Hacking USB Loader GX

[tswntk]

I think I can't run Dolphin, I'm on a laptop. 2GB of ram and the CPU is a dual core of 2.2Ghz.

start Dolphin without starting games, right click the game, >property>file system and right click the partition... or
You can use WiiBackupManager to verify the SHA-1 of the iso/wbfs files

Are you running the game from SD or HDD? Is the iso very fragmented? Use defraggler to defrag that single game.

I have a feeling that the MPT games are timing critical, if the data they expected didn't come within a time limit, they will freeze (MP1 and MP2 are suppose to be compatible with Emunand saves, but with my setup - emunand on SD with files in the range of 10 thousand, they randomly freeze if I turn on Emunand save - but that may only be me)

For your record, I have completed all 3 games with emunand save off without any problem.
MP1 : Normal and Veteran 100%
MP2 :Normal and Veteran 100%
MP3: Normal and Hyper 100%

d2x v10b52 base 56, ULGX 1260

PS: I didn't use any cheat, sometimes they are are the source of problems.
At least, don't use cheats for your trouble shooting.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Use defraggler to defrag that single game.

http://imgur.com/a/DzPlZ
Not sure if that's super fragmented. The Analysis says it has 24% and the file is split in two chunks one of 1 block and another of four.

HDD?

HDD, 1TB with two partitions, the FAT32 with the games and an ntfs one.

 

[tswntk]

http://imgur.com/a/DzPlZ
Not sure if that's super fragmented. The Analysis says it has 24% and the file is split in two chunks one of 1 block and another of four.



HDD, 1TB with two partitions, the FAT32 with the games and an ntfs one.

that means 2 fragments? i guess anything less that 5 should be oK. 2 must be OK. Go to the "file list" tab and press analyse, it should tell you exactly how many fragments the files have.
I have not much more ideas apart from checking the images.

 

[bengalih]

What is the actual impact of the settings:

- Loader IOS
and
- Game IOS

I guess I understand the "Game" - this is what we've been discussing for MPT and such.
But why is it necessary to choose a different IOS for the loader and is it actually common to use different settings for each?

I have both set to 250 (dx2 base 57), but I see that the default loader settings are for Loader IOS = 58.

My guess is this is some legacy stuff for compatibility, but I'd like to understand it.

thanks.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

that means 2 fragments? i guess anything less that 5 should be oK. 2 must be OK. Go to the "file list" tab and press analyse, it should tell you exactly how many fragments the files have.
I have not much more ideas apart from checking the images.

I miscounted. Metroid Trilogy was in seven fragments: a single block and six blocks. After defraggler finishes defragging the file I'll check the SHA-1.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Ok, this is odd, Metroid Prime Corruption takes a few minutes to do a SHA-1 check, but when I pick Trilogy instantly it does. Corruption gives green text, Trilogy gives blue.

Ok, the Trilogy .iso I got from my friend's website gives green text, so the .iso is ok.

 

[GreyWolf]

What is the actual impact of the settings:

- Loader IOS
and
- Game IOS

I guess I understand the "Game" - this is what we've been discussing for MPT and such.
But why is it necessary to choose a different IOS for the loader and is it actually common to use different settings for each?

I have both set to 250 (dx2 base 57), but I see that the default loader settings are for Loader IOS = 58.

My guess is this is some legacy stuff for compatibility, but I'd like to understand it.

thanks.

Loader IOS is what GX uses while it's running to read disc images, access NAND, etc. Game IOS is what it uses to launch the games. It reloads to the Game IOS before booting the title. In theory nowadays there shouldn't be any need for the Loader IOS anymore but I haven't gotten to that yet. IOS 58 with AHB_PROT turned off should be fine for anything other than running a game.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Trilogy iso passes the SHA-1 check both pre and post transferal. Testing with CIOS249 dx2v10 BETA2 base 57.

Also changed the loader CIOS to 58

Seems to work, but moon jump is useless again. Gah. (This is annoying because there is a missile expansion that needs a ton of stupid as fuck work via bomb jump)

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Standalone Metroid Prime Corruption refuses to work:

Settings are CIOS 249 dx2rev10 BETA2 base 57.
Block IOS reload ON.

 

[shadowvz96]

Does anyone know why Pokemon xg next gen won't load on my usb loader gx channel?

 

[GreyWolf]

Does anyone know why Pokemon xg next gen won't load on my usb loader gx channel?

Bad disc image? That's not an official game.

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

Standalone Metroid Prime Corruption refuses to work:

Settings are CIOS 249 dx2rev10 BETA2 base 57.
Block IOS reload ON.

I don't know what to tell you. I was able to use the save you posted as were others. It should be working out of the box with d2x based on IOS 56 with standard settings (no save emulation)

 

[bengalih]

Loader IOS is what GX uses while it's running to read disc images, access NAND, etc. Game IOS is what it uses to launch the games. It reloads to the Game IOS before booting the title. In theory nowadays there shouldn't be any need for the Loader IOS anymore but I haven't gotten to that yet. IOS 58 with AHB_PROT turned off should be fine for anything other than running a game.

Ok thanks. I kind of figured out what happened with your .dol and my configuration yesterday.
Remember - all I did was rename the official .dol to .orig and put your .dol in its place.

But, for some reason (maybe because of the IOS 58 error it gave?) instead of using my global .cfg file in usb1:/apps/usb_loader_gx it created a /config folder on my sd: card. When I switched back to the original .dol it was still using this sd:/config which is why I thought my config was wiped out. This happened again today as I attempted to test again and unfortunately I deleted this sd:/config thinking it was a backup but was in fact my re-setup after the wipe out yesterday.

I realize that the loader must check for sd:/config first, but why your copy didn't find my usb1:/apps location and think it needed to create is something I'm not sure.

Again - no rush on this, just letting you know what happened if you want to look into it at some point.

 

[GreyWolf]

Ok thanks. I kind of figured out what happened with your .dol and my configuration yesterday.
Remember - all I did was rename the official .dol to .orig and put your .dol in its place.

But, for some reason (maybe because of the IOS 58 error it gave?) instead of using my global .cfg file in usb1:/apps/usb_loader_gx it created a /config folder on my sd: card. When I switched back to the original .dol it was still using this sd:/config which is why I thought my config was wiped out. This happened again today as I attempted to test again and unfortunately I deleted this sd:/config thinking it was a backup but was in fact my re-setup after the wipe out yesterday.

I realize that the loader must check for sd:/config first, but why your copy didn't find my usb1:/apps location and think it needed to create is something I'm not sure.

Again - no rush on this, just letting you know what happened if you want to look into it at some point.

No, I broke something. I think it may be an update to the runtimeIOSpatch library. That's why it's not on the release list yet. I noticed the font was blurry during boot and that usually means it doesn't have AHB access to get the Wii system font. I also was able to reproduce this by loading through Priiloader. Give me a bit to try to fix it.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I suspect it's an IOS issue,I once used pimp my wii and MP3 uses a very low IOS, 38 or 57 I think. So it being patched could be causing a crash in the game.

IOS28. Which is not patched.

 

[shadowvz96]

Bad disc image? That's not an official game.

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



I don't know what to tell you. I was able to use the save you posted as were others. It should be working out of the box with d2x based on IOS 56 with standard settings (no save emulation)

hey @GreyWolf . maybe. i got the image from nico blog already patched. should i patch it myself?

 

[GreyWolf]

hey @GreyWolf . maybe. i got the image from nico blog already patched. should i patch it myself?

I don't know. I have no idea what it is and I can't support unknown downloaded games.

 

[shadowvz96]

I don't know. I have no idea what it is and I can't support unknown downloaded games.

oh. it's ok. i really would like to play. it's fine. thanks for your attentiveness.

 

[tswntk]

I suspect it's an IOS issue,I once used pimp my wii and MP3 uses a very low IOS, 38 or 57 I think. So it being patched could be causing a crash in the game.

IOS28. Which is not patched.

MPT uses ios 35, not sure if the individual games will change that.
Anyway, if you set block ios reload to on or auto (I have it always on auto), then only the cios used to load the game matters (and i used base 56).

There are quite a few places that can test your patience, just keep trying. Sometimes I use dolphin's savestate feature and set the frame rate lower to help ease the pain. After that I will switch back to the Wii as nothing beats the original hardware's experience.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

MPT uses ios 35, not sure if the individual games will change that.
Anyway, if you set block ios reload to on or auto (I have it always on auto), then only the cios used to load the game matters (and i used base 56).

There are quite a few places that can test your patience, just keep trying. Sometimes I use dolphin's savestate feature and set the frame rate lower to help ease the pain. After that I will switch back to the Wii as nothing beats the original hardware's experience.

No, I got Trilogy to work without crashes, its the original MP3 Corruption that came before trilogy that's crashing on Norion 100% of the time.

 

[bengalih]

So this thread inspired me to defragment my drive before I close the chapter on my Wii build.
Because almost my entire drive is full it is actually going to be quicker for me to move all my files off the drive, reformat, and then move them back.

Right now I run a 32GB FAT32 partition with the remainder of the 1TB formatted to NTFS for my /wbfs folder with ISOs.
I haven't really had any issues except:

1 - Some HB apps can't recognize data on NTFS (like SCUMM), so I have to store files those on the FAT32
2 - My nands need to be on FAT32 which means I can't have nands larger than the 32GB of available space I have there.

I have been considering wiping out this config and going with one big FAT32 partition and just dealing with the split wbfs files so that I don't need to worry about balancing space on the smaller FAT32 partition.

I've been looking for good info on other advantages of FAT32 vs NTFS. Best thread I found was this:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/fat32-vs-ntfs-vs-wbfs.323738/
but it quickly devolved without really giving any good data.

What I'm most interested in knowing is:
- Are there any real advantages to NTFS in regards to Wii usage (other than > 4GB files)
- Are there any disadvantages in the same respect?

I am mostly concerned about speed. Is there any proven difference in game loading, etc between the two?
From a technical perspective - while the loaders understand NTFS, does it make a difference to the game once launched?
IOW - from a loader perspective is there any "preferred" option in terms of speed/stability/compatibility, etc?
- Like for instance does a single .ISO file have any real advantage to a split .wbfs file? (other than maybe human file management)

With my SD card which is FAT32, I often have those warnings about it being corrupt and needing to be scanned. Sometimes even when it is ejected safely.

With NTFS I have many times hard powered off the Wii (due to hangs, etc) and have had no noticeable effect.
Will I have any higher probability of corruption going with FAT32 for the games?

thanks