Hacking Guide to Fixing Xenoblade Chronicles Cutscene Freezing!

[vanillakokakola]

I originally had Xenoblade Chronicles on my WBFS formatted hard drive as a WBFS file. Towards the end of the game, I got a freeze at the same point, every time, during the same cutscene. At first I suspected it could have been a bad dump, so I redownloaded another release, but still got the same freeze. The other advice I kept getting was either a) to make sure all my IOSes, etc. were up to date and b) to reformat my HDD to NTFS in order to use the ISO format and not the WBFS format.

I was leery of re-hacking my Wii because the first time I hacked it was a really long time ago (to the point where I had no clue that the ModMIi tool existed). I tried just the HDD reformat initially, but couldn't figure out how to properly name the folders for an NTFS format because all the tutorials I saw on NTFS filenames were vague. In the end, I ended up both re-hacking my Wii and reformatting my HDD, and I put together a quick, super basic guide on how to do so in case there are other people who were having the same problems with reformatting and/or rehacking.

I would like to add that this was much easier than I thought it would be thanks to the ModMii tool! So a huge thank you to the people who developed that.



1) Copy all games you want to keep from your external hard drive to your PC

2) Use the ModMii tool (google it) to re-hack your Wii. I was really nervous about re-hacking because I thought it would be time-consuming and easier to cause a brick, but ModMii makes everything SO easy. Doing a complete re-hack took me 20 minutes, MAYBE a half-hour.
2a) Install a new USB Loader if necessary. I was using USB Loader GX, but since it seems like that's outdated, I used ModMii to install both CFG USB Loader and WiiFlow. Xenoblade works great on either, I just wanted to try both out.

3) Reformat HDD to NTFS using your method of choice

4) Use Wii File Manager or, again, your method of choice to transfer all OTHER games back to the HDD

5) Make a folder in the "wbfs" folder that should be on your HDD (if you transferred all your other games back first, otherwise, make a "wbfs" folder in the root of your hard drive) titled "Xenoblade Chronicles [SX4P01]" (so, the name of the game and then, in brackets, the Game ID number, which you can find easily on Google)

6) Then, copy your Xenoblade ISO over to that folder, retitle it "SX4P01" (or "SX4P01.iso" depending on how your OS displays filenames) and you're good to go!

 

[emigre]

When was Xenoblade ported to the DS?

 

[vanillakokakola]

Haha, oops. I'll repost this in the Wii forum. Mods, please delete.

 

[sweenish]

not going to lie, i don't know how this happens as often as it does.

and as to the guide itself, no point. updating your mods and apps should be a no-brainer first attempt. FAT32 would be better than NTFS, as well.

 

[vanillakokakola]

I hacked my Wii such a long time ago, and this is the first time I've had any problems since then, so I didn't even know about ModMii and I was wary about trying to update because I didn't know the risk of bricking. Then I found out about how easy/intuitive ModMii is. This is just in case there are other people in the same situation who also didn't know about that tool.

FAT32 would be nice, but Xenoblade is over 4GB, and it seems like splitting the files is what caused the freeze, since I had the same problem with two different releases, and other people have reported the same.

 

[RoMee]

You don't have to google modmii, it's right here in this forum.
also, the game works perfect on fat32 HDD
you don't have to rename anything, just transfer the game to your HDD with wii back up manager

 

[vanillakokakola]

also, the game works perfect on fat32 HDD

It also works perfect on WBFS for a lot of people. But it didn't for me, and doesn't for some other people, for whatever reason. That's why I picked NTFS - since you can copy the ISO over, it's a for sure fix.

 

[RoMee]

I don't know too many people who have issues with xenoblade, the one that does seems to fix it with a simple update to their mods(loaders, cIOS, etc)

 

[vanillakokakola]

Yeah, I honestly don't know which part fixed it - the update or the new HDD format. I did see some people saying that just updating IOSes didn't do the trick, but I didn't try that out myself, I just did both at the same time. I might switch back to FAT32 once I beat it, out of curiosity. But again, this guide is just kind of a one-stop-shop for people like me who hacked their Wii so long ago that they also weren't aware of how much easier it is to update everything now.

 

[PsyBlade]

There are much faster ways to switch from a wbfs partition to a fat or ntfs one.
http://gbatemp.net/topic/292391-how-to-convert-from-wbfs-to-fat32-or-ntfs/

 

[wyattz]

Hi, I registered because I wanted to say thanks to vanilla for posting this fix and to share my experience. I am using an external usb hdd that I had formatted to FAT32, that I recently hacked using the Softmod ANY Wii guide. I did not rehack my Wii or use ModMii.

What I did was just use Paragon Partition Manager to create a NTFS partition about 45 gigs size on the drive, which it did without erasing any of the content on the FAT32 partition. I did have to do a little back and forth with the settings of the new partiton, making it primary and renaming it. I created a wbfs folder in the new partition and put the iso in its own Xenoblade Chronicles folder within wbfs just like vanilla said, and now I am past the freeze that comes in the movie right after the second metal face fight.

I have some room left over for any games I'll get later that are or may be dual layer and may require the same NTFS system (Metroid Other M, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, whatever). Thanks very much vanilla for taking the time to post your solution on multiple forums across the scene.