Hacking USB Loader GX

[Sypherone]

You did everything right so far. But normaly you dont need to change anything in the xml, you can config everything inside the USB Loader GX setting including change the loader cIOS to 58/249/250/251. (Just as sugestion, set in xml to IOS58 and set loader cIOS 151(base58))

The loader cIOS is the primary cIOS to initialize and load the games to display in the USB Loader GX. The game cIOS will be automatically reloaded if a game starts. If its a Wii game it reloads a cIOS with d2x patch, if is a GC game the IOS 80 will be reloaded.

The thing is, normaly the cIOS 249/250/251 with the dx2 is problematic (drive compatibility) for using with external drives and only support port 0. Therefore exist the alternative IOS 58 possibility with standard USB 2.0 and support both back ports. But in this case its better to plug vWii drive to port 1 and WiiU drive to port 0. Because when using IOS 58 as loader cIOS, there will be checked for drives in descending order port 3,2,1,0 and normaly it should skip unrecognized drives.

The latest recommended official release is USB Loader GX v3.0 r1272 by cyan and the r1272 mod 7 by blackb0x. There also exist a inofficial updated version by blackb0x that can be tryed.

You may try the USB Loader Wiiflow Lite to verify if its a USB Loader GX specific problem. Else it might be a compatibility problem of the used drive, which is sometimes strange.

The latest uptodate guide to solve such problems is pinned here in the Wii section.

 

[geoGolem]

I have a wii u that has two hard drives connected to it. One for wii u games, and one for wii/gc/emunand for wiiware/vc on the vwii side. I have the Vwii drive hidden with ustealth so that I can have both drives plugged into the wii u at the same time.

My issue I am having is when I try to launch up USB Loader GX (1272 mod 7). If I leave everything at default settings in the meta.xml, with the config file set to load cIOS 58 on startup, the program just can't find my hard drive at all. it launches and puts it into nand only mode and I can't access anything. I have changed a few settings in both meta.xml and config for usbloader, and nothing has worked. I have set it to load cIOS 249 in usbloader config, while retianing default meta.xml. I have set both to load cIOS 249, and I have even tried cIOS 250 and 251 with both settings.

With default meta.xml, and setting the loader to use 249, it loads up as planned, but then hangs on "reinitializing USB device". - This was the closest I have gotten to get this to work.

I have cIOS v10-beta52-vWii with the emunand patch installed as follows:

249 base 56
250 base 57
251 base 58

I have a 3.5 seagate 1tb drive with a wall powered enclosure plugged into port 0 (top on back) and the wii u drive has a y cable plugged into the front two ports on the wii u.

I understand that I could just not be lazy and unplug whichever drive I'm not using at the time, however I see this as tedious and irritating. The weird thing is that this worked a few months ago and has just recently stopped working. Even weirder still, if I unplug the wiiu drive, everything runs great, as expected. I can then plug the wiiu drive back into the wii u and if I go back out to the vwii menu and then back into USB Loader, everything still works. The second the console gets turned off, it botches the setup again/. I have been looking for a few days now to try and get this fixed, and the only things I can find are from 2+ years ago. Have you found anything or seen anything on here to fix this issue?

Thank you for reading and I appreciate any advice you can give me on this issue!

Post automatically merged: Nov 20, 2022

I have tried multiple ways to load into usbgx. I have a forwarder channel on the vwii menu, and I have tried going through hbc. Both give the same results. I actually have tried switching out USB on the front too, funny enough XD. I actually upgraded to the latest usbgx because I was having the same issues with the 1272. I did try 1271, but that failed to produce a different result either.

It was originally working like months ago, and my wife went to play paper mario for the gamecube the other day and none of it was working. I ended up going down a rabbit whole of issues with this since the console updated to the newest version without my knowledge. I ended up uninstalling cold boot haxchi, and installing tirimisu after learning about that, ended up bricking my vwii in the process after installing some wads that i didn't realize were for the original wii, and having to unbrick it with decaffeinator and basically starting over on the vwii side. After getting everything rehacked, I had lots of issues with emunand games (wiiware/vc titles) through usblgx, until i found the patch for cIOS that gave better support for that. After all of that, my issue became not being able to have both hard drives anymore, which is honestly not the end of the world, but it's like having a car that can go up to 400mph, that is topping out at 350mph.

All of the files needed for booting homebrew content are on my SD card. The only thing on my HDD is the wii, gc, and emunand games. It is formatted FAT32, 32kb cluster, MBR. If I use IOS 58, usblgx loads into the program, however it fails to mount the vwii HDD. I even tried to use cIOS 251 which i have installed on base 58 to see if that would load, and it just ends with the same results, saying it can't initialize any HDDs and only showing nand titles. If I use 249 to boot from, it hangs on the first "intitializing devices" screen. I have gone into the meta.xml and made it boot with IOS 58, then gone into the actual usblgx settings config and made that use IOS 249 for the loader settings, and it initializes the drives first, then goes through the rest and then hangs on "reinitializing drives". That seemed to be the most promising thing when I had it set up, but to be honest with you, I am not a proggrammer. I am doing as I have seen on other forms based on other people's knowledge.

I have also tried the older 1268 version, at cyan's reqeust, and that did not work either.

I have a similar setup to you.. but for me it has always been this way. I can have both HDD's attached if I am in WIIU mode and playing WIIU games off the WIIU HDD.. but if I don't unplug the WIIU HDD before launching usbloaderGX in vWII mode, usbloaderGX will not work properly with the VWII HDD... it will either freeze when launching or just launch (like you describe) with nothing.. depending on which ports the HDD's are connected to etc. The solution for me is to simply unplug my WIIU HDD when I am launching USBLOADERGX.. then I have no issues.... I have one of those usb switches.. so I dont actually have to unplug anything but rather just toggle a switch... It is annoying and a PIA; however, I investigated way back in the day even corresponding with @blackb0x etc.. and we could not figure out why it was doing this. I have learned to live with it this way....

If you do find a solution.. please let me know.

 

[Sypherone]

@geoGolem Which cIOS you use as loader cIOS? If its IOS 58, there is recognizen problem if the WiiU drive is pluged in port 1 and vWii drive in port 0. Because the IOS checkes for drives in descending order 3,2,1,0. Some user reported this issue in there threads and pluging the vWii drive to port 1 and WiiU drive to port 0 solved it.

 

[blackb0x]

But normaly you dont need to change anything in the xml, you can config everything inside the USB Loader GX setting including change the loader cIOS to 80/249/250/251. (Just as sugestion, set in xml to IOS58 and set loader cIOS 151(base58))

You're correct that you don't normally need to manually edit the XML, but my version of the loader also allows you to change the boot IOS. It's a separate setting from the loader IOS and can't be changed from the GUI.

• r1271 and older builds reload to cIOS 249 before initialising USB drives and reading your config file
• r1272 uses IOS 58 for everything and that breaks backup creation and can cause the loader to freeze
• r1272 mod loads with IOS 58, reads your config file and then reloads you to your preferred cIOS (249 by default)

As I don't own a Wii U I can't easily debug the issue, although I might be able to work around the problem if the failure always occurs when you see "Reinitializing devices".

 

[JuicyJoseppi]

I attatched what my meta.xml file looks like. I have tried multiple versions of USBLGX. The one I was using before when this was originally working was version 1272 by cyan. I switched to mod 7 because I was told that this had better support for emunand after all of that decided to crap out on me. At this point I have gone back and tried 1272, 1271, and 1268 just too see if any of those would work, and none have.

my GX global settings is set as: LoaderIOS = 249

I have tried setting bootios in meta.xml to 58(default), 249, 250, and 251. I have not tried 80. I also use an emunand for all of my vc/wiiware games and, correct me if I'm wrong, from what I understand, if I plug the vwii drive into any port that isn't 0, it will not work. 251 on my setup is set to base 58 btw, I thought that might work too since it had a combination of both cIOS and base 58.

I understand that I don't technically have to change any settings in met.xml, however I was changing things just to see if it would work. I figured if I could get it to start on 58, then switch to 249 once it actually needed to see my games on the drive that maybe it would work. If I do this however, it gets stuck on "initializing hdd". If I set both to 249, it gets past that, but then gets stuck on "reinitializing hdd". I should also mention that in both cases when it gets to that point, I have to fully unplug the wii u to get it to restart.

Now if I unplug the wii u drive before starting USBLGX, it has no issues either way that I have it setup. If after I get it started up without the wii u drive in, I can then return to the vwii menu, then plug the wii u drive back in and start up USBLGX with no issues! The second the console gets turned off, it starts all over again.

 

[Sypherone]

I have tried setting bootios in meta.xml to 58(default), 249, 250, and 251. I have not tried 80.

Sorry for missinformation, there is no IOS 80 for use. Its IOS 58 as alternativ.

correct me if I'm wrong, from what I understand, if I plug the vwii drive into any port that isn't 0, it will not work

Correct, if using cios 249(base56) or 250(base(57) only port 0 can be used for vWii drive. No other. Its related to the dx2 patch.

251 on my setup is set to base 58 btw, I thought that might work too since it had a combination of both cIOS and base 58.

I think so that cIOS 151(base58) support both backports, but iam not 100% technical sure at this point. I only can refer on my own setup, as i use 1272 mod7, xml set to IOS58, loader and game IOS is set to cIOS 251(base58) and my vWii drive is plugged to the back lower port 1. WiiU drive to back upper port 0. And everything works flawless.

Now if I unplug the wii u drive before starting USBLGX, it has no issues either way that I have it setup. If after I get it started up without the wii u drive in, I can then return to the vwii menu, then plug the wii u drive back in and start up USBLGX with no issues!

I know this behavior as described by using IOS 58 as loader IOS, but by using cIOS 249 as boot and loader ios its new to me and i dont have an idea atm.

 

[geoGolem]

@geoGolem Which cIOS you use as loader cIOS? If its IOS 58, there is recognizen problem if the WiiU drive is pluged in port 1 and vWii drive in port 0. Because the IOS checkes for drives in descending order 3,2,1,0. Some user reported this issue in there threads and pluging the vWii drive to port 1 and WiiU drive to port 0 solved it.

I'm not totally sure.. Its been a while since I mucked around with it.. but for me.. it didnt work no matter how i plugged the 2 HDD's in.. however, 1 sequence caused usbloader to freeze on launch.. while the other just caused it to not detect the vwii HDD at all.

not really sure which CIOS I am on.. but it is whatever the guide says.. later on, i will take a look and provide more specific information...

Thanks

 

[totakeke95]

I'm playing Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World and I've noticed that during the cutscenes the audio is delayed, it doesn't sync with the character's voices. I thought it would be a bug in the game but isnt it because I've seen that it doesn't happen with the original disc so I don't know why the delay is due. My backup is PAL region and I loading it with 249 (56) d2x v10. I have it on a flash drive and I think it may be the reason for the delay but I'm not sure and also I don't think it's a bad game dump because the hash matches in the Redump database.

Anyone can confirm if the same thing happens on a HDD?

It's not that it's a big bother but I don't understand why that happens.

 

[Sypherone]

My backup is PAL region and I loading it with 249 (56) d2x v10. I have it on a flash drive

Just try the cIOS with base 57 which has 99% game compatibilty, by starting the game you can set it in settings of the game (set as global is recommended) . The cIOS with base 56 has lower game compatibility and is mainly for use with some games that need external devices like guitar hero or sing Star. In first thought i will not think its flashdrive problem as your Flash drive seems recognized correctly and also the game runs well except of the unsynced character`s voice in the cutscene.

Did you verify the hash of the image on the drive or when you get the dump? Maybe use Wii Backup manager, with it you can copy it to the drive and it will automatically verify the image by hash value. In case run a check on the drive by Powershell chkdsk X: /r (X -> your driveletter).

 

[JuicyJoseppi]

Sorry for missinformation, there is no IOS 80 for use. Its IOS 58 as alternativ.

Correct, if using cios 249(base56) or 250(base(57) only port 0 can be used for vWii drive. No other. Its related to the dx2 patch.

I think so that cIOS 151(base58) support both backports, but iam not 100% technical sure at this point. I only can refer on my own setup, as i use 1272 mod7, xml set to IOS58, loader and game IOS is set to cIOS 251(base58) and my vWii drive is plugged to the back lower port 1. WiiU drive to back upper port 0. And everything works flawless.

I know this behavior as described by using IOS 58 as loader IOS, but by using cIOS 249 as boot and loader ios its new to me and i dont have an idea atm.

I tested some extra stuff out last night, and it turns out that if I launch nintendont directly, that program can see the vwii hdd even if the wiiu drive is plugged in. So at this point I know its something to do with USBLGX.

I will again to see if maybe default settings in meta.xml and then setting launcher to 251 with the vwii drive in port 1 will work. Will this make it so that I can't play wii games though? I read somewhere that wii games can only launch from port 0.

 

[Sypherone]

Yes, In this case best check out and verify the settings inside USB Loader GX.

This is for sure:

• If loader IOS is set to IOS 58 and cIOS is 151(base58) you can play GC and Wii games from the drive pluged to port 0 or 1.
• If you use a loader/game cIOS with base (56/57) and dx2 v10r52 the Wii games can only be played from a drive pluged to port 0.

This is my personal setting and i can play GC and Wii games from the drive in port 1:
USBLGX 1272 mod7, xml set to IOS58, loader and game IOS is set cIOS 251(base58)

Its sometimes tricky to find the correct setup that works.

 

[totakeke95]

Ok i found the reason for the delay in the cutscenes. I had the video mode set to "force ntsc" and the dol patch set to "Yes". I changed the default settings and now the audio is going at the correct speed. I have also noticed a slight drop in fps, it seems that the PAL game is slower (25 fps maybe?) and by having it forced to ntsc there is a higher frame rate (30 fps).

 

[Sypherone]

I have also noticed a slight drop in fps, it seems that the PAL game is slower (25 fps maybe?) and by having it forced to ntsc there is a higher frame rate (30 fps).

This is possible because of the regional different video modes and region the game is designed for.

• The different regional versions of the Wii are capable of using this video modes :
  • PAL Wii (Europa, Australia, South Africa) : 576i/50Hz, 576p/50Hz, 480i/60Hz, 480p/60Hz
  • NTSC Wii (USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan) : 480i/60Hz, 480p/60Hz
  • Info : 576/480 = vertical lines, i=interlaced, p=progressive (full picture), Hz=frequency
• Games are mainly designed with the video mode of the specific region, NTSC -> progressive and PAL -> interlaced. And may support one ore more video modes.

 

[JuicyJoseppi]

Yes, In this case best check out and verify the settings inside USB Loader GX.

This is for sure:

• If loader IOS is set to IOS 58 and cIOS is 151(base58) you can play GC and Wii games from the drive pluged to port 0 or 1.
• If you use a loader/game cIOS with base (56/57) and dx2 v10r52 the Wii games can only be played from a drive pluged to port 0.

This is my personal setting and i can play GC and Wii games from the drive in port 1:
USBLGX 1272 mod7, xml set to IOS58, loader and game IOS is set cIOS 251(base58)

Its sometimes tricky to find the correct setup that works.

I tried what you said, plugging my vWii HDD into slot 1, and my Wii U drive into slot 0 with meta at default settings, and using cIOS 251 for loader settings and everything initially launched as intended! So good step!

However, after about 8 seconds into USBLGX, the whole system crashes and I have to hard reset. I didn't even click on any games either. I just tried to look through the titles and it craps out. Is there something wrong with my setup that would cause this?

 

[Sypherone]

@JuicyJoseppi Could be a power failer, loading/drive speed issue or a dol file issue. Or just a unique mistake.

If the system crashes, maybe just wait a moment until everything is load up fine. And let display only one or two rows of the games
What happens if you only use the vWii drive by this setup? Are you using a Y- Cable and power both drives externaly?
Else verify your SDCard has no errors (Powershell chkdsk X: /r (X -> your driveletter)
and replace the USBLGX dol. And on PC use the eject SDcard function, dont pull it just out.

As I don't own a Wii U I can't easily debug the issue, although I might be able to work around the problem if the failure always occurs when you see "Reinitializing devices".

I added the differences of the USBLGX versions to the guide here, which also includes information for basic understanding to solve their problems.

Hmm, if you have a beta version someone who has this issue may test it out. In this case you have atm two users who may test it and give you feedback or a debug.txt. Maybe the community should spend you a WiiU, as iam sure they do

As iam not a programmer and as this issue is only related to USBLGX by using a cIOS with base 56/57 its out of my knowlage, what it depend on that this reinizialisation process succeds. I only know dx2 has a "mini ehci" modul which cuts the compatibility with a lot of drives.

But when using two drives (WiiU+vWii) by using IOS58 as boot/loader IOS and cIOS151(base58) as game cIOS. And pluging WiiU to port 0, vWii to port 1, so that IOS58 only recognize the drive on port 1 seems to work.

 

[blackb0x]

I added the differences of the USBLGX versions to the guide here, which also includes information for basic understanding to solve their problems.

I'll need to go over some of the details with you when I release the next update, since a fair amount of your guide will require changes. For example, what you said earlier about IOS 57 being superior is actually a misconception and the recommend cIOS setup is going to be reverted back to what it was a couple of years ago.

Hmm, if you have a beta version someone who has this issue may test it out. In this case you have atm two users who may test it and give you feedback or a debug.txt. (As iam sure, iam not the first one who thought this) Maybe the community should spend you a WiiU, as iam sure they do

I've already gave him a debug build to try, but it's a slow process and I can't guarantee that I'll be able to fix it this way.

When I can successfully replicate bugs on my own hardware then 9 times out of 10 I'll quickly fix things, since I can properly debug the issue and I don't need to wait for anyone to try out any changes.

I'm open to the idea of hardware donations, but people need to understand that I still can't guarantee fixes. But owning the hardware would obviously help a lot.

But when using two drives (WiiU+vWii) by using IOS58 as boot/loader IOS and cIOS151(base58) as game cIOS. And pluging WiiU to port 0, vWii to port 1, so that IOS58 only recognize the drive on port 1 seems to work.

Not that I'd recommend it, but does using IOS 58 for the loader work with that kind of a setup?

JuicyJoseppi switched from Haxchi to Tiramisu, recovered from a vWii brick and he's also reinstalled the cIOS. So now it's harder to determine if his issue is caused by a hardware fault, a configuration problem or a software problem.

 

[Sypherone]

For example, what you said earlier about IOS 57 being superior is actually a misconception and the recommend cIOS setup is going to be reverted back to what it was a couple of years ago.

Ya, thats what i know about the IOS56/57. It was once changed because IOS 57 should have higher game compatibilty and was announced as recommended to stop users naging around why their game dont run with IOS 56 in cIOS 249, instead just to try IOS 57 in cIOS 250. Source

When its about time, come to me to go over the guide to do the required changes.

When I can successfully replicate bugs on my own hardware then 9 times out of 10 I'll quickly fix things, since I can properly debug the issue and I don't need to wait for anyone to try out any changes.

I'm open to the idea of hardware donations, but people need to understand that I still can't guarantee fixes. But owning the hardware would obviously help a lot.

As this is in interest and should be understandable by nearly every gbatemp Member and followers who like to use USB Loader GX. There should be a high possibility to collect that money to spend you a WiiU, to make your life easyer and therfore easyer fixing. Its a win win situation. As a WiiU on a Marketplace cost around 150€, there is not that high goal to reach and shouldn`t be a big deal. This is the home of USB Loader GX including you and Cyan as Developer and still active. Maybe there exist the possibility by the Gbatemp Administrators and Editorial Team to help in this way by creating a temporary donation action.

As the WiiU is to support you and makes your life a lot easyer, there will sadly still some people who think fixes or new features comes by magic. Its the same with the guide, it reduced the questioning by opening a new thread a lot. But some people still open a thread instead just simple throwing a look into the guide to fast solve their Problem.

Not that I'd recommend it, but does using IOS 58 for the loader work with that kind of a setup?

This my setup and works flawless, no problems with Wii games or GC Games (cant tell about games who needs specific IOS).

Setup:

• CBHC, USBLGX 1272 mod7 (e25c4e7)
• meta.xml
  • bootios=IOS58
  • usbport=1
  • mountusb=1,
• global loader IOS => cIOS 251(base58)
• global game IOS => cIOS 251(base58)
• vWii drive => port 1 (back lower)
• WiiU drive => port 0 (back upper).

I helped others to set this up and worked :
Loader IOS 58 + game cIOS 251(base58), WiiU drive port 0 + vWii drive port 1
Thread 1 : WiiU+vWii two drives issue
Thread 2 : USBLX not work with WiiU drive plugged in

JuicyJoseppi switched from Haxchi to Tiramisu, recovered from a vWii brick and he's also reinstalled the cIOS. So now it's harder to determine if his issue is caused by a hardware fault, a configuration problem or a software problem.

Yes, In his case that his system crashed after a few seconds. I would be happy if it would a none reproduceable one time issue. I could only give the suggestion to check some basic things. If this goes deeper, iam out atm.

 

[jeannotte]

I'll need to go over some of the details with you when I release the next update, since a fair amount of your guide will require changes. For example, what you said earlier about IOS 57 being superior is actually a misconception and the recommend cIOS setup is going to be reverted back to what it was a couple of years ago.

Hello,

just info, for everyone (I'm not criticizing I'm giving info):

@blackb0x , @Sypherone


a few years ago (I don't remember when?), the CIOS version was like this:
IOS 56 ==> cios 249
IOS 57 ==>cios 250
IOS 58 ==>cios 251

and USB loader GX was programmed to start on the cios 249 (correct me if I'm wrong)

NOW they are like this, following this guide ==>https://wii.guide/cios.html

IOS 57 ==> cios 249
IOS 56==>cios 250
IOS 38 ==>cios 251

the inversion of cios 249, and 250 with their base has been done, because some games work with base 57 (Call of Duty, Just dance ......)
see table opposite ==>https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Wii_cIOS_base_Compatibility_List

See with @XFlak and @Cyan to confirm

and we know that with Modmii, it installs the cios version like this ==>IOS 57 ==> cios 249
IOS 56==>cios 250
IOS 38 ==>cios 251

some people posted a message on the forum, because their game did not work, so they were told to put the CIOS 250 with which they had a base 057, and their game worked again

Thank you for reading, for me my Wii console has the CIOS d2x version as below (everything works fine)==>

IOS 56 ==> cios 249
IOS 57==>cios 250
IOS 58 ==>cios 251

USB loader GX with CIOS 249

Thanks to the developers, programmers and others .......... for all these details

 

[blackb0x]

I helped others to set this up and worked :
Loader IOS 58 + game cIOS 251(base58), WiiU drive port 0 + vWii drive port 1
Thread 1 : WiiU+vWii two drives issue
Thread 2 : USBLX not work with WiiU drive plugged in

I wasn't sure if using IOS 58 would work with both USB's HDD connected on vWii, so thanks for confirming.

@jeannotte It'll become this...

Slot 249 base 56
Slot 250 base 57
Slot 251 base 38 (Wii) / base 58 (vWii)

When I release the next update and you're able to play more games than ever you'll understand

 

[JacobM]

When I release the next update and you're able to play more games than ever you'll understand

blackb0x, any wisdom on when you will be needing more beta testers? I have a WiiU still w/ hackchi & cleanly modded vWii with no repairs. I also have a Wii stashed away in a similar condition.