Hacking USB Loader GX

[tswntk]

But you can't access a FAT32 partition right? When I connect it to my computer it just says I have to reformat it to be able to recognize it.

Are you running Windows?
FAT32 is a format directly from Microsoft. If even Windows can't recognize your FAT32 partition then something is seriously wrong with the partition.
Are you sure its a FAT32 partition not a WBFS one?

 

[Savatage]

In disk management it says that it's in RAW format, don't know whether this is good or not, but it worked most of the time apparently.

 

[Cyan]

then it's not FAT32.
it's WBFS format, and windows doesn't know this format so it displays it as Raw and ask to format it when connected.

You need to use a wbfs manager (not "wbfs manager" but a manager of wbfs files), to modify the games on that partition.
I recommend WiiBackupManager on windows, or Wit/wwt on windows/linux/mac.
do NOT use "wbfs manager" program, it's corrupting games.

if you used this program in the past, that's probably why some games don't work anymore.


What you can do :
keep WBFS partition, but delete non working games and reinstall them with WiiBackupManager.
or
Convert the WBFS partition to FAT32 (look in my signature for tool and guide), then delete the problematic games and use WiiBackupManager to install games to FAT32.

 

[Savatage]

Thanks for the help, but I've already tried transferring the WBFS file with Wii Backup Manager and it didn't work, even though there were no error messages or anything. So converting the partition to FAT32 seems like the only solution left, but will I lose the save files of my existing games when I convert the partition?

 

[Cyan]

saves are stored on the wii.
when you play a game from disc, it doesn't save on the disc.
that's the same with usbloaders, it saves on the console. the USB only contains the ISO, not the user's data.

unless you talk about the ISO themselves, converting does not format and delete, it only converts and keep your games.
but if you already have issue with these games, the issues will stay, it will not repair the corrupted games if any.

 

[Etheboss]

Thanks for the help, but I've already tried transferring the WBFS file with Wii Backup Manager and it didn't work, even though there were no error messages or anything. So converting the partition to FAT32 seems like the only solution left, but will I lose the save files of my existing games when I convert the partition?

If you decide to use FAT32 then there is also this > https://gbatemp.net/threads/wbfs2fat-py.291320/
You should be able to convert without loosing anything..

 

[BlazeHeatnix]

Moving my thread to a post here so it might get more attention...

1. Covers are not showing up. I downloaded every cover imaginable via WiiBackupManager and all custom paths are correct, but in the loader I don't see any of the covers. Even when I download in the loader itself it says "All covers downloaded". All I see is a red circle with a cross through it saying "Cover not found". The covers are on my SD while the games are on the USB, is this a problem?

2. I can't change the background music...the music I want is in OGG format and the music path is set to where it is, but the loader says it's in the wrong file format. I tried mp3 too, that didn't work either.

3. How do I install multi-disc Gamecube games for Nintendont? I know how to do them on pc, but what about installing directly from the discs?

Thanks in advance

 

[GreyWolf]

Moving my thread to a post here so it might get more attention...

1. Covers are not showing up. I downloaded every cover imaginable via WiiBackupManager and all custom paths are correct, but in the loader I don't see any of the covers. Even when I download in the loader itself it says "All covers downloaded". All I see is a red circle with a cross through it saying "Cover not found". The covers are on my SD while the games are on the USB, is this a problem?

2. I can't change the background music...the music I want is in OGG format and the music path is set to where it is, but the loader says it's in the wrong file format. I tried mp3 too, that didn't work either.

3. How do I install multi-disc Gamecube games for Nintendont? I know how to do them on pc, but what about installing directly from the discs?

Thanks in advance

1. What revision of USB Loader GX are you using, and do the covers show up on the drive when you connect it to your PC? Are you sure they're in the right folders on your Wii drive?

2. Your ogg file might be too large. Try a small one and see if it works.

3. It should name the ISO files properly based on which disc you are copying.

 

[BlazeHeatnix]

1. What revision of USB Loader GX are you using, and do the covers show up on the drive when you connect it to your PC? Are you sure they're in the right folders on your Wii drive?

2. Your ogg file might be too large. Try a small one and see if it works.

3. It should name the ISO files properly based on which disc you are copying.

1. I'm using r1256 v3.0. The covers do show up on the drive, I see them in WiiBackupManager. And I'm positive they're in the right folders, but I'll double check here in a minute.

2. I'll try that.

3. Thanks!

 

[Savatage]

then it's not FAT32.
it's WBFS format, and windows doesn't know this format so it displays it as Raw and ask to format it when connected.

You need to use a wbfs manager (not "wbfs manager" but a manager of wbfs files), to modify the games on that partition.
I recommend WiiBackupManager on windows, or Wit/wwt on windows/linux/mac.
do NOT use "wbfs manager" program, it's corrupting games.

if you used this program in the past, that's probably why some games don't work anymore.


What you can do :
keep WBFS partition, but delete non working games and reinstall them with WiiBackupManager.
or
Convert the WBFS partition to FAT32 (look in my signature for tool and guide), then delete the problematic games and use WiiBackupManager to install games to FAT32.

So I converted my hard drive to FAT32 without any issue and put the game on it manually. But yet again, when I start it in USB Loader GX there is a black screen. What I also tried was converting the WBFS to ISO with Wii Backup Manager and running it in the Dolphin Wii emulator and it worked flawlessly, so I can confirm that it's not the fault of the game itself. So is there something going wrong in USB Loader GX?

 

[GreyWolf]

1. I'm using r1256 v3.0. The covers do show up on the drive, I see them in WiiBackupManager. And I'm positive they're in the right folders, but I'll double check here in a minute.

2. I'll try that.

3. Thanks!

On #1: Hmm... if you haven't changed the default path they should be:
2D Isometric (angled) - /apps/usbloader_gx/images/
2D Flat - /apps/usbloader_gx/images/2D
Full covers for 3D view - /apps/usbloader_gx/images/full
Disc labels - /apps/usbloader_gx/images/disc

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

So I converted my hard drive to FAT32 without any issue and put the game on it manually. But yet again, when I start it in USB Loader GX there is a black screen. What I also tried was converting the WBFS to ISO with Wii Backup Manager and running it in the Dolphin Wii emulator and it worked flawlessly, so I can confirm that it's not the fault of the game itself. So is there something going wrong in USB Loader GX?

You get the black screen immediately when you start ULGX or when you launch the game? Try renaming your games/wbfs folders temporarily and starting the loader so it doesn't try to scan your games.

 

[BlazeHeatnix]

Yeah, those are the right folders.

 

[BlazeHeatnix]

2. Your ogg file might be too large. Try a small one and see if it works.

This didn't work. I reduced the filesize to 4.5mb, it still said wrong file format.

 

[Savatage]

You get the black screen immediately when you start ULGX or when you launch the game? Try renaming your games/wbfs folders temporarily and starting the loader so it doesn't try to scan your games.

I only get the black screen when starting up the problematic game, the loader and the rest of my games all work flawlessly. I've tried renaming the folder of said game, but this didn't fix it either.

 

[BlazeHeatnix]

I FINALLY figured out what was wrong with the custom music. I had put the music in the root of the SD and tried to load it from there. The problem was, and I didn't notice at first, was when you open the sound loader the directory says this:

When clicking on any of the folders, it resets:

I put all the music in a music folder instead and that did the trick. Hopefully the dev can fix this little bug so someone else won't be confused like I was.

 

[BlazeHeatnix]

New problem...

None of the EmuNand VC games are running, and they all have strange messed up titles. How do I fix this? I've redumped my Nand to the Emunand several times and it doesn't fix it.

 

[Cyan]

I don't know why you have that many issues.
Other users didn't had them.

But thanks for the SD card path issue, I'll check if there's a problem with the default music path in the settings.

About the channel names, could you try r1246 ?
You can find all revisions here.
https://www.mediafire.com/#t2x95zd9rz3rc

Another user reported having name issues since 1247.
I didn't fix it yet, but would like to be sure you are experimenting the same bug, so I can fix it if you can hemp me debug it.
the other users only reported the issue but I don't have a way to contact him again. having someone else with that issue will be useful.

What is can be :
- the 1247 bug
or
- You don't have WiiTDB.xml (go settings>update>wiitdb, and download it. then go to settings>features>use Wiitdb titles : enable it)
it will use real name instead of gameID.


Info for other users:
Today, I didn't have a lot of things to do at my work, so I decided to work on the loader
I coded the Wad batch install, I know lot of users are waiting for this.
I need to test it now, or if someone is willing to test it too you can let me know. only users not afraid of corrupting EmuNAND, it can bug so only users with backups please. thanks.

edit:
I compiled it, but didn't test it.
At least, it compiled fine
I will have more time this weekend, as it's Xmass and there's no work, but if there are interested beta testers that will be nice.


I did it like this :
it's asking if you want file or folder, and for both you can select install or uninstall.
for the batch install, it will tell you how much wad files are found. If a file has issues while installing it will be uninstalled to clean the emuNAND data and at the ends of the batch tells you how many weren't installed/uninstalled successfully.
it's missing only the "export to csv" but it should be easy to add too.
I would prefer seeing a list of problematic wads directly in the loader instead of exporting to csv and needing to exit the loader to read that file.

 

[BlazeHeatnix]

What is can be :
- the 1247 bug
or
- You don't have WiiTDB.xml (go settings>update>wiitdb, and download it. then go to settings>features>use Wiitdb titles : enable it)
it will use real name instead of gameID.

That doesn't explain why they won't run. Also I do have the latest Wiitdb, the names still aren't showing up. I have that option enabled as well.

 

[Cyan]

ah, yes, you are right.

I think the issue is the same than the music. All your paths are probably bad.
I think the setting file has been created badly, it might contains a bad character as "end of line".

Did you try reseting the settings?
delete the GXglobal.cfg file, it will reset all the settings and recreate all the paths. it should create proper path and line end character (\n not \r\n)

 

[tswntk]

New problem...

None of the EmuNand VC games are running, and they all have strange messed up titles. How do I fix this? I've redumped my Nand to the Emunand several times and it doesn't fix it.

I would suggest you backup your SD card, make a full re-format with SD Formatter and move the files back, reset ULGX settings and setup again. You may need to rebuilt the EmuNand too if it still fail.