Hacking USB Loader GX

[AlfredoDore]

I'm experiencing an error in two games: Tintin and Prince of Persia 4. Tintin is displaying this message, and Prince of Persia is giving an error where the screen goes black. My hard drive containing the games is formatted as WBF, and I use GBS-C.

 

[blackb0x]

I'm experiencing an error in two games: Tintin and Prince of Persia 4. Tintin is displaying this message, and Prince of Persia is giving an error where the screen goes black. My hard drive containing the games is formatted as WBF, and I use GBS-C.

They're both games that are protected by MetaFortress, which means that you can't patch these games. So I'd assume you've modified some global settings (e.g., Ocarina) and that's what's causing these games to not work.

Reset the loader to it's default settings and then see if they work.

 

[AlfredoDore]

They're both games that are protected by MetaFortress, which means that you can't patch these games. So I'd assume you've modified some global settings (e.g., Ocarina) and that's what's causing these games to not work.

Reset the loader to it's default settings and then see if they work.

Thanks, it worked. I reset all the settings; it must have been some setting I applied that went wrong.

 

[blackb0x]

Thanks, it worked. I reset all the settings; it must have been some setting I applied that went wrong.

I'm glad it was a simple fix

I recommend using per-game settings instead of changing the global settings, as this helps ensure that the default configuration will reliably boot your games.

 

[AlfredoDore]

I'm glad it was a simple fix

I recommend using per-game settings instead of changing the global settings, as this helps ensure that the default configuration will reliably boot your games.

I play Wii games on GBS-C and it's amazing that even at 480i the scanlines still do a great job with the image; the games look like HD, even with upscaling, of course. GBS-C has a really good feature that allows you to play many games (not all) at 60Hz even if the console doesn't support them. The result reminds me a lot of my old VGA CRT monitors (I had them until 2014 and CRT TVs until 2018) But here's an idea: in the future support and also a 240/288p screen mode.

 

[blackb0x]

It certainly looks very CRT-like with the scanlines. Clean though.

But here's an idea: in the future support and also a 240/288p screen mode.

Unfortunately, that is not easily achieved for all Wii games, which is why it has not been added yet.

 

[Masana]

Hello blackbox, would it be possible to add game mods to the USB drive? Like Riivolution does, but with backups.

 

[jeannotte]

I recommend using per-game settings instead of changing the global settings, as this helps ensure that the default configuration will reliably boot your games.

Hello,

I completely agree with you.

Configure only one game at a time, and everything will work correctly.

 

[Yamamotokun]

USB Driver GX crashes when I click on to start the game​

Hi, I am having this error for my hacked wii. It goes back to the homebrew channel when I try to start the game in USB Driver GX, and I already tried using both usb ports. I have it working for running the Gamecube loader to run gamecube games, but the Wii games just end up crashing...

I attached screenshots of the file naming convention paths and file types. Any help would be much appreciated!

https://yourimageshare.com/ib/asyIj2pv2M.png
https://yourimageshare.com/ib/zU9rwW3DtD.png

temp video link till the google drive video loads preview -

 

[blackb0x]

Hello blackbox, would it be possible to add game mods to the USB drive? Like Riivolution does, but with backups

In the future, maybe. But it'd be a long way off, since I'm currently backlogged with things that I need to do.

FYI, something like this would primarily require changes to the cIOS, but to date nobody has successfully ported Riivolution patching to the cIOS.

Hi, I am having this error for my hacked wii. It goes back to the homebrew channel when I try to start the game in USB Driver GX, and I already tried using both usb ports. I have it working for running the Gamecube loader to run gamecube games, but the Wii games just end up crashing...

You're using a very old and unsupported version of the loader.

1. Delete /apps/usbloader_gx from your SD card or USB drive
2. Install the latest version of USB Loader GX
3. Upgrade the d2x cIOS as per this guide

And if you're manually installing games then I'd suggest using TinyWiiBackupManager, since that'll install both Wii and GameCube games correctly.

 

[woooody]

Hello, First of all, thank you for your continued work on USB Loader GX.
I would like to report a minor text rendering issue (Mojibake) that seems to be a regression in the latest version.

The Issue : The issue occurs specifically with the game title displayed in the Banner Window (the window that appears when the cursor hovers over a game icon). It does not happen in the standard Game List view.

It appears that the game title string in this window is strictly truncated at 50 bytes. The problem arises because the truncation logic does not respect multi-byte characters (UTF-8). If the 50th byte falls in the middle of a 3-byte character (e.g., Japanese Kanji or Kana), the byte sequence is broken, causing the rest of the string to become corrupted.

Verification : I have verified this with several Japanese game titles (sourced from gametdb.xml, encoded in UTF-8).

• Case A: No Corruption Title example : SDガンダム Gジェネレーション ウォーズ (SD Gundam G Generation Wars)
  Byte count :
  • SDガンダム Gジェネレーション ウォー (20 characters including spaces): 50 bytes (3×15+1×5)
  • The string is cut exactly at a character boundary, displays correctly with "..." at the end.

• Case B: Corruption Occurs Title example : スーパーマリオスタジアム ファミリーベースボール (Mario Super Sluggers)
  Byte count:
  • スーパーマリオスタジアム ファミリ (17 characters including a space): 49 bytes (3×16+1×1)
  • The 50th byte hits the 1st byte of the next character "ー" (Long vowel mark), which requires 3 bytes. The character is split, resulting in corrupted text (Mojibake).

Conclusion : The current truncation logic seems to cut the string at a fixed byte length (50 bytes) regardless of the character boundaries. This issue was not present in older versions of the loader.

I have attached a screenshot demonstrating the issue. I understand this is a minor cosmetic issue and does not affect gameplay, but I wanted to report it for your information. Thank you.

 

[ukigh4ie2]

Conclusion : The current truncation logic seems to cut the string at a fixed byte length (50 bytes) regardless of the character boundaries. This issue was not present in older versions of the loader.

Might be https://github.com/wiidev/usbloadergx/blob/enhanced/source/GUI/gui_tooltip.cpp#L73
It's a std::string and not std::wstring, meaning it is byte agnostic.

 

[blackb0x]

It appears that the game title string in this window is strictly truncated at 50 bytes. The problem arises because the truncation logic does not respect multi-byte characters (UTF-8). If the 50th byte falls in the middle of a 3-byte character (e.g., Japanese Kanji or Kana), the byte sequence is broken, causing the rest of the string to become corrupted.

Yeah. It was mentioned in a PR a while ago and I've already fixed it for the next release

 

[Hiccup]

Does USB Loader GX have an up-to-date issue tracker or compatibility list?

 

[blackb0x]

Does USB Loader GX have an up-to-date issue tracker or compatibility list?

I chose not to have an open issue tracker on GitHub because most problems are caused by modified global default settings, USB drive compatibility issues, or outdated, missing, or incorrect cIOS installations.

Once I get around to creating a simple troubleshooting guide, I may also create an issue template for GitHub. However, as I mentioned the other day, I'm currently backlogged.

There are over 2,600 Wii games, and I would estimate that the loader can play about 99% of them. So once I've released the next update maybe I'll list off the few with known issues.

 

[TrungNh]

I play Wii games on GBS-C and it's amazing that even at 480i the scanlines still do a great job with the image; the games look like HD, even with upscaling, of course. GBS-C has a really good feature that allows you to play many games (not all) at 60Hz even if the console doesn't support them. The result reminds me a lot of my old VGA CRT monitors (I had them until 2014 and CRT TVs until 2018) But here's an idea: in the future support and also a 240/288p screen mode.

The picture doesn't look as good as the component port of the Sony 4K TV.

 

[Lima112]

Hello guys, when I try to open usb loader gx, it just freezes on "reinitializing devices" message.
When I try connecting my external hdd to the wii, it works perfectly. Usb loader gx opens normally and I can play my games without problems. But when I try to open it with my sandisk usb 3.0 256gb usb drive connected to the wii or with my external ssd, it gets stuck on "reinitializing devices" message. So I have to hold the power button and turn on the wii again.

I'm not sure exactly why it happens.
I'm using updated cIOS like said on the usb loader gx page on github, d2c-v11-beta 3 installed on:
Slot 248 base 38
Slot 249 base 56
Slot 250 base 57
Slot 251 base 58

I tried with different usb loader versions.
On all github versions, it freezes on "reinitialing devices"
v3.0-r1280
v3.0-r1281
v4.0-r1282
v4.0-r1283

With usb loader gx v3.0-r1272, it worked without problems with both devices.

With usb loader gx v3.0-r1272 mod7, I encountered the same "reinitializing devices" issue. But then I modified the meta.xml to bootios=58 and it worked. I tried to change it to bootios=249, bootios=250 and it got stuck on "reinitializing devices" again.

When I tried to do the same thing on newer usb loader gx versions, it didn't work.
I noticed that both 3.0-r1281 and 4.0-1283 have as standard ios=249 and bootios=58 on meta.xml. I tried modifying to ios=58 and bootios=58, but without success. It still freezes.
And just to make sure, I double checked if I really enabled arguments, and yes, it was enabled.

Is there something I can do to make my devices work in newer versions of usb loader gx?

 

[jeannotte]

Hello guys, when I try to open usb loader gx, it just freezes on "reinitializing devices" message.
When I try connecting my external hdd to the wii, it works perfectly. Usb loader gx opens normally and I can play my games without problems. But when I try to open it with my sandisk usb 3.0 256gb usb drive connected to the wii or with my external ssd, it gets stuck on "reinitializing devices" message. So I have to hold the power button and turn on the wii again.

I'm not sure exactly why it happens.
I'm using updated cIOS like said on the usb loader gx page on github, d2c-v11-beta 3 installed on:
Slot 248 base 38
Slot 249 base 56
Slot 250 base 57
Slot 251 base 58

I tried with different usb loader versions.
On all github versions, it freezes on "reinitialing devices"
v3.0-r1280
v3.0-r1281
v4.0-r1282
v4.0-r1283

With usb loader gx v3.0-r1272, it worked without problems with both devices.

With usb loader gx v3.0-r1272 mod7, I encountered the same "reinitializing devices" issue. But then I modified the meta.xml to bootios=58 and it worked. I tried to change it to bootios=249, bootios=250 and it got stuck on "reinitializing devices" again.

When I tried to do the same thing on newer usb loader gx versions, it didn't work.
I noticed that both 3.0-r1281 and 4.0-1283 have as standard ios=249 and bootios=58 on meta.xml. I tried modifying to ios=249 and bootios=249 on both versions and ios=58 and bootios=58, but without success. It still freezes.
And just to make sure, I double checked if I really enabled arguments, and yes, it was enabled.

Is there something I can do to make my devices work in newer versions of usb loader gx?

Hello,

Have you tried this version of GX (1283)===>
https://github.com/wiidev/usbloadergx/releases/tag/v4.0-r1283

 

[Lima112]

Hello,

Have you tried this version of GX (1283)===>
https://github.com/wiidev/usbloadergx/releases/tag/v4.0-r1283

Yes, I have! And still got the same issue

 

[XFlak]

Can you confirm this was a fresh install? I. E. Rename or erase your current gx and copy it back directly from the release zip.

If it still fails, can you share the contents of your modified meta.xml to confirm arguments are enabled? The old default meta had arguments commented out, the new meta instead requires you adjust the argument tags to enable them. Apologies as I know u said u did this, but couldn't hurt to double check.