Hacking The Definitive vWii Hacking Guide!

[comput3rus3r]

Morning all,

I dug through about half of this thread and didn't find many mentioned of the issue I'm running into. I'm on 5.5.3 and for whatever, I suddenly seem to really care about getting USB Loader GX working properly inside of the vWii.

I used "d2x-v10-beta52-vWii" for 56/57/58 w/ slot 249/250/251 and installed the modified IOS 236 (as mentioned on page 1) -- but whenever I load USB Loader GX -- I see a listing of my games, I click them, the splash screen (for Mario Kart for example) comes up -- but when I hit the "Start" button the screen just goes completely black -- the game pad is unresponsive, and I have to unplug the Wii U/hard shutdown the pad to power off.

I tried updating USB Loader GX to a newer version, but the same issues persist.

I'm using an 1 TB WD Passport (with a Y cable) plugged into the back of the WiiU -- FAT32, proper sectors, hidden w/ uStealth, etc. etc. -- games were all copied from my USB drive connected to my actual Wii (with no issues).

At this point it's become an obsession more than anything else. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank-you!

one thing that I had to do was plug the supplementary power cable from the y cable into it's own power source such as a usb power plug. When I would plug both ends to the wiiu it seems like the wiiu wasn't providing enough power to the drive and caused errors. Besides that just make sure you follow the guide to a t.

 

[np247]

I will try the 2nd end of the Y cable in an external USB power brick when I get home, but I would think this would be an "all or nothing" situation -- if it was a power issue, I wouldn't expect it to be able to sufficiently read the boot screen, or the contents of the disk in the first place.

That's the worst part -- I did. I even reinstalled the aforementioned prior to posting, as what was more likely the issue -- me or the post that's been around for X years... but now I'm at a loss :-)

 

[jeannotte]

Hello,

@ np247:

Do you correctly connect the external hard drive to the back of the Wii U ??

do not you have to invert usb ports ??

 

[np247]

Hello,

@ np247:

Do you correctly connect the external hard drive to the back of the Wii U ??

do not you have to invert usb ports ??

All good. I even ended up reversing them just for kicks -- same result :-(

 

[np247]

So I tried every combination of USB port on the Wii, including using a USB power adapter on the Y cable... and now the drive won't detect in USB Loader GX at all anymore...

I may end up wiping the disk and reformatting and trying again... but... everything did still look legit in Windows.

Also -- I seemed to have the most luck with the front (2) USB ports rather than the (2) rear. When I went to change this from USB port 0, it said this was not possible due to not running Hermes.

 

[comput3rus3r]

So I tried every combination of USB port on the Wii, including using a USB power adapter on the Y cable... and now the drive won't detect in USB Loader GX at all anymore...

I may end up wiping the disk and reformatting and trying again... but... everything did still look legit in Windows.

Also -- I seemed to have the most luck with the front (2) USB ports rather than the (2) rear. When I went to change this from USB port 0, it said this was not possible due to not running Hermes.

if possible try a different drive. Also make sure you have all the right files on the sd card.
edit: come to think of it. I once replaced the sd card with a bigger one just to install a game to my wiiu that didn't fit on my original sd card then I forgot to put it back and I launched usbloadergx and I had the exact issue you had. so all the games were being read but would black screen after launch. I put the old sd card back and it fixed it. I'm not sure what the difference was with the sd cards.

 

[np247]

if possible try a different drive. Also make sure you have all the right files on the sd card.
edit: come to think of it. I once replaced the sd card with a bigger one just to install a game to my wiiu that didn't fit on my original sd card then I forgot to put it back and I launched usbloadergx and I had the exact issue you had. so all the games were being read but would black screen after launch. I put the old sd card back and it fixed it. I'm not sure what the difference was with the sd cards.

Swapping drives I think is a bit of a moot point -- brand new WD 1TB drive with a generic enclosure and new Y cable. I did end up wiping it entirely, reformatted it again (use the partitioning/stealth guide on page 1) and re-copying over all Wii/GameCube games. I haven't had a chance to do much with it since I had to go to work this AM (and copying took forever).

I will try the SD card route and post an update... I mean at this point... there are only so many variables right...

Thank-you for the help thus far!

 

[comput3rus3r]

Swapping drives I think is a bit of a moot point -- brand new WD 1TB drive with a generic enclosure and new Y cable. I did end up wiping it entirely, reformatted it again (use the partitioning/stealth guide on page 1) and re-copying over all Wii/GameCube games. I haven't had a chance to do much with it since I had to go to work this AM (and copying took forever).

I will try the SD card route and post an update... I mean at this point... there are only so many variables right...

Thank-you for the help thus far!

yeah, i'm getting the feeling the issue is related to the sd card.

 

[np247]

yeah, i'm getting the feeling the issue is related to the sd card.

Very possible. I'm eager to find out for sure.

Piecing together some of the information from memory (it was 2+ years ago since I modded the WiiU), either this guide had been updated or I used something else to get the Homebrew Channel installed originally. Referencing this guide, I am about 99% sure I did "Installing the Homebrew Channel (Method 1)" on my 5.5.2 install (I don't recall seeing warnings indicating this would not work, or I wouldn't have done it). The Homebrew Channel is installed, lists the contents, etc. -- I'm able to play WiiU games that I loaded using Haxchi, etc. etc. -- however, I was wondering if that could somehow play into USB Loader GX not playing nice with the Homebrew Channel in the vWii?

(I've loaded other things in the vWii before -- eg: cIOS Installers, etc. without issue -- so I think this is a slim chance, but figured I'd throw it out there)

 

[np247]

Well F.

Tried a 1 GB SD card (from my Wii) and same thing.

So current status is:
- I can load Homebrew Channel (in vWii)
- I can execute "USB Loader GX"
- The only way a drive is detected within USB Loader GX is by using the front (2) USB ports (either configuration works)
- Once a game is executed, it loads into a black screen. The console then becomes entirely unresponsive and has to have the power physically removed from the back.

I've now tried different drives, SD cards, and Y cables...

F.

 

[ignare]

When I go to USB Loader GX it turns my Wiimote to P2 for some reason. Also, it says it doesn't recognize my External HD even though my Wii U does (before making it hidden). It's on the top USB port on the back of the console like you indicated. What's the problem?

 

[comput3rus3r]

Well F.

Tried a 1 GB SD card (from my Wii) and same thing.

So current status is:
- I can load Homebrew Channel (in vWii)
- I can execute "USB Loader GX"
- The only way a drive is detected within USB Loader GX is by using the front (2) USB ports (either configuration works)
- Once a game is executed, it loads into a black screen. The console then becomes entirely unresponsive and has to have the power physically removed from the back.

I've now tried different drives, SD cards, and Y cables...

F.

I'm fairly certain there's something missing in your sd card. double check to make sure all files are there and that the sd card is formatted properly. I say this because like I told you earlier when I swapped sd cards to be able to install a large game I just copied the necessary files to run wup installer but then I forgot about it and when I went to play a vwii game everything loaded up fine in usbloadergx untill i launched the game and got that black screen. At first I was like "wtf" but then I remember I had swapped the sd card. I put my old one back in and it worked again.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

When I go to USB Loader GX it turns my Wiimote to P2 for some reason. Also, it says it doesn't recognize my External HD even though my Wii U does (before making it hidden). It's on the top USB port on the back of the console like you indicated. What's the problem?

You can't use the same hard drive for usbloadergx that you do with the wiiu. You need a separate one formatted properly.

 

[np247]

Hmm. In theory all I should need on the SD card is /apps/usb_loadergx though I thought?

HBC and all cIOS are installed within vWii, and the game themselves are on the 2nd disk. I may be missing something here, but I thought that was all I would need.

 

[johnr283]

This sorta worked for me.

Problem 1:
When Loading USB Loader GX my drive won't initialize if I have it plugged in. I must start with it unplugged then plug it within the 20 second time limit. I'm using a USB powered drive with a Y-splitter. When installing cIOS I used d2xv10-beta52-vWii. So only 1 USB port is available, if this makes a difference.

Problem 2:
How do I plug in my Game Cube controller adapter and my two hard drives (both USB powered)? One for Wii backups and one downloaded WiiU games. I've tried two different powered USB hubs but I can't get it all to work.

 

[johnr283]

I installed d2xv10-beta53-alt-vWii and the drive now works when connected to the WiiU via the Y-splitter. Still no luck the the GC adapter or the USB hub though.

 

[godreborn]

I installed d2xv10-beta53-alt-vWii and the drive now works when connected to the WiiU via the Y-splitter. Still no luck the the GC adapter or the USB hub though.

I wouldn't use a usb hub. the wii u has four usb ports, so you could plug both (unpowered) drives into the system with a y cable or less if powered.

 

[johnr283]

I have two drives with Y-splitters plu the GC adapter has two plug. That's 6 plugs.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

My GC adapter is made by Nyko, listed as the Switch version. Could that be why it doesn't work? There's a separate WiiU version.

 

[godreborn]

quite possibly. the only adapters I've ever used are wii ones to plug a wireless ps2 controller into.

 

[johnr283]

How can I download Wii cover art? When I try, I get stuck at "Initializing Network". I had download them through WiiBackupManager but they didn't save. What about cover art for my GC games?

 

[godreborn]

I can't remember the name of the site that usb loader gx uses (title id website), but I've never encountered that problem. have you tried another backup manager? I've used that and cfg usb loader in the past. however, imo, usb loader gx is the best backup manager. it can be a little confusing at first with all the options, but once you have it configured, you might never look back.

also, not all cover art is available (mostly injects), 'cause I know that valis 2 downloads nothing. some normal games are like that as well. you can also choose what artwork to download in settings.

 

[godreborn]

I think this might be the site: https://www.gametdb.com/Wii/RMGP01

I used super mario galaxy as a search example. injects may not be available.