Hacking Possible to update from usb loader gx rev874c?

[BigBoyLaroux]

Hi all,

I hacked my Wii a LONG time ago, and am now starting to use it again for my kids. Some newer games are having issues starting up, so I figured I need to update usb loader, since it's been years since I first did it.

Is it possible to update from rev874c? Or do I need to start over? I of course don't want to lose any games I have on my external drive.

Any assistance is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Cyan]

hi,

You will not lose any games. (well, maybe, but not all).
like you said 1.x r874 is old (there were 5 "official" releases since then). I remember when 874 was the recommended version, You will see there were a lot of changes !
You can't update directly from the loader because the old update server is now offline. You will have to update manually.


On top of that, you are using the standalone Channel version (which install the loader inside your Wii memory). This version had not been updated past v3.0 r1180
It is recommended to use the Forwarder channel version instead, and place the USBLoaderGX executable on your SD or USB. You need an USB anyway (FAT32 or NTFS is now working, you don't need WBFS anymore, we will see this later).

I hope you will understand the steps. It's not hard, even if there's a lot of text.

You will have to :
- check/update your homebrew channel
- update your softmod (install new cIOS)
- update the loader



1. download both wads:
Full channel
Forwarder for wii
put them in your SD:/wad/ folder (or USB:/wad/ if you don't use SD card, but you need a FAT32 partition)

- Use a wad manager to uninstall the Full channel (launch the manager, select the full Channel, and select uninstall instead of install)
- Use a wad manager to install the Forwarder channel

2. download the latest release:
USBLoaderGX r1231
inside you have three folders : IOS_222, 249 and 250. You need to place the files located in the folder IOS_249 to your SD:/apps/usbloader_gx/
example:
SD:/apps/usbloader_gx/boot.dol
SD:/apps/usbloader_gx/icon.png
SD:/apps/usbloader_gx/meta.xml
(You don't need the boot.elf)

If you had your softmod updated, it would be enough

But seeing you have an old one, you probably need few more steps:


3. Homebrew channel:
- launch the homebrew channel
- press Home, and check your version. You need at least 1.0.7
- check the IOS at the top too. if it's IOS58 you are fine. If not you will have to update/install it (the USBLoaderGX forwarder use IOS58 too, so you need to install it).
- download the IOS58 installer if your HBC is not running on IOS58. extract to your SD:/apps/ios58_installer/ and launch it.
- download the hackmii installer, install to your Sd card, and launch if from HBC. install it to update the HBC version. If you can, install bootmii boot2 too.
Your Home menu should now say you are using 1.1.2 and running on IOS58

4. update your cIOS:
- cIOS installer.
Extract the folder to your Sd card:
Sd:/apps/cIOS d2x installer/boot.dol
Sd:/apps/cIOS d2x installer/icon.png
Sd:/apps/cIOS d2x installer/meta.xml
Sd:/apps/cIOS d2x installer/ciosmap.xml
Sd:/apps/cIOS d2x installer/and the folders

Launch it from HBC, and install this:

what: d2x v8 (Yes v8, you don't need v10)
where: slot249
base: IOS56
version: 21008
press A to install

repeat with this:
what: d2x v8
where: slot250
base: IOS57
version: 21008
press A to install
then exit.


Done !
You have now an updated Wii, with an updated HBC and USBLoaderGX.
You can launch the loader from the channel (like before), but that channel is now redirecting to the "boot.dol" located on your SD card. Updating the loader is easier : replace the boot.dol file! (no need to re-install a wad)

I recommend using an SD card instead of placing everything to USB.
especially if your USB is formated as WBFS.




Like I said above, WBFS is now old and deprecated.
It has bad habit to corrupt games when installing new one to the drive.
You probably have corrupted games without knowing it.
But if you want, you can keep that format (I still have that format, but I don't play a lot)


It's recommended to convert your WBFS partition to FAT32 partition.
There's a program to do it in two seconds! look in my signature : wbfs2fat and the guide.
expect losing games (because they are already corrupted, and they wouldn't have work on your WBFS anyway).

Now that you are in FAT32, you can even play Gamecube ISO or Emulated NAND from USB
Or you can use SD card for gamecube and other homebrew if you want too. Most homebrew require FAT32.

 

[BigBoyLaroux]

Thanks so much for all of the detail!!! I'll be tackling this this week, appreciate the fast response!

Do I need to be on a particular Wii version? I've held off on updating wii because I was afraid it would block usb loader. I'm on 4.1u

 

[Cyan]

no, the System menu version has no effect on homebrew. it's a standalone application (like any other application/games/homebrew/etc.) it doesn't interact nor stay in memory when you launch another application.
I'm still on 3.2E
I had to update/install IOS62 and IOS56 to launch eshop and install netflix channel, other than that I'm still using old IOS versions and missing a lot of official IOSes.


if you are on 4.1, you probably have the correct HBC/IOS58 already installed, so it's good news and less steps to do for you