Hacking USB Loader GX - Multiple USB Drives.

[Cyan]

Clutz setup is the best you can achieve to get everything at the same time.
like he said, the only issue is that some HDD have initialization problem and putting the loader on USB force the drive to init by using IOS58 (the forwarder uses IOS58).
I didn't know you had to re-launch the forwarder a second time, maybe the init delay in the forwarder is too short.

I'm trying to edit the way the loader is booting too, using IOS58 by default instead of cIOS, so you don't need to put it on USB or launch the forwarder twice.
I haven't done enough tests yet, I only released few beta version (1269mod) but users reported it didn't help that much. at least it boot faster, but has the same init problem. I need more work on it.

 

[Clutz450]

I didn't know you had to re-launch the forwarder a second time, maybe the init delay in the forwarder is too short.

It's not just USB Loader GX. It's anything that I try to launch that needs to read the hard drive. Like if I go into the Homebrew channel and try to load up USB toggle to hide or unhide my drive, the first time I go into it, it says no drive found (or some other kind of error) and then I exit back to homebrew channel. Then when I load up USB toggle again, it works. The reason why I had to put the USB Loader app on my USB drive was because if I had it on the SD card and I would load the forwarder it would find the app and start to load. But when it got to the part where it would look for my hard drive it would freeze and I would have to manually turn off my Wii or Wii U. At least by putting the app on my hard drive, when I would load the forwarder it would try to find the app and I can see my hard drive light blinking but nothing would be found so it would kick me back to the Wii menu. Then when I launched it a second time it would work.

I think this has something to do when the drive is being powered up with the Wii starting up because if I were to start up the Wii with the drive unplugged and then plug it back in when on the Wii Menu, everything works great. And that's the way I used to use this drive before I figured out my work around.

So basically, I think it's an issue with my drive, not your program. But if you wanted to try and fix it, the only way I can see that working is if the app could not crash or error out at the first failed attempt to access the drive and try it again a second or third time.

 

[Bertuga]

Hi!

I'm trying the setup with the 2 HDDs, but it freezes on "Reinitializing USB Devices". If I unplug the Wii U HDD before running the loader, it works just fine. The Wii HDD is hidden with UStealth.

When I started using the HDD for Wii and GC games, it would freeze on "Initialize USB", it was fixed by changing the meta.xml putting --ios=58, I don't know if it has any relation with this issue.

I followed the vWii definitive guide to setup everything.

Do you guys have any ideas?

 

[Cyan]

maybe it's related to Clutz problem, did you try to put USBLoaderGX on USB instead of SD?
this way, the loader will not boot if the HDD is not ready, preventing a freeze/launch without HDD enabled.
it will exit back to the vWii menu if the hdd is not ready, you'll have to re-launch the loader a second time.

I hope to find the problem and fix this issue, but it's easier if I could see it by myself. I bought a HDD which is supposedly having the init issue (same model suggested by another user), but I didn't test it yet.

 

[Bertuga]

maybe it's related to Clutz problem, did you try to put USBLoaderGX on USB instead of SD?
this way, the loader will not boot if the HDD is not ready, preventing a freeze/launch without HDD enabled.
it will exit back to the vWii menu if the hdd is not ready, you'll have to re-launch the loader a second time.

I hope to find the problem and fix this issue, but it's easier if I could see it by myself. I bought a HDD which is supposedly having the init issue (same model suggested by another user), but I didn't test it yet.

Here's what happened.

I tried putting the apps/ on the HDD and removing them from the SD. When I open the HBC nothing is shown. If I remove the Wii U HD and re-plug the HD with the apps, then it shows the apps and loads USB Loader (and it only works if I make the partition visible on UStealth).

Re-plugging the HD also used to solve the issue of freezing on "Initializing USB".

If I open HBC with just the HD with the apps/ (without re-plugging), press 1 and set to USB, it crashes (DSI Exception). If both HDDs are connected and I select USB on options, it crashes. If both HDDs are connected and the SD is inserted and I select the USB on options, HBC doesn't find anything, but it doesn't crash.

Man, that's crazy.

 

[Cyan]

don't open HBC, use the forwarder channel to launch the loader.
HBC is not updated to mount hidden drives.

 

[Bertuga]

don't open HBC, use the forwarder channel to launch the loader.
HBC is not updated to mount hidden drives.

I forgot to say I tried it a couple of times, it sends me back to the menu.

I'll try some more times when I get home.

 

[Cyan]

That's what's supposed to happen. returning back to the menu as long as the HDD is not initialized. launching the forwarder a second time after failing once is what Klutz experiences.
If multi-launch of the forwarder doesn't work, it's maybe another init issue, maybe your drive doesn't re-init after it has power off without unplugging/replugging it.

 

[Bertuga]

Ok, so I tried the forwarder.

If both HDDs are connected, it will send me back to the wii menu, no matter how many times I try.

If I unplug the Wii U HDD, the forwarder opens the USB Loader.

If I plug it back then try the forwarder again, it send me back to the wii menu again.

 

[lordelan]

But when it got to the part where it would look for my hard drive it would freeze and I would have to manually turn off my Wii or Wii U.

That's what I'm having ever since and it sucks so hard because I have to get up my couch and hold the power button of the console for a few seconds for a hard shutdown (and I'm a lazy bastard).
So I went inside USBLGX to settings and changed the IOS to 58 (like Cyan told me 1 or 2 years ago) but that caused many of my Wii games (like FIFA 11) not to launch anymore and neek wasn't working as well so my only solution was, to change the IOS back to 56 (or what was the default?), launch WiiFlow and from there USB Loader GX as WiiFlow never has that init issue. I wasn't aware that I just could have put USB Loader GX on USB and that would work with the forwarder channel as well. Having to run the forwarder channel two times to make it launch is still not perfect but better than the not so smart way over WiiFlow.

the forwarder uses IOS58

Only the forwarder? But when it boots up the actual USBLGX app, I will be on the IOS that I put in the settings there, right? Because as I wrote above, IOS58 is preventing some Wii games to launch for me.

I hope to find the problem and fix this issue, but it's easier if I could see it by myself. I bought a HDD which is supposedly having the init issue (same model suggested by another user), but I didn't test it yet.

That sound's fantastic. You're the man, Cyan!

One question to @Cyan and @Clutz450: It's been ages since I softmodded my vWii and set everything up.
If I am about to install that cios d2x-v10-beta52-vWii with the modified FAT.app thing, would I have to uninstall my current cIOS or something like that? Tbh I never really got my brain into all that cIOS/IOS sort of things.
I hope I could keep it simple and just install that over my current setup with Yet Another Wad Manager, install newest USBLGX (can I update from within to your newest patches, Cyan, or did you just release them beta like only here? If yes, where can I get the latest build?) and obviously newest Nintendont which has that drive skipping feature.

 

[Cyan]

you don't have to uninstall a cIOS, just overwrite it with the one you want.

If the loader uses IOS58 "when you are inside the loader's interface", then it shouldn't have different game compatibility, as games always reload to "game's IOS" (default is 249) before launching.
The only exception is launching homebrew (nintendont, devolution, and the one from the homebrew browser menu)

the issue you can get is launching NAND channel (not emuNAND), which seems to behave differently based on the loader's IOS (if the loader uses IOS58 or not, some channels like WiiMC or HBC have different results).

Maybe you mix "IOS58" and "cIOS using IOS58 as base".
using a "base58" is not very compatible with games. you better use a cIOS based on the official IOS57 (d2x cIOS v10r52 base57)


Don't install the wad with YAWMM (unless you have that cIOS with the version you want, with the base you want, for the slot you want ?)
you better replace the FAT.app on your SD card, and reinstall the cIOS using "d2x cIOS installer".

http://www.mediafire.com/file/d6cr1...2.2mod+by+FIX94-v10-beta52_beta53alt-vWii.zip
extract that to SD, replace FAT.app in /10/d2x r52 folder
then install d2x v10 r52, base 57 in slot 249.


USBLoaderGX latest update is 1268 manually, or 1260 internally (I forgot to push the version to 1268)
the beta 1269 mod3 is only available on this forum, in the main thread. I don't provide betas outside this forum or on other websites, because I want users to be active to report to me after testing it. it's not stable and for everyday uses.


I recommend you get 1268 (for the official site, click on the green Download button)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/usbloadergx/

For the latest nintendont, link is in the first post of the official thread. (auto-update might be dead due to SSL update on github since last month)

 

[lordelan]

[...]

Thank you so much Cyan.
I have to wait until I get my new drives to start my setup but I'll proceed as you said.

 

[SteelWolf89]

This thread is semi relevant to an issue i'm currently having.

I'm wanting to have 2 USB drives set up. One 128gb formatted for Wii U titles (already set up and working as intended), the other 128gb for Gamecube and Wii titles.

Gamecube games are through Nintendont w/ Wii U Gamepad support and Wii games are via USB Loader GX running directly from vWii w/ no Wii U dashboard or gamepad support.

The issue i'm having is that I don't know what format to set the 2nd USB drive as, or even how to set it up. it's a 128gb drive, same as the one for Wii U games.

i DID have the SD card set up for gamecube games, but wanted the extra space the 128gb usb drive offers, hence my conundrum of how to format the USB drive. Nintendont supports FAT32 and ExFAT, USB Loader GX supports NTFS. Wii U doesn't support ExFAT, so i'm stuck :/

 

[lordelan]

This thread is semi relevant to an issue i'm currently having.

I'm wanting to have 2 USB drives set up. One 128gb formatted for Wii U titles (already set up and working as intended), the other 128gb for Gamecube and Wii titles.

Gamecube games are through Nintendont w/ Wii U Gamepad support and Wii games are via USB Loader GX running directly from vWii w/ no Wii U dashboard or gamepad support.

The issue i'm having is that I don't know what format to set the 2nd USB drive as, or even how to set it up. it's a 128gb drive, same as the one for Wii U games.

i DID have the SD card set up for gamecube games, but wanted the extra space the 128gb usb drive offers, hence my conundrum of how to format the USB drive. Nintendont supports FAT32 and ExFAT, USB Loader GX supports NTFS. Wii U doesn't support ExFAT, so i'm stuck :/

That second drive should be FAT32 with 32 k cluster size.
I'm not that much into injection. Would GamePad support require you to inject GC games into Wii U VC titles? If yes it only can go on the same HDD as your Wii U games.
But if you're just to use USB Loader GX and Nintendont then you're good to go with FAT32. Just put everything on it and hide it afterwards with UStealth (from PC) or USB Trigger (from HBC) to avoid the annoying pop up at Wii U boot.

 

[Cyan]

gamepad support for Wii requires injection and launch from WiiU (not from vWii USBLoaders)
gamepad support for gamecube is either using injection or not (you can inject nintendont forwarder, or USBLoaderGX forwarder) to load gamecube from SD.

FAT32 is the way to go, if possible use MBR instead of GPT. (more homebrew will be compatible)
and like he said, use Ustealth app or homebrew to hide the drive from the wiiU menu (and other hardware too, only vWii will see it until you unhide it)

 

[SteelWolf89]

gamepad support for Wii requires injection and launch from WiiU (not from vWii USBLoaders)
gamepad support for gamecube is either using injection or not (you can inject nintendont forwarder, or USBLoaderGX forwarder) to load gamecube from SD.

FAT32 is the way to go, if possible use MBR instead of GPT. (more homebrew will be compatible)
and like he said, use Ustealth app or homebrew to hide the drive from the wiiU menu (and other hardware too, only vWii will see it until you unhide it)

What tool would you recommend for formatting the USB drive? As it's larger than 32gb, FAT32 doesn't come up as an option when formatting on Windows 10. I'm fine with just using the command prompt to do it, but i need to know what the command would be to get the settings i want.

Edit: I figured it out.
for changing the drive to MBR, the command prompt made this SUPER easy:
diskpart > list disk > select disk > clean disk > convert mbr
after that, just format to FAT32 and 32kb cluster size via GUIformat.

Edit#2: keep getting "WARNING: USB FAT device could not be opened" in Nintendont no matter what i try.
I tried having my Wii U drive unplugged, tried using different USB ports, even tried doing it without the official gamecube adaptor plugged in. nothing seems to work.
Should I do a full IOS reinstall of some sort to fix this?
what would be the best course of action to prevent a vWii and Wii U brick?

 

[Cyan]

use this one to format the partition (you did, so it's good) :
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm


do not touch your console's setup, the problem is certainly the hardware (your HDD and how it's formatted)
also, you need a Y-cable, or an external power for the HDD, or else it will not be detected.

how are you launching nintendont for the test ?
launch vWii, then launch HBC, then launch nintendont ? if not, try that first! just to be sure where the problem is (either nintendont, or the hardware, or the console)

 

[snoofly]

I’m planning to migrate my setup to that mentioned by Clutz.
I was considering a 3 HDD setup but considering vWii can take 4TB drive I’ll go that route.
I’ve already got a 2 HDD setup but with d2x v10 53 from back in the pre Nintendont 460 days
and want to ‘upgrade’ to 52. Also I use Wiiflow but may well switch over to USBLoader

Any feedback I’ll let you know.

 

[Cyan]

Why use a 3 HDD setup ? some users reported issue with HUB with the "3 hdd setup", don't take the risk.
It was necessary only because of Nintendont restriction, but it's not a problem anymore.
Use a 2 HDD setup, it's fine.

1HDD (2TB) for WiiU, 1HDD (up to 2TB to 4TB, even bigger but unnecessary) for vWii.

replace your d2x v10-alt (r53) which has issues with hardware and wii games, with r52 and plug vWii in slot0, that's all you need now.

 

[snoofly]

Why use a 3 HDD setup ? some users reported issue with HUB with the "3 hdd setup", don't take the risk.
It was necessary only because of Nintendont restriction, but it's not a problem anymore.
Use a 2 HDD setup, it's fine.

1HDD (2TB) for WiiU, 1HDD (up to 2TB to 4TB, even bigger but unnecessary) for vWii.

replace your d2x v10-alt (r53) which has issues with hardware and wii games, with r52 and plug vWii in slot0, that's all you need now.

Sure, no need for 3 HDD.
I'm in process of migrating my existing 2 HDD to one using r52.
So far, I've swapped ports utilising the Nintendont update, updated my cios to r52 and dumped and setup emunands to both sd and usb as well as setup neek2o.
Tested some WW stuff and some work, one black screens (probably a region issue or a bad wad)
No issue with drive not being found on first try.
So all in all, pretty damn fine!

OK, last update for now.

Everything is working peachy!

Just copying all my backups over to the bigger vWii drive.

Took me a little while to find the instruction on how to properly format a 4 TB to MBR Fat32 one single partition.
What worked for me was WD Quick Format tool followed gui format.
Using the diskpart instructions always seemed to give me 2 partitions which I don't really want.

I did get one issue with the new drive, where loading USB Loader it hung on initializing usb drive.
I figured this maybe related to the point @Clutz made about how on first boot the drive not getting initialized and needing to run it again, although in my case it seemed hung for good.
I did as suggested and removed USBLoaderGX from from SD and copied the latest version (to be sure) to my USB (clean install) and it seems to work great, so far haven't had to start it twice either.

Haven't tried any WWs that require neek yet but everything else tested is working great.

Many many thanks @Cyan for all of your brilliant how-to posts on various aspects of these setups.
Without them I would have had a much harder time trying to set everything up.