Hacking Load .wbfs wii game backups in ntfs partition from uneek's 'virtual wii' (booted up with neek2o)

[run1492]

Hi,

I have a hdd with two partitions: first is fat32 where I have uneek, emunand and gc games, and second is NTFS with a folder called 'wbfs' with subfolders containing all my *.wbfs game backups.

I am successfully booting into uneek from the neek2o channel, and I see all my wiiware installed games on the emunand.

Is there, on 2018, any way to load those games directly from my ntfs partition ? Do I need to install some other loader in the sd card to be accessible from the "virtual wii" initiated from neek2o ? How ?

If this is NOT the case, and keeping in mind that every individual .wbfs file can be larger than 4gb (they cannot be copied to the FAT32 partition), what is the best option to be able to play those backups from the 'virtual wii' ? Can I have it all on one single place, or is better to separate wii games from wiiware/vc, and play wii games from the normal nand from wiiflow with cios as before ? What about compatibility and usability ?

Thanks in advance for your help and attention !

 

[Cyan]

neek doesn't support NTFS.

wbfs is specifically designed to be split in multiple files to be stored on FAT32 without problems.
if you have single wbfs files bigger than 4GB, then you can convert them with WiiBackupManager (force split to 4GB, or transfer to FAT32 and it will be done automatically)

the best choice is still to play Wii games from realNAND, using the loader of your choice. Only a small game list will not be working (tintin, drivers, we dare) and you'll need neek for these 3 games (maybe more? I don't have a full list in mind). and they are certainly not bigger than 4GB, so you don't even need to convert them, just copy to your FAT32 partition, the same one where you already have the nand dump.

you also need to add "+di"
I don't remembre if you need to use Uneek+di instead of Sneek+di, I never use the disc interface feature, so I'm not sure if it always loads wbfs from USB, or from the same partition than neek.
At least, neek (not neek2o) reads extracted games from the SAME partition than the nand dump. you'll have to test or wait for someone to confirm where to put your game.

 

[XFlak]

I agree real nand and USB loaders is the way to go in my opinion. That being said, in this scenario you want uneek+di for games saved to USB (fat32 primary partition). I know initially they had to be in an extracted folder structure format (I can never remember the actual name), but I think in later updates they added support for wbfs files too.

 

[Cyan]

neek (not 2o) needed extracted game format (FST, file system format) in /games/<titleID>/<game partition content here>, and if you enable "+di" at least one game is required or neek will not launch!
neek2o added support for wbfs format. no minimum game required to work if di is enabled. I wasn't sure if it needed to be on the same partition, or if it always tried to mount the usb for wbfs files. thanks for confirmation.

 

[run1492]

Thanks everybody for your quick answers, but I'm a little bit confused... Cyan says "neek2o added support for wbfs format"

So is it possible ?

What to do, install a channel on EMUNAND to access wiiflow and configure it to access the fat32 partition if I move all .wbfs files from ntfs to fat32 ?

Some games like dance 200x gives me problems with controllers and ciosx headaches, I hope that if I use sneek to launch them from the emulated nand the compatibility would be better...

Please tell me what to install in emunand (and how) to be able to launch wii games from the emunand that launches neek2o if I move my .wbfs files to fat32.

By the way, uneek + DI... what DI stands for ? what is it and how to install it if I don't already have it ?

Thanks

 

[Cyan]

you don't use USBloaders when you are in neek mode.
neek itself is the loader, it mounts that wbfs in the "disc channel" on your emulated system menu.
compatibility is better, but not 100%. there are still games not working.
for your info, music games need a cIOS based on IOS57, that's all. (d2x v8 final base57 is all you need, for ALL games. messing with old version or different bases is just useless)

press 1 (or 2) on the wiimote when you are on neek's system menu to open a hidden menu.
one is the options, the other is a game list to mount in your disc channel.
once the disc channel emulate the disc interface (+di is used for that), then you just need to launch it as if it was a real disc inserted in your console.


to install "di", it's done with modmii. when you generate neek files you have the option to make uneek or uneek+di
choose "uneek+di", it will use "nand folder on USB, with disc interface emulation".

use a FAT32 USB (with 512bytes/sector) to put your nand copy (usually /nands/nand1/), and your wii games in /wbfs/TitleID6.wbfs
maybe it's compatible with the default /wbfs/Title [TitleID6]/TitleID6.wbfs too


if your wbfs files are too big, use WiiBackupManager to transfer your games from one partition to another
https://gbatemp.net/posts/7592791

 

[run1492]

you don't use USBloaders when you are in neek mode.
neek itself is the loader, it mounts that wbfs in the "disc channel" on your emulated system menu.

press 1 (or 2) on the wiimote when you are on neek's system menu to open a hidden menu.
one is the options, the other is a game list to mount in your disc channel.
once the disc channel emulate the disc interface (+di is used for that), then you just need to launch it as if it was a real disc inserted in your console.


to install "di", it's done with modmii. when you generate neek files you have the option to make uneek or uneek+di
choose "uneek+di", it will use "nand folder on USB, with disc interface emulation".

use a FAT32 USB (with 512bytes/sector) to put your nand copy (usually /nands/nand1/), and your wii games in /wbfs/TitleID6.wbfs
maybe it's compatible with the default /wbfs/Title [TitleID6]/TitleID6.wbfs too


if your wbfs files are too big, use WiiBackupManager to transfer your games from one partition to another
https://gbatemp.net/posts/7592791

Wow ! very good answers, sounds gooood. I'll try asap.

Thanks a lot !

 

[XFlak]

@Cyan, I thought base 56 had some advantages over base 57 (compatibility or speed), which is why ModMii uses base 56 in slot 249 and base 57 in 250 (250 for music games and 249 for all others). If you disagree I am curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

@OP, why even bother with two partitions? If you are able I would just have 1 giant fat32 partition, ntfs not necessary unless you are using the drive for other purposes like storing very large movie files or something like that

 

[Cyan]

base 56 is a little faster than 57, but more games work with 57.
at the time of waninkoko cIOS rev18 release, there were no compatibility differences, that's why it was decided to install 56 in the default slot. it was more interesting to install in 249 than base57.

now, some games work only with base 57 and users need to edit their loader's setting to use slot250 instead of the default slot.
call of duty, sing it and just dance 2017 need 57. There are other, but I always forget
I tried to ask users if some games worked only with 56 (not with 57) but didn't have a concluding answer. someone told me spyro works with 57, but the NFC portal "apparently" needs 56. I don't have that portal to test myself. I thought that games used IOS58, I don't see why 56 would have the needed feature that 57 doesn't have.


I often suggest users who want a single/fast setup to only install base57 in slot249.
it prevent users to wonder why some games don't work, and learn that they have to edit the loader's setting to force the usage of slot 250 instead of 249.

though, I try to educate users to understand that they don't have the same setup than "common usage" or other guides, and hope they understand the important is what's inside their slots, and not the slot number.
a lot of posts tell users to "use slot250" to fix their issues, which is just to use base57 if they followed a common guide or modmii, and if users who installed base57 in 249 they shouldn't follow that advice, they already use 57 by default.

 

[run1492]

Ok; I've been playing with neek2o, loading wbfs files in my fat32 partition from the disk channel, running wiiware, vc, and others. All from within neek.

I thank you again for your very good and fast support; It has been my pleasure, really.

I have also installed and configured this WiiFlow mega pack:
https://ccabz.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/the-masterpack/

Now I can do all of the above in neek, but from WiiFlow: Trough the source menu, I can run every kind of wii game, wiiware, vc... Downloading covers, and other lots of options. It's the best I've found. It even has compatibility for tough games that do not work with cios, to be loaded trough neek2o.

Also, from wiiflow WII games run WAY faster than from neek, and some of them got problems like Tron 2.0 (music has cutoffs or fails)

So... My question is: What's the use of being able to boot to the emunand itself trough neek2o ? The disk interface is horrible, no graphics.

It's not best to stick with wiiflow, because it have everything, and lots and lots of features ?

In which case someone would prefer or need to boot to uneek ?!

Thanks !

 

[TrungNh]

neek (not 2o) needed extracted game format (FST, file system format) in /games/<titleID>/<game partition content here>, and if you enable "+di" at least one game is required or neek will not launch!
neek2o added support for wbfs format. no minimum game required to work if di is enabled. I wasn't sure if it needed to be on the same partition, or if it always tried to mount the usb for wbfs files. thanks for confirmation.

I can't make sneek + di work.
It stuck when I start run sneek for the first time with black screen and blinking hdd led .
Now I successfully run sneek without di.
Please tell me how to run games in wbfs format from sneek.
Thank you.