Hacking USB Loader GX

[Trip_Away]

It looks like it's started to fail after only 140 days of power on time. Maybe caused by the USB HDD falling at some point?

The only solution is to replace the drive, since you can't fix it's bad sectors and it'll get worse over time.

Maybe I shouldn't have left it connected to the Wii all the time.

 

[leejaclane]

Apologies if this has been answered before, but I was wondering, in the loader settings, what's the difference between Full and Partial for the EmuNAND Save Mode and EmuNAND Channel Mode settings? Full seems fairly straightforward, I assume it only uses emuNAND in that case. But what does Partial do then, a mixture of both real NAND and emuNAND?

 

[blackb0x]

@leejaclane

EmuNAND Save Mode
Off = Game saves will be read from and wrote to your NAND
Partial = Game saves will be read from and wrote to your EmuNAND save path
Full = Game saves and settings (e.g. Mii, Wiimote & network info) will be read from and wrote to your EmuNAND save path

So if you want your saves to go to your SD card or USB drive then the recommended option is partial. Although some games don't work when this setting is set to partial or full, which is why it's off by default.

This setting isn't supported via SD card mode because the d2x cIOS doesn't allow writes to your SD card while a games being read from it.

---

EmuNAND Channel Mode
Full = Read data from your EmuNAND channel path and save data to your EmuNAND channel path
Partial = Read data from your NAND and save data to your EmuNAND channel path

This setting should probably be removed, since nobody should ever need to use the partial option.

 

[grandosegood]

hey there, i'd like to thank you for your hard work. some users report that the new priiloader deflicker hack appears to work for wii games when they are used as injects from the wii u hard drive. i'd seen in a separate post, you said this was incorrect, so i just wanted to double check. Thanks.

 

[Trip_Away]

@leejaclane

EmuNAND Save Mode
Off = Game saves will be read from and wrote to your NAND
Partial = Game saves will be read from and wrote to your EmuNAND save path
Full = Game saves and settings (e.g. Mii, Wiimote & network info) will be read from and wrote to your EmuNAND save path

So if you want your saves to go to your SD card or USB drive then the recommended option is partial. Although some games don't work when this setting is set to partial or full, which is why it's off by default.

This setting isn't supported via SD card mode because the d2x cIOS doesn't allow writes to your SD card while a games being read from it.

---

EmuNAND Channel Mode
Full = Read data from your EmuNAND channel path and save data to your EmuNAND channel path
Partial = Read data from your NAND and save data to your EmuNAND channel path

This setting should probably be removed, since nobody should ever need to use the partial option.

Huh, I had always wondered about "partial" EmuNAND

 

[blackb0x]

hey there, i'd like to thank you for your hard work. some users report that the new priiloader deflicker hack appears to work for wii games when they are used as injects from the wii u hard drive. i'd seen in a separate post, you said this was incorrect, so i just wanted to double check. Thanks.

Yeah, there was a little a little misinformation going around because september796 originally asked the question and then MikaDubbz replied with the wrong answer.

The patch needs to be applied to each games DOL file, which is something that Priiloader can't do.

This information should eventually end up on Priiloaders GitHub page, but for the time being it can be found on their testing/info pages.

https://github.com/DacoTaco/priiloader/blob/master/docs/FAQ.md
https://github.com/DacoTaco/priiloader/discussions

 

[blackb0x]

in this part we have to destroy it and fire the wave shot to activate the device, but it is impossible to destroy

Shoot it with super missiles first.

 

[grandosegood]

Yeah, there was a little a little misinformation going around because september796 originally asked the question and then MikaDubbz replied with the wrong answer.

The patch needs to be applied to each games DOL file, which is something that Priiloader can't do.

This information should eventually end up on Priiloaders GitHub page, but for the time being it can be found on their testing/info pages.

https://hackmd.io/@Ingunar/PriiloaderFAQ
https://hackmd.io/@Ingunar/AboutHacks
https://github.com/DacoTaco/priiloader/discussions

thanks again, so it seems like the options for wii games are to use deflicker options via usb loader gx settings (or wii flow lite for those that use it).

 

[blackb0x]

thanks again, so it seems like the options for wii games are to use deflicker options via usb loader gx settings (or wii flow lite for those that use it).

Yeah. Although I'm sure an option to disable the deflicker filter for Wii games could also be added to UWUVCI eventually.

 

[prof955]

Apologies if this has been answered before, but I was wondering, in the loader settings, what's the difference between Full and Partial for the EmuNAND Save Mode and EmuNAND Channel Mode settings? Full seems fairly straightforward, I assume it only uses emuNAND in that case. But what does Partial do then, a mixture of both real NAND and emuNAND?

this is a good question. i didn't understand that either.

 

[leejaclane]

@blackb0x For emunand compatibility issues, I was aware of that for installed channels like WiiWare or Virtual Console games, but are there a lot of disc-based games affected as well? I know the wiki page for cIOS emunand compatibility lists Metroid Prime 3 and Skyward Sword, but based on what the top of that page says I assumed it was talking about the channels associated with those games rather than the games themselves.

I was kind of hoping to have a setup where everything that can be on the external HDD is, since I don't feel a strong need to play a lot of WiiWare or Virtual Console games and there are emulators on PC that I could play them on instead, but if there are more than a few disc-based games incompatible with emunand I might have to try something else. I was wanting something I could easily take between different modded consoles or the Dolphin emulator, as well as hoping to not have to save anything to the console itself in case that would help it last longer. Maybe I should look into NEEK and just use this loader as a Nintendont frontend -- although I'm not sure if NEEK would be able to do everything USB Loader GX can, I don't really know much about it.

Also, and this is unrelated to the emunand stuff (I think), but I've noticed Mario Kart Wii failing to return to USB Loader GX (or anything else) when I exit the game using the home button menu. The game closes and the Wii Remote turns off, but the screen just stays black and I have to force the console to shutdown. The save data remains intact so I don't think it's an emunand thing, and apart from the emunand my settings are all the defaults. I'm using official controllers but playing on the vWii, if that information has any significance. Mario Kart Wii is the only game I've encountered so far that's doing this to me, but it's not like I went and tested every game I've got.

 

[blackb0x]

Speaking of NGC, your version made NGC's RE Zero progressive, couldn't you add in the future a way to make Super Mario Sunshine, Resident Evil Remake and Star Fox Assault PAL progressive or maybe even a 560p function?

I simply allowed the loader to enable the same settings that Nintendont does.

If Nintendont can't force some games to use progressive then you could try using Devolution?

@blackb0x For emunand compatibility issues, I was aware of that for installed channels like WiiWare or Virtual Console games, but are there a lot of disc-based games affected as well?

Unfortunately there are some compatibility issues, although if I ever get my hands on a USB gecko then I'd like to improve things.

The EmuNAND save mode setting only applies to disc based games.

Maybe I should look into NEEK and just use this loader as a Nintendont frontend -- although I'm not sure if NEEK would be able to do everything USB Loader GX can, I don't really know much about it.

If you configure the loader to use neek then it'll integrate seamlessly. Although you'll need to locate the special vWii version, which I can't link to because you're not supposed to redistribute it.

I haven't personally ever tested saving while using neek, so I can't confirm if it works for disc based games.

Also, and this is unrelated to the emunand stuff (I think), but I've noticed Mario Kart Wii failing to return to USB Loader GX (or anything else) when I exit the game using the home button menu. The game closes and the Wii Remote turns off, but the screen just stays black and I have to force the console to shutdown. The save data remains intact so I don't think it's an emunand thing, and apart from the emunand my settings are all the defaults. I'm using official controllers but playing on the vWii, if that information has any significance. Mario Kart Wii is the only game I've encountered so far that's doing this to me, but it's not like I went and tested every game I've got.

If the issue also occurs when EmuNAND saves are turned off then it's likely a bug, which I'm sure I've already indirectly fixed for my next release.

 

[LeonR]

Apologies if this has been answered before, but I did not find anyone with this issue anywhere, when running Wii games from an SD card some of them freeze the Wii U's vWii when exiting, games like Mario Kart Wii, Mario Party 8, Metal Slug Anthology, whereas Metroid Other M does not have this issue, it successfully returns to the USB Loader GX from the home button, Wii menu option, has anyone experienced this ?

 

[leejaclane]

Apologies if this has been answered before, but I did not find anyone with this issue anywhere, when running Wii games from an SD card some of them freeze the Wii U's vWii when exiting, games like Mario Kart Wii, Mario Party 8, Metal Slug Anthology, whereas Metroid Other M does not have this issue, it successfully returns to the USB Loader GX from the home button, Wii menu option, has anyone experienced this ?

Well, I'm playing from an external HDD, but I was having the Mario Kart Wii issue as well, as I posted about earlier. I had emuNAND enabled but apart from that my settings were all on the defaults, and of course I was using a y cable as well so I'd have enough power (forgot to mention that before). So with Mario Kart Wii, that might not be an SD card issue, assuming it has the same cause and not just the same symptom.

When I get the time I'll check it with emuNAND disabled and I'll check those games too since I've got them on my HDD already, that way I can tell you if I'm having the issue too.

EDIT: I actually just remembered something else, I can't say whether this is connected or not because I haven't tested it yet, but anyway. With the emuNAND that I'm using, I made it with the current released version of USB Loader GX. I then took that emuNAND and used it in Dolphin, and when using the option to check the NAND Dolphin detected it as... I don't remember how it phrased it, damaged or something? It gave the option to repair it and I did. I also made several more NAND dumps and checked if it would give the same result in Dolphin, "damaged." Now, it's not simply that it's the vWii as opposed to Wii, or I don't think that's it, because Dolphin at this point can detect the difference between the two.

Anyway. I checked multiple games back in USB Loader GX and they all worked fine, except for Mario Kart Wii. So I assumed the issue wasn't that Dolphin had repaired the emuNAND, but now I'm not sure any more. Again, when I get the opportunity I'll check by turning off emuNAND for Mario Kart Wii, but the above poster didn't mention using Dolphin or emuNAND so I'm thinking that's not the issue. I thought I should mention it though.

 

[hadi aulia]

@blackb0x i just played resident evil remake on vwii but everytime i want to go back to usbloader gx it just shows black screen, i test that same game using wiiflow lite it doesnt have the same problem

Maybe because i dont have the correct forwarder channel ?
It display unknown for UNEO

 

[LeonR]

@leejaclane I'm using neither EmuNAND or Dolphin, I was previously using the USB loader gx v3.0 rev1271 and I updated now to the v3.0-r1281 to use the sd mode for my Wii games, when I used the rev1271 my Wii games used to return all right to the Wii menu(since I didn't have configured the return to option on loadergx) now with the rev1281 this black screen upon return started happening, when I have some time I can try testing the HDD I used to load the games from, to see if the issue happens there as well
@hadi aulia I installed the vWii forwarder from the hyperlink present on the USB loader gx github page's readme, I then set the return to option to the UNEO, it worked on my Wii U's vWii when I returned from playing Metroid Other M.

 

[blackb0x]

Apologies if this has been answered before, but I did not find anyone with this issue anywhere, when running Wii games from an SD card some of them freeze the Wii U's vWii when exiting, games like Mario Kart Wii, Mario Party 8, Metal Slug Anthology, whereas Metroid Other M does not have this issue, it successfully returns to the USB Loader GX from the home button, Wii menu option, has anyone experienced this ?

I can confirm that this issue has been fixed for the next release.

Maybe because i dont have the correct forwarder channel ?
It display unknown for UNEO

It's unrelated to some games freezing when you exit, but this is a long standing issue for vWii that I've already fixed for the next release.

1 - how do I set it to 60hz in games that have a 60hz option

I guess you could enable progressive and then hold B as the game boots up to enable 60Hz?

2 - how do I show the NGC bios?

I don't think Devolution can boot a GC BIOS.

3 - does it have a code option?

You can't use cheats with Devolution.

 

[LeonR]

@blackb0x That's awesome, thanks a lot for your work on this, looking forward to this next release

 

[SMarioMan]

Hi all! I am having some issues with the @blackb0x fork of USB Loader GX from GitHub. It seems that sometime after the last official release (3.0 r1272), loading NAND and EmuNAND channels has become broken (Wii and GameCube backups are unaffected). Any attempt to launch a NAND channel results in an indefinite black screen, requiring a hard reboot to fix.

For reproduction purposes, I have found this to occur even with a fresh USB Loader GX with default settings on an SD card running on a Wii with an up-to-date ModMii setup (SysCheck below) and no hard drive attached. Version 3.0 r1272 works flawlessly here, so I suspect something in the code broke or a default configuration change has affected this.

I have attempted to bisect but have been unable to build anything older than GitHub commit e25c4e25f0be3a4ff75be7fa1099c1bd74d0a306, as earlier builds used a legacy build system that I have been unable to replicate successfully in Docker. I have verified the presence of the issue on that commit, as well as the r1280 and r1281 releases.

Thank you for any assistance you may be able to provide.

SysCheck:

Spoiler

SysCheck ME v2.5.0 by blackb0x, JoostinOnline, Double_A, R2-D2199 and Nano
...runs on IOS58 (rev 6176).

Region: NTSC-U
System Menu 4.3U (v513)
Priiloader installed
Drive date: 02.13.2007
Homebrew Channel 1.1.2 running on IOS58

Hollywood v0x11
Console ID: 72034598
Console Type: Wii
Shop Channel Country: United States (49)
Boot2 v4
Found 70 titles.
Found 48 IOS on this console. 6 of them are stubs.

IOS4 (rev 404): Stub
IOS9 (rev 1034): No Patches
IOS10 (rev 404): Stub
IOS11[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS12 (rev 526): No Patches
IOS13 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS14 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS15 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS16 (rev 404): Stub
IOS17 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS20[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS21 (rev 1039): No Patches
IOS22 (rev 1294): No Patches
IOS28 (rev 1807): No Patches
IOS30[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS31 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS33 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS34 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS35 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS36 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS37 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS38 (rev 4124): No Patches
IOS40[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS41 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS43 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS45 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS46 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS48 (rev 4124): No Patches
IOS50[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS51 (rev 404): Stub
IOS52[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS53 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS55 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS56 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS57 (rev 5919): No Patches
IOS58 (rev 6176): USB 2.0
IOS60 (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS61 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS62 (rev 6430): No Patches
IOS70[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS80[60] (rev 65535, Info: ModMii-IOS60-v6174): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS222 (rev 404): Stub
IOS223 (rev 404): Stub
IOS248[38] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access
IOS249[56] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS250[57] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS251[58] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS254 (rev 65281): BootMii
BC v6
MIOS v10
Report generated on 09/26/2023.

 

[blackb0x]

I have attempted to bisect but have been unable to build anything older than GitHub commit e25c4e25f0be3a4ff75be7fa1099c1bd74d0a306, as earlier builds used a legacy build system that I have been unable to replicate successfully in Docker. I have verified the presence of the issue on that commit, as well as the r1280 and r1281 releases.

Have you tried using USB Loader GX r1271 with it's default settings? I'm asking because there are no EmuNAND changes prior to e25c4e2 and you've mentioned using r1272, which boots with a different IOS than every other version of the loader.

A lot of people had issues with USB Loader GX r1272, which is why Cyan made r1271 the default on SourceForge. Then I fixed the issues with r1272, kept releasing updates and then my fork become the official version as of USB Loader GX r1280.