Hacking Neogamma on Wii (4.3)

[JohanPG]

Hello,

first of all: I'm dutch, so my English wil have some flaws in it. Hope it won't keep you from reading along.

Yesterday I went to my cousing to install homebrew channel on his wii via Smash Stack.
It all went fine (I used a Dutch tutorial). The Homebrew Channel was installed and also Neogamma and WiiFlow (don't really know what it is).
For my female cousin I tried to play a backup of Just Dance 2. I launched it whit Neogamma and it worked fine.

Then for me male cousin I tried Monster Hunter Tri. It seemed to work, but then it gave the irritating beep. That's a wel known issue, so then I tried Lego Indiane Jones 2. Seemed to work fine to, but at the intro movie of the first chapter, it gets stuck.

I tried a lot of other tutorials (watched some movies on youtube about neogamma and stuff like that), but it doesn't make sense. Just Dance 2 often gives, while playing, the message 'Reading disc' for a small second.

Today I am home again and my little cousin tried something on his own (Donkey Kong CR), but that backup gives the message 'Cant read disc' or something like that.



I hope someone can give me some tips about what else I can try or what I could've done wrong.

 

[WiiPower]

For Monster Hunter Tri, you need a cIOS with IOS37 or IOS56 as base IOS. About the other stuff: It sounds like you have bad burns, get better dvd media and burn at 8x-16x.

 

[JohanPG]

Hello,

I use Verbatim DVD-R. I burned them at 2× speed... I thought it was best to burn them as slow as possible. So that's not true?

 

[WiiPower]

10 years ago it was true, because they sold 4x burners that couldn't handle 4x. Now burners and media are optimised for burning fast and they can handle it. Well i wouldn't go faster than 16x...

 

[Taleweaver]

I hope someone can give me some tips about what else I can try or what I could've done wrong.

You didn't include the source of your tutorial, so it's hard to say what the guide did wrong. My guess is that it had you download and install an outdated version of Waninkoko's cIOS. Either look up rev21 or check the instructions in this thread's first page (the thread mentions a modification, so that is actually really the latest version).

For the installation, you need to know 2 things:
1. the slot number. Use 249 for that (neogamma can use others, but 249 is the default)
2. the base IOS. As Wiipower mentioned: use 56 for that. It won't play everything, but the far majority


perhaps it also got you to install an outdated version of neogamma. The latest version can be found here[/]. Also make sure to check the tips for burning.

Verbatim is pretty much the best brand, yes.


Finally...wiiflow is an USB loader. If you have a compatible USB drive, you can put your games on that thing and use wiiflow to load the games from there. It's much more reliable than using discs, has faster loading speeds and is - with respect for wiipower's neogamma - more convenient to use. If you insist on using discs, then you don't need wiiflow in any way.

 

[JohanPG]

I hope someone can give me some tips about what else I can try or what I could've done wrong.

You didn't include the source of your tutorial, so it's hard to say what the guide did wrong. My guess is that it had you download and install an outdated version of Waninkoko's cIOS. Either look up rev21 or check the instructions in this thread's first page (the thread mentions a modification, so that is actually really the latest version).

For the installation, you need to know 2 things:
1. the slot number. Use 249 for that (neogamma can use others, but 249 is the default)
2. the base IOS. As Wiipower mentioned: use 56 for that. It won't play everything, but the far majority


perhaps it also got you to install an outdated version of neogamma. The latest version can be found here[/]. Also make sure to check the tips for burning.

Verbatim is pretty much the best brand, yes.


Finally...wiiflow is an USB loader. If you have a compatible USB drive, you can put your games on that thing and use wiiflow to load the games from there. It's much more reliable than using discs, has faster loading speeds and is - with respect for wiipower's neogamma - more convenient to use. If you insist on using discs, then you don't need wiiflow in any way.

Well, I wanted to add a link to the tutorial, but since it's Dutch I didn't think it would be very usefull.
And as I said, I used lots of other tutorials after the first one. Some used 249 and some 236.
I indeed used IOS 56 as base (57 too).
Out of my head (sounds weird in English, probably wrong translated), there's R9 rev 19 on the Wii. The NeoGamma version I don't know right now. Downloaded the package with Neogamma, and that's R9 beta 47, so that's the Neogamma on my cousins Wii I guess.

I tried to find the tips for burning, but can't find them...

And about WiiFlow; will there probably work more games fine then with disc's at the moment?




Edit: Here's a translated link to the first tutorial I used.

[url=http://nl.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdownloadtutorial.nl%2Fnintendo-wii%2F6-softmodden%2F460-wii-softmodden-voor-elke-firmware&lp=nl_en&btnTrUrl=Vertalen]http://nl.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_ur...nTrUrl=Vertalen

After the tutorial above I tried Just Dance 2, wich worked. Then I tried Monster Hunter, wich got the beep.
Because of that I tried some other tutorials, wich didn't have any effect. Maybe it's because of those tutorials that the Donkey Kong and Indiana Jones don't work? Or wouldn't those games have worked if I only used the first tut either?

 

[FIX94]

The disc errors could be there because of a old overused dvd drive or bad burns. I don't think you can do something to fix that. You should switch to usb loading, it's faster, you can't get errors like this and every game is compatible. Do you have a usb hdd?

 

[JohanPG]

The disc errors could be there because of a old overused dvd drive or bad burns. I don't think you can do something to fix that. You should switch to usb loading, it's faster, you can't get errors like this and every game is compatible. Do you have a usb hdd?

Hello,

The DVD burner is not even one week old, and I burned so much games for my own 360 that I can't imagine I burned them the wrong way...

But if USB loading is so much better, I guess we should give that a try if the discs really won't work.. Though I'd like to just do it with discs. I'm sure there's a way to get them to work.

 

[Taleweaver]

Well, I wanted to add a link to the tutorial, but since it's Dutch I didn't think it would be very usefull.
You'd be surprised...I'm not the only native Dutchie on this forum.

I was about to say that the guide wasn't bad (except providing a bit outdated info, like Waninkoko's rev19)...but then it advised people to downgrade to 4.1. Which is pointless in itself, but downright dangerous because it because it assumes that all wii's are European based (cIOS aren't region-tied...but things like the system menu are).


But enough bashing...that won't fix your wii. That revision should work as well, and at least your neogamma program is up to date.

The tips for burning...I admit those were a bit buried in this thread. And not only that, but they were captioned under 'gamecube backups' (this is because gamecube games still more or less require discs). Here's the part:

Spoiler

Requirements for gamecube backup launching from disc with NeoGamma:
- A Wii with a backup compatible drive(if the wii is not white, it's not backup compatible, backup resistant white Wiis were sold since christmas '09, no backup disc compatible Wiis in the shelves anymore 1-2 months later). Easy test: In the latest NeoGamma, remove disc from the drive and select launch game from disc. You will get a read error. If it doesn't say anything about your drive, then it should be old enough.

- A GC backup compatible cIOS installed and used. For testing until it works, install cIOS37rev19, cIOS56rev20 or cIOS56rev21. NeoGamma shows at the bottom of the screen which cIOS is used. If does not say: cIOS37rev19, cIOS56rev20 (slot 249) or cIOS56rev21 (slot 249), you did not install the cIOS correctly.



- The correct options in NeoGamma:
Storage device: SD or USB using cIOS(the others should work too, but most people try everything, so...)
Gamecube Mode: internal (MIOS just boots MIOS like the disc channel does, external boots sd:/NeoGamma/GC.dol in GC mode)
Force Video: Disc(with component cables, you might need to try all options)
Patch Video: No(only relevant on import games with color issues)
Reloader, Backup plugin, Audio fix and Patched MIOS: Auto
GC Ocarina&debugger: No



- And last but not least: A good disc. Only use high quality media and never burn slower than 4x. If you believe you need to burn slow, then use 4x, all others try 8x,12x or 16x. And DVD+Rs need the booktype set to DVD-R(dvd-rom) on burning, or the Wii won't be able to read them. This procedure is called bitsetting, just google it. Especially if the games can't be booted at all and NeoGamma doesn't even switch to the internal GC loader, then it's a disc or .iso problem for sure.

(note: I edited out the gamecube specific things)


QUOTEAfter the tutorial above I tried Just Dance 2, wich worked. Then I tried Monster Hunter, wich got the beep.
Because of that I tried some other tutorials, wich didn't have any effect. Maybe it's because of those tutorials that the Donkey Kong and Indiana Jones don't work? Or wouldn't those games have worked if I only used the first tut either?

Sorry...I think what you mean is "I tried some other tutorials, which didn't have any effect that I could notice".

Lemme explain a bit about how a wii works. A wii controls its input and output through an IOS - roughly the equivalent to a PC's BIOS. The difference with the pc is that a wii doesn't have one single IOS but many. This allows programmers to write games that support extra hardware without having to interfere with an IOS that another game uses (a microphone, for example).
There's another nice thing to this: it means that hacking a wii is a bit safer, as you normally don't overwrite an IOS. As said: there are many of those things. There are also empty slots reserved where IOS can be installed. And that's the thing: those guides will tell you to pick a normally empty slot and fill it up with a customly made IOS (a cIOS). The thing is that slot 249 is roughly the standard slot to install a cIOS to. And depending on which guide you follow will mean that slot 249 will become occupied with a different cIOS.

There is only really one problem with it: there is no cIOS that can play ALL the games. Compared to the amount of IOS that an average wii has, you don't need much cIOS. Games can be forced to use a different ÂIOS than they normally would use, but if it's not compatible, the game won't load. Or it will load but won't have support for the microphone, lock up at some part, or something along those lines.



Why is wiiflow (or another USB loader) a good idea? Not just because of the advantages mentioned earlier, but mostly because it allows you to tell per game which settings to use. I haven't downloaded the pack mentioned in that guide, but it looks like the author had the right idea: install all the cIOS you may need into different slots (247, 248, 249). That way, you can try a game, and just switch to another cIOS if it turns out crashing.
I mentioned earlier that neogamma isn't the most convenient program to use. That is because it is limited to one cIOS. You can't change the used cIOS per game (heck...even changing the used cIOS to any number than 249 takes some figuring out). So that may mean that you can't "just" change discs and have them both work. It may mean you will have to reinstall the cIOS with a different base IOS every time you want to switch the game.



Obviously: not the easiest of solutions. That's why most ppl on disk go with a solution that works but isn't really the most elegant one: replace all the IOS'es on the wii with cIOS'es. This means that you can run any backup disc straight from the disc channel (the disc will use its native IOS, find the corresponding - working - cIOS in its place and just works like that). Heck...you won't need neogamma or even something in your 249 slot anymore. The disadvantage: it messes with just about EVERYTHING under the hood of your wii - including the most crucial parts.

Now...you said you followed other tutorials as well. If one of those tutorials had you install cIOScorp or darkcorp...then congratulations. You can probably just play your backup games from the disc channel. But for maintenance, updating, or even handling a game that don't work from the disc channel...that's something that goes beyond my knowledge.

 

[JohanPG]

Wever, thanks for your post. Really apreciate it

So if I'm correct, if I installed different cIOSes (wich I did, I guess) I'd doesn't have effect on NeoGamma since that one only uses cIOS 249?
But if I use WiiFlow, I can use other installed cIOSes too?

I believe I installed DarcCorp indeed. Though I don't really know what that does.


Oh yeah, I burned the disc's on 2X speed, if I burn them again on, for example 16X, is there a chance they'll will work?

Lots of questions, maybe some of them are a little bit dumb, but since it's all English it's a little bit harder for me to get all the information straight.

 

[FIX94]

So if I'm correct, if I installed different cIOSes (wich I did, I guess) I'd doesn't have effect on NeoGamma since that one only uses cIOS 249?
But if I use WiiFlow, I can use other installed cIOSes too?
That's correct, WiiFlow can use other cIOSes, NeoGamma can only use cIOS 249!

QUOTE(JohanPG @ Apr 17 2011, 10:18 PM) Oh yeah, I burned the disc's on 2X speed, if I burn them again on, for example 16X, is there a chance they'll will work?

I don't really think that, but maybe you will have luck

The best burn speed for wii discs is 4x as far as I know.

 

[JohanPG]

Is there a app to see wich cIOS'es there are allready installed?
Cause I don't really know wich I have installed yet...


If I want to use Wii Flow (wich I guess is the best thing to do), what stuff do you recommend me to install before I use it?

 

[FIX94]

Is there a app to see wich cIOS'es there are allready installed?
Cause I don't really know wich I have installed yet...
You could use syscheck. A file called syscheck.cvs will be created on your sd card root, post the content here.

QUOTE(JohanPG @ Apr 18 2011, 05:45 PM) If I want to use Wii Flow (wich I guess is the best thing to do), what stuff do you recommend me to install before I use it?

Nothing needed, only a cIOS. If you want to install a game on the HDD you should use wii backup manager. If you want to install a retail disc you can do it directly in wiiflow. Oh, and if wiiflow doesn't work you should try configurable usb loader.

 

[JohanPG]

I sent my cousin a message to try Syscheck. Hope he knows how it works. I asked him to send me the sysCheck.cvs file

Hope I'll receive it tomorrow so I can post it here.

 

[JohanPG]

It took a while, but as promised: here is the sysCheck log file.

Are there things that I forgot to install or don't seem right or something else?


sysCheck v2.0.1 by Double_A
...runs on IOS58 (rev 6176).

Region: PAL
System Menu 4.3E (v514)
Hollywood v0x11
Console ID: 120677344
Boot2 v4

Found 90 titles.
Found 52 IOS on this console. 6 of them are stub.

IOS3 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS4 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS9 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS10 (rev 768): Stub
IOS11 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS12 (rev 269): No Patches
IOS13 (rev 273): No Patches
IOS14 (rev 520): No Patches
IOS15 (rev 1031): No Patches
IOS16 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, Flash Access
IOS17 (rev 775): No Patches
IOS20 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS21 (rev 782): No Patches
IOS22 (rev 1037): No Patches
IOS28 (rev 1550): No Patches
IOS30 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS31 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS33 (rev 3091): No Patches
IOS34 (rev 3348): No Patches
IOS35 (rev 3349): No Patches
IOS36 (rev 3608): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access
IOS37 (rev 3869): No Patches
IOS38 (rev 3867): No Patches
IOS40 (rev 3072): Stub
IOS41 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS43 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS45 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS46 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS48 (rev 4124): No Patches
IOS50 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS51 (rev 4864): Stub
IOS52 (rev 5888): Stub
IOS53 (rev 5406): No Patches
IOS55 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS56 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS57 (rev 5661): No Patches
IOS58 (rev 6176): No Patches
IOS60 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS61 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS70 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS80 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS90 (rev 54321): Trucha Bug
IOS202 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS222 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS223 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS224 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS236 (rev 1): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access
IOS247 (rev 20): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS248 (rev 20): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS249 (rev 19): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS250 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS254 (rev 65281): BootMii
BC v6
MIOS v10

Report generated on 2011/04/27.

 

[FIX94]

Syscheck is fine, everything is installed correctly and save.

 

[JohanPG]

So there's nothing I forgot to install to make the back-ups (discs) work?

If that's so, than I guess the only option left is to try WiiFlow, wich should work fine with the things that are installed now?

 

[FIX94]

So there's nothing I forgot to install to make the back-ups (discs) work?

If that's so, than I guess the only option left is to try WiiFlow, wich should work fine with the things that are installed now?

Wiiflow is a bit buggy in the moment, try configurable usb loader first please. Simply download and start it, everything should work fine. You can try wiiflow, but it could blackscreen.

 

[JohanPG]

I took a look at this guide:
http://gwht.wikidot.com/usb-loader

Will I have to do the meta.xml steps too? Or can I just download the .zip file, put it on the SD and launch it?

 

[FIX94]

I took a look at this guide:
http://gwht.wikidot.com/usb-loader

Will I have to do the meta.xml steps too? Or can I just download the .zip file, put it on the SD and launch it?

Don't follow the thing with the meta.xml, IOS249 is no stub on your wii.