Hacking USB Loader GX

[keropi]

why "video mode" setting behaves so differenlty between revisions??? Games that only booted with "disk default" in revs prior to 629 now need to change it back to "system default" to boot...

 

[retKHAAAN]

revisions after 629 break House of the Dead 2 & 3 , that was working without alt-dols with IOS222+Block IOS reload...

Booted fine for me on 630. Haven't tried it since 630 though.

 

[keropi]

yeah, changed yet again the "video mode" setting and it works again... I have edited my above post for HOTD2&3

 

[retKHAAAN]

Have you tried going back to disc default from system default? Sometimes when updating the config files need a kickstart...

 

[keropi]

lol it appears so... I got it working fine with "system default" so until the next update I am covered

ps. the built-in homebrew channel is just awesome, I can imagine a day when we only need to start USBLoaderGX to use our wiis

 

[jsjar]

The reason im not using the forwarder is because it won't launch unless ive got the SD card in and I cant figure out why.

i had the same problem you need to update the forwader with the one at the top of the first page

 

[justinvw]

ok ill try that in a bit thanks.

 

[CuriousG]

R635 and R636 seems to have borked game launching. I get exception errors. I hadn't tried R634 but last known one to work for me was R635.

The alt dol from disc is a nice feature. I always thought it required an original DVD in it to work. So the naming convention caused me confusion. Why not say load from USB rather than disc?

 

[bosman]

The reason im not using the forwarder is because it won't launch unless ive got the SD card in and I cant figure out why.

What is so bad about leaving the SD card in the Wii?

It seems to be a big thing for people.

 

[retKHAAAN]

R635 and R636 seems to have borked game launching. I get exception errors. I hadn't tried R634 but last known one to work for me was R635.

The alt dol from disc is a nice feature. I always thought it required an original DVD in it to work. So the naming convention caused me confusion. Why not say load from USB rather than disc?

I tell everyone to try this and 7 out of 10 times it works...

Delete your config files and then boot again.

It says load from Disc because if your altdol path in the custom paths is USB:/ then that would actually be loading from USB. Load from Disc is telling you that it will boot the altdol directly from the "Disc Image" on your harddrive. So in all actuality it is less confusing to say "Load from Disc" when you are looking at it from the right perspective.

 

[d popcorn]

R635 and R636 seems to have borked game launching. I get exception errors. I hadn't tried R634 but last known one to work for me was R635.

The alt dol from disc is a nice feature. I always thought it required an original DVD in it to work. So the naming convention caused me confusion. Why not say load from USB rather than disc?

remove the wiitdb file from your sd
works fine wait for new rev that works with wiitdb
i was also having the same problem as you
now fixed but now no more game info for time been

 

[d popcorn]

R635 and R636 seems to have borked game launching. I get exception errors. I hadn't tried R634 but last known one to work for me was R635.

The alt dol from disc is a nice feature. I always thought it required an original DVD in it to work. So the naming convention caused me confusion. Why not say load from USB rather than disc?

I tell everyone to try this and 7 out of 10 times it works...

Delete your config files and then boot again.

It says load from Disc because if your altdol path in the custom paths is USB:/ then that would actually be loading from USB. Load from Disc is telling you that it will boot the altdol directly from the "Disc Image" on your harddrive. So in all actuality it is less confusing to say "Load from Disc" when you are looking at it from the right perspective.

no need to delete the config files then you will have to entre all the load info for games again
the wiitddb file is the problem removeing this will stop the code dumps

 

[retKHAAAN]

no need to delete the config files then you will have to entre all the load info for games again
the wiitddb file is the problem removeing this will stop the code dumps

I have zero issues with game launch code dumps. When you update do you update all or just the dol? If you don't update all you won't get the correct wiitdb file. Also, it is recommended that you delete your config files when updating, especially when new features/menus are introduced. Whether or not you have to redo all of your individual game settings or not is immaterial as we are testers for this software. It's our job to debug it so the coders know what's broken. If you just want to use a stable build then you should stick with v1.0 (not directed at d popcorn, just people in general).

 

[Snoozer]

but NOW.....NOW I'm right....the site http://wiitdb.com/ is down currently

 

[d popcorn]

yes have never had no code dumps for long time only on 630+ on rev after this get code dumps after fresh install and config and still dsi error when loading any game. as soon as i remove the wiitdb file everything fine
so i can use wiitdb on rev 630
any thing after this i get dsi if i have the wiitdb file on sd

 

[pepxl]

ok ill try that in a bit thanks.

i assumed you had the most recent forwader as mentioned a few post back you need to be using the 16/6/09 forwarder
from the GX site

http://usbloadergx.koureio.net/downloads/forwarders

that should solve all your problems with it not loading from usb, thats if you have everything in place

CODENOTE
The target for the new forwarder is ROOT:/apps/usbloader_gx/boot.dol where ROOT can be ether USB or SD but if you set an update path at the USB Loader GX settings, then that path becomes the target.
ex. if you set as update path SD:/apps/usbloader/ then the loader will check there for boot.dol or boot.elf and not at usbloader_gx

What are the differences between the forwarder and the channel? Which one should I use?

First we will start with what is the same:

ÂÂÂÂ* Covers and disk images are saved at the SD/USB
ÂÂÂÂ* Changes at settings are saved at the SD/USB
ÂÂÂÂ* Cheats (ocarina) are saved at the SD/USB
ÂÂÂÂ* Both are channels taking space at you Wii memory (NAND)

Now here is what is different:

ÂÂÂÂ* The channel includes the program which is also saved to your Wii memory too
ÂÂÂÂ* The forwarder is a link to the program (dol/elf) saved at your SD card or at your USB HDD

What are the pros of the channel?

ÂÂ 1. You can play your games without an SD card or a second partition at you USB HDD
ÂÂ 2. It starts around a second faster

What are the disadvantages of the channel?

ÂÂ 1. You can't use the update function that the program has. You have to do it manually. Since r590 the update also works for channels
ÂÂ 2. It takes about 1.8 MB more space at the Wii Memory that the forwarder does.
ÂÂ 3. If you use it without an SD (or a second partition at you USB HDD) you can't save your settings, you don't have covers and disk images and you can't use cheats (ocarina)
ÂÂ 4. You don't have the cool loading screen (see above)

What are the pros of the forwarder?

ÂÂ 1. It takes 1.8 MB less than the channel of your precious Wii Memory
ÂÂ 2. You can use the update function Both have that option since r590
ÂÂ 3. If you want to manually update is faster and easier than the channel as you only have to replace boot.dol (or elf) at your SD/USB
ÂÂ 4. You don't have to update often the forwarder, you don't have to update it at all if you don't want to
ÂÂ 5. It has the cool loading screen

What are the disadvantages of the forwarder?

ÂÂ 1. You need an SD at your Wii with the dol file to be able to use the program (or a second, fat32, partition at the usb device)
ÂÂ 2. It's a second slower to start the program compared to the channel

Do I have to use one of those too?

No. You can use HBC, BannerBomb, twilight hack, loadmii, preloader or whatever else you can and want to use to load the dol file at the revisions page

 

[CuriousG]

no need to delete the config files then you will have to entre all the load info for games again
the wiitddb file is the problem removeing this will stop the code dumps

I have zero issues with game launch code dumps. When you update do you update all or just the dol? If you don't update all you won't get the correct wiitdb file. Also, it is recommended that you delete your config files when updating, especially when new features/menus are introduced. Whether or not you have to redo all of your individual game settings or not is immaterial as we are testers for this software. It's our job to debug it so the coders know what's broken. If you just want to use a stable build then you should stick with v1.0 (not directed at d popcorn, just people in general).

I didn't update my wiitdb.zip file. I knew at the time the site was down so I left my current 628K file intact. I'll delete the .cfg files and see what happens but if we have to delete it after every 2 to 3 builds nothing ever gets saved.

 

[retKHAAAN]

I didn't update my wiitdb.zip file. I knew at the time the site was down so I left my current 628K file intact. I'll delete the .cfg files and see what happens but if we have to delete it after every 2 to 3 builds nothing ever gets saved.

What needs to be saved? If you notice, whenever new features are added to the loader, the config file changes. The only way to be 100% sure that your config files are going to be okay with each new revision is to remove them and let each new revision generate its own. Some updates come and go and everythings fine but that doesn't mean it is always going to be fine.

 

[giantpune]

OK I SAID IT BEFORE. BUT I'LL TRY WITH CAPS LOCK TO SEE IF YOU PEOPLE READ IT.

WHEN YOU USE UPDATE ALL OR UPDATE A FULL CHANNEL, THE LOADER USES YOUR LIST OF GAMES AND SETTINGS TO GRAB A WIITDB.ZIP WITH ONLY THE GAMES AND LANGUAGES YOU NEED. THAT MEANS THAT WHEN THE APPLICATION STARTS AND LOADS THE XML DATA IT IS KEEPING ~35KB PER 100 GAMES IN MEMORY. IF YOU USE THE ENTIRE WIITDB.ZIP THAT IS 600+KB YOU ARE KEEPING ALL THAT IN MEMORY AND YOU GET ISSUES WITH ALT DOLS AND OTHER STUFF THAT NEEDS TO BE STORED IN THE MEMORY.

YOU GET THE SAME RESULT FROM USING THEMES WITH UN-OPTIMIZED IMAGES OR HUGE BG MUSIC. THE WII ONLY HAS SO MUCH MEMORY AND YOU ARE TRYING TO STUFF TOO MUCH SHIT IN IT.

 

[Triumph]

OK I SAID IT BEFORE. BUT I'LL TRY WITH CAPS LOCK TO SEE IF YOU PEOPLE READ IT.

WHEN YOU USE UPDATE ALL OR UPDATE A FULL CHANNEL, THE LOADER USES YOUR LIST OF GAMES AND SETTINGS TO GRAB A WIITDB.ZIP WITH ONLY THE GAMES AND LANGUAGES YOU NEED. THAT MEANS THAT WHEN THE APPLICATION STARTS AND LOADS THE XML DATA IT IS KEEPING ~35KB PER 100 GAMES IN MEMORY. IF YOU USE THE ENTIRE WIITDB.ZIP THAT IS 600+KB YOU ARE KEEPING ALL THAT IN MEMORY AND YOU GET ISSUES WITH ALT DOLS AND OTHER STUFF THAT NEEDS TO BE STORED IN THE MEMORY.

YOU GET THE SAME RESULT FROM USING THEMES WITH UN-OPTIMIZED IMAGES OR HUGE BG MUSIC. THE WII ONLY HAS SO MUCH MEMORY AND YOU ARE TRYING TO STUFF TOO MUCH SHIT IN IT.

Hi Pune,

Thanks for the info, So basically we shouldn't download the wiitdb.zip file from wiitdb, and instead just do a full channel update?

Thanks!

Also just a general question for everyone, I saw a few pages back (10 - 15 pages) there was a screenshot of the controllers that a game would use, much like how the homebrew browser does that. was that a screen shot of USB loader GX? if so how can I get that setup?