Hacking USB Loader GX

[Cyan]

Game - No.
EmuNAND - If it's set to the correct Path in USB Loader GX Settings, why wouldn't it work?
Dump - No.
USB - No.
SD Card - No.

ok, it's not the game, because you said other games had the same issue.

emunand and dump :
if the path is correct and it doesn't work, that's because "your system file is corrupted" (hint)
Did you actually tried another EmuNAND dump ? don't just "think" it will do the same problem, try it really.
set a different path in USBGX, go to feature menu and use the "nand dump" option. then install a wad using the internal wad installer. now try again.

usb and Sd "no", you mean you tested another device, or you "think" it's no use?
I can also just "think" that it always work for every users so you just have bad luck, because there's no issues at all, it's just little djin playing magic on you. there's nothing wrong with your setup, console, games, cIOS, SD, USB, path, dump, nothing wrong, but it (whoever/whatever IT is) just don't want you to play games.
If you want to fix an issue, you have to actually debug and try things, not just think it's not useful and waste of time.

If you said it used to work "before the reset", then maybe the cIOS slot was different and the reset set it back to 249.
Maybe you used a different base ? did you try different slots? try it, don't "wait for me to tell you to test things".

if you use slot249 for cIOS Full mode, then it's fine.
but I see you have a lot of other d2x v10 base in other slots. they are not needed but if you have them you can keep them, no harm.
no game should require you to use slot 245-248 (base 37-55)
if you want more emuNAND compatibility, you could install older cIOS in these unuseful slots, like rev17 and rev19 for N64 VC games.


@sideskroll :
Nice bug catching
Trying (and that's the keyword) lot of things and narrowing it to find the exact pattern to reproduce the bug is what a good beta tester should do!
I never did it myself when I was the main tester, there are so much possibilities and things to test that alone it's not possible to think what could be tested.
I can take a look at the new bug (wiimote not pointing the tv), but sorry I don't know what's the issue with your previous bug.
It seems to me a UI memory issue, like Grey wolf said, try replicating it with different layout, or different game count, to see if it triggers at different spot (specific game count, etc.)
I know it's a lot of things to test, and I don't even know if I will be able to fix it, so it might be beta test for nothing, but knowing the bugs someone else could have idea how to fix it.


I wanted to release 1260 today for 2016 celebration, but I'm always afraid of releasing new version.
I always add bugs while fixing others.
I should release more often too, instead of letting users with bugged version for so long.

Maybe a beta for you to test?
Maybe january 1st is not the best day ? people will be busy with family?

 

[ngs428]

I wanted to release 1260 today for 2016 celebration, but I'm always afraid of releasing new version.
I always add bugs while fixing others.
I should release more often too, instead of letting users with bugged version for so long.

Maybe a beta for you to test?
Maybe january 1st is not the best day ? people will be busy with family?

Are you experiencing bugs with 1260 that you can't fix? Release it we will test.

 

[Magnus87]

I'm always waiting for test a new release

 

[DonsSword]

I assumed they would, but I get nothing for these titles, even though I can find artwork in GameTDB.com.

I definitely have a country mismatch of some sort. My SNES9xGX app on my Wii comes up as PAL within USBLoaderGX.

 

[Cyan]

Snes9xGX is an emulator, not a game. USBLoaderGX doesn't list homebrew.
The only listed homebrew are in the homebrew browser, and there's no region information tied to them.

If you created channels or forwarders to emulators, then the region is based on the 4th letter in the game ID.
personal channels and personal injects are not official and can be any TitleID you want, there's no way to detect region.
if you want to match a specific region, edit the titleID.


A,B,U,X = Region free
E,N = NTSCU
J = NTSC J
K,Q,T = NTSC K
W = NTSC T
Everything else = PAL

That's only a displayed text, it doesn't affect video mode, or compatibility.

 

[DonsSword]

Thanks.

I have actually found that the "correct" IDs are held in the file TitlesCache.bin.

So, I just need to DL the box art, update the ID file to match what is found in TitlesCache.bin, and then it shows up correctly.

 

[sideskroll]

ok, it's not the game, because you said other games had the same issue.

emunand and dump :
if the path is correct and it doesn't work, that's because "your system file is corrupted" (hint)
Did you actually tried another EmuNAND dump ? don't just "think" it will do the same problem, try it really.
set a different path in USBGX, go to feature menu and use the "nand dump" option. then install a wad using the internal wad installer. now try again.

usb and Sd "no", you mean you tested another device, or you "think" it's no use?
I can also just "think" that it always work for every users so you just have bad luck, because there's no issues at all, it's just little djin playing magic on you. there's nothing wrong with your setup, console, games, cIOS, SD, USB, path, dump, nothing wrong, but it (whoever/whatever IT is) just don't want you to play games.
If you want to fix an issue, you have to actually debug and try things, not just think it's not useful and waste of time.

If you said it used to work "before the reset", then maybe the cIOS slot was different and the reset set it back to 249.
Maybe you used a different base ? did you try different slots? try it, don't "wait for me to tell you to test things".

if you use slot249 for cIOS Full mode, then it's fine.
but I see you have a lot of other d2x v10 base in other slots. they are not needed but if you have them you can keep them, no harm.
no game should require you to use slot 245-248 (base 37-55)
if you want more emuNAND compatibility, you could install older cIOS in these unuseful slots, like rev17 and rev19 for N64 VC games.


@sideskroll :
Nice bug catching
Trying (and that's the keyword) lot of things and narrowing it to find the exact pattern to reproduce the bug is what a good beta tester should do!
I never did it myself when I was the main tester, there are so much possibilities and things to test that alone it's not possible to think what could be tested.
I can take a look at the new bug (wiimote not pointing the tv), but sorry I don't know what's the issue with your previous bug.
It seems to me a UI memory issue, like Grey wolf said, try replicating it with different layout, or different game count, to see if it triggers at different spot (specific game count, etc.)
I know it's a lot of things to test, and I don't even know if I will be able to fix it, so it might be beta test for nothing, but knowing the bugs someone else could have idea how to fix it.


I wanted to release 1260 today for 2016 celebration, but I'm always afraid of releasing new version.
I always add bugs while fixing others.
I should release more often too, instead of letting users with bugged version for so long.

Maybe a beta for you to test?
Maybe january 1st is not the best day ? people will be busy with family?

And I'm still "trying".
what are the changes in 1260? just optimizations or new features/options? Is it a beta or RC?
More than January 1st not being the best day because of my family I'd say it's because I'm still kinda hangover from last night LOL.
But yeah, I'm up for it.I'll do my best (or my worst in this to crash it )

 

[sideskroll]

Hmmm, @sideskroll do this, fetch first HDD sentinel (get the free version)

second, plug your HDD to the PC and let HDD sentinel give it a look, tell us about it's health, SMART, etc. It could be that the disk is dying or has a shitload of bad sectors., same to @Larsenv

I didn't get HDD sentinel but I can give you the S.M.A.R.T data from CrystalDiskInfo if you want it.
Maybe you see something I don't although I doubt it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (3) WDC WD10JMVW-11AJGS3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Enclosure : WD Elements 1078 USB Device (V=1058, P=1078, sa1) - wd
           Model : WDC WD10JMVW-11AJGS3
        Firmware : 01.01A01
   Serial Number : WD-WX41A950X394
       Disk Size : 1000.2 GB (8.4/137.4/1000.2/1000.1)
     Buffer Size : 8192 KB
     Queue Depth : 32
    # of Sectors : 1953525168
   Rotation Rate : 5400 RPM
       Interface : USB (Serial ATA)
   Major Version : ACS-2
   Minor Version : ----
   Transfer Mode : SATA/300 | SATA/300
  Power On Hours : 58 hours
  Power On Count : 13 count
     Temperature : 33 C (91 F)
   Health Status : Good
        Features : S.M.A.R.T., APM, 48bit LBA, NCQ
       APM Level : 0080h [ON]
       AAM Level : ----

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 100 253 _51 000000000000 Read Error Rate
03 121 120 _21 000000001345 Spin-Up Time
04 100 100 __0 00000000001E Start/Stop Count
05 200 200 140 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 200 200 __0 000000000000 Seek Error Rate
09 100 100 __0 00000000003A Power-On Hours
0A 100 253 __0 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0B 100 253 __0 000000000000 Recalibration Retries
0C 100 100 __0 00000000000D Power Cycle Count
C0 200 200 __0 000000000006 Power-off Retract Count
C1 200 200 __0 00000000005F Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 114 _91 __0 000000000021 Temperature
C4 200 200 __0 000000000000 Reallocation Event Count
C5 200 200 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 100 253 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000000 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
C8 100 253 __0 000000000000 Write Error Rate

Thanks for trying to help though.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I didn't get HDD sentinel

checking the smart it seems to not have any reallocation, which could be good, do a short self test.

 

[sideskroll]

checking the smart it seems to not have any reallocation, which could be good, do a short self test.

I already did. Everything checks out. Like I said, the drive is 100% functional (and as you can tell by the Power-On Hours) it's basically new.
In fact, EVERY TIME I get a new drive be it internal or external I immediately run diskpart/clean all on it before formatting.
Everything is working fine (mechanically at least). I'm still trying to find the pattern that leads to the bug (even if it is caused by the HDD and thus non-fixable) So @Cyan can take a look and *hopefully* find a workaround.
By the way, I'd love for the person who entered this drive into the compatibility list to give us an update. And maybe tell us if he needed to use IOS 58 for it to even load, or what...

 

[sideskroll]

@Cyan did some more tests.
I can confirm with 99% certainty that the issue is SOMEHOW caused by these stupid new HDD s.
I managed to get a different type of lock up this time. And this time it was with the wiimote by itself so we can take the CCP out of the equation.
I loaded a game, paused it and let it idle till the wiimote turned off. After that I turned the wiimote on again, pressed home and exited to Wii menu (loader). Once in the loader i started to scroll +/- from beginning to end. Back and forth. At about the third time around the banners started to NOT APPEAR (even though I could still click on them and get the channel view no problem. Not sure if they would load or not as I didn't get to that) anyway. When the banners started to disappear I entered the loader's settings (which worked fine AFAIK) and when I exited to the loader I was greeted with a hard lockup and this screen:[Attached]

The music still plays in the background and I can see and move the pointer(hand) still. i just cant access ANYTHING. no home menu, no on-screen options (they're just not there. I tried blindly clicking/selecting thinking that they might be hidden or something...)
Anyway. What to do? What could be causing this? Games work fine as far as I can tell. Is there something that might be preventing access to the HDD? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Any more tests I could do? Do you have ANY idea whatsoever as to what could be causing such a weird bug/issue? It doesn't freeze, It doesn't dump. It just... I don't know. I guess the GUI just calls it a day and packs its sh!t up.

*EDIT* could the length of the y-cable cause this? The only y-cable I could find is a fairly long one (1.5 meters or about 59 inches). Although I guess if that were the case it would simply not work. Right?
Man, this sh1t is really busting my nuts. How I wish my old drive would still be alive. Crappy Chinese no-name brand enclosures FTW!

*EDIT2* This is a public service announcement (seeing as this HDD is fairly common and there is only 1 person that added it to the compatibility list. No confirmations) could anyone with this specific WD USB 3.0 drive (and who has used it beyond making sure it loads and calling it a day) confirm if the issue is on my side or widespread? (and by "using it" I mean played games. Finished some of them. USED IT.
The P/N is WDBUZG0010BBK-04, The model is WDBUZG0010BBK-NESN. I'm attaching the screen-cap of the compatibility entry just in case the person who did it sees this. Maybe by now he/she can give us an update.

 

[Cyan]

update the ID file to match what is found in TitlesCache.bin, and then it shows up correctly.

I should really add a way to refresh the cache file.
It should be this way, instead of renaming files to match the cache's content.

what are the changes in 1260?

- removed SSL, and removed nintendont update feature (because it requires SSL), to fix network issue.
- fixed banner download
- added batch wad install (all wad from a folder, no sub-folder loaded)
- renamed the wad menu to "EmuNAND wad manager"
- removed all wad error and warnings messages while installing in "folder mode" to skip them and display how many wad where not processed at the end.
- Added game type and console name for VC channels in the Title list exporter

About your bugs:
I think the missing banner animation is yet another bug. Some users reported black banners but you could still launch the game.
I couldn't reproduce the bug, and I think that's because I don't have lot of games (and thus, not using lot of memory).
users with that issues tried to find how much game was the limit to trigger the bug, but different member got different results, so it's not a game number specific but probably how much memory each banner uses. maybe there's a memory leak somewhere (memory assigned for something, and not free'd when closing that feature. like moving around in the game list, displaying banners, etc., resulting in overflow memory and no more free addresses for new animated banner to be loaded)

I don't think the black banner is related to the UI freeze, it's just another result of "no more memory".


what you could try is using a different layout (not the banner layout! never load it from launch to UI freeze).
If it never freeze, it means the memory issue/leak is only on the banner layout. that will help narrowing the cause to hopefully fix it.
it's already only the banner layout which doesn't display animated banners, covers on 2D display are always loaded fine, so I think there's really some issue with the banners but I didn't code it and don't know how it works (yet).

 

[sideskroll]

I should really add a way to refresh the cache file.
It should be this way, instead of renaming files to match the cache's content.


- removed SSL, and removed nintendont updated (because it requires SSL), to fix network issue.
- fixed banner download
- added batch wad install (all wad from a folder, no sub-folder loaded)
- renamed the wad menu to "EmuNAND wad manager"
- removed all wad error and warnings messages while installing in "folder mode" to skip them and display how many wad where not processed at the end.
- Added game type and console name for VC channels in the Title list exporter

About your bugs:
I think the missing banner animation is yet another bug. Some users reported black banners but you could still launch the game.
I couldn't reproduce the bug, and I think that's because I don't have lot of games (and thus, not using lot of memory).
users with that issues tried to find how much game was the limit to trigger the bug, but different member got different results, so it's not a game number specific but probably how much memory each banner uses. maybe there's a memory leak somewhere (memory assigned for something, and not free'd when closing that feature. like moving around in the game list, displaying banners, etc., resulting in overflow memory and no more free addresses for new animated banner to be loaded)

I don't think the black banner is related to the UI freeze, it's just another result of "no more memory".


what you could try is using a different layout (not the banner layout! never load it from launch to UI freeze).
If it never freeze, it means the memory issue/leak is only on the banner layout. that will help narrowing the cause to hopefully fix it.
it's already only the banner layout which doesn't display animated banners, covers on 2D display are always loaded fine, so I think there's really some issue with the banners but I didn't code it and don't know how it works (yet).

Hey! Havent talked to you since last year!
I see what you mean. And it could very well be related to my problem.
But on the other hand, black channels are one thing but the issues Im experiencing are on a whole different level... Besides. Ive been using usbloader gx for some time now and I dont remember ever encountering a bug like this before. (That is before changing hdd)
The titles on the disk are the exact same ones I had on my old one (in fact, its a clone of that one) so the number of games remains the same (and Ive always used the channel view, I think its one of gxs biggest assets)
So could this be a coincidence? Are you ruling out a possible issue with the drives?
I aint done testing thia issue yet. And i dknt like getting betas and not reporting anything back. So let me at least get a clue as to what my issue could be and if youre still looking for testers id be more than happy to help.
Sorry for the typos. Typing from my phone is a bitch.

 

[Cyan]

well, it could be related to the changed HDD, but I find it really strange, because the code to use the drive is the same.

do you still have the previous drive? Maybe we could compare them.

Could you reproduce the bug with it?
Could you do a SMART on the old one?
Could you do an usb analyze on both? (I think it's http://www.usblyzer.com/) but it's shareware 30 day free. I never used it so I don't know how it works (Fix94 did, but don't know if he could help,) Checking how many Device Descriptor, Configuration, Interfaces the drive use, etc.
I really don't know where it will lead us, that's just "data" for comparison.
I don't know if usblyzer work with win10

 

[ngs428]

That states that the Nintendont updated was removed, correct? Will 1260 be a day after New Years gift?

 

[Cyan]

It is

USBLoaderGX r1260

Spoiler: Changelog

- removed SSL, and removed nintendont update feature (because it requires SSL), to fix network issue.
- fixed banner download
- added batch wad install (all wad from a folder, no sub-folder loaded)
- renamed the wad menu to "EmuNAND wad manager"
- removed all wad error and warnings messages while installing in "folder mode" to skip them and display how many wad where not processed at the end.
- Added game type and console name for VC channels in the Title list exporter

Sorry that I had to remove nintendont internal update. I liked having the loader create the folders and download file without using the SD on PC or using wiixplorer.

There are still things I didn't test (like banner download, or gamecube game delete).
I hope the banner download works.
let me know if you have issues with anything related to the changelog. (banners, wad batch install/uninstall, export gamelist)

I think I will push this version in the internal update, unless there's a last minute bug you guys will find.
I'll push it internally tomorrow. that will be the first internal update since moving to sourceforge, I hope it will work too.

I'll try to make a new installer.exe too, with link to forwarders instead of full channel (and link to sourceforge instead of googlecode)

 

[Clutz450]

YAY! Haven't found anything wrong yet with the mod you sent me. But then again I just started working on the Wii and Wii U. I wanted to start last night when I sent you that message but my brother had all kinds of parental controls and passwords on his Wii U that wouldn't let me download and use the Wii U transfer tool. lol. But I just dumped my nand from the loader and installed 82 wads with the new batch wad feature and everything seemed to install fine. Now I am downloading all the covers and such so when that is done I will test to see if the games that I installed via batch wad work. I'll be sure to let you know if I find anything wrong though.

Edit: Quick question just to be sure. To make it so Priiloader boots into USB Loader GX I need to install this wad into Priiloader (USB Loader GX-UNEO_Forwarder_5_1_AHBPROT.wad), correct? And getting it off the googlecode site is still ok or should I use the new place over at sourceforge?

 

[Deleted User]

Sourceforge because gcode is 2013

 

[Cyan]

you can't really install a wad inside priiloader, you can only install a dol.
Priiloader can't autoboot an installed channel?

1. install the forwarder channel on the system (with a wad manager)
If you are on wii, you can still use googlecode, but I can't edit or update it. you won't see if there are new updated version of the forwarder. (there aren't, but it's better to use sourceforge now)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/usbloadergx/files/Releases/Forwarders/
use "5.1 wii" or "5.1 vWii fix"

2. (Wii only) install the forwarder's dol (located in the "all in one" package/wad/dol folder) in priiloader.
or even better if your wii has bootmii@boot2, you can use the "bootmii mod". it's on sourceforge link too.

 

[Clutz450]

Thanks for the reply.

Also, another question and I think this has been asked before (probably by me too but can't remember the answer). Newly hacked Wii using r1260 and just installed a bunch of WiiWare and Virtual Console wads using the batch wad install feature. All went well. But now I notice that most of those games are being displayed as their game ID and not their actual game title. My features settings have "Title from GameTDB - ON" and "Cache Titles - ON". I also downloaded the latest WiiTDB.xml. I want to say that on my setup at home I don't have that problem. But I'm visiting my family this weekend and can't check my settings. Is there anything else I need to do or is this something that is known and not fixable and I just didn't remember? Thanks.

Edit: Nevermind. I don't know what I did but they are displaying correctly now.