Hacking Dolphin on the Wii?

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osirisenigma

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Since no one has figured out how to run game cube games off of a usb drive with conventional usb loaders, is it possible to run a Game Cube emulator like Dolphin on the Wii? i dont know Wii code or anything. I know C++, Java and Visual Basics. I am not sure if this helps. If some one could point me in the right direction to code dolphin for the Wii i could take a crack at it.
 

JoostinOnline

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I know (it was a joke), but the concept still applies. Dolphin only lets you play games off a HDD because it isn't connected by "virtual" USB ports.

My point is, there is nothing special about Dolphin running GC games. Even if you got it running on the Wii, you still couldn't play games from a HDD.
 

person66

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Even if you could get it to work, it would be completely unplayable, because the wii doesn't have enough power to emulate the GameCube. It struggles with just the N64, could you imagine the framerate for the gamecube?
 

JoostinOnline

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person66 said:
Even if you could get it to work, it would be completely unplayable, because the wii doesn't have enough power to emulate the GameCube. It struggles with just the N64, could you imagine the framerate for the gamecube?
I remember a newbie on wiihacks asking if you could emulate PS3 games on the Wii, lol.
 
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Coto

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I believe dolphin is developed/optimized to X86/X64 CPUs which include specific instructions set, S.O, etc.

Also, GC mode on wii uses some sort of "virtualization" technology, much like the PSP uses POPS for PS1 games.

So a port of dolphin to run on wii.. seems pointless. To me at least
 

TheZoc

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The whole point of emulation is to "pretend" the code being read is ran on the actual hardware, converting from the "power pc machine code" (GC and Wii processors), to X86/X64 instruction set. This process is very intensive (that's why you need a very good computer, a lot faster than the actual video game hardware, to run an emulated game).

Trying to make the Wii do that isn't possible. Ignoring the fact that, that would be redundant, like some people said, you would need a lot "stronger" hardware to do that.

You will have a better chance to try to further develop DIOS-MIOS than trying to port Dolphin over Wii. If you ever managed to make Dolphin work, it would be VERY slow. ;/

If you want further reading:
#1
#2
#3
 

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TheZoc said:
The whole point of emulation is to "pretend" the code being read is ran on the actual hardware, converting from the "power pc machine code" (GC and Wii processors), to X86/X64 instruction set. This process is very intensive (that's why you need a very good computer, a lot faster than the actual video game hardware, to run an emulated game).

Trying to make the Wii do that isn't possible. Ignoring the fact that, that would be redundant, like some people said, you would need a lot "stronger" hardware to do that.

You will have a better chance to try to further develop DIOS-MIOS than trying to port Dolphin over Wii. If you ever managed to make Dolphin work, it would be VERY slow. ;/

If you want further reading:
#1
#2
#3
It still couldn't run GC games from a HDD. In Dolphin, the virtual USB ports are still shut off in GC mode.
 

Wiimm

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JoostinOnline said:
It still couldn't run GC games from a HDD. In Dolphin, the virtual USB ports are still shut off in GC mode.
That's a wrong view: The GC level needs no USB access, but the the emulator around. This are 2 different views of hardware.

It like a C64/N64/NES/... emulator: The emulated system does not known anything about hard discs, but game loading from hd is possible.
 

spinal_cord

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JoostinOnline said:
It still couldn't run GC games from a HDD. In Dolphin, the virtual USB ports are still shut off in GC mode.

Why would you run an iso through a virtual usb port on an emulator, that's insane. Using that logic, you wouldn't be able to use ANY emulator in conjunction with the USB storage because 'the original emulator didn't use USB ports'. Would a SNES emulator be unable to read a game from a USB drive just bacuse the SNES didn't have USB ports? Nope.
If you code an emulator, you can read from the virtual storage device (in this case a virtual CDROM drive) any way that you want. The original question is about running a GC emulator in Wii mode, not loading a game in GC mode.
 

Wiimm

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TheZoc said:
The whole point of emulation is to "pretend" the code being read is ran on the actual hardware, converting from the "power pc machine code" (GC and Wii processors), to X86/X64 instruction set. This process is very intensive (that's why you need a very good computer, a lot faster than the actual video game hardware, to run an emulated game).
There is no need to translate/interpret the power pc instructions into an other instruction set, because the wii can execute is natively. For the emulator only system calls (only = much work) and hardware access must be rewritten. This concept is different from dios mios and other wii usb loaders and needs a new development.

I don't know if it is possible, but the here written arguments against it (no usb, instruction emulation,...) are wrong.
 

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Wiimm said:
I don't know if it is possible, but the here written arguments against it (no usb, instruction emulation,...) are wrong.

Dolphin is a emu, mine was about the X86 source against the PPC inst set, but I get your point. But we would have to rewrite a new system menu for it.
ohnoes.png


or, it would turn into a dolphin iso loader lol
 

osirisenigma

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ok so i read that game cube loading off the sd card is possible and with the sdhc update you could fit a few games on it. i will read more into this and try it. I would like to figure out some other way of loading gamecube games without using the disk drive. It would be alot more convenient. Some sort of virtual mounting might be useful but then again the usb ports are turned of in gc mode. TheZoc could be on to something with a cios/mios the allows for usb support in gc mode. i dont know if that is even possible but anything is possible.
 

Hielkenator

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Coto said:
Wiimm said:
I don't know if it is possible, but the here written arguments against it (no usb, instruction emulation,...) are wrong.

Dolphin is a emu, mine was about the X86 source against the PPC inst set, but I get your point. But we would have to rewrite a new system menu for it.
ohnoes.png


or, it would turn into a dolphin iso loader lol

Connect PC to TV > Boot GC game with Dolphin.
No need for emulating a GC on your wii just for usb loading...
 

Lucif3r

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Hielkenator said:
Connect PC to TV > Boot GC game with Dolphin.
No need for emulating a GC on your wii just for usb loading...

Well, how about the controller? Yes, there are adapters to be bought (erm, i think?) to connect GC pads to USB.
But if you already have a Wii with real GC ports, its not very appealing to spend extra $$ on an adapter...

Also, a Wii is "a bit" more mobile than a PC
biggrin.gif
 
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