Hacking USB Loader GX

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JacobM

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yes, it just forces creation of the nincfg.bin and disables arguments, all other settings are still used normally.
I didn't create the user option to disable argument, it's currently a quick fix and it's automatically disabled if detecting WiiVC.

I added the link above.

Perfect thanks! Unfortunately, I'm at work now so I'll let you know tonight if the changes work!

I think @FIX94 tried everything before resorting to rebooting the console. It seems like the only option built into IOS 255 as the official games reboot the system as well. As a non-cbhc user, I feel your pain, although it's not as bad when you actually play the games vs testing out configurations.
 

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too bad nintendont reboots the WiiU instead of returning to the loader. users have to repatch CFW (if not using cbhc) and relaunch usbgx to play another gamecube game.
simple reason for that is that nintendont modifies the ARM side of things and normal operation under normal IOS just reloads the IOS on exit, but you cannot reload wii vc IOS so once nintendont and the patches in place, its stuck there, forcing me to reboot the system to clear it out of memory again.
 

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Oh, I see. thanks.
I should find how to reboot too, currently shutdowns works but not exit to wiiu. I fear it corrupts the sd if it freezes on exit because its writes settings at exit too. It just did to mine trying to launch "go to wiiu" channel manually, not sure it was really related. maybe I should hide it, or prevent users from launching it.
 
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fledge68

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Oh, I see. thanks.
I should find how to reboot too, currently shutdowns works but not exit to wiiu. I fear it corrupts the sd if it freezes on exit because its writes settings at exit too. It just did to mine trying to launch "go to wiiu" channel manually, not sure it was really related. maybe I should hide it, or prevent users from launching it.
in wiiflow lite if in wiivc mode and the user exits wiiflow lite i just do exit(0);

as for if a user launches a game the return stub.bin is not copied to memory. although nintendont clears it but in case of plugin emus.

edit: i wondered if writing a special stub.bin for wiivc that would just launch apps/wiiflow_lite/boot.dol directly instead of calling a forwarder channel. i wondered if that was possible.
 
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Cyan

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exit(0) will probably work.
I should make sure it's the only way to exit, and not using the "reload HCVA", or allowing the user to launch it.
though, it's strange this channel can't be launched to exit wii mode, because wiivc should be able to launch nand channels. I don't have games installed to test, I'll try to launch mii maker instead.
maybe the IOS patches are already affecting that channel?


I should disable the return stub.bin to be written? or even clear it like nintendont does?
I'm kind of lost, I didn't touch wii dev for a long time.
 
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JacobM

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1269 mod4
should have Wii Gamepad fixed (diagonals are working)
should have nintendont setting v8 set (fixes rumbler and ipl setting)
shouldn't crash if HID is plugged when launching nintendont
should loads faster (using ios58), no idea if it helps on hdd detection yet.

Diagonals are flawless. IPL works. Nintendont now boots with HID connected. My loader is still using 249 even after settings reset. I never quit from within USB Loader GX, always in Nintendont when I press home on the gamepad. I'd say 1269 is ready :D Thanks again!
 
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Cyan

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I never quit from within USB Loader GX, always in Nintendont when I press home on the gamepad.
I don't understand this.
what do you mean, Is it wanted? wiivc specific?

what I understand is that pressing home usually exit nintendont, but now it doesn't? but why do you say "from within usbgx" ?
maybe when nintendont is launched from wiivc, pressing home has a different behavior? if it's something happening in nintendont I guess it's not something I can control.
 

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I don't understand this.
what do you mean, Is it wanted? wiivc specific?

Nothing wanted/needed. I'm just saying that when I'm using USB Loader GX in WiiVC mode, my intent is to play a GameCube game. As a result, there is little need for USB Loader GX to reboot (rather than shut down) the Wii U since Nintendont has taken over at that point in which a user wants to quit.
 

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ah, yeah that's right.
but still, it should have a proper way to exit in case (for example) you didn't use your correct SD card and the game you wanted to launch is not there, or any reason you needed to launch usbgx but not nintendont. Not sure why, as it doesn't have usb, or network... ah, maybe if the user launched the wrong channel and wanted the vWii forwarder instead of the WiiVC channel? some users could have 2 different USBGX channels on wiiu menu.
If there's issue exiting, I could force shutdown only. I'll see what I can do, or if I release it the way it is now.
thanks for testing and reporting :)
 
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Cyan

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oh, I didn't test yet.
I'll try today :)

I think I should just add cookies, but I'll be sure only after I test. I'll tell you if it works.

edit:
I tried to download a cheat file and it failed.
I added cookies info in the HTTP request
it still didn't work, but it's because that cheatcode didn't exist. of course, I had to try with a random and non existent cheat file :lol:
so, then I tried another game, and it downloaded correctly.

I tried to remove the cookie, and it still works !

so, I don't know if they flagged my IP and allow me to download even without cookie.
the locally stored cookie is usually set for 1 hour, I don't know if they keep track on their servers. I'll try again later.
 
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fledge68

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oh, I didn't test yet.
I'll try today :)

I think I should just add cookies, but I'll be sure only after I test. I'll tell you if it works.

edit:
I added cookies right away, without testing first.
at first, it didn't work, but it's because that cheatcode didn't exist. of course, I had to try with a random and non existant cheat file :lol:
so, then I tried another game, and it downloaded correctly.

I tried to remove the cookie, and it still works !

so, I don't know if they flagged my IP and allow me to download even without cookie.
the locally stored cookie is usually set for 1 hour, I don't know if they keep track on their servers. I'll try again later.

what I can say is that the DDOS website has been contacted and replied ! (I see that by asking a wrong host url, and I got a reply from bitmitigate instead of geckocodes)
so, maybe I got flagged as good user.
i noticed today that when i go to geckocode.org on my computer i don't even see the brief ddos webpage first. it now goes directly to geckocodes.org. maybe they removed it on their end. i will have to see if downloads work on wiiflow lite soon.
 

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I tried on computer too, I don't have any cookies set.
On USBGX, I didn't even get the HTTP response "Cookie-set"

maybe they got lot of users complains ? or noticed a drop in well-formed requests.

edit:
I tried again, with last released mod.
it worked fine. no need to mess with cookies (but it's less than 1 hour, so I'll tri again this afternoon or evening).
to me, it seems they removed the ddos protection, or found another provider not using cookies.
 
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fledge68

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I tried on computer too, I don't have any cookies set.
On USBGX, I didn't even get the HTTP response "Cookie-set"

maybe they got lot of users complains ? or noticed a drop in well-formed requests.

edit:
I tried again, with last released mod.
it worked fine. no need to mess with cookies (but it's less than 1 hour, so I'll tri again this afternoon or evening).
to me, it seems they removed the ddos protection, or found another provider not using cookies.
yes cheat downloads are working in wiiflow lite again. they must've changed something on their end.
 
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JacobM

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yes, it just forces creation of the nincfg.bin and disables arguments, all other settings are still used normally.
I didn't create the user option to disable argument, it's currently a quick fix and it's automatically disabled if detecting WiiVC.

I had some spare time tonight and curiously tested WiiFlow Lite's implementation of DRC support (r1161 on GitHub). Surprisingly, the WiiFlow arg passing to Nintendont works in the identical configuration (WiiVC w/ HID connected) that caused USB Loader GX and CFG USB Loader to freeze on a black screen.
I had been fairly convinced it was a Nintendont / IOS255 limitation this whole time since USB Loader GX worked fine when loaded through vWii. I wonder what differs between the two implementations!
 
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Cyan

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Maybe I don't deinit USB correctly? but it's strange it's only with HID controller, and not connected USB HDDs too.
did you look in the sources to know it's using arguments and not the cfg file?
the config structure should be good, or else nintendont would have the same problem with cfg file, or wouldn't even recognize the settings.
so, it's probably some sort of hardware initialization.

I remember Fix94 told me to be sure I properly deinit the SD card before launching nintendont, or else it would freeze. Maybe that's the problem, more than usb?
I'll have to trace the function up to homebrew launching, and verify SD is properly closed before launching the dol from memory.
 

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Maybe I don't deinit USB correctly? but it's strange it's only with HID controller, and not connected USB HDDs too.
did you look in the sources to know it's using arguments and not the cfg file?
the config structure should be good, or else nintendont would have the same problem with cfg file, or wouldn't even recognize the settings.
so, it's probably some sort of hardware initialization.

I remember Fix94 told me to be sure I properly deinit the SD card before launching nintendont, or else it would freeze. Maybe that's the problem, more than usb?
I'll have to trace the function up to homebrew launching, and verify SD is properly closed before launching the dol from memory.

Good points! I just assumed WFL uses args since I didn't see a Nintendont splash screen prior to the IPL. Likewise the WFL op says the following:

* launching a gc game with nintendont only works with nintendont v3.358+ and always uses argsboot. doesn't change nin.cfg.

I find it incredibly weird how args don't work in this one isolated and obscure configuration and I personally don't feel like it's worth pursuing and changing the initialization, but that's your call!
 

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using this quick workaround is fine, but if it works without it on WiiflowLite, it means there's a problem in the way homebrew are launched or arguments passed in USBLoaderGX. It's always better to fix it for other homebrew too, not only nintendont.
If I had more time to look into it, I'd do it to fix it properly. For now, it'll be good enough as long as it works.
 
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Everything that's inside apps --> usbloader_gx keeps getting deleted from the folder. What I mean is that only the folder is left but the actual USBLoader app is all gone. My USB flash drive does not get formatted. Everything else is there. I am using USBLoaderGX r1268 with a 128GB USB flash drive formatted to FAT32 32 KB cluster (SanDisk) Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 

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