are gearing towards to put this much effort into this.

Although I am not one of the authors, I would make an educated guess that the change/addition of FAT32 was incorporated simply because it is something *many* of us wanted quite badly. Not to be constrained to special managers and a proprietary file system is a DAMN good thing. I like having more control over my files in the FS, and converting to a standardized format is definitely the way to go. Not only that, but I can use the same drive for other things...something I could only previously do with some oddball hybrid partitioning. As you can tell, I am not at all heartsick to see WBFS move out on my drive

As for the future....who knows what they have up their sleeve. I am truly floored at this advancement, that is for sure!

have you tested any games yet? just wondering if you even notice the 2-3sec extra load time or not. I'm still leary on jumping all in and if something isn't just right I won't even be able to go to another loader with out converting files back.

I have tested a few games and it seems the same to me. Of course I would require a good solid day or two (or week considering exactly how many titles I have) to really make a conclusion on compatibility. But I am personally not worried. If there are any snags, I am certain oggzee will be looking into it as he usually does. I have put my trust and faith into CFG from the start, and I have never been done wrong so to speak

Still, I would recommend for you to simply convert a few titles and give it a go first. Decide for yourself if you want to jump to a new format and remove yourself from other loaders. I would imagine tho that this information will be shared with other loader devs and most loaders will support FAT32 for game loading in the very near future. But for now, yes, you would be restricted to using CFG...which by the way is not at all a bad thing

You'll be using the most stable and feature filled loader available

 

[mgrimmenator]

Although riddle me this. What is your goal or future outlook for this project? Just wondering why the change to fat32. Must be something else you guys are gearing towards to put this much effort into this.

Although I am not one of the authors, I would make an educated guess that the change/addition of FAT32 was incorporated simply because it is something *many* of us wanted quite badly. Not to be constrained to special managers and a proprietary file system is a DAMN good thing. I like having more control over my files in the FS, and converting to a standardized format is definitely the way to go. Not only that, but I can use the same drive for other things...something I could only previously do with some oddball hybrid partitioning. As you can tell, I am not at all heartsick to see WBFS move out on my drive

As for the future....who knows what they have up their sleeve. I am truly floored at this advancement, that is for sure!

have you tested any games yet? just wondering if you even notice the 2-3sec extra load time or not. I'm still leary on jumping all in and if something isn't just right I won't even be able to go to another loader with out converting files back.

I have tested a few games and it seems the same to me. Of course I would require a good solid day or two (or week considering exactly how many titles I have) to really make a conclusion on compatibility. But I am personally not worried. If there are any snags, I am certain oggzee will be looking into it as he usually does. I have put my trust and faith into CFG from the start, and I have never been done wrong so to speak

Still, I would recommend for you to simply convert a few titles and give it a go first. Decide for yourself if you want to jump to a new format and remove yourself from other loaders. I would imagine tho that this information will be shared with other loader devs and most loaders will support FAT32 for game loading in the very near future. But for now, yes, you would be restricted to using CFG...which by the way is not at all a bad thing

You'll be using the most stable and feature filled loader available

Except for one small item that I'm hoping they add soon, which is the dvd mounting and cMIOS stuff that got added to usbloadergx. This made it possible to run COD3, Splinter Cell and GC games on disc right from the loader without having to go to system menu. I say small only since the code is open and I know that these guys could add it in when they get ready. They truly are awesome.

 

[mgrimmenator]

My biggest concern with all of the latest advances is preloader. Newest v.30 does not allow usbdevice file loading and I'm about to go back to v.29. I don't even use an sd card. Heck why would I with a huge usbdevice. And now that this new feature is here I definitely won't be needing an sd card. I know that the coder took it out to give full sdhc support and is working on a r5 version that will fix this. I just hope it will be released soon.

Does anybody recommend startpatch over preloader? I've only used preloder and just wondering.

 

[leic7]

I couldn't get the loader to start.

I used the same USB thumb drive that I'd used for TriiForce's USB-NAND, the drive is formatted to FAT32.
I've put 1 game in the usb:\wbfs directory, so that the game has the address "usb:\wbfs\RF4P6M.wbfs"

I started up v46a from HBC, passed the welcome screen, pressed A at device selection for USB, and it didn't recognize the FAT32 partition? It said something like it's not a WBFS partition, and asked me to format my drive. What did I do wrong?

I have "ios = 222-mload" in the config, and it also showed IOS222 v4 on the screen.

After trying v46a without success, I tried WiiXplorer and TriiForce, and both of them could recognize the content on the USB drive fine.

Do I have to use the same device to host the "apps" folder and the "usb-loader" folder, and the "wbfs" folder? Currently, only "wbfs" is on USB, everything else loader-related is on SD.

 

[Blue-K]

Oh, well, pretty neat surprise

. Good work, realy! I guess you used the FAT32-Filesystem because every system supports it native, and NTSC is a bit buggy, right?

Anyways, I guess I stay for some time on WBFS...I don't have time right now to play around a Backup my games, to put them again on a FAT32-Partition...and I haven't a problem with WBFS. But again: Good work

!

 

[quepaso]

I couldn't get the loader to start.

I used the same USB thumb drive that I'd used for TriiForce's USB-NAND, the drive is formatted to FAT32.
I've put 1 game in the usb:\wbfs directory, so that the game has the address "usb:\wbfs\RF4P6M.wbfs"

I started up v46a from HBC, passed the welcome screen, pressed A at device selection for USB, and it didn't recognize the FAT32 partition? It said something like it's not a WBFS partition, and asked me to format my drive. What did I do wrong?

I have "ios = 222-mload" in the config, and it also showed IOS222 v4 on the screen.

After trying v46a without success, I tried WiiXplorer and TriiForce, and both of them could recognize the content on the USB drive fine.

Do I have to use the same device to host the "apps" folder and the "usb-loader" folder, and the "wbfs" folder? Currently, only "wbfs" is on USB, everything else loader-related is on SD.

Having the same exact issue. Got everything copied over to the newly formatted USB drive, boot up 46a and it keeps asking for a WBFS partition.