Hacking USB Loader GX

[Cyan]

First of all I would like to ask, has the new NEEK build released yet?

I worked on it today and ...and unfortunately hit the size limit for boot.dol file size
I'm removing things for now until I decide what to do (probably load all png or the font from external instead of compiling them inside the dol)

There's no new preview, still working on a proper version.
But I'll need some beta testers soon.

Is there any way to set up 2 different Emunands, one for E and one for U in USB Loader GX? As it is as I'm in a pal region I can pretty much only use E Wiiware games through the emulated Emunand. If I use Neek2o I can run both (after selecting the relevant Nand).

out of region channels are not working on EmuNAND? I always thought it wasn't an issue. (maybe because I have a modchip)
if you have priiloader, enable region free.

it's possible to use multiple EmuNAND path, but you shouldn't need it.

 

[KevInChester]

Thanks for the answer. I've got priiloader installed and have turned the region hack on (Region Free Everything), doesn't seem to help though with Neek2o, though fairly certain that's my fault. Just tried with the video mode patch option - the error I get is "This channel can't be used".

I'm on R96 of Neek2o (Jan 17 2013) which was installed using ModMii.

There are some games that seem to work 1080 (usa) works fine in Emunand on USB Loader GX and Neek2o. Whereas FZero (usa) will only work in Neek2o if I use the USA region Nand.

 

[Cyan]

just to be sure, I'm not talking about neek2o at all, I'm talking about the EmuNAND option inside USBLoaderGX.
when you install channels on an emuNAND dump, you should be able to launch any region.

to use the current launching method from the loader :
- set a path in EmuNAND Channel path
- enable EmuNAND chann on 4th icon in the top menu
- launch the game

it should launch channels from any region.

 

[KevInChester]

Yeah sorry about the misunderstanding. I'll give that a go now. I know I've messed something up somewhere

 

[Acidflare]

I worked on it today and ...and unfortunately hit the size limit for boot.dol file size
I'm removing things for now until I decide what to do (probably load all png or the font from external instead of compiling them inside the dol)

There's no new preview, still working on a proper version.
But I'll need some beta testers soon.



out of region channels are not working on EmuNAND? I always thought it wasn't an issue. (maybe because I have a modchip)
if you have priiloader, enable region free.

it's possible to use multiple EmuNAND path, but you shouldn't need it.

Cyan why not make 2 separate versions one that uses neek for emunand and one that uses cIOS redirection?

Thanks for the answer. I've got priiloader installed and have turned the region hack on (Region Free Everything), doesn't seem to help though with Neek2o, though fairly certain that's my fault. Just tried with the video mode patch option - the error I get is "This channel can't be used".

I'm on R96 of Neek2o (Jan 17 2013) which was installed using ModMii.

There are some games that seem to work 1080 (usa) works fine in Emunand on USB Loader GX and Neek2o. Whereas FZero (usa) will only work in Neek2o if I use the USA region Nand.

priiloader on emunand needs to have regionfree enabled that is partially what the DI menu is used for. It is also used for switching emunands while in the system menu. I can't recall at this moment which button on the WiiMote opens the DI menu I think it's either 1 or 2. Here is a link to all of the country codes the Wii uses http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Country_Codes I know that the country code can be changed in the DI menu aswell.

 

[Cyan]

too much work to maintain two different versions, would need different compile, branches on svn, etc.
And that will not fix the size limit issue which would be few bytes away from current size on both versions.

I'm currently changing some functions to take less spaces (less loop and conditions or debug text).
I won 1Kb

 

[Acidflare]

too much work to maintain two different versions, would need different compile, branches on svn, etc.
And that will not fix the size limit issue which would be few bytes away from current size on both versions.

I'm currently changing some functions to take less spaces (less loop and conditions).
I won 1Kb

that's understandable.

Are themes downloadable now? Last I checked you needed to signup for the site and go through adf.ly links to download. If they are not downloadable still, in my opinion I would remove the theme downloader if that will clear up some space.

 

[Cyan]

That's still the same.
as long as the website require registration, the themes can't be downloaded from the loader anymore.

I don't know if it's a good idea to fully remove it.
are users looking at which theme available directly from the loader?
I don't have stats or user's log to check that. But you are right, it can probably be removed.


I just wish to release a v3.1 officially with all current menus.
Then I'll do a new interface (if I have time) with tabs, widescreen menus, change a lot of settings menus, etc.

 

[Acidflare]

That's still the same.
as long as the website require registration, the themes can't be downloaded from the loader anymore.

I don't know if it's a good idea to fully remove it.
are users looking at which theme available directly from the loader?
I don't have stats or user's log to check that. But you are right, it can probably be removed.

Well not many people are going to be using the beta's your working on now. You could claim it as due to the registration and adf.ly requirements theme dowloading through the downloader no longer works and you must vist http://wii.spiffy360.com/themes.php?category=1 and register to download themes. you could replace the downloader itself with a message window to notify users so people may still go and download themes if they wish.
I can write a small guide that tells users how to install themes using a PC, you can put it up on mediafire and put the link in your sig or put the .txt file with all the new versions the loader.

 

[Cyan]

if I remove it completely, information how to download theme will be in the changelog.
I just don't want to make a lot of changes to existing menus to prevent breaking anything while working on neek2o.
it's easier to fix a bug introduced on previous revisions if revision don't have multiple big changes at the same time.

svn is good as you can go back to old revisions and see where the bug started, it's easier to fix if there's little changes between each revisions.
I'll first release neek2o, then I'll see if I remove it before or after 3.1 release. (probably before, as it's not working anymore, no use to keep a non functional feature on official release)


I'll release a new neek preview, to get user's comments on current features.

 

[Acidflare]

if I remove it completely, information how to download theme will be in the changelog.
I just don't want to make a lot of changes to existing menus to prevent breaking anything while working on neek2o.
it's easier to "fix" a bug if revision don't have multiple big changes at the same time.

svn is good as you can go back to old revisions and see where the bug started, it's easier to fix if there's little changes between each revisions.
I'll first release neek2o, then I'll see if I remove it before or after 3.1 release. (probably before, as it's not working anymore, no use to keep a non functional feature on official release)

that's a really good feature actually, I do agree making small changes is better for finding where faults get made. Let me know if you want me to write up a guide for installing themes from the PC there are multiple setups you can use for theme loading, If a user uses multiple SD cards it can be setup so that each SD card has a different theme with the same file name the same can be done for usb devices.

 

[Etheboss]

Bomberman '93/'94
Castlevania - Rondo of Blood
Street Fighter II - Champion Edition
those are the ones I tested. They are part of the TurboGrafix16 VC collection

Hmm, i hope OJ has got them in his collection, because i do not have korean versions of these titles.

 

[Acidflare]

Hmm, i hope OJ has got them in his collection, because i do not have korean versions of these titles.

send me a PM if they are needed i'll come to IRC I have them and can supply them for testing, i'll also reinstall them make sure that it wasn't something I had set wrong

 

[KevInChester]

Still no success using Emunand on USB Loader GX. The Nand is setup correctly, a few games work (1080, Fzero, Cave Story) though most just hang at a black screen. I have tried both SD and USB HDD for the Nand placement. Used so many options to try and got the other games to work but having no success (Excitebike, Lost Winds, Final Fantasy My Life as a King). It's bound to be something stupid I am doing. Wii games/GC Games work fine.

Got Neek2o to work fine now, I didn't notice the additional menu when you press + - now I've got it set up and everything I've tried has worked. Would love if I could get USB Loader GX to work as I do prefer that method. I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow.

 

[Acidflare]

Still no success using Emunand on USB Loader GX. The Nand is setup correctly, a few games work (1080, Fzero, Cave Story) though most just hang at a black screen. I have tried both SD and USB HDD for the Nand placement. Used so many options to try and got the other games to work but having no success (Excitebike, Lost Winds, Final Fantasy My Life as a King). It's bound to be something stupid I am doing. Wii games/GC Games work fine.

Got Neek2o to work fine now, I didn't notice the additional menu when you press + - now I've got it set up and everything I've tried has worked. Would love if I could get USB Loader GX to work as I do prefer that method. I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow.

try loading usbloader gx while in neek2o mode. install the UNEO forwarder to the emunand and run the forwarder from the system menu

 

[Cyan]

no, the loader is not officially supporting being run from neek2o. don't do that, unless you understand what you are doing.
You could break and corrupt your settings.
You better wait that I release a proper neek2o integration to be launch from RealNAND.
look the link below, set EmuNAND Chan mode to neek and launch your channel. The loader will launch neek and autoboot the game. No need to launch the loader when inside neek.


lost wind require neek, it doesn't work with cIOS NAND redirection method.
I don't know about the other two, maybe they don't work with cIOS too.


Neek2o preview 3
===============

Please, report what you find.
Preview 2 had 17 download, but 2 or 3 users only reported if it worked or not...

link here
please, read the "mod06" changelog to see what I changed and what to test.

What I need users to test:
- make a clean new install of the loader, and try to download Wiitdb. tell me if there's still an issue and you need to edit the path again.
- try neek2o and report all you want.
- Please, use the "buffer" mode. if nobody has issues with that neek method, I'll delete the static method.
- How do you find the "return to" option? it's now "on/off" instead of "TitleID/Off" so it's more "neutral" and can be used by neek2o too. (If ON then it will return to NK2O of you use neek, or Global setting's channel if not using neek)

 

[sonictopfan]

I worked on it today and ...and unfortunately hit the size limit for boot.dol file size
I'm removing things for now until I decide what to do (probably load all png or the font from external instead of compiling them inside the dol)

There's no new preview, still working on a proper version.
But I'll need some beta testers soon.

I recall Fix94 did something to Nintendont to get around the size limitation, maybe it's worth asking him if there's a workaround that can be used here.

 

[Cyan]

it was a thing to wiiflow, not nintendont.
he separated the game booter functions from the interface.
Wiiflow -> click the game -> load the launcher+GameID as argument -> the launchers functions are mounting the partition, reloading cIOS, etc.

But if I do that, launching a game will not work as it actually do.
Now, when you click on a game, you have menus, warning, error message, questions, popup for alt dols etc. and if something goes wrong, you can choose to cancel and not boot that game, you'll be back to the interface to pick another game.
with an external game launcher, clicking on a game would exit the loader to load the launcher. You can't select anything, can't cancel game launching or pick dols as the purpose of the launcher is to have no graphical interface. USBLoaderGX launcher functions have a loooot of checks and warning and user's choices. no graphical interface is not possible.

I already thought about that, but it's not something I want to do.
The current interface needs to keep the launcher integrated to the main dol.
edit:
I checked wiiflow, it's not a dol but a bin. I guess the bin is loaded in memory. I don't know if it can add functions and stay in the loader or if it implied a reload. If it's like devolution it require exiting app and reloading the binary as loaded address.
not something I plan to do yet. I don't have enough knowledge for function launching from another file.

I still have choice to put data on external (all pictures, as if it was a theme)
Max dol file : 4.69MB
Data folder : 3MB

or something is wrong with the compilation/linker used by USBLoaderGX.
WiiMC is 11MB and has no issues...

 

[sonictopfan]

^I thought the loader already reads pictures and such from the external, how do you plan to change that? I hope this doesn't cause slowdowns or crashes.

some mSD cards don't work with Wii homebrew it's all trial and error not all just like how not all USB controllers aren't compatible with Dios-Mios. your 64GB mSD card just so happens to fall into the error category. sometimes it is however the mSD to SD adapter that causes error, if Not64 and WiiSX are reading the SD card properly then it may just be the adapter at fault.

I took your advice and tried another adapter and while it's slightly slower on the Wii menu (in fact it's a lot slower) the sound issue is gone, I went ahead and tested every homebrew I have, every emeulator, every HB game, every app, they all ran fine except 4 apps, USB Loader GX, Save Manager GX, Wii Xplorer, and Sonic Robo Blast 2, unfortunately 3 of these apps are essential for me, with USB Loader GX being my main game loader.

 

[Cyan]

no, the loader has all the "default theme" pictures inside the dol.
You can load user themes instead of default one, but there's no png on your SD card for default theme.

I have ideas, but don't want to change it before v3.1
- externalize all theme pictures. if default theme folder is missing/empty, the loader will either "warn user" or "try to download missing files".
- create a rebooter. (same idea than wiiflow, but for the entire loader, not the game booter). boot.dol will act as a homebrew loader/forwarder to load the actual loader binary in mem2 memory where there are more free spaces. this idea is better, only two files to check/download/update. boot.dol and usbgloadergx.bin
- adds actual loader inside another dol which will relocate the loader at launch. It's the better choice, as it will still be a single dol for the users and no more size issue.

But, it's only after 3.1 that I will rework everything. currently I'm focusing on neek2o and fixing bugs before next official release.

Decision about neek2o:
seeing I'm hitting size issue and can't add more functions, I decided to limit neek2o autoboot to EmuNAND channels.
Wii disc and gamecube disc launching will not have neek options.
- Gamecube : users should now use nintendont instead of neek BC (DM/DML/quad), so I don't think it's worth the time and effort to code GC neek support in the loader. just launch neek if you want DM/L/Q from it. but really, you should use nitnendont instead.

- Wii games: there are still some games which can benefit from neek (drivers, tintin, etc.) but very few compared to working games without neek. If you want to boot a disc from neek, you can launch neek without autoboot from the features menu, then once in emulated system menu just mount the game you want to launch.

- cache and settings: I will probably still work on options to refresh game cache and edit neek settings directly from the loader, if I have enough space for the dol. else, I'll release the revision without these features. User can just refresh cache directly from neek's hidden menu.

- I'm wondering if it's useful to have a "temporary nand" and a "permanent nand" path.
I'll probably force all launches to become permanent path. launching a channel will set its path as permanent automatically.

- I'll remove the "static" loading method.