USB Loader GX EmuNAND setup, VC games work but most WiiWare games stuck at black screen

[sockscap]

It's a 4.3J console. I've followed this guide to setup EmuNAND. So basically, I use USB Loader GX to Dump NAND to EmuNAND, and set EmuNAND Channel Mode as Full. Then use EmuNAND WAD Manager to install WiiWare/VC games.

I've tested a couple of VC games, all of them are working.
- Arcade: Ninja Gaiden (USA) (Arcade) & Tank Force (Japan) (Arcade)
- Nes: Ninja Gaiden III - The Ancient Ship of Doom (USA) (NES)
- N64: Super Mario 64 (USA) (N64) & Sin & Punishment (USA) (N64)
Note: N64 games prompt that classic controller is required, which I don't currently have. But at least it loads and gives prompt.

However, when I try WiiWare games, most of them just stuck at black screen. I've tested a dozen of games, only two of them work:
- Contra ReBirth (USA)
- Cave Story (USA) (v258)
Note: I think my EmuNAND itself is fine since VC games and at least 2 WiiWare games work.

La-Mulana (USA) prompts that system file is corrupted. I also tried La-Mulana (Japan) as my console is Japan region, which gave error message as well. As it's in Japanese, I don't really understand what it says, but I guess it's the same system file corruption message. BTW, both wad files work fine in Dolphin emulator. So it's unlikely the wad file issue.

All other WiiWare games just stuck at black screen, including:
- And Yet It Moves (USA)
- Bomberman Blast (USA)
- Gradius ReBirth (USA) (v257)
- LostWinds (USA)
- LostWinds - Winter of the Melodias (USA)
- Mega Man 9 (USA)
- Mega Man 10 (USA)
- Toki Tori (USA)

According to https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Wii_cIOS_EmuNAND_Compatibility_List, the above game should be compatible with EmuNAND. I use the standard cIOS setup and for troubleshooting purpose, I also install d2x-v10beta52 in slot 246/247 (as most old guides suggests v8 or v10beta52). I also enable Region Free EVERYTHING hack in Priiloader.

IOS246[56] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v10beta52): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS247[57] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v10beta52): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS248[38] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access
IOS249[56] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS250[57] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS251[58] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

The troubleshooting steps I've tried (use Gradius ReBirth as an example):
1. Enable Patch Country Strings, and set Game Language to English (because it's USA game on Japan EmuNAND). It doesn't help (black screen).
2. Uninstall the channel. Use wwPacker to make Gradius ReBirth (USA) (v257) region free, then reinstall. But it doesn't help (still black screen).
Note: Contra ReBirth (USA) & Cave Story (USA) (v258) simply work without wwPacker patch.
3. Clean USB Loader GX setup on a new SD card, dump a new EmuNAND and install Gradius ReBirth (Japan) (v256) only, in case only Japan version works on Japan EmuNAND. However, it's the same black screen.
4. Follow blackb0x's guide, disable the 480p fix. video mode to Force NTSC480p or Region Patch. Same black screen.
5. Use per-game setting to use cIOS 246 (d2x-v10beta52 base on IOS 56) & cIOS 247 (d2x-v10beta52 base on IOS 57). Same black screen.

I'm running out of idea. Anyone knows how to make these games work?

 

[sockscap]

I've done some further testing. WiiFlow Lite has same black screen issue. Both USB Loader GX and WiiFlow Lite are using latest versions. I've also tried last USB Loader GX official build r1271. The result is the same.

However, Uloader is able to run Gradius ReBirth (USA) (v257) successfully in EmuNAND. I know, I know, this is very outdated, and it doesn't even support my 32GB SDHC card. I have to find an old 1GB SD card to do the test. But at least that proves the wad file is fine.

Any ideas?

 

[XFlak]

Have u tried setting the game language to English in the loader's game specific settings?

 

[sockscap]

Have u tried setting the game language to English in the loader's game specific settings?

Yes, I've tried that (tshoot step 1 mentioned above), but it didn't help. I've also tried all cIOS below. Unfortunately it's always black screen.

IOS244[56] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v8final): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS245[57] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v8final): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS246[56] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v10beta52): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS247[57] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v10beta52): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS248[38] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access
IOS249[56] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS250[57] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS251[58] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

I'm not sure if the issue is Japan console specific, because I see in the forum that v8/v10beta52 should work for these games. The stange thing is, Gradius ReBirth (Japan) (v256) doesn't work either on Japan console (tshoot step 3 mentioned above).

 

[worm28]

I had the same problem when i dumped my nand with usb loader gx i had to extract my bootmii nand.bin with showmiiwads and use that to get wiiware games to work or you could use modmii to build a working emunand.

 

[sockscap]

I had the same problem when i dumped my nand with usb loader gx i had to extract my bootmii nand.bin with showmiiwads and use that to get wiiware games to work or you could use modmii to build a working emunand.

Man you inspired me. I'm able to identify the root cause of the issue finally. Thanks a lot!

I try to use bootmiii nand dump, but the issue persists. I also try to use modmii to build a new EmuNAND with same region and same serial number as the physical console. However, it doesn't work and even Contra Rebirth which previously works cannot run. In addition, the wiimote no loner syncs to the console after reboot, I have to resync it. In the ModWii wizard, I choose "no" for all optional components, not sure if some of them are actually required.

Anyway, as I already have ShowMiiWads setup, so I think, why not use it to install the wads directly in the EmuNAND? Guess what, these games suddenly work like a charm! Also, La-Mulana no longer complains system file corruption.

So, it's EmuNAND WAD Manager that causes the issue. The games fail to run because they aren't installed properly. It's unbelievable that no users report this issue before. My wild guess is, the Japan console might have non-Ascii chars in NAND and somehow cIOS or EmuNAND WAD Manager cannot handle it properly, or maybe it's just a specific issue of my console, and strangely it doesn't cause problem playing Wii games.

 

[qWii]

Hi! Just for the record: I had the same problem, and came to the same solution: use always ShowMiiWads instead of USBLGX or Wiiflow to populate an emunand. It's not related with the Wii being Japanese, it can happen in any emunand irrespective to the region. The problem is that neither USBGLX nor Wiiflow are installing the shared content of the wads, which can lead in some specific (but infrequent) scenarios to this kind of errors.

 

[lovewiibrew]

Hi! Just for the record: I had the same problem, and came to the same solution: use always ShowMiiWads instead of USBLGX or Wiiflow to populate an emunand. It's not related with the Wii being Japanese, it can happen in any emunand irrespective to the region. The problem is that neither USBGLX nor Wiiflow are installing the shared content of the wads, which can lead in some specific (but infrequent) scenarios to this kind of errors.

I've used modmii to build a fresh nand and build uneek+di and then installed my games using showmiiwads. I've placed everything in their appropriate folders on sd and usb. I still can't get most games to load. When I try to boot into neek it never gets past a black screen. Do you have anymore pointers?

 

[qWii]

Hello lovewiibrew, I have encountered other problems that may help you. I suppose you are trying neek and also full, because neek takes you (always?) to a black screen. This is a very generic problem, but anyway, may be you can try:

• Black screen when booting in NEEK. In my case this happened because the emunand had too much content installed before booting it for the first time. So, you can try just to create a "light" emunand, without any fancy options (no ciso support, no menus, no extra forwarders, .... just install the four default Nintendo titles modmii suggest at the end of the setup). Now go to USBLGX and try to boot it in Neek mode. In 30 - 60'' the Wii setup menu should appear. If so, pair the wiimote and complete all the steps, and 30'' after, the beloved Wii Menu should appear. If this works, you can copy the emunand back to your PC and install whatever you need with ShowMiiiWads. Then you can try again to boot into neek mode. The channels you have installed will be there, and you can test directly from the (emunand) Wii menu whether they work or not. Finally, you can forget about booting in Neek mode and just configure in the USBLGX individual settings the Channels that needs to boot in NEEK mode .
  
  
• If this doesn't work, I would suggest trying a simpler setup >> Just sneek without DI support. All content from SD. In fact, this is the only scenario I've tried and it has worked quite well for me.
  
  
• Problems when using Full Mode with a EMUNAND build with modmii. Every time I tried Full Mode with a modmii emunand, the game blocked. In NEEK mode it worked fine. Ok, not a huge drama, but most of the times NEEK mode is not really neded, Full is just enough and is quicker both to boot and to return to USBLGX when exiting... To get a modmii emunand to work in Full Mode, you can try this:
  • Build your modmii emunand in the region you need and boot it ( some extra folders will appear).
  • Export your real nand to a emunand.
  • Copy the content of ${exported_emunand}/sys to ${modmii_emunand)}/sys

I'm not very fond of copying content, but this is the only workaround I've found. With this, you can use the modmii emunand both for full and for neek. It is a simpler setup to try the compatibility of any channel with full or neek mode.​

Ok, this has been a big digression and I'm not even sure if it will help you, because as you know the black screen can be caused by so many different reasons. Let's see if we have gotten any of the problems right. If not, the usual action plan should be to verify that you have not missed any step in https://wii.hacks.guide/cios and that all installed versions (ciso, usbglx) are up to date. Good luck!