Hacking [RELEASE] Wii U USB Helper, a small eShop for Windows !

[DanTheMan827]

Alright, I'm not violating anything here. My app indeed uses a GPLv3 library, which makes it GPLv3. I'm not providing the sources on this thread since it includes content which would be violating the TOS of this site. That said, it does not mean I'm not providing the source code at all. GPLv3 does not state the way I must provide it. No one has asked me the source code so far, but given a formal written request, I will deliver it to whoever asks, according to the terms of the GNU licence.

Also, what is wrong with keeping my github clean ? I mean each update is about 20MB in size, I'm releasing about 1 update a day, I'm not gonna let my github get over 1GB to host old updates which you cannot even download.

Okay... so I guess I came on a bit strong... and I'm sorry about that...

I haven't seen any indication that the app was open source or that the code was even available so I guess I just assumed...

Again, sorry...

Maybe a note saying the code IS available and how to obtain it would be something to add to the post / app?

 

[Hikari06]

Okay... so I guess I came on a bit strong... and I'm sorry about that...

I haven't seen any indication that the app was open source or that the code was even available so I guess I just assumed...

Again, sorry...

Maybe a note saying the code IS available and how to obtain it would be something to add to the post / app?

Yeah I'll add that

 

[uqbn]

New update doesn't work.

 

[FinalDoom]

Where is the configuration and download list stored for this? I had a download throw an error on completion and take down the program, and now it crashes after it loads, every time (seems about where it would be loading the list of things I wanted to download) but I can't find that list anywhere to delete it.

 

[Hikari06]

Where is the configuration and download list stored for this? I had a download throw an error on completion and take down the program, and now it crashes after it loads, every time (seems about where it would be loading the list of things I wanted to download) but I can't find that list anywhere to delete it.

Hey I'm sorry you're encountering an issue. There is no download list stored by the application.
Could you please post a screenshot a screenshot of the error message, if any ?

 

[Hikari06]

Where is the configuration and download list stored for this? I had a download throw an error on completion and take down the program, and now it crashes after it loads, every time (seems about where it would be loading the list of things I wanted to download) but I can't find that list anywhere to delete it.

Maybe you could try flushing the app's cache?
It's located in %appdata%/USB_HELPER/

 

[FinalDoom]

Took a while to reproduce after I solved it.

I have the nintendo DNS names (nintendowifi.net and whatnot) blocked in my router setup so that the wii can't update without me knowing. I forgot about that when I was running your program, and it was crashing (I believe) trying to get the images and whatnot for the games from nintendo. I had to try it on a different computer to get it to reproduce due to Windows being a jerk with DNS caching.

When it crashes on startup, it gives a standard "Wii U USB Helper has stopped working" windows with check online, close, and debug (windows 7). Problem details:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:    WiiU_USB_Helper.exe
  Problem Signature 02:    1.0.0.0
  Problem Signature 03:    5824afd5
  Problem Signature 04:    System
  Problem Signature 05:    4.0.30319.34209
  Problem Signature 06:    53489ac1
  Problem Signature 07:    239e
  Problem Signature 08:    8d
  Problem Signature 09:    System.Net.WebException
  OS Version:    6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.48
  Locale ID:    1033
  Additional Information 1:    fce6
  Additional Information 2:    fce6c4280fbb6c61d057be69bac7c6b2
  Additional Information 3:    fbf0
  Additional Information 4:    fbf034d43d103257fb98286a5613d143

Read our privacy statement online:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

Not sure how useful that is. I never found those dumps helpful.

I also get a different error on my laptop that has partial DNS caching (it won't clear and I'm not restarting it). The program loads, the game list loads, but when I exit it throws an error:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:    WiiU_USB_Helper.exe
  Problem Signature 02:    1.0.0.0
  Problem Signature 03:    5824afd5
  Problem Signature 04:    System.Windows.Forms
  Problem Signature 05:    4.0.30319.34209
  Problem Signature 06:    53489a36
  Problem Signature 07:    93a
  Problem Signature 08:    17
  Problem Signature 09:    System.ObjectDisposedException
  OS Version:    6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
  Locale ID:    1033
  Additional Information 1:    da69
  Additional Information 2:    da69e554803df16e3b5469f0fd8a6e0c
  Additional Information 3:    7d13
  Additional Information 4:    7d133a5203e7da9722e8495ca67d1769

Read our privacy statement online:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

That one's less straightforward, though I suspect it is related. Maybe it can't do a sign off or something the destructor is trying to do with nintendo?

*last edit*

Ooh, clearing the cache in %APPDATA%\USB_HELPER makes it error when the program starts again. DNS was back to blocking nintendo again, but everything was cached so it didn't crash.

So to reproduce, block nintendowifi.net and so on, clear cache, run, it should error when you're trying to download/cache images and info.

Very nice program. Thanks!

 

[Hikari06]

Thank you for your report.
The first issue is indeed related to your dns blocking the servers. If the app is unable to fetch the icons or the game info, it will indeed crash. This crash may be avoided if all the icons are cached.
The second crash is known issue which will be corrected and happens when you close the app early, while it's still fecthing the icons.

So as a workaround, you must not block the following domains, or resolve them with your host file:

samurai.wup.shop.nintendo.net
ccs.cdn.wup.shop.nintendo.net
tagaya.wup.shop.nintendo.net

 

[DanTheMan827]

Thank you for your report.
The first issue is indeed related to your dns blocking the servers. If the app is unable to fetch the icons or the game info, it will indeed crash. This crash may be avoided if all the icons are cached.
The second crash is known issue which will be corrected and happens when you close the app early, while it's still fecthing the icons.

So as a workaround, you must not block the following domains, or resolve them with your host file:

samurai.wup.shop.nintendo.net
ccs.cdn.wup.shop.nintendo.net
tagaya.wup.shop.nintendo.net

Could you maybe query a public DNS server manually (4.2.2.1 for example) and then access the servers by their IP addresses with the host http header set?

 

[Hikari06]

Could you maybe query a public DNS server manually (4.2.2.1 for example) and then access the servers by their IP addresses with the host http header set?

Yeah that's a good idea. I must admit I didn't foresee that scenario.

 

[grandem]

Is this compatible with every game?

 

[Hikari06]

Is this compatible with every game?

It should be compatible with all the games in the list.

 

[redstarcoder]

Any chance for even just one of these?

• Cross-platform support
• .NET dependency dropped
• Wine compatible
• Archive option (no installer)

Displayed to me is this error when attempting to install:

An error occurred trying to download 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kazegaya/wiiu/master/deploy/WiiU_USB_Helper.application'.

See the setup log file located at 'C:\users\user\Temp\VSDdff7.tmp\install.log' for more information.

That logfile contains:

$ cat install.log 
The following properties have been set:
Property: [AdminUser] = true {boolean}
Property: [InstallMode] = HomeSite {string}
Property: [NTProductType] = 1 {int}
Property: [ProcessorArchitecture] = AMD64 {string}
Property: [VersionNT] = 5.2.2 {version}
Running checks for package 'Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (x86 and x64)', phase BuildList
Reading value 'Version' of registry key 'HKLM\Software\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full'
Read string value '4.5.50709'
Setting value '4.5.50709 {string}' for property 'DotNet45Full_TargetVersion'
The following properties have been set for package 'Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (x86 and x64)':
Property: [DotNet45Full_TargetVersion] = 4.5.50709 {string}
Running checks for command 'DotNetFX45\dotNetFx45_Full_x86_x64.exe'
Result of running operator 'ValueEqualTo' on property 'InstallMode' and value 'HomeSite': true
Result of checks for command 'DotNetFX45\dotNetFx45_Full_x86_x64.exe' is 'Bypass'
Running checks for command 'DotNetFX45\dotNetFx45_Full_setup.exe'
Result of running operator 'ValueNotEqualTo' on property 'InstallMode' and value 'HomeSite': false
Result of running operator 'VersionGreaterThanOrEqualTo' on property 'DotNet45Full_TargetVersion' and value '4.5.50709': true
Result of checks for command 'DotNetFX45\dotNetFx45_Full_setup.exe' is 'Bypass'
'Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (x86 and x64)' RunCheck result: No Install Needed
Launching Application.
URLDownloadToCacheFile failed with HRESULT '-2146697208'
Error: An error occurred trying to download 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kazegaya/wiiu/master/deploy/WiiU_USB_Helper.application'.

This feels like a blast to the past, I haven't seen practices like this in a while.

 

[Hikari06]

Any chance for even just one of these?

• Cross-platform support
• .NET dependency dropped
• Wine compatible
• Archive option (no installer)

Maybe
No (the app is written in C#, there's no way I'm dropping .NET dependency X.x)
Maybe
Will only come once the application is mature enough. I've already explained earlier that the application is still under active development and is updated regularly.

And, honestly, I don't know what era in you live to call this "a blast from the past", C# is as contemporary as it can get, and clickonce deployment is also a recent technology.
Some very famous programs such as Github for Windows or Google Chrome use clickonce too...

Regarding your issue it's very likely due to your antivirus or firewall preventing the application from installing.
I don't have the money to afford a digital signature so this sometimes happens.

Also, I really love getting feedback from my users, this helps me make the app better.
That said, last timed I checked, I am providing the application for free and I'm developing it on my free time for the sake of the community. So, I'm of course open to any suggestion, or constructive observations, but I don't think it's really nice to come and just say I'm developing things 'from the past'. I am an amateur programmer so I know my code isn't perfect, but it's only by making mistakes that I can make progress.

 

[redstarcoder]

Maybe
No (the app is written in C#, there's no way I'm dropping .NET dependency X.x)
Maybe
Will only come once the application is mature enough. I've already explained earlier that the application is still under active development and is updated regularly.

And, honestly, I don't know what era in you live to call this "a blast from the past", C# is as contemporary as it can get, and clickonce employment is also a recent technology.
Some very famous programs such as Github for Windows or Google Chrome use clickonce too...

Regarding your issue it's very likely due to your antivirus or firewall preventing the application from installing.
I don't have the money to afford a digital signature so this sometimes happens.

C#? Damn, sorry I wouldn't have even asked you to drop .NET if I knew. What a painful limitation ...

I mean a blast from the past in the sense where the whole setup is very proprietary, I don't easilly have access to the actual components of your application, and it isn't cross-platform at all (like all the .NET applications in the past). Everything is gated through an installer, one that downloads from the Internet even. It reminds me of the tools I'd use while trying to edit Diablo 2 files, because they'd require .NET and force me to use installers sometimes.

I highly doubt it's anything on my system stopping your installer (unless wine-1.9.21 has issues with it). I don't have an anti-virus, and I'm running Arch Linux using iptables as a firewall (which doesn't look like it should be filtering anything). I could mess around with installing different .NET versions using winetools (I have Mono), but the better option would be to try to make an archive work. I don't know much/anything that would be involved in having your installer use digital signatures, they should be free as they would be if you had a package on basically any flavour of Linux.

Ah well, thanks for the reply. I just wanted to put my $0.02 in against such proprietary practices as you severly limit non-Windows users from using your application.

And, honestly, I don't know what era in you live to call this "a blast from the past", C# is as contemporary as it can get, and clickonce employment is also a recent technology.
Some very famous programs such as Github for Windows or Google Chrome use clickonce too...

You're actually incorrect by stating clickonce is a recent technology though, having been released in 2003 I believe, but it doesn't really matter.

Most of the following could be moot if you're using C# as a RAD tool, as no really good ones exist at all IMO, so C# is as good an option as any (I'm actually currently developing a tiny cross-platform OpenGL UI kit, for stuff like that). I'm trying to speak mostly from the standpoint of using C# for actual development, and distribution.

I really feel deeply against these types of practices, and I'll try to explain to some degree why they even exist at all. I'd also like to point out the C# almost forces you to use proprietary practices (It was designed as a Windows programming language, in an era where cross-platform programming is on the rise), and doesn't really have any right to exist in modern programming. If you want as contemportary as you can get, try Golang.

Basically all of Windows uses pre-historic practices, Microsoft consistently pumps out one OS update after the next with no real groundbreaking changes. They're just now getting a repository of some sort for applications, and it's the Windows Store... So developers have attempted to make the Windows experience feel like basically everything else (Mac OSX, most flavours of Linux, BSDs) and have implemented their own repositories for applications, and distributed installers which more-or-less operate like crude package managers. This is what the clickone installer does. (Google has even taken that a step further and have Google Chrome self-updating. A huge security risk IMO, and certainly not a practice to look up to.). This isn't a good practice for users of wine as installers have a bad habit of being unpredictable.

In the modern day (2016), typically applications distribute the actual binaries of the program, as well as an installer option. This avoids a myriad of issues to do with putting the application into a repository (so not the installer) or running it on "other" systems. The installers are usually completely separate code with their own issues, it simply isn't reasonable to expect absolutely every user to be able conform to the installer's assumptions. WineHQ has many examples of applications running, but their installers do not.

Even further, most applications also distribute the source code (which I see you chose to require a formal request as per the GPL, which is another thing I haven't seen in a long time), further reducing security risk, and potential convenience pitfalls for advanced users.

 

[Hikari06]

Alright, thank you for your answer.
Yeah I know C# is proprietary, although it's been becoming more and more open lately.
What you say is true, Microsoft has some questionable practices, but as far as I'm concerned, using clickonce saves me a lot of time because I don't see the point of rewriting a whole update engine when this one does what I need.
I am aware that my application is not easily portable. Thing is, making an application like this cross compatible requires a lot of extra work and a lot more testing. So I'm sorry for the people which cannot use it, but for now, I'm focusing on Windows, which I'm aware is proprietary, but let's face it, it's still the most common OS. It may not be the best choice, I know, but rationally speaking, using this platform allows me to do things faster. Had I not been able to use some libraries C# provides, it would have taken me more time, which I do not necessarily have.
I'm sure there are other frameworks out there which could have done the job too, but although I'm interested in checking them out, for this precise project, given the fact that I know C# better, this seemed to me as the way to go.

Concerning clickonce, the application doesn't need it to work, it could work very well as a stand-alone app, but I just see it as a convenience to help me keep the application updated. There have been a few critical bugs lately which I am happy I have been able to patch quickly thanks to it. Btw, if you want the app as an archive, I don't mind sending you one, not at all, I'm just not publishing one here because I know it will get outdated soon, and people will not necessarily know an update is available.

Regarding the issue you encountered with the installer, I didn't know you were running it on Wine.
That's most likely this issue (if you can call that an issue).

Finally regarding the source code, I am in a difficult position, as explained in the first post, so for now this is the only way for me to comply with both this site's TOS and the GNU Licence terms.

 

[Pecrow]

Sweet!! Its out, this is perfect!!

 

[Hikari06]

Sweet!! Its out, this is perfect!!

Awesome, I'm glad you like it !

 

[subcon959]

Out of curiosity I've decided to do a full grab of games/updates/dlc for EUR region. It's been going most of the day and so far it's downloaded 161gb of 1059gb

 

[Hikari06]

Out of curiosity I've decided to do a full grab of games/updates/dlc for EUR region. It's been going most of the day and so far it's downloaded 161gb of 1059gb

Alright, keep me posted as I've never downloaded that much with the app xD