Retroarch Wii Woes

[joksta bleak]

I am running into some strange issues getting RetroArch working on my Wii, and have decided to document in detail my findings here with 2 things in mind: 1) Perhaps this will help someone else at some point. 2) Hopefully, someone can point me in the right direction to figure out what's going on. That said, I apologize for the long post, but figured the more detail given, the better.

I decided to softmod my Wii about a month and a half ago in order to run emulators. I did a lot of testing and chose to use WiiFlow Lite and the amazing WiiFlow Plugins Pack Lite released 2025-05-07 (thanks to all who made that possible, it is truly amazing). I decided to try to make all platforms use the libretro libraries, mainly because they would then all have the same UI (admittedly, it is likely the worst UI, but at least it would be consistent among all platforms). I used ModMii to softmod and get started, and used a 5TB Western Digital My Passport 2626 HDD with a single MBR/Active/Primary partition formatted as FAT32 per the suggestions in the ModMii setup guide. I set up the HDD to store the Wii games, WiiWare/WiiVC, Gamecube games, WiiFlow, and all plugins/ROMs, setting the directories/files up exactly as they are in the plugins pack.

After much trial and error, I got everything working. Here are the libraries I used, and some interesting things I noticed along the way. In all cases, I tried to use Retroarch-Wii first, then if it didn't work moved to RA_HEXAECO, then moved to something else if all else failed.

• Atari 800 - retroarch-wii/atari800_libretro_wii.dol
• Atari 2600 - RA-HEXAECO/stella.dol
• Atari 5200 - retroarch-wii/a5200_libretro_wii.dol
• Atari 7800 - retroarch-wii/prosystem_libretro_wii.dol
• Atari Lynx - RA-HEXAECO/handy.dol
• Colecovision- Colecovision/wiicolem.dol
  • I could not get Retroarch-Wii/gearcoleco_libretro_wii.dol to find the BIOS no matter what I tried
• FDS- retroarch-wii/nestopia_libretro_wii.dol
  • This worked even without a BIOS
• Game & Watch - retroarch-wii/gw_libretro_wii.dol
• Game Gear - Retroarch-Wii/genesis_plus_gx_libretro_wii_gg.dol
• GB - RA-HEXAECO/gambatte.dol
• GBA - RA-HEXAECO/mgba.dol
• GBC - RA-HEXAECO/gambatte.dol
• Intellivision- retroarch-wii/freeintv_libretro_wii.dol
  • Would not find the BIOS on the USB, had to put it in SD:\retroarch\system in order for it to work
• Master System - Retroarch-Wii/genesis_plus_gx_libretro_wii_ms.dol
• Mega CD- Retroarch-Wii/genesis_plus_gx_libretro_wii_cd.dol
  • Would not find the BIOS on the USB, had to put it in SD:\retroarch\system in order for it to work
• Neo CD- Retroarch-Wii/neocd_libretro_wii.dol
  • Would not find the BIOS on the USB, had to put it in SD:\retroarch\system in order for it to work
• Neo Pocket - RA-HEXAECO/neopop.dol
• Neo Pocket Color - RA-HEXAECO/neopop.dol
• NES - retroarch-wii/nestopia_libretro_wii.dol
• PC Engine - retroarch-wii/mednafen_supergrafx_libretro_wii.dol
• PC Engine CD- retroarch-wii/mednafen_pce_fast_libretro_wii.dol
  • BIOS worked in USB:\retroarch\system
• PC Engine Supergrafx - RA-HEXAECO/beetle_supergrafx.dol
• PC-FX- wiimednafen-mod4.dol
  • Seems the only option that worked, albeit some games were very choppy
• Sega 32X - retroarch-wii/picodrive_libretro_wii.dol
• SG-1000 - Retroarch-Wii/genesis_plus_gx_libretro_wii_sg.dol
• SNES - RA-HEXAECO/snes9x_next.dol
• Vectrex - RA-HEXAECO/vectrex.dol
• Virtual Boy - Retroarch-Wii/mednafen_vb_libretro_wii.dol
• Wonderswan - RA-HEXAECO/wonderswan.dol
• Wonderswan Color - RA-HEXAECO/wonderswan.dol
• WiiWare/WiiVC
  • I had issues with freezing until I built the emuNAND from scratch using ModMii with my Wii's serial and the cert file from my NAND dump (copy nands\pl_us\sys\cert.sys from your nand dump to the new nand). I also couldn't get WiiVC N64 titles to run until I configured them to run using CIOS 248 (base 38).

This all worked absolutely beautifully. So much so, that a friend wanted me to help set his Wii up the exact same way. I had him buy all the same things and began setting up his hard drive. I noticed right away that even though he used the same Amazon link for the HDD, the one he received was a 5TB WD My Passport 2627. I formatted everything the same way and copied all files over to the new drive except for the emuNAND, which I built from scratch using ModMii so that it would contain the correct Serial and cert file. Wii games, WiiWare/WiiVC titles, and Gamecube games worked perfectly. The emulator stuff would not load. I tried it on my Wii using all the same cables, SD card, and everything, same problem. I put my HDD on his Wii and everything worked perfectly. Here is what I have tried and my findings:

• The platforms listed above where the BIOS files had to be put on the SD card work perfectly
• None of the RA_HEXAECO platforms work, they simply kick me back to WFL
• All work fine when I use an emulator that isn't RetroArch, but this isn't an option for some platforms
• When I remove the SD card, RetroArch loads into the Load Core screen (but won't let me load the core). When the SD card is inserted, it kicks me back to WFL
• I tried using the latest Retroarch-Wii and RA-HEXAECO files from the new Plugins Pack, RA-Frankenstein, and even the newest official RA build all to no avail

I finally wrote this off thinking it must be an issue with the HDD. So, I bought yet another 5TB WD My Passport from the same place, and sure enough a 2627 arrived. I did all the same things, and it has the exact same issues as the other 2627. I formatted the new drive entirely and set everything up from scratch thinking maybe some config file or cache was messing it up, same thing. I am at a total loss here and am super frustrated. Why does RetroArch hate these hard drives? I am hoping maybe I missed some small detail during the setup, but have verified that they are MBR/Active/Primary/FAT32.

I'm not sure where to go from here. Is there any way to make RetroArch log the errors to find out what's going on? Is there anything else I should be trying? I figured this amazing community was my best shot at figuring this out. Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided, and thank you for being such an awesome community and amazing resource to all.


TL;DR: Got everything working perfectly. Tried to replicate on 2 other HDDs (same make and model, but slightly different serials) and RetroArch doesn't work. Why would RetroArch care about the HDD so much?

 

[joksta bleak]

thank you for being such an awesome community and amazing resource to all

A huge thanks to @RunningSnakes @Tetsuo Shima @SaulFabre for all of your work

 

[RunningSnakes]

Yes, very strange behavior.

There have been a few issues with recent @SaulFabre RA retro recompiles not working with WFL as plugins. 1.7.9 FCEUmm and Nestopia recompiles will play NES games but will not play FDS games, 1.7.9 Pokemini will not load any game.These issues occur on SD, so official RA cores are being used for WFL but the recompiles work beautiful if used through Frankenstein, which is puzzling.

If games are on HDD, try forcing HDD in plugin.ini...change/edit this line...

rompartition=-1 to
rompartition=1

or maybe the new HDD's need a small argument change for the plugin.ini?

 

[joksta bleak]

Yes, very strange behavior.

There have been a few issues with recent @SaulFabre RA retro recompiles not working with WFL as plugins. 1.7.9 FCEUmm and Nestopia recompiles will play NES games but will not play FDS games, 1.7.9 Pokemini will not load any game.These issues occur on SD, so official RA cores are being used for WFL but the recompiles work beautiful if used through Frankenstein, which is puzzling.

If games are on HDD, try forcing HDD in plugin.ini...change/edit this line...

rompartition=-1 to
rompartition=1

or maybe the new HDD's need a small argument change for the plugin.ini?

A legend is in my presence. Thank you for the response RunningSnakes.

I have tried changing to rompartition=1, same result. On the original HDD (which works), some of the plugins seem to store their cfg on the HDD, and some on the SD - not sure what determines where they go (but this also seems to determine where they look for BIOS). The ones that store the cfg on the SD are working on the new HDDs. The ones that store their config on the HDD do not (they just reload WFL when the SD card isn't inserted, and go to the Retroarch Load Core screen when the SD is inserted). Also to note, I store everything I can on the HDD (WiiFlow, WBFS, Games, Nands, ROMS), since it is MUCH larger than the SD. There must be some way to enable logging from Retroarch to find out where it is faltering. I am a software engineer by trade, and am happy to dig in deep if pointed in the right direction.

 

[RunningSnakes]

A legend is in my presence. Thank you for the response RunningSnakes.

I have tried changing to rompartition=1, same result. On the original HDD (which works), some of the plugins seem to store their cfg on the HDD, and some on the SD - not sure what determines where they go (but this also seems to determine where they look for BIOS). The ones that store the cfg on the SD are working on the new HDDs. The ones that store their config on the HDD do not (they just reload WFL when the SD card isn't inserted, and go to the Retroarch Load Core screen when the SD is inserted). Also to note, I store everything I can on the HDD (WiiFlow, WBFS, Games, Nands, ROMS), since it is MUCH larger than the SD. There must be some way to enable logging from Retroarch to find out where it is faltering. I am a software engineer by trade, and am happy to dig in deep if pointed in the right direction.

Just double checking...In WFL Settings page 1/14
Game Partitions/
Wii Partition = USB1
GameCube Partition = USB1
Plugins Default Partition = UDB1

2/14
Startup Settings/
Mount SD Only = No
USB Port = 0

Try changing...USB Port = 1

 

[joksta bleak]

Try changing...USB Port = 1

Changed, same result. Swapped the Y cable to the HDD around as well, same result.

Upon further inspection, when setting USB Port=1, the Wii games still worked even with the data portion of the Y cable in port 0. When I swapped the Y cable around, the Wii games stopped working. WFL seems to be ignoring this setting.

It's an interesting path that I haven't explored much is that it may be an issue with Wiiflow. I had just assumed it was Retroarch since everything else works fine. I'll start fiddling with more settings there.

 

[RunningSnakes]

I have never used any HDD larger than 2TB but there is this if you haven't read it already ..
https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-...-on-a-wii-as-a-single-fat32-partition.602038/

 

[joksta bleak]

I have never used any HDD larger than 2TB but there is this if you haven't read it already ..
https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-...-on-a-wii-as-a-single-fat32-partition.602038/

Yes, this is the guide that I used to setup all 3 HDDs. ModMii links to it in their guide.

 

[RunningSnakes]

I'd be interested to know if the actual standalone emulators will play off the troublesome hdd's. Please test on any GX emulators(s) to confirm this is isolated to RA or WFL.

 

[joksta bleak]

I'd be interested to know if the actual standalone emulators will play off the troublesome hdd's. Please test on any GX emulators(s) to confirm this is isolated to RA or WFL.

FCE Ultra GX works as a plugin through WFL as well as standalone.

 

[RunningSnakes]

- You have tried putting plugins on SD and games on HDD...

- You have tried putting plugins along with everything else on HDD with no SD used at all...

Most if not all plugins by default will search SD first then USB if needed files are not found. If you have plugins on both devices, conflicts can/will occur, just trying to cover all bases to figure out what is causing the issue with RA plugins.

For years i used HDD for everything with no SD installed, this worked well enough but SD only games/apps obviously didn't work. When the plugins pack became a thing i was helping work on, i went to SD/USB so my testing method was consistent with Tetsuo and results could be confirmed.

My setup was then everything on 32gb SD with the exception of... Sega CD, TG-CD, Neo CD, Playstation, ScummVM, WiiWare/VC, GameCube, Wii. This setup works fantastic.

FF a few years later, now everything is on 256gb SD with the exception of... Playstation, ScummVM, GameCube, Wii. This setup is perfect if you have a large library of PS1, GC and Wii games on HDD with complete libraries of all other console, handheld and computer games on SD. This includes all plugins only removing 5-6 computer setups i will never use.

I hope you get everything working but the alternative could end up being dropping $15 for a 128gb SD to install everything else besides Wii, GC, WiiWare/VC and PS1.

 

[joksta bleak]

It's an interesting path that I haven't explored much is that it may be an issue with Wiiflow. I had just assumed it was Retroarch since everything else works fine. I'll start fiddling with more settings there.

@RunningSnakes You actually sent me down the right path and I have found a solution. I started fiddling with the Wiiflow settings and found more peculiarities. I was using Wiiflow Mod 6, since it was the most recent version I could find with the Carbonik theme. I swapped it out for the latest version of the official Wiiflow (5.5.4) and everything worked as it should. I have started creating a theme to get the Carbonik look back. I will post it when I have it completed.

Thank you for your help! I never would have thought that Wiiflow was causing the issues without your guidance.

 

[RunningSnakes]

@RunningSnakes You actually sent me down the right path and I have found a solution. I started fiddling with the Wiiflow settings and found more peculiarities. I was using Wiiflow Mod 6, since it was the most recent version I could find with the Carbonik theme. I swapped it out for the latest version of the official Wiiflow (5.5.4) and everything worked as it should. I have started creating a theme to get the Carbonik look back. I will post it when I have it completed.

Thank you for your help! I never would have thought that Wiiflow was causing the issues without your guidance.

Nice to hear you are making progress and looking forward to your Carbonik theme.

If you are interested, there was an update to the plugins pack recently. Most of the RA plugins you are using were updated with bezel support...(my bezels are included in the dl) if that interests you.

I'm guessing GearColeco (and others) will run correct in your updated setup. If not, make sure the bios are correct as they are different from wiicolem bios. Keep me updated.

 

[joksta bleak]

@RunningSnakes

As an update to my progress, I spoke way too soon when I said everything was working. I am still dealing with lots of issues. Mainly, I cannot seem to get RA-Hexaeco to run anything at all as a WFL plugin.

I have created a new Carbonik theme which works with the latest WFL. I wanted to gather some feedback on it before creating a release (and making a new post for it), so please let me know what you think. You can find it here: https://github.com/j0ksta/Carbonik

 

[RunningSnakes]

@RunningSnakes

As an update to my progress, I spoke way too soon when I said everything was working. I am still dealing with lots of issues. Mainly, I cannot seem to get RA-Hexaeco to run anything at all as a WFL plugin.

I have created a new Carbonik theme which works with the latest WFL. I wanted to gather some feedback on it before creating a release (and making a new post for it), so please let me know what you think. You can find it here: https://github.com/j0ksta/Carbonik

It doesn't look like it is available yet, i will check back later tonight.

 

[joksta bleak]

It doesn't look like it is available yet, i will check back later tonight.

I haven't created the release yet as I wanted to gather feedback first. In the meantime, you can click the green Code button, then Download Zip.

 

[RunningSnakes]

I haven't created the release yet as I wanted to gather feedback first. In the meantime, you can click the green Code button, then Download Zip.

Can't believe i missed that before, gonna install here in a few minutes, I'll keep you posted...

Edit: @joksta bleak

Very nice so far. The most important thing that stands out is it is stable. Maybe add a few things and clean up some loose ends and i'll definitely keep it installed.

 

[joksta bleak]

Can't believe i missed that before, gonna install here in a few minutes, I'll keep you posted...

Edit: @joksta bleak

Very nice so far. The most important thing that stands out is it is stable. Maybe add a few things and clean up some loose ends and i'll definitely keep it installed.

I'd love to hear which loose ends you think need cleaning up

 

[RunningSnakes]

I'd love to hear which loose ends you think need cleaning up

Mainly missing button art...then adding cover flow(s) for handheld systems and SNES, GW, FDS cover flows, basically touching things up.

I think it is crucial in adding/separating MAME Wii, 2000 and 2003+. If nothing else gets added, i really recommend you separating all the MAME systems.

 

[joksta bleak]

Update Time!

On the RetroArch issues:
I installed RA-Frankenstein, Vanilla RA, and RA-Hexaeco as standalone apps. RA-Hexaeco won't run at all, just kicks me to Homebrew Channel on load. RA-Frankenstein and Vanilla RA both load, but seem to have problems browsing my SD card. When I go into directories, it still shows me the root even though the path updates (this is when trying to run solely from the SD Card). I tried doing this again, but running solely off the HDD, everything works when I update everything in Settings/Directories to absolute paths instead of their relative paths (ie: "USB:\Retroarch\Config" instead of "Retroarch\Config"). It seems to be getting confused as to where to find things. Is there a way to set the defaults for these Directories settings? Every time I load something (and even when I save and load retroarch.cfg) everything changes back to the relative paths.

On the theme:
I have added many missing sources to the source menu, including splitting out the MAME sources as suggested. Those changes are currently available on Github. I am still working on updating the coverflows, but have just replaced the file with the one that Rhapsodii Shima uses in the meantime. Please let me know if you notice anything else missing, or have any other feedback. I appreciate your time.