Hacking USB Loader GX

[GerbilSoft]

some users reported HDD init issue with USBGX and cIOS (mainly with recent HDD), maybe there's something which could be updated in d2x instead of USBGX.
It usually init fine when using IOS58.

Edit:
Oh, and if you can, it would be nice to add the System title installation Patch on vWii. Currently only cIOS236 has it, d2x is not enough to fix semi-bricked vWii.
At the same time it's also a bick protection to not have that install prevention patched (prevent users from installing wrong IOS58). what do you think?

I don't have much experience with these, but I can take a look at it over the weekend. Can you provide a link to cIOS236's title installation patch?

Regarding the IOS58 Wii vs. vWii bricks - is there anything in particular that needs to be verified? I could just hard-code a minimum version number, but that won't help if someone decides to use a custom IOS in slot 58 for some reason.

 

[Cyan]

IOS236 installer v8 : http://gbatemp.net/threads/i-can-install-ios-in-vwii-but.338809/page-15#post-4523506
sources included.

it's based on DaMysteryMan patch to disable the IOS installation protection.
That patch is now part of a library maintained by Nano (Excelsiior):
http://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-vwii-libruntimeiospatch.339606/

so homebrew can add it on the fly in memory when using IOS58 (and maybe it's generic enough to patch other IOS slots too), but if users are using old tools like Wad managers with d2x v10, that patch will not be applied.


About the brick protection, I think there are already users who installed the wrong IOS58, they didn't wait for a d2x update to brick their console
I don't think it's cIOS job to check if the user installs a wrong IOS version, it's the wad manager job. so if you know how to update d2x, don't worry about preventing users from bricking, just patching that IOS install protection is enough.
if you don't know or don't have time, that's fine too.
Another thing which would be fine is merging v10 and v10-alt together. currently it's cut in half because alternate version has incompatibility with some HDD and EmuNAND.

 

[GerbilSoft]

I don't think d2x-alt can be easily merged back into regular d2x; there's a huge number of changes, including new modules and map layouts.

It might be possible to at least merge the two branches into one to prevent divergence, and then manually merge in useful changes, but that'd take a ridiculous amount of effort.

I'll take a look at the IOS236 installer later.

 

[ccuevasm]

To be sure, I did tests this morning. I launched ShowMiiWads and
1) Set the NAND path to an empty folder called nand
2) Install in this folder the Mii channel and a VC game (ShowMiiWads created 4 folders: shared1, sys, ticket, title)
View attachment 63067
View attachment 63069
3) Replace the nand folder in my USB stick with this new folder
4) Started USB Loader GX (with emuNAND channel to partial and current emuNAND path to /usb/nand/) and display only emuNAND channels: I got two, the Mii channel and the VC game
5) Started the VC game: my wiimote remained synchronized
6) Started the Mii channel: all my Miis were here
7) When I checked the content of the nand folder after booting the channels with USB Loader GX, new folders were present (generated by the loader): import, meta, shared2, tmp.
View attachment 63070
8) I tried to boot the VC game in full mode and got a black screen (might be due to a random bug with the cIOS used, i.e. d2x v10 beta r53-alt). As far as I remember, when I did some testing a year ago with a freshly generated (and thus complete) NAND, the full mode was booting but without any wiimotes synchronized and with no Mii in the Mii channel.

So from my point of view partial mode in working as expected. I know I will need a dump of my NAND for neek mode (I had one in a different folder before you implemented neek2o for testing purpose), but for users who just want to play a few VC and WW games compatible with cIOS emuNAND method, partial mode seems to be the simplest emuNAND mode.

This could be a great idea (a working parcial emuNAND cannel), but:

Sorry, I tried to replicate this process without success. Tried all your steps, except I installed a wiiware game (DriiftMania) that I knew it works using full emunand with cIOS d2x v10 (IOS57). This wiiware game has never be installed in the wii NAND.

Being d2x v10 (IOS57) installed in my wii NAND (IOS250), I tried a parcial emuNAND cannel: The wiimote remained synchronized, like you, but I only got a permanent black screen.

If I try the Mii channel, it works, but I think it is because it is in the Wii NAND or it was installed in the Wii NAND previously.

So, are you completely sure your VC game has never be installed in your NAND?

 

[GreyWolf]

This could be a great idea (a working parcial emuNAND cannel), but:

Sorry, I tried to replicate this process without success. Tried all your steps, except I installed a wiiware game (DriiftMania) that I knew it works using full emunand with cIOS d2x v10 (IOS57). This wiiware game has never be installed in the wii NAND.

Being d2x v10 (IOS57) installed in my wii NAND (IOS250), I tried a parcial emuNAND cannel: The wiimote remained synchronized, like you, but I only got a permanent black screen.

If I try with the Mii cannel, it works, but I think it is because it is or it was installed in the Wii NAND.

So, are you completely sure your VC game has never be installed in your NAND?

That sounds like it's not redirecting the /ticket/ folder for partial, then.

 

[WuaZ]

So, are you completely sure your VC game has never be installed in your NAND?

Yes I am sure it was never installed in my NAND. I never installed any VC game in my NAND, and all the VC games I tried to play in partial mode worked.

In addition, I found in the changelog of the v8 of d2x:
"Fixed black screen in partial emulation when starting a game never launched before on real nand."
Here is the source: https://github.com/davebaol/d2x-cios/blob/master/data/Changelog.txt

Edit: sorry this issue was about Wii disc
https://github.com/davebaol/d2x-cios/issues/14

 

[Cyan]

@ccuevasm :
Thank you for testing too

your result is more true to what I knew and understood based on partial method redirection.
The ticket folder are supposed to be redirected, but not all. By looking at d2x sources, I think only theses path are redirected when using partial:
/ticket/00010001/ (tickets for channels)
/ticket/00010005/ (ticket for DLCs)

I detailed other path here :
https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-loader-gx.149922/page-1127#post-6608993

I may be wrong, so someone can verify these data.
But what I remember, installing a new WAD (never installed to realNAND) shouldn't work with partial, and that's why I wanted to remove that option from the loader.


note:
I didn't work on the plugins yet, sorry.

 

[WuaZ]

The ticket folder are supposed to be redirected, but not all. By looking at d2x sources, I think only theses path are redirected when using partial:
/ticket/00010001/ (tickets for channels)
/ticket/00010005/ (ticket for DLCs)

Since the ticket of my VC game is in /ticket/0010001/, this is consistent with my test. Where are tickets of WiiWare games?

 

[Cyan]

VC and wiiware are both channels.
But maybe the ticket is not the issue and another file is required.
like he asked, are you sure you never installed that game on your realNAND?

 

[WuaZ]

Yes I am sure it was never installed in my NAND. I never installed any VC game in my NAND, and all the VC games I tried to play in partial mode worked.

I can try with different VC and Wiiware games if you want. (Not tonight but in the coming days)

@ccuevasm: can you try again with d2x v10 beta r53-alt base 56? How did you install your Wiiware in your emuNAND? If not with Showmiiwads, can you try to reinstall the wad with it and use partial mode?

 

[GreyWolf]

@WuaZ Can you try installing something that failed with EmuNAND to your NAND then remove it and see if it works afterwards (via EmuNAND)?

 

[WuaZ]

But nothing failed with partial EmuNAND in my case... In addition, I do not have BootMii as boot2, so I won't try to install any unnecessary wad in my real NAND.

I can try to install in EmuNAND with Showmiiwads and run in partial mode the Wiiware that failed for ccuevasm.

 

[hang_loose]

I'm attempting to load some games in usb loader gx. i have the .wbfs files on a FAT32 hard drive with one "wbfs" folder and the games inside (each in their own folder). when i try to play a game from the channel select screen in usb loader gx the screen goes black and returns me to the homebrew channel homescreen. here is my syscheck:

Spoiler

SysCheck HDE v2.4.0 HacksDen Edition by JoostinOnline, Double_A, R2-D2199, and Nano

...runs on IOS58 (rev 6176).


Region: NTSC-U

System Menu 4.3U (v513)


Drive date: 02.13.2007

Homebrew Channel 1.1.2 running on IOS58


Hollywood v0x11

Console ID: 49502636

Console Type: Wii

Shop Channel Country: United States (49)

Boot2 v4

Found 92 titles.

Found 49 IOS on this console. 15 of them are stubs.


IOS4 (rev 65280): Stub

IOS9 (rev 1034): No Patches

IOS10 (rev 768): Stub

IOS11 (rev 256): Stub

IOS12 (rev 526): No Patches

IOS13 (rev 1032): No Patches

IOS14 (rev 1032): No Patches

IOS15 (rev 1032): No Patches

IOS16 (rev 512): Stub

IOS17 (rev 1032): No Patches

IOS20 (rev 256): Stub

IOS21 (rev 1039): No Patches

IOS22 (rev 1294): No Patches

IOS28 (rev 1807): No Patches

IOS30 (rev 2816): Stub

IOS31 (rev 3608): No Patches

IOS33 (rev 3608): No Patches

IOS34 (rev 3608): No Patches

IOS35 (rev 3608): No Patches

IOS36 (rev 65535): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access

IOS37 (rev 5663): No Patches

IOS38 (rev 4124): No Patches

IOS40 (rev 3072): Stub

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 (rev 5120): Stub

IOS51 (rev 4864): Stub

IOS52 (rev 5888): Stub

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 6400): Stub

IOS61 (rev 5662): No Patches

IOS62 (rev 6430): No Patches

IOS70 (rev 6912): Stub

IOS80 (rev 6944): No Patches

IOS222 (rev 65280): Stub

IOS223 (rev 65280): Stub

IOS236[36] (rev 65535, Info: rev 3351): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access

IOS247[37] (rev 21007, Info: d2x-v7final): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS248[57] (rev 21007, Info: d2x-v7final): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS249[56] (rev 21007, Info: d2x-v7final): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS250[38] (rev 21007, Info: d2x-v7final): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access

IOS254 (rev 65280): Stub

BC v6

MIOS v10 (DIOS MIOS Lite 2.11+)

Report generated on 09/22/2016.

 

[WuaZ]

@hang_loose: your cIOSs are a bit old. You should try to install the v8 or v10 of the d2x in slots 249 (base 56, almost compatible with all games) and 250 (base 57, better compatibility but a bit slower). You can also install only base 57 in slot 249.

 

[Jeff Lavenz]

Does USB Loader GX only make ISOs/WBFS of Wii games only or can it dump GCN as well? I ask because I have a few Japanese GameCube imports coming in the mail and am wondering if I'll have to dump the discs separately before I can run them or if I can just use the loader. And I know that Nintendont can run straight from disc, but I'm not sure if it'll save to a separate MemCard file or if it'll save to their own file.

 

[ccuevasm]

I can try with different VC and Wiiware games if you want. (Not tonight but in the coming days)

@ccuevasm: can you try again with d2x v10 beta r53-alt base 56? How did you install your Wiiware in your emuNAND? If not with Showmiiwads, can you try to reinstall the wad with it and use partial mode?

Umm... interesting.

So I tried again the same process you did with the same game: VC Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and IT WORKS!, no matter if I use d2x 10 (56), d2x 10 (57), d2x 10alt (56), or d2x 10 alt (57).

Tried also VC Enduro Racer (MegaDrive) and also works.
Tried also VC Golden Axe (arcade version) and it works.
Tried also VC Mario Kart 64 and it works.
Tried also VC Ninja Gaiden (arcade version) and it works.

Tried Zombie Panic in Wonderland (Wiiware) and it does NOT work.
Tried Bomberman Blast (Wiiware) and it does NOT work.

So, it seems that the ticket is not the problem, or tickets above 4xxxxxxx (all Wiiware games and DLC) are problematic.

All these games have been tried with the EmuNAND for saves and Channel in parcial mode, and with one EmuNAND without IOS/cIOS, and with another with IOS/cIOS installed, with the same results.

 

[Cyan]

Does USB Loader GX only make ISOs/WBFS of Wii games only or can it dump GCN as well? I ask because I have a few Japanese GameCube imports coming in the mail and am wondering if I'll have to dump the discs separately before I can run them or if I can just use the loader. And I know that Nintendont can run straight from disc, but I'm not sure if it'll save to a separate MemCard file or if it'll save to their own file.

You can dump gamecube disc too !
The format will be plain ISO, not wbfs, but it will do what you want, as long as you don't have a WBFS partition (ex. FAT32 or NTFS are fine to dump the game, but FAT32 is required to play them)

1. go to settings > user path > Gamecube MAIN path : set the main path to usb1:/games/ (default, but verify it's correctly set to that path)
2. go to settungs > Loader settings > Gamecube mode : set to Nintendont (by default, it's using MIOS, but I suppose you'll want nintendont, or devolution instead)
3. Go to 4th icon in the top menu, enable gamecube games.
4. insert disc > select install to dump discs to USB HDD.
5. launch your games


Like you said, you can also launch directly from disc, without dumping to USB first.
In that case, if you enable the "memory card emulation" option, then USBLoaderGX will ask you where you want to store the memory card : SD or USB.
if you want one card per game, select "memory card emulation" : multi
if you want one single card for ALL your games, select "ON".

Tried Zombie Panic in Wonderland (Wiiware) and it does NOT work.
Tried Bomberman Blast (Wiiware) and it does NOT work.

Bomberman doesn't require NEEK mode?
Maybe zombie panic too.

edit: ah no, according to the compat list, both work with v8/10.

did you try these games with FULL mode? it should work, based on the list, but I wonder what is different from real nand+partial and full emuNAND.

 

[ccuevasm]

Bomberman doesn't require NEEK mode?
Maybe zombie panic too.

edit: ah no, according to the compat list, both work with v8/10.

did you try these games with FULL mode? it should work, based on the list, but I wonder what is different from real nand+partial and full emuNAND.

Yep. They work using full EmuNAND for channels with, of course, an EmuNAND with cIOS inside.

 

[GerbilSoft]

You can dump gamecube disc too !
The format will be plain ISO, not wbfs

FYI: I have some upcoming changes to Nintendont that may require some updates here.

• Subdirectories are no longer required for single-disc games. That is, you can have usb:/games/GALE01.iso for Melee. (For non-subdirectory usage, Nintendont only checks the file extension.)
• More file extensions are supported: *.iso, *.gcm, *.ciso, *.cso.
• CISO (as implemented by Hermes uLoader and Dolphin Emulator) is now supported. It's still a bit experimental, but it should work better than shrunken GameCube images, since it preserves the logical file addresses.

The main changes needed for USB Loader GX:

• In /game/SUBDIR/: Check for game.gcm, game.ciso, and game.cso in addition to game.iso.
• In /game/: Check for all files that match *.iso, *.gcm, *.ciso, *.cso.
• When examining a disc image, if the first 8 bytes is "CISO\x00\x00\x20\x00" (CISO with 2 MB blocks) and there's no Wii or GameCube magic, check 0x8000 for the GameCube disc header. If it's there, then it's a CISO image. (This can also be used for Wii, and CISO is a much simpler format than WBFS.)

You can check out these changes here: https://github.com/GerbilSoft/Nintendont/tree/widescreen-hax.r422 (Note that there's no precompiled build yet; the loader.dol is from mainline r422.)

 

[Cyan]

iso and gcm are already supported.
I didn't add "non sub folder" and devolution users had to put the games in subfolders (as it worked on both devo and nin), but I'll see to add the iso in /games/ directly too.

cISO works for gamecube too?
with Wii games, cISO format worked only with hermes, not d2x so it's not a very common format with Wii games.

thanks for the info on your progress and changes.