Hacking The Definitive vWii Hacking Guide!

[pumpkinpies]

Your SD Card is not detected. You need one 2GB or under, preferably as small as you can find. The size doesn't actually matter but SDHC and SDXC will not work, and most 4GB cards and all cards over 4GB are SDHC or SDXC. Some 2GB cards have been shown to actually be SDHC for some reason, but most 2GB cards will work. Afaik, all 1GB and below work.

My card is 1 GB SD card and was used previously on my Wii so it should work.

I am going to try another card that I have which is 16 MB but is formatted in FAT, not Fat32 - Will this be an issue ?

I tried to reformat but it doesn't give me the option of FAT32.

edit - and is there supposed to be a 'private' folder in the hackmii download ? Your guide mentions it being merged but my download didn't have one

 

[pumpkinpies]

ok well my 16 MB SD card worked and I got the homebrew channel loaded.

Now I a having a problem loading some Wii games that I ripped on my modded Wii. When I launch usb loader and select the game I want, its seems to start loading it up but then just goes back to the homebrew channel main screen.

any ideas ?

 

[CJB100]

My card is 1 GB SD card and was used previously on my Wii so it should work.

I am going to try another card that I have which is 16 MB but is formatted in FAT, not Fat32 - Will this be an issue ?

I tried to reformat but it doesn't give me the option of FAT32.

edit - and is there supposed to be a 'private' folder in the hackmii download ? Your guide mentions it being merged but my download didn't have one

Yes, the guide clearly says you must use FAT16 or more preferably FAT32 to format your SD Card. The Windows built in formatter should work for anything under 4GB. Otherwise you can use another formatting utility, like Notice in this guide, among hundreds of others.

As far as not being able to load USB Loader, are you launching through HBC or through the channel forwarder? Did you install any cIOS?

 

[QThatOneGuy]

Great guide, however I am having an issue:

So I decided to get an external hard drive today. Its a WD My Passport Ultra 1TB USB 3.0 Drive and a Y-cable for my vWii side of my Wii U. Before with just an SD card, USB Loader Gx worked perfectly. Now however, after setting up my HDD properly, I always get stuck on "initalize usb device" when my drive is inserted into my system. I followed your guide from top to bottom and checked the FAQ with nothing really matching my issue. Everything works, because it set up on my PC just fine. What could be the problem?

 

[CJB100]

Great guide, however I am having an issue:

So I decided to get an external hard drive today. Its a WD My Passport Ultra 1TB USB 3.0 Drive and a Y-cable for my vWii side of my Wii U. Before with just an SD card, USB Loader Gx worked perfectly. Now however, after setting up my HDD properly, I always get stuck on "initalize usb device" when my drive is inserted into my system. I followed your guide from top to bottom and checked the FAQ with nothing really matching my issue. Everything works, because it set up on my PC just fine. What could be the problem?

HDD is FAT32, MBR, one partition? Did you set the USB Settings in USB Loader GX? Are the two ends of your Y-Cable hooked into the correct ports on the Wii U? Just a few suggestions and I'll need the answers to each to help you further.

 

[QThatOneGuy]

HDD is FAT32, MBR, one partition? Did you set the USB Settings in USB Loader GX? Are the two ends of your Y-Cable hooked into the correct ports on the Wii U? Just a few suggestions and I'll need the answers to each to help you further.

Yes to all of your questions, however I was doing a bit of tinkering and fixed it. Just needed to make the USB port set to 1 instead of 0 or Both under hardrive settings.

 

[Cyan]

maybe you connected the Y-Cable incorrectly. or you think Port0 is located at the same place than the Wii ?
Or maybe your Y-Cable has the data port at the end and not in the middle.

On Wii, port0 is on the edge (bottom when laying flat)
on vWii, port0 is on the back top. the edge one is port1.

Data connector should go to port0
Power should go to port1


You are maybe lucky that inverting the setting in the loader work, because you installed d2x v10-alt (the r53) which work with USB Port1.
but some games and features are working only with v10 (non alt, the r52), which doesn't work with USB Port1. If you need to go back to r52, you'll have to re-switch your setting and maybe your drive cable order.

 

[QThatOneGuy]

maybe you connected the Y-Cable incorrectly. or you think Port0 is located at the same place than the Wii ?
Or maybe your Y-Cable has the data port at the end and not in the middle.

On Wii, port0 is on the edge (bottom when laying flat)
on vWii, port0 is on the back top. the edge one is port1.

Data connector should go to port0
Power should go to port1


You are maybe lucky that inverting the setting in the loader work, because you installed d2x v10-alt (the r53) which work with USB Port1.
but some games and features are working only with v10 (non alt, the r52), which doesn't work with USB Port1. If you need to go back to r52, you'll have to re-switch your setting and maybe your drive cable order.

I know that earlier I said I got it working, but turns out it got much worse. After planning on installing some Gamecube games for Nintendont, I plugged my HDD into my PC. Even after using Ustealth to make it unhidden, nothing can see it. I assigned it a new driver and everything. It still makes USB Loader GX crash at the "initalize usb device" screen. Should I just do another full fledged format and start from the beginning of that part of the guide?

 

[Cyan]

when you hunhide the drive, you see the partitions but no files, or no partition, or no drive detected?
After un-hiding the drive you may need to replug it to let Windows detect the partition correctly.

There's a (bad) chance that somthing went wrong and your partition information are lost, but they can be retreived.
if it's an issue with the partition itself and not the partition table, you'll have to format it again, sorry.

don't do anything yet, just answer questions so we can understand what's happening.

 

[QThatOneGuy]

when you hunhide the drive, you see the partitions but no files, or no partition, or no drive detected?
After un-hiding the drive you may need to replug it to let Windows detect the partition correctly.

There's a (bad) chance that somthing went wrong and your partition information are lost, but they can be retreived.
if it's an issue with the partition itself and not the partition table, you'll have to format it again, sorry.

don't do anything yet, just answer questions so we can understand what's happening.

Damn, wish you told me that earlier. I ended up reformatting with the official WD Drive app and got the GC and WBFS games working fine and having my PC find it and UStealth working properly, only problem is that USB Loader GX still crashes at "initalizing usb device". The only workaround so far is to plug back up after it boots up.

 

[Cyan]

ah, if you formated it, that's fine.
I thought you wanted to rescue some data from it without formating.

About the init issue, try setting the loader's IOS to 58 in the settings.
settings > loader settings > Loader's IOS.
and reboot.

it's a known issue, and affect a lot of WD drives.
I need to debug it (I bought a WD drive, but didn't have the time to check yet), but maybe it's a cIOS issue and I can't do much (unless someone improve the cIOS and release v11)

 

[QThatOneGuy]

ah, if you formated it, that's fine.
I thought you wanted to rescue some data from it without formating.

About the init issue, try setting the loader's IOS to 58 in the settings.
settings > loader settings > Loader's IOS.
and reboot.

it's a known issue, and affect a lot of WD drives.
I need to debug it (I bought a WD drive, but didn't have the time to check yet), but maybe it's a cIOS issue and I can't do much (unless someone improve the cIOS and release v11)

Alright, did that and still get stuck on init. Still only works if I start with my HDD unplugged and boot the app first. While im still here asking questions, does the Game IOS need to be set to 249?

 

[Cyan]

game's IOS need to be a slot with cIOS installed (custom IOS is a patched system based on an official IOS (IOS56) with added features, like Disc access redirection to USB, to play games from USB).
so, slot249, 250, 251, or any other slots where you installed a cIOS.

 

[QThatOneGuy]

game's IOS need to be a slot with cIOS installed (custom IOS is a patched system based on an official IOS (IOS56) with added features, like Disc access redirection to USB, to play games from USB).
so, slot249, 250, 251, or any other slots where you installed a cIOS.

Yup, installed all of those plus the special edition one as per the guide said. WBFS and ISOs are fine, just need to fix the init and we are golden.

 

[CJB100]

Yup, installed all of those plus the special edition one as per the guide said. WBFS and ISOs are fine, just need to fix the init and we are golden.

You have USB port to use in USB Loader GX set to port 0 and USB ends in the correct way when you boot, correct? You may want to try reversing the way you have your cable hooked in.

 

[QThatOneGuy]

You have USB port to use in USB Loader GX set to port 0 and USB ends in the correct way when you boot, correct? You may want to try reversing the way you have your cable hooked in.

Tried that, doesnt even pick up the HDD. Ill see what happens if I change the ports to "1" or "both" now.

EDIT: Still no dice. I cant even install from my cd anymore. It worked at first, but now it just stops at a random percentage and freezes, causing me to unplug my system after being unresponsive. Nintendont games dont boot. Visible, but not selectable since they crash at "INIT CARD".

 

[CJB100]

Hm, I'm stumped. We're definitely looking at the correct problem areas though or your results wouldn't be changing. It's either the USB Port settings in USB Loader, the Y-Cable hookups or the HDD itself. Is it USB 3.0? I never had issues out of mine but some people claim USB 3.0 drives are less likely to be compatible.

 

[QThatOneGuy]

Hm, I'm stumped. We're definitely looking at the correct problem areas though or your results wouldn't be changing. It's either the USB Port settings in USB Loader, the Y-Cable hookups or the HDD itself. Is it USB 3.0? I never had issues out of mine but some people claim USB 3.0 drives are less likely to be compatible.

Well, screw it. Im all out of options and just checked the compatibility list only to find out this HDD is known for issues. Guess im going back to Best Buy to take advantage of the 30 day return policy and swap out for something better. Thanks anyway, Ill come back to this guide later, hopefully with no future issues.

 

[DreadKnight]

Hello my first post here

Just read your comprehensive guide,may i ask a few questions?

Do i need a usb 2.0 hdd or usb 3.0 harddisks are fine? It is hard to find usb 2.0 disks here.

After hacking vWii,will i need Wiiremote or Wii nunchuck to navigate through menus/playing games? I plan to play some fighting games and i never owned a Wii before.I have Wii U standard controller and Wii U pro controller.

Thanks in advance

 

[owek1]

Hello my first post here

Just read your comprehensive guide,may i ask a few questions?

Do i need a usb 2.0 hdd or usb 3.0 harddisks are fine? It is hard to find usb 2.0 disks here.

After hacking vWii,will i need Wiiremote or Wii nunchuck to navigate through menus/playing games? I plan to play some fighting games and i never owned a Wii before.I have Wii U standard controller and Wii U pro controller.

Thanks in advance

all i could say is first, follow this guide and only this guide down to the last letter ,

https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-definitive-vwii-hacking-guide.425852/

next, you'll need a 2GB or below SD card (i used a 1GB card from an old mobile), also you'll need the original WiiMote to hack the vWii, with the HDD it is mostly trial and error but i never got any issues with a Western Digital, just make sure to use a Y-Cable regardless if your HDD needs extra power or not. Format it to FAT32 .As for fighting games, try Tatsunuko VS Capcom, Naruto Shippuden Clash of Ninja Rev 3, Super Smash Bros Brawl, DBZ Tenkaichi 3, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Castlevania Judgment, Guilty Gear Accent Core..