Hacking USB Loader GX

[tswntk]

you don't install ios56, you need to install cios with base 56
in fact you already have cios 248 base 56, so just direct ulbloadergx to use cios 248 instead of the default 249
You may also use Modmii to update your cios 248-250 to d2x v8 or v10 and change their base.

 

[Jaos]

you don't install ios56, you need to install cios with base 56
in fact you already have cios 248 base 56, so just direct ulbloadergx to use cios 248 instead of the default 249
You may also use Modmii to update your cios 248-250 to d2x v8 or v10 and change their base.

Could you link me to the Modmii tutorial you would recommend me to use for updating my CIOS please.

 

[tswntk]

modmii is a pc program, just search the forum and you should find lots of info. It even have its own stickies in the Wii-Hacking section.
Read more and try to understand the process before you jump and brick your Wii.

 

[Jaos]

modmii is a pc program, just search the forum and you should find lots of info. It even have its own stickies in the Wii-Hacking section.
Read more and try to understand the process before you jump and brick your Wii.

Is it imperative that I even update my cios to play the newest games released? You said I only needed cios 248 base 56, which I have. Sorry for the onslaught of questions.

 

[tswntk]

the safest way for you is to just use 248 but d2x v7 may or may not be updated enough to play all games. You have to try.
to use slot 248 as default, edit usbloadergx's meta.xml and change 249 to 248. Its located in sd(usb):\apps\usbloader_gx depending on where you installed usbloader_gx
You may also just change this one game to be loaded with slot 248 in per game setting.

some newer games such as COD will need base57 so you will have to change to slot 250 for those games as well.
Cyan would probably be able to give you more detailed instructions.

 

[sideskroll]

Could you link me to the Modmii tutorial you would recommend me to use for updating my CIOS please.

Get the latest version of Modmii from here: https://code.google.com/p/modmii/downloads/detail?name=ModMii6.3.1.zip&can=2&q=

And follow the steps I gave this guy to the T.: https://gbatemp.net/threads/please-...-and-hdd-detection.390823/page-2#post-5535063
That should get you up to date on everything.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I tried WiiU version of neek2o but there are more issues (even not working at all...)
so I will just release the version as Wii stable, and work on wiiU after that as not that many users should have access to the beta anyway. it's not officially released and user are responsible for their use.

What issues? beta 9.6 or another one? 9.6 worked albeit with some problems but did what it had to do.
Did you find any other issues after the last time we spoke?

 

[sonictopfan]

@Cyan I'm not complaining that it's taking time, I much prefer to wait and have a more stable revision than have one that breaks compatibility, so you take your time, no rush.

At the moment I get a black screen when I try to load a NTSC version of "The Last Story" on my PAL Wii.

The irony is my Wii is NTSC and my copy of The Last Story is PAL and it runs just fine, I kinda like the British accent for this game, fits the mood, the US accent just didn't do it for me.

just direct ulbloadergx to use cios 248 instead of the default 249

This might fix my issue with a couple of PAL games that give me black screen on start but if I hit "reset" on the console the games run fine, how do I do it exactly in USB-Loader GX?

 

[Cyan]

yes, b9.6 worked
b13 could not boot, not even without autobooting games.
But I didn't try a lot of things (it's annoying that you need to unplug the console every time it freezes/endless loops). waste of time, I spend more time rebooting than testing.

v9.6 worked for the few things I tried, but I didn't test a lot.

I change my EmuNAND path to :\EmuNAND\nand\ and :\EmuNAND\channels\ instead of :\nand\

when I go to install a WAD via USB Loader GX, an error pops up briefly saying something like "cannot read usb:\nand" or something.

Thanks for reporting that.
I don't see what's wrong, as I don't use /nand/ folder myself and I can install wads without issue.
(well, I tried installing a wad multiple times and it always froze, but I think it's the wad issue? "you, me and the cube" is maybe a bad dump, or something is wrong with the wad manager)

I will take a better look at the wad manager to see if /nand/ is hardcoded, but it shouldn't be.

Can you please point me to the right tutorial to get ios 56.

you don't install ios56, you need to install cios with base 56
in fact you already have cios 248 base 56, so just direct ulbloadergx to use cios 248 instead of the default 249

Like Tswntk said, you already have a custom IOS using IOS56 as base : your slot 248.
You have two choice to use this slot :
- globally for ALL your games : Settings>loader settings>Game's IOS -> edit 249 to 248.
or
- individually only for last of us : select the game>options>game settings> IOS -> edit "use default", delete "-1" and replace with "248". only this game will use 248, all others will continue to use 249.

to use slot 248 as default, edit usbloadergx's meta.xml and change 249 to 248.

He shouldn't edit the meta.xml manually, USBLoaderGX is doing it automatically.
Settings > Loader settings > Loader's IOS --> edit 249 to 248, and it will also edit the meta.xml

Editing the "loader's IOS" is not really useful for game compatibility, it only use that IOS slot when the user is inside the loader. it's used to access NAND, SD, USB, to read/write covers or configs. the only need he should have to edit that IOS is if his HDD had detection issue (users set it to 58 instead of 249 to have better HDD detection).


Like Tswntk said too, you currently have d2x v7. It's a little old, but that's NOT too old.
v7 introduced a fix for a lot of games (zelda skyward sword, all wiimote+ games, sam & max, metroid prime trilogy, etc. all dol-reloading games)
v8 has a better stability.
v9 is beta, v10 is a mix of v8+v9 and only adds more HDD supports and multi-USBport support which you don't need (really, don't bother with v10!)
if you need or want to update, install v8.

usually, the guides tell users to install :
slot 249 : base 56 (for 99% games)
slot 250 : base 57 (for Call of duty. If you don't play that game, don't bother installing base57)

the US accent just didn't do it for me.

Ah, I didn't know the US version had voice over replaced.

 

[Etheboss]

yes, b9.6 worked
b13 could not boot, not even without autobooting games.
But I didn't try a lot of things (it's annoying that you need to unplug the console every time it freezes/endless loops). waste of time, I spend more time rebooting than testing.

v9.6 worked for the few things I tried, but I didn't test a lot.

Yeah, rev96 beta 9.6 should be a good and stable, if people are going to use a beta, i suggest they use that one.
PS. where did you get B13? I can't seem to remember OverjoY even brought it out...i for sure do not have it and i thought i had all the beta's, lol.

 

[Cyan]

He sent it to me last month
but I couldn't make it work on WiiU.

it worked on Wii, but the game I tried just froze.
I didn't test a lot of games (as I don't have many), so maybe it was just an issue with that game, or with my emuNAND dump, or an issue with neek2o itself.
He didn't tell me what he changed since latest changelog, so I don't know what I need to test or report to him to fix and improve. not having sources to check the changes and how to make proper settings from USBGX is like blindly coding to see results. for example, what are the new .bin files for? it now supports covers but there's no info how to format the path/filename, gamecube loader changes? etc.


for example, using the temporary NAND path (to not store it in nandcfg.bin) has issues when loading games after booting system menu.
it works with autoboot, but not "sysnand boot -> launch channel" as exiting the currently launched title (here the system menu) it resets back to the default nand set in nandcfg.bin instead of keeping the temporary nand path passed by arguments.
I think argument's temporary path should be store somewhere in a file (like for the reload.sys file when using returnto argument) so launching and exiting channels does not reset back to another path until the user effectively reboot the console/launch nswitch.
That's why I removed the "temporary/permanent" nand path choice, it's now always setting current path as permanent/default.

Also, autoboot a disc sent by argument is not working (he removed the code in r96), only autoboot channel is automated by neek.
Autobooting a disc required work to be done in the loader (generate dicache.bin, add ticket/tmd manually to nand, create paths, files, folders, settings, etc.)
all the ticket/tmd/disc.sys should be done internally by neek when the user request a disc launch from argument.
He told me he intend to improve it and make it easier to launch disc games.
Currently, to launch disc games from usbgx, you need to boot system menu and mount the game you want manually.


I'm willing to help and provide direction/suggestion to make it easier to use.
having a debug/logs version would help too.

 

[Devante]

Thanks for reporting that.
I don't see what's wrong, as I don't use /nand/ folder myself and I can install wads without issue.
(well, I tried installing a wad multiple times and it always froze, but I think it's the wad issue? "you, me and the cube" is maybe a bad dump, or something is wrong with the wad manager)

I will take a better look at the wad manager to see if /nand/ is hardcoded, but it shouldn't be.

Thanks very much for the reply. Can't believe you're still so active after all this time! (I stopping using my Wii about 2 years ago and just got back into it).

Oh by the way, any idea on how to force GameCube games to use 4:3 ratio rather than widescreen?
I'm using Nintendont with USB Loader GX.

 

[Cyan]

it's possible only on WiiU, with the "wiiU widescreen" setting.
the Wii doesn't have a real aspect ratio switch.
in fact, the wii is always rendering 4:3, you need to edit your TV output to add black bars on the sides.

WiiU can do it as it output the picture in real 16:9 format, and adds the black bars itself.
on Wii, the picture is only stretched.
If you want to prevent the stretched look, you can enable "widescreen patch" option which adds more pixel to the picture. you see more elements on screen to "fake" a widescreen effect. the result is that it keeps correct aspect ratio.
but it does not work good with all games.

 

[Devante]

it's possible only on WiiU, with the "wiiU widescreen" setting.
the Wii doesn't have a real aspect ratio switch.
in fact, the wii is always rendering 4:3, you need to edit your TV output to add black bars on the sides.

WiiU can do it as it output the picture in real 16:9 format, and adds the black bars itself.
on Wii, the picture is only stretched.
If you want to prevent the stretched look, you can enable "widescreen patch" option which adds more pixel to the picture. you see more elements on screen to "fake" a widescreen effect. the result is that it keeps correct aspect ratio.
but it does not work good with all games.

Thanks again for the answers.
I just realized we joined gbatemp a month apart. ha

 

[Shiranui-san]

@Cyan, did recent changes on neek2o options improved compatibility with Wii games? Or you prefer to focus on channels compatibility only?

 

[sonictopfan]

I still would like a cache option to speed up loading time when you start USBLGX if possible, thanks!

 

[Cyan]

Neek2o itself is responsible for the compatibility, not the loader.
The loader only launches neek and if it's neek2o it's possible to provide argument when booting it to tell which channel you want to boot instead of the system menu.

If you want to play a Wii game, just launch Neek's system menu without autoboot (don't select a channel in the loader, use the "features>launch neek" menu) and once you are inside neek, mount your Disc and launch it from the Disc channel.


USBLoaderGX doesn't autoboot disc based games.
neek2o use argument for autobooting channels, but its argument for disc is broken. So I focused only on channels for the moment.

 

[Shiranui-san]

Neek2o itself is responsible for the compatibility, not the loader.
The loader only launches neek and if it's neek2o it's possible to provide argument when booting it to tell which channel you want to boot instead of the system menu.

If you want to play a Wii game, just launch Neek's system menu without autoboot (don't select a channel in the loader, use the "features>launch neek" menu) and once you are inside neek, mount your Disc and launch it from the Disc channel.


USBLoaderGX doesn't autoboot disc based games.
neek2o use argument for autobooting channels, but its argument for disc is broken. So I focused only on channels for the moment.

I explained myslef terribly.
I didn't mean compatibility in the strict sense of the word. I know that the compatibility depends on neek2o, not on the loader. What I wanted to express was exactly what you just now said, if GX was now autobooting Wii games as well, I chose the wrong word.

 

[Cyan]

yeah, that's why I also explained that it's not autobooting it (yet)
It could be done, but require more work on my side.

Sorry, I haven't touched the sources for the past 10 days.
being home-alone takes a lot of time

 

[Magnus87]

When do you have vacations?

 

[chazman14]

Got a situation. When I try to launch Troythezombie's (mastershoes updated) forwarding channels from my emunand in usb loader gx, I get a black screen and wii resarts. When I do it with his snes9xgx forwarder, it works great. Any help would be appreciative.

Notes:
1. I do have priiloader installed, so when I boot my wii, it goes straight to USBLoaderGX.