Hacking SNEEK+DI quick guide

[obcd]

@chaosdarkneo: Your harddisk needs to be fat32 formatted. The partition with the games should be the first partition and it should be set active. Neek comes with a discex tool to extract the files from an iso. You need a games folder on your usb drive, and some subfolders in it with the games. Those subfolders should have the gameid as name. For DML gba games, you will need the same games folders on your sd card.

Be aware of the fact that the bootmii/armboot.bin on your sd card will be overwritten. It is used for the launching of bootmii. The new version on it will launch sneek instead.
All other files and folders can basically remain on your sd card.

modmii has tools to convert games to fst format (used by neek) as well.
Overjoy and me are working on a di module that can play games as wbfs files. Most usb loaders use this format. We are Beta testing it for the moment.

@mianko.

You need a covers folder as a subfolder of your sneek folder. Only raw and bmp are supported, but I don't know the exact details.
The code for loading it is in the es smenu.c The bmp should have the game id as name.

 

[nyanko]

@obcd
Thanks, thats good enough, I'll play a little with it. Btw do your new DI module works with DML? Wiiware and DML are the main reasons I use sneek(as well as watching japanese nintendo channel), if so I'll be happy to apply to beta testing on a LU60 wii

 

[obcd]

We left all the original code in, so normally it should still be compatible with dml.
I am also working on a system now that will allow rapid switching between different di.bin modules.
If you want to do some tests with cdi, you could send Overjoy a Pm for the needed stuff.

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

So... if the freezing of SysCheck is indication that my Wii is screwed up, how do I fix it? 'Cause whatever it is, it is probably the reason for all the stack dumps I've been getting with CFG USB Loader.

 

[XFlak]

the problem could be with syscheck, what version are u using? The latest beta versions have issues for a lot of ppl (including myself).

What is the last thing u notice syscheck checking before it freezes?

 

[chaosdarkneo]

@chaosdarkneo: Your harddisk needs to be fat32 formatted. The partition with the games should be the first partition and it should be set active. Neek comes with a discex tool to extract the files from an iso. You need a games folder on your usb drive, and some subfolders in it with the games. Those subfolders should have the gameid as name. For DML gba games, you will need the same games folders on your sd card.

Be aware of the fact that the bootmii/armboot.bin on your sd card will be overwritten. It is used for the launching of bootmii. The new version on it will launch sneek instead.
All other files and folders can basically remain on your sd card.

modmii has tools to convert games to fst format (used by neek) as well.
Overjoy and me are working on a di module that can play games as wbfs files. Most usb loaders use this format. We are Beta testing it for the moment.

@mianko.

You need a covers folder as a subfolder of your sneek folder. Only raw and bmp are supported, but I don't know the exact details.
The code for loading it is in the es smenu.c The bmp should have the game id as name.

I read the guide. It said nothing about Dios-Mios Lite.

Thanks obcd. Do I need a USB drive? Or can I just use my SD Card? I'm only using SNEEK+DI to play Gamecube backups (and extra channels, but that's irrelevant), which you said need to be on the SD, not the USB.

 

[obcd]

The current version of sneek+di expects an usb harddisk with a valid fat32 partition connected. The system will hang without one.
It's a bit a historical issue as di only was an usb gameloader for neek in the beginning.

Basically, it's possible with minimal changes to the di code to make it work without connected harddisk.
I have such a version, but I have never tested it with dml.
I only know it can load wii games from the sd card without harddisk connected.
So if I pass it, and it doesn't work, I'll be unable to give support, since I have no prove myself that it actually works.

 

[nyanko]

Hey, I just installed Uneek+DI (not obcd & Overjoy version) with my old nand that had DML, Neek menu doesn't detect the Gamecube games, as they HAVE to be on the SD, it loads way faster than Sneek+DI but gamecube games do not appear, strange thing though, on the options page it says "boot NMM" which I think stands for NoMoreMemorycards, selecting it brings up the last gamecube game loaded on the standard Sneek... So, I guess your new DI module for Uneek does not work with DML, as the standard one does not, or maybe I'm missing something to set it up?

 

[chaosdarkneo]

I don't think DML is compatible with UNEEK+DI and it likely never will be. Unless that source code project for it you've been seeing going around hits off, it's likely DML will never recieve any more updates.


To my problem:
I'm fine with having to have a FAT32 drive in my Wii.

One last problem I have...

When I boot SNEEK via the HBC (I have BootMii as an IOS), it boots SNEEK+DI fine, the problem is that my remotes desync as soon as BootMii (SNEEK) is run. How do I fix this?

 

[nyanko]

I don't think DML is compatible with UNEEK+DI and it likely never will be.

The thing is it actually IS compatible, because I have Uneek + DI + DML (gamecube games on front SD and wii games on USB) and when you tell Uneek to load NMM it loads DML instead and the gamecube game actually runs. It only need a fix to display the games on the neek menu and boot them accordingly. Would be great if ocdb or overjoy could look at it.


QUOTE(chaosdarkneo @ Oct 5 2011, 05:33 PM) When I boot SNEEK via the HBC (I have BootMii as an IOS), it boots SNEEK+DI fine, the problem is that my remotes desync as soon as BootMii (SNEEK) is run. How do I fix this?

Do you use another nand or the same original one of your wii? If a new nand, on ModMii is adviced that you use the same region and the same serial number so remotes can sync to both nands withouth problems, I actually have 3 nands, Original 4.2u, 4.3u and 4.3j, and they all sync at the same time. Maybe its because of BootMii IOS.

 

[sk0ld]

UNEEK can't access the SD. The game runs because when a GCN game is selected from the DI menu, SNEEK creates a file /games/boot.bin containing the path of the game. You're launching the DML .app from UNEEK and on start-up it's reading that file. So yes, you can use DML with UNEEK, but you'll find SNEEK DI to be more convenient. OTOH, no FS on the SD card means more space.

 

[nyanko]

I see, so is not possible to select the game from Uneek itself, and I bet is also not possible to launch DML from an app in homebrew channel/filter, say, display a list of games in said app and writing the boot.bin to SD, then launching DML (or go back to wii menu and launch from there) I say this because that way USB Nand can have a lot of Wiiware/VC, wii games, and SD would have more space for Cube games and homebrew, also Nand from usb runs way faster than SD.

That or the hassle to run sneek for GC and change the SD card when you want to run uneek for wiiware/wii...

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

the problem could be with syscheck, what version are u using? The latest beta versions have issues for a lot of ppl (including myself).

What is the last thing u notice syscheck checking before it freezes?

Checking IOS vulnerabilities. It gets to about 98% then freezes. It's a recent version.

 

[obcd]

@nyanko
It's very interesting to hear that uneek + di +dml is an option. the only reason uneek isn't finding the gc games is simply because it isn't searching for them.
It's like that by design.
I agree that uneek is a better option than sneek,and an option to avoid the need for both sounds promising.
Are you sure you can actually launch and play a gc game that way? It would mean that the nand is no longer used once dml is launched?

@UndeadSquirrel
Syscheck is having problems with my IOS253 used to launch neek. It only expects such kind of ios on slot 254 for bootmii. So, if you once installed my ios253,
you could uninstall it for syscheck to work again or you can use a syscheck that was a little modified to avoid those problems. Just let me know if you need it.
Those issues are clearly noted in the readme that comes with the ios253 wad, if I remember well.
I believe Joostin posted a request to the syscheck programmers so that every ios above 250 would be treated as ios 254, but I guess it hasn't made it in the program yet.

 

[nyanko]

@obcd
Well, the game launches, shows logos (licensed by nintendo et all) and asks for memory card... but I cannot check further because I don't have a GC pad, I'm trying to buy one though, most likely I'll get one in a few days.
Btw it works the same way with your new DI module.
It's very likely that nand is not used once it enters GC mode, since GC had no nand, when launching a game I see a little HD led blink and nothing else after that.

 

[nokillmonkeys]

Hi,

I've used ModMii to create a virgin NAND and setup Uneek+DI. I've renamed both kernel.bin's to boot2_usb.bin. When I turn my Wii on, I get a black screen and my drive lights up and stays lit up. I thought that this was just because of the initial boot time that I've read about, so I let it sit like that for 15 minutes, but nothing happened.

I have a Wii with Bootmii boot2, a 2GB SD card, and a 500GB My Passport harddrive.

 

[obcd]

kernel.bin is the name the system is looking for
you also need an armboot.bin in the bootmii folder of your sd card. (Not the bootmii one but the neek one.

For uneek, you need a sneek folder on your sd and one on your usb drive.
For di, you need di.bin and font.bin in case of uneek on your usb drive sneek folder, in case of sneek on your sd card sneek folder.

 

[nokillmonkeys]

Thank you obcd, changing them back to "kernel" worked (why does the guide say "renamed boot2_usb.bin"?). Now I have another problem though. Whenevr I try to launch a channel (such as Homebrew Filter) or to play a game, all I get is a black screen and my Wiimote shuts off.

When this happens I must turn my Wii off. When I turn it back on, instead of getting the System Menu, I get whatever I was trying to launch.

 

[obcd]

why does the guide say "renamed boot2_usb.bin"

If you compile the neek sources, you get 3 versions. The uneek version has the name boot2_usb.bin.
So, you need to rename that to kernel.bin...which is why they refer to renamed boot2_usb.bin.

When you launch a channel from the system menu, it's id is placed in a file and the system sort of restarts internally.
It checks that file and launches the channel of which it's id is placed in it.

I am a little afraid it could be a harddisk issue. In the proces of internally restarting, the usb ports are reset and reinitialised.
I assume that some harddisks don't respond fast enough to this reinitialisation.
I am not 100% sure about this, but if you have another disc or stick to test with, I would give it a try.
You just need the sneek, games and nand folders of it. If it still behaves that way, it's likely another problem.

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

Syscheck is having problems with my IOS253 used to launch neek. It only expects such kind of ios on slot 254 for bootmii. So, if you once installed my ios253, you could uninstall it for syscheck to work again or you can use a syscheck that was a little modified to avoid those problems. Just let me know if you need it.
Those issues are clearly noted in the readme that comes with the ios253 wad, if I remember well.
I believe Joostin posted a request to the syscheck programmers so that every ios above 250 would be treated as ios 254, but I guess it hasn't made it in the program yet.

Nah, I'll leave it installed. I'd rather use the SysCheck that you have.