Hacking Homebrew Emulation Problems with forwarders for Wii U

Trudes

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For the past few weeks I've been working really hard to mod my Wii U to be what I believe to be the most user-friendly, all in one setup that it can be. There have been some bumps along the way that I mostly managed to work out and I have learned a ton through out this entire process and I plan to use that knowledge to make a thread(s) with easy to follow guides for the things I couldn't find one on. Before I do that, there are just a few more very specific things I was hoping to be able to figure out how to do that I know are possible, but I can't manage to figure it out myself or find a guide no matter how hard I try.

WiiSXR/WiiSXRX forwarders for WiiU:

I've created Wii U forwarders for a bunch of other vWii homebrew that works like a charm + game pad support (FCE U GX, Snes9x GX, VBA GX, Wii64, Wii64 Rice, USB Loader GX), but no matter what I try and do when I try to make one for WiiSXR or WiiSXRX, after the forwarder boots the consoles black screens and has to be unplugged. I understand that this is a known issue for anyone who's tried to make their own forwarder for this app and the solution everyone gives is to use the provided forwarders. While those work and are a viable option, if you're like me and want everything to be 100% uniform in a certain way then making your own would be the ideal way to go. Since there is a working forwarder, it has me dying wondering how to make one myself so that the icon, banners, boot sound, and title can match everything else with my setup. @niuus is the creator of WiiSXRX so maybe they know something about it/how to do it?

Wii U Homebrew Forwarders/Apps:

I know that there is the Haxchi method which is completely viable for any .elf homebrew, but if you try to direct Haxchi to a .rpx file, it brings you to the Homebrew Launcher instead. The main thing I'm personally trying to do is create my own forwarder for PPSSPP with an icon, banner, sound, and title that I've made. Other people have tried doing similar but I haven't found anyone that's had any luck doing their own. @cucholix made the existing forwarder for PPSSPP so maybe that's a lead.

Genesis Plus GX Wii U Gamepad Forwarder:

I have a working forwarder for Genesis Plus GX from my Wii U menu, the gamepad just doesn't work to control it at all. I'm not sure if that's normal with this release. After some research, I found this thread where gamepad support seemed to be added, so I replaced the boot.dol on the SD card with this one, but the gamepad still didn't work as a controller even after that. I also just found this which has a .dol from 5 days ago that I haven't tried using yet. The forwarders on the Wii U menu are just that, right? Is it a forwarder that points to /sd/apps/xxxx/xxxx.elf, or does it fully install the Homebrew and it will work without an SD? I've been using TeconMoon's injector mod for all of these forwarders. Would the problem in the gamepad not working be resolved in getting the right boot.dol into the apps folder, or do I need to install a new forwarder that is made with the correct, gamepad compatible, boot.dol?

Changing icons/banners/titles/startup sound of existing Wii U apps:

If all else fails and I can't manage to create my own WiiSXRX & PPSSPP forwarders, is there a way that I could change the existing title, icon, banner, and boot sound that they use? If I could manage to do that I suppose it would essentially be just as good as having my own forwarders to my liking, I just assume the process would be a lot more involved because from what I've seen, if it were even possible it would involve FTP and identifying all these wacky folders. If that's the only way then I'll probably do it if it's possible so I wanted to ask about that too.

TLDR/Summary:

-I'm hoping to get a Wii U forwarder for WiiSXRX titled "PlayStation" with this icon, banner, and boot sound with gamepad support
-I'm hoping to get a Wii U forwarder for PPSSPP titled "PSP" with this icon, banner, and boot sound
-I'm hoping to get a Wii U forwarder for Genesis Plus GX titled "SEGA" with this icon, banner, and boot sound with gamepad support

Its been driving me crazy not being able to figure out these last 3 little things, but once I do (if possible) my Wii U will be setup perfectly how I envisioned it and I would love to make a guide showing any interested parties how to do the same. Thank you for your time I look forward to what you guys have to say, this community always has the answer :)
 

V10lator

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is there a way that I could change the existing title, icon, banner, and boot sound that they use? If I could manage to do that I suppose it would essentially be just as good as having my own forwarders to my liking, I just assume the process would be a lot more involved because from what I've seen, if it were even possible it would involve FTP and identifying all these wacky folders. If that's the only way then I'll probably do it if it's possible so I wanted to ask about that too.
That's possible and I think the most simple solution. Rule of thumb: Don't temper with NAND, so do all this on a external USB drive.
  1. Load Wii U FTP Server and an FTP client pf your choice.
  2. Navigate to /storage_usb/usr/title/[TID high]/[TID low]/meta
  3. Replace the .tga and .btsnd files
For the file formats there are already multiple threads avaiable, so just search. Example: https://gbatemp.net/threads/tgaverifiy-a-tga-verifier.450997/
 
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Trudes

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UPDATE: The Wii U Title Boot Editor worked like a charm for the icon, gamepad banner, tv banner, and boot sound, but I can't seem to get it to change any titles. Also another thing to note about it is that you're only able to work with stuff installed on the NAND, so you have to install the forwarders to your NAND and then move them to USB in the Wii U storage settings after you've customized it to your liking with the tool. Regarding titles, is that information stored somewhere in the WUP folder before install, somewhere in the meta folder (or maybe somewhere else?) post install, or both? If so I might try to manually do those with FileZilla.

Now the last tiny little unresolved thing is changing those pesky titles on the home screen and getting a forwarder for genesis plus gx that has gamepad support, but besides that we're golden!

Edit: I got title changes working in the tool! It turns out I just wasn't pressing the "Save" button right next to it, which is something you have to do every time you change a title for any region. Now its just fingers crossed for a gamepad compatible forwarder for GenPlus GX :)
 
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Trudes

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Final Update: I have managed to accomplish my original goal
TLDR/Summary:

-I'm hoping to get a Wii U forwarder for WiiSXRX titled "PlayStation" with this icon, banner, and boot sound with gamepad support
-I'm hoping to get a Wii U forwarder for PPSSPP titled "PSP" with this icon, banner, and boot sound
-I'm hoping to get a Wii U forwarder for Genesis Plus GX titled "SEGA" with this icon, banner, and boot sound with gamepad support

For the WiiSXRX & PPSSPP forwarders, I used the existing working ones and then changed their meta files with the above mentioned tool. Getting a gamepad compatible forwarder to work with GenPlus GX proved to be a lot more involved & difficult, and I learned something that I believe to be a common misconception around here.

If you make a "forwarder" for vWii homebrew using TeconMoons injector, it INSTALLS whatever version of the .dol you inject, it does not forward you to /sd/apps/xxxx/boot.dol.

That being said, if you make a forwarder with this method and the homebrew gets updated, you need to make a new forwarder with the updated boot.dol of the homebrew, you can't simply place the new boot.dol in /sd/apps/xxxx/. Not all vWii homebrew forwarders work this way, some truly do point to /sd/apps/xxxx/boot.dol, so you CAN simply replace the boot.dol in the SD whenever said homebrew is updated. From what I've read, these forwarders are somehow made using hbl2hbc as a base, and somehow modifying the code so that instead of just going to the vWii homebrew channel from the Wii U menu, it boots into a specific vWii homebrew app. This is far superior to making injects as it is a true forwarder to the homebrew, not an install. There's a discussion related to this happening in this thread. Wouldn't it be awesome if we had a simple to use tool/script that where you just need to write the path of whatever you want to launch, choose a title, icon, banner, and boot sound, and then it spits out a WUP installable forwarder that never needs to be updated/installed again? Whoever codes that will be legend <3

Creating a true forwarder for vWii homebrew has been proven possible by @SaulFabre

Creating a true forwarder for Wii U .rpx homebrew has been proven possible by @cucholix and could probably be used on .elf homebrew as well I assume

Hopefully doing full installs that need to be manually updated and reinstalled with NUSpacker and TeconMoons injector will soon be a thing of the past :)

Thank you @V10lator for your input, I couldn't be happier with my setup now. I plan to start working on that guide(s) very soon so others can have a much easier time doing what I did :)
 
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Trudes

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I was wondering something, did you manage to create a working Retroarch forwarder with 50_hbl_installer.rpx present on the Sd?
=> https://gbatemp.net/threads/hbl-forwarder-question.613608/

No, I've changed the file extension of that so that it's inactive. I've seen some people saying that it isn't a great idea to use HBL this way as it isn't the "official" tiramisu way, but I haven't had any problems with anything after doing this. My recommendation is this:

Don't try to make your own working forwarders if they're giving you issues, find someone else that has already got one working how you want, then install it to your NAND. After doing that open Wii U Title Boot Editor and connect to your Wii using ftpiiu and customize it to your liking. You technically haven't made your own forwarder, but its essentially the same deal. After you're done customizing move it back to your USB
 

Trudes

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This is what it looks like all done. Everything works perfectly!

wiiumenu.jpg
 

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mrmagicm

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I've done like you Trudes, I've changed the file extension of that so that it's inactive, thing is, as I use my SD card sometimes on other wiiu to install tiramisu, so I must remember to change the *.old to *.rpx, I'm hoping someone with advance skill will this that someday...Concerning your recommendation, It nice, but I'm not a fast learner,I just discovered Ftpiuu, still plenty of things to discover (fakemote, hidtovpad....I add Wii U Title Boot Editor and customize it now in the list). Wondering what program is related to your 3rd icon on 3rd row? Also maybe a wiiU forwarder for hidtovpad ScummVM would be nice?
Too bad there's no way to shrink a channel forwarder (specially when it's just a link a no code in it but quite heavy on nand space)
Could you share you wiU forwarders please? Genesis Plus GX/WiiSXRX/PPSSPP
 
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mrmagicm

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Didn't know that program was doing this....For what WII program or game is it usefull? Because usually, WIi games are fast enough for playability...how do you run it? It's not a *.Dol or *.Rpx
 

V10lator

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For what WII program or game is it usefull
Emulators. AFAIK The Wii software has to support this, too, so it's not meaned for properitary software but, well, emulators like Wii64.

how do you run it?
HBL. Not 100% sure but IIRC you launch the .elf file through HBL, this puts you back to the Wii U menu, then you start the forwarder.
 

Trudes

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Didn't know that program was doing this....For what WII program or game is it usefull? Because usually, WIi games are fast enough for playability...how do you run it? It's not a *.Dol or *.Rpx

sign c2w patcher is a Wii U homebrew that is executed via a .elf file that goes in your /sd/wiiu/apps/, I have made a forwarder for it using Haxchi as the base so that I can run it right from the menu. It is used in Wii64, WiiSXRX, and Nintendont. There may be other vWii stuff that it is compatible/useful for but that's what I use it for. The repo you have linked isn't for what you run on your Wii U, you'll find that here
 

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If you're like me and want everything to be 100% uniform in a certain way then making your own would be the ideal way to go. Since there is a working forwarder, it has me dying wondering how to make one myself so that the icon, banners, boot sound, and title can match everything else with my setup.
It's super easy to just use one of those working forwarders and then use FTP to locate it's icon, banners, meta data and boot sound, edit them on your PC and then replace them on the Wii U again through FTP. That's how I got a lot of my forwarders uniform without having to make brand new ones from scratch (though I did have to make a couple from scratch as they didn't yet really exist entirely lol).
 

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