Hacking USB Loader GX

[Alexander1970]

- Return To -> USB Loader GX - That one doesn't show, I tried to no avail.

Thank you.

That is because you maybe did not have installed the Forwarder Channel of the USBLoader GX.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-loader-gx.149922/page-1111#post-6478222

 

[sion_zaphod]

@Cyan

Spoiler

it's possible, but not recommended as it's usually more complicated to manage, and has less compatibility.
There are three things to know:
- cIOS
- settings
- compatibility

Apparently, your issue is only the cIOS, as you managed to load wii and gamecube correctly.
but, I'll detail everything (again?) for any other users who want the info.

if you use IOS58, looking at both ports works, but playing the game won't! (this is your problem)
reloading to cIOS at game launch, if you use any non dual port compatible will lose access to Port1, don't find the game, reboot/reset to menu.

cIOS
In order to see both USB Port, you need a cIOS compatible with Port0 and Port1.
there are :
hermes cIOS (any)
cIOS d2x v9 beta (unreleased apparently?)
dIOS d2x v10-alternative (r53)

So, if you are on Wii, you can try hermes cIOS. if you already have any cIOS in the 220-224 range, these are the one!
if not, you can install d2x v10 r53 in one of your slot (251 is rarely used for example).
you could install r53 base57 in slot251 ?


set your loader's setting "Game's IOS" to use one of these slot.
set your loader's settings to either "IOS58" or the same slot than the "Game's IOS".
I'd recommend to use both the same IOS, not IOS58.

Settings
cIOS was the first step only!
Now that the cIOS is compatible with both ports, you need to tell the loader to actually look at both ports!


Settings > HDD settings > Port : Both !

And if you want, you can also have the loader list games of both ports at the same time !
settings > HDD settings > multi-partition : enabled

Note that the multi-partition option is only for Wii games.


For gamecube games, it's a little more complicated.
now, having both HDD at the same time, the partition order will be different based on the IOS you are using for "loader's IOS".

if you use a cIOS in the loader's interface (loader's IOS) then ports are mounted in incremental order (Port0 -> port1)
if you use IOS58 as "loader's IOS", they are loaded decrementally (Port1 -> port0)

The "first partition" loaded by the loader as "usb1:/" will then depend which IOS you are using!

you will need to properly set both partition of the Wii and the gamecube (and everything else, like emuNAND, covers, themes, cheats, etc.) here :
Wii : Settings > HDD > Partition : select the partition where you want to "install" dumped discs. This is also the only partition you will list if you don't enable "multi partition" option.

Other : Settings > user path > Change every path to reflect the proper HDD partition.
usb1:/ is the first partition loaded by the loader
usb2:/ is the second partition loaded by the loader
usb3:/ the third, etc.


Compatibility
unfortunately, r53 is a beta version and has less compatibility with both hardware AND software.
Some HDD are not working at all with it.
if your HDD works, some games have issues with it ! either not working at all (black screen, like just dance) either freezing randomly while playing.


WARNING
when using dual HDD setup, NEVER use your HDD as the place to store any of the application files.
no boot.dol
no covers
no cheats
no settings
no themes
no audio
NOTHING OTHER THAN ISO AND WBFS!

If you ever have a file loaded by the loader located on the USB while inside the Loader's interface, you'll crash the console, and you can also lose your partition data !

It's because USB are not really loaded at the same time. they are unmounted, switched, remounted.
if you have a used file (say the settings, cover, or audio steam music for your theme) on one HDD, then trying to list game from the other USB port will force the USB port to shutdown, losing access to your opened file currently steaming (audio or text is a stream), and the App will try to access/read/write the same data from the newly opened USB connection at the same place the other file was located ! it could damage your file table and content of the partition. you can lose files!

ONLY EVER USE SDCARD FOR HOMEBREW RESOURCES !
this is very very important!
for all your homebrew, always use an SD card ! this is the basis for wii homebrew. don't be cheap, SD card are not expensive at all. buy one if you don't have homebrew on SD ! put all the /apps/ folder on SD ! never on USB when using dual port.

Conclusion
it's possible. it works. badly.
it's a feature of the loader, but it's not really encouraged to use it due to r53 requirement (and incompatibility).
For game compatibility you'll probably have better chance by trying Hermes cIOS instead of d2x v10-alt ! try slot222, 223 or 224 ?

Sorry for the late reply. Its all working now. Thanks for the advice. The reason it wasn't working for me was something totally unrelated to USBLGX. I had the loader on my 64gb micro SD which I formatted to FAT32 and use through a micro2sd adapter. For some reason it was able to run the loader from SD but not the config where everything was configured as in your message (cIOS, all partitions, both USB's etc). Even editing the config file on my PC then saving to my SD. I twigged when I loaded wiiXplorer and it wouldnt even mount the SD. Anyway tried it with a normal 16gb SD FAT32 and it works fine now. I need something bigger for my emulated NAND so ordered a 32gb one. What is the best cluster size for emu NAND? I won't be using the SD for anything but Wii Homebrew, Emu Nand and a shed load of covers.

 

[BillyBlaze]

So tested a few more things... Most interesting is Test #12 where Usbloader GX actually boots with two FAT32-partitions totaling 2500GB.. There are graphical corruptions and I cannot launch games but it works.

I uploaded screenshots to onedrive at: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ag1uaIt_1fBWzXvHnB_pwRgZJEXD?e=lSnBlk

The DSI exception seems to be consistent for both Usbloader GX and WiiFlow Lite.. (its the same for each launcher each time)

(To lazy to create a proper table now, so here is a screenshot. An Excel-sheet is present in Onedrive)

 

[Cyan]

SkuStruck:
I'm not sure to understand what you wanted to do as you didn't explained.

you said the 2 games don't work, but "work fine under this condition", so they work?

Is the problem only with neek?
Like I said few times (in past years) neek is not working with all games. this is not the miracle solution and should not be used as daily environment.
neek should be used only for games not working on emuNAND from sysNAND cIOS.
if these two games work, why would you want to use neek which doesn't?


just use the setup which let you play the games instead of trying the one which doesn't!
sometime I don't understand, it's like users forcing themselves to use Flashdrives instead of HDD even knowing flashdrives have issues. they just ask for trouble instead of enjoying their games.

I need something bigger for my emulated NAND so ordered a 32gb one. What is the best cluster size for emu NAND?

32GB is fine if it's SDHC.
don't use 64 or SDXC with the Wii, they work fine with WiiU though.

FAT32 with 32k/cluster is usually the norm, you don't get to choose the size.

About your non working card, sometime re-formatting it properly helps fixing issues.
format the SD with SD formatter, which fix cards, and it should set this size automatically.
if it's a 64GB, it'll format it to exFAT, then use your OS to format it back to FAT32.


@BillyBlaze
thanks for the new tests.
test#12, launching game from first partition doesn't work?
it shouldn't care if there are anything located past the 2TB mark as it never access it.

And I thought using 64k (test#11) would work.
It's strange as few users reported using 8TB FAt32 partitions and never reported a problem, crash or freeze.

thank you for the dump, but onedrive gives me a whitescreen, no download or picture.
If you want you can attach the file on your post here. next to "post reply" there's a "upload a file" button, once attached you choose whether you want it added to the message as thumbnail or full screenshot.
I wouldn't have thought both GX and Wiiflow would generate the exact same dsi. I guess they use the same sources for drive access.


@sion_zaphod
So, dual HDD works fine for you?
Because another user asked about it too, I linked to the explanation I gave you, he said it didn't work.
I tried to debug, but never managed to make it work. I thought maybe the loader has a bug, but it works fine for you?
something is weird for that other user then. and I can't find what's wrong or what he is doing wrong.

Maybe you could help us find what we are missing?
https://gbatemp.net/threads/help-with-usb-loader-gx-two-ntfs-hard-drives-with-wii-games.561955/

 

[SkyStruck]

@Cyan - I wrote this:

I have a few problems with some games, for example Magician Lord (PAL, patched region free) and Metal Slug X (NTSC U, patched region free). Magician Lord gets half a screen, Metal Slug X only shows a screen on the home-menu. Steps used:

Disc-backups run fine, default settings. EmuNAND settings used, Metal Slug 1, Magical Drop II & III, run fine under the following conditions

So, while I am talking about different games, most of them seem to, indeed, work under the conditions I stated - except for ,as I said, Magician Lord and Metal Slug X. You've read half of the information it seems. I have 2 mechanical drives I'm not doing anything with, I'll try using either one of them.

 

[Cyan]

oh, you are right, I didn't notice it was different game "number".
I stopped reading at their names "metal slug"

could the problem be the fact they are hard patched for region free? but I don't think, it's more because it's VC neogeo.

A lot of VC-neogeo do not work with d2x v8/v10 (same as a lot of VC-N64)
https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Wii_cIOS_EmuNAND_Compatibility_List#Nintendo_64_Virtual_Console you can see that lot of games work only with old cIOS.
it's strange that nobody added any VC neogeo in the list :
you indeed need Neek or maybe rev17 or rev19


Or it's possible neogeo games don't like the full console being in 480p
try to change the video mode of the console (in the console settings) to 4:3 480i


maybe changing the console's setting is not needed if this works:
I'm not sure it works for channels (users reported a bug in some settings applied to channels. it might depend whether they use the option you highlighted in your first post) :
try to set (or force) the video mode to match the game's region, and enable "dol patch" to full, to force a re-patch of all found video mode internally in the dol, which will therefore match the video mode selected by the console.


using cIOS rev19 is a little hard to setup (get that old cIOS from modmii, base38 is often preferred instead of 57) and you need to set your emuNAND to root of SD. (not in folder)
Maybe you'd better setup neek and use it for these games.

Or maybe a d2x base38? nobody seem to try that with VC games!
maybe the problem is not really d2x, but the fact that most guide tell users to install base 56/57/58 instead of old base 36/37/38, where rev17 is only 38.
if you can, reinstall a d2x cIOS v8 or v10 with base38 in one of your slot (248 is a good idea!)

Oh, and in ShowMiiWad, which "requested IOS" did it show for these games?
matching the base IOS with the requested IOS is often a good idea.

if any cIOS combination work, let me know and I'll add that to the compatibility list.
it'll help other users to have a neogeo section on the wiki.

 

[SkyStruck]

oh, you are right, I didn't notice it was different game "number".
I stopped reading at their names "metal slug"

if any cIOS combination work, let me know and I'll add that to the compatibility list.
it'll help other users to have a neogeo section on the wiki.

I used Freethewads to make them regionfree I'll have time tomorrow to try it out and I'll use a mechnical drive instead of an SDD. When I get stuff working, then I'll try and use an SSD too, just to rule it out if the problem resides there.

You'll hear from me

 

[BillyBlaze]

@BillyBlaze
thanks for the new tests.
test#12, launching game from first partition doesn't work?
it shouldn't care if there are anything located past the 2TB mark as it never access it.

It works fine - until I enable multiple partitions.. Then "graphical corruption occurs". Right of the bat this happens:


Now I need to hard reset. When I launch Usbloader again this happens:


Now there should be one game on each partition. Choosing the topmost-game (de Blob), I get the splash but cannot longer run it (black screen then return to HBC)... The 2nd game cannot be read at all...

I will test with two games on second partition to see if it actually finds all games, or its just repeating the first one.

And I thought using 64k (test#11) would work.
It's strange as few users reported using 8TB FAt32 partitions and never reported a problem, crash or freeze.

(Correct me if I am wrong) - Yes. But 8TB FAT32 entails that you have 4K Sectors, and therefore just need 32-bit addressing to get the correct LBA. So perhaps there is something wrong with addressing sectors above 2^32?

thank you for the dump, but onedrive gives me a whitescreen, no download or picture.
If you want you can attach the file on your post here. next to "post reply" there's a "upload a file" button, once attached you choose whether you want it added to the message as thumbnail or full screenshot.
I wouldn't have thought both GX and Wiiflow would generate the exact same dsi. I guess they use the same sources for drive access.

I have attached screenshots. Note that USBLoader GX and WiiFlow have different DSIs.. What I mean is that the three DSIs I got from Wiiflow looks identical (granted I have not read every number and compared, but what I looked at looked equal).

Test11-DSI-USBLoader:


Test12-DSI-WiiFlow


Now I tried looking at the source of USBLoader GX - now I have very little C and no C++ experience, but somethings that look out-of-place to me are among others:

Partititionhandle.h:
               u32 GetLBAStart(int pos) { if(valid(pos)) return PartitionList[pos].LBA_Start; else return 0; };

If u32 is unsigned int 32-bit... That would not work if the partition is created over the 2048-gb mark (LBA 2^32).

Partititionhandle.h:
        u32 GetSecCount(int pos) { if(valid(pos)) return PartitionList[pos].SecCount; else return 0; };

This would mean that a partition can have at most a size of 2^32 sectors, which means 2048GB with 512-byte logical sectors.

 

[Larsenv]

@Cyan Are you gonna release an updated version of USB Loader GX with @blackb0x 's changes?

 

[blackb0x]

@Cyan Are you gonna release an updated version of USB Loader GX with @blackb0x 's changes?

That was the plan originally, but then he wen't missing for 6 months and hasn't replied to my messages either.

When I last spoke with Cyan he told me that he can't view GitHub correctly because he's using an outdated version of Firefox. He also said that he doesn't understand how to use Git properly, so at this point I don't know if he plans to merge in any of my changes.

I've been a little busy helping @fledge68 with WiiFlow at the moment, but I do still plan to push a few changes to GitHub for my fork of USB Loader GX.

 

[Cyan]

I updated firefox (to waterfox), now github works.
I still didn't check how to use git since last time we spoke.
I still don't know how to merge only partially, (maybe accept all your changes and then revert few changes back? because there are things I don't want from your mod). plus I still want to commit to sourceforge or there would be lot of changes needed to fully go to github.
I thought about doing it step by step, or manually, but there are lot of files to change and it would involves updating to specific revision on git, make a copy, downcommit, restore file, compare what's new, generate patch file, apply to svn.
or copy, delete or move files one by one
can github generate diff files?


BillyBlaze, thanks for pointing at these sources.
we can try to change that to unsigned 64, and see if it's enough. there might have other place where we need to change it.

Here is the result of the code dump trace back:
it gives all the stack from the error (mem2 alloc) to the first called function (menu.cpp)
it's a good start to know which files to look at and will need an update.

Spoiler

Reading symbols from F:\Homebrew\Wii\USBLoaderGX\trunk\1272.elf...done.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c349ac
Line 132 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/memory/mem2alloc.cpp" starts at address 0x80c349a4 <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+68> and ends at 0x80c349b8 <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+88>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c34988
Line 128 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/memory/mem2alloc.cpp" starts at address 0x80c34988 <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+40> and ends at 0x80c3498c <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+44>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c5a06c
Line 145 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/branches_sourceforge_svn/libs/libcustomfat/libogc/../source/libfat.c" starts at address 0x80c5a06c <fatUnmount+80> and ends at 0x80c5a070 <fatUnmount+84>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80b949e8
Line 190 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/Controls/PartitionHandle.cpp" starts at address 0x80b949e8 <_ZN15PartitionHandle7UnMountEi+152> and ends at 0x80b949f4 <_ZN15PartitionHandle7UnMountEi+164>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80b93f80
Line 270 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/Controls/DeviceHandler.cpp" starts at address 0x80b93f7c <_ZN13DeviceHandler13UnMountAllUSBEv+488> and ends at 0x80b93f84 <_ZN13DeviceHandler13UnMountAllUSBEv+496>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80ba68e0
Line 55 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/usbloader/wbfs.cpp" starts at address 0x80ba68e0 <WBFS_ReInit+192> and ends at 0x80ba68ec <WBFS_ReInit+204>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c2eb00
Line 1323 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/menu/GameBrowseMenu.cpp" starts at address 0x80c2eb00 <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu8MainLoopEv+7012> and ends at 0x80c2eb08 <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu8MainLoopEv+7020>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c31074
Line 541 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/menu/GameBrowseMenu.cpp" starts at address 0x80c31074 <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu7ExecuteEv+128> and ends at 0x80c3107c <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu7ExecuteEv+136>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80b66628
Line 206 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/menu.cpp" starts at address 0x80b66628 <_Z8MainMenui+784> and ends at 0x80b6662c <_Z8MainMenui+788>.

 

[blackb0x]

I still don't know how to merge only partially, (maybe accept all your changes and then revert few changes back? because there are things I don't want from your mod)

Well, at the moment the pull request that I originally sent you only contains 3 changes (optimised assets, TLS support & manual version incrementation). Out of them 3 I can only assume that you don't want manual version incrementation, but that's required to fix an issue where you'd end up with a DOL file that keeps resetting settings.

Most of the other changes that I've made are bug fixes and feature additions.

plus I still want to commit to sourceforge or there would be lot of changes needed to fully go to github.

Actually, it doesn't require that many changes. I know this because my enhanced version already has the changes required to do everything from GitHub

can github generate diff files?

Nope. And I guess that's always going to be a problem while you're using SVN on SourceForge.

I remember saying SourceForge should go the way of a dinosaur because it's an old fashioned way to do things. Like bug tracking is messy and code contributions are pretty much impossible unless someone signs up for an account here and then sends you a diff file. And even then a diff file can only handle text

 

[Cyan]

I don't want hardcoded URLs for custom banners, it was in the setting file for a reason. (edit: so users could use their own, or update it themselves without waiting for a new release, because with time servers close, but I'm not releasing a new revision each time right away)

the manual version incrementation could have been done directly in an existing file, it didn't need a new one. I guess yours is more visible or obvious for users who want to compile. the fix would be to properly have the SDK to generate the file based on svn (or git) revision number, instead of leaving it blank. I don't know why some users don't have the file autogenerated, even with sliksvn installed. if it's not autogenerated, users can update it themselves (it's in trunk/sources/svnrev.c), the svrnrev.sh also autoupdate the meta.xml file.

the other things are fine and you did a lot and it's useful so I'd like to merge it.
as there's not a lot to not merge I could revert the only two things I don't think are necessary.

 

[blackb0x]

I don't want hardcoded URLs for custom banners, it was in the setting file for a reason.

All of the alternative URLs were dead, so as rc24.xyz is the only reliable source these days I thought it made sense to hardcode it into the loader. It also means that you're securely connecting to the website, which wouldn't happen if the setting was being read from an old config file.

I mean this is an open source program, so it's rather simple for the URL to be changed at a later date if it needs to be. But it's probably safe to assume that rc24.xyz isn't going to dissaper overnight.

the manual version incrementation could have been done directly in an existing file, it didn't need a new one. I guess yours is more visible or obvious.

Yea, I wanted it to be clean and obvious. So if you were to compile from either GitHub or SourceForge it'll work no matter what.

 

[BillyBlaze]

BillyBlaze, thanks for pointing at these sources.
we can try to change that to unsigned 64, and see if it's enough. there might have other place where we need to change it.

Here is the result of the code dump trace back:
it gives all the stack from the error (mem2 alloc) to the first called function (menu.cpp)
it's a good start to know which files to look at and will need an update.

Spoiler

Reading symbols from F:\Homebrew\Wii\USBLoaderGX\trunk\1272.elf...done.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c349ac
Line 132 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/memory/mem2alloc.cpp" starts at address 0x80c349a4 <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+68> and ends at 0x80c349b8 <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+88>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c34988
Line 128 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/memory/mem2alloc.cpp" starts at address 0x80c34988 <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+40> and ends at 0x80c3498c <_ZN10CMEM2Alloc7releaseEPv+44>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c5a06c
Line 145 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/branches_sourceforge_svn/libs/libcustomfat/libogc/../source/libfat.c" starts at address 0x80c5a06c <fatUnmount+80> and ends at 0x80c5a070 <fatUnmount+84>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80b949e8
Line 190 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/Controls/PartitionHandle.cpp" starts at address 0x80b949e8 <_ZN15PartitionHandle7UnMountEi+152> and ends at 0x80b949f4 <_ZN15PartitionHandle7UnMountEi+164>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80b93f80
Line 270 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/Controls/DeviceHandler.cpp" starts at address 0x80b93f7c <_ZN13DeviceHandler13UnMountAllUSBEv+488> and ends at 0x80b93f84 <_ZN13DeviceHandler13UnMountAllUSBEv+496>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80ba68e0
Line 55 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/usbloader/wbfs.cpp" starts at address 0x80ba68e0 <WBFS_ReInit+192> and ends at 0x80ba68ec <WBFS_ReInit+204>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c2eb00
Line 1323 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/menu/GameBrowseMenu.cpp" starts at address 0x80c2eb00 <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu8MainLoopEv+7012> and ends at 0x80c2eb08 <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu8MainLoopEv+7020>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80c31074
Line 541 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/menu/GameBrowseMenu.cpp" starts at address 0x80c31074 <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu7ExecuteEv+128> and ends at 0x80c3107c <_ZN14GameBrowseMenu7ExecuteEv+136>.
(gdb) info line * 0x80b66628
Line 206 of "f:/Homebrew/Wii/USBLoaderGX/trunk/source/menu.cpp" starts at address 0x80b66628 <_Z8MainMenui+784> and ends at 0x80b6662c <_Z8MainMenui+788>.

Again, I stress that I am on deep waters both regarding C/C++ and the Wii in general. However, I do read and know something..

Now suppose that USBLoader GX is able to do 64-bit addressing... Now a game is launched, if I understand one of your guides, Usbloader GX is no longer running... but the data is read through cIOS? is that correct? And for most cases that cIOS would be d2x

Now I recon that this is the source for d2x cISO:
https://github.com/davebaol/d2x-cios

I also see here u32 pointers/datatypes for sectors (usbstorage.c etc).. Which in my head means it won't be able to run them... This might also be true for libfat etc and other things that would have to be fixed.

 

[Cyan]

billyblaze, you are right. it'll depend on the cIOS to access these LBA addresses.
I suppose to test it we would require an update of both the loader and cIOS (leseratte is working on new modded versions).

I didn't work on the loader for more than a year. I'm also rusted.
BlackBox is more active and might have a more fresh view on the sources.

All of the alternative URLs were dead, so as rc24.xyz is the only reliable source these days

the list of old URL was used to auto-update old config files.
I may be "stuck in the past" like sourceforge
I guess you have a more future vision on what must be done. I have general idea of what I wanted to change or add, but rarely do anything for two years.

edit:
big roadmap changes to v4.0 involved updating the GUI and reorganizing options in different menus. the 4 big changes I wanted:
make 16:9 the default size to use full screen width for menus.
rework all the menus and options and use pictures for easy menu access (wii, gc, loader, etc.)
plugin support, with homebrew listed directly on the main window with icon.png for autogenerated animated banners like GC with the savegame icon.
as a long time request : tab support, and game list cache.

 

[BillyBlaze]

Hello. Quick question, which hopefully won't be derailed.

Is a partitioning schema with GPT and multiple partitions (preferably FAT32 + NTFS, something that anyone has ever got working with usbloader gx?

ADD: And use GPT for something interesting, say a drive (with 512 byte logical sectors) have a size over 2048GB?

billyblaze, you are right. it'll depend on the cIOS to access these LBA addresses.
I suppose to test it we would require an update of both the loader and cIOS (leseratte is working on new modded versions).

I didn't work on the loader for more than a year. I'm also rusted.
BlackBox is more active and might have a more fresh view on the sources.

I believe the question has been answered - noone has ever been able to do this, and to perhaps make it work - multiple components must be updated; cIOS, fat/ntfs/ogc-libraries and the loader itself.

So get a WD drive which supports 4K-sectors I believe is the correct approach to get more space

Cheers for all feedback!

 

[blackb0x]

BlackBox is more active and might have a more fresh view on the sources.

In some areas maybe, but there's a lot of old code that looks like it was worked on my multiple people, so it's not always easy to follow.

What bothers me the most is that libwbfs and some of the surrounding functions are outdated, so you can currently only play Wii games from a USB device. With WiiFlow you can play them from either a USB device or an SD card.

the list of old URL was used to auto-update old config files.
I may be "stuck in the past" like sourceforge
I guess you have a more future vision on what must be done.

Well it's not like you're wrong, having an option wouldn't be bad. But it should act as a new setting so that the old URL is ignored/removed. I didn't bother to go this route myself since I'm still working on the project and I believe rc24.xyz should be a reliable source for the foreseeable future.

rework all the menus and options and use pictures for easy menu access (wii, gc, loader, etc.)

You need to be very careful with assets like that because they can quickly consume too much memory and then various functions start to trigger OOM errors. WiiFlow with a specific theme recently had this problem too.

 

[Cyan]

So get a WD drive which supports 4K-sectors I believe is the correct approach to get more space

I just thought :
It's strange that your drive is 512byte/sector.
even if such drive exists, it was very rare and the manufacturer quickly switched to 4k/sector.

but, most drive with 4k have a "512 emulation" mode (512e) to work on old OS like winXP.
I now remember that users who did have 8TB used on wii had to disable that emulation mode and reveal the real 4k to all softwares accessing the drive.
I really don't know why I forgot about it.

WD have a tool to switch that option ON/OFF.
once the interface is set to 4k (wrongly called "512e enabled" by WD app) then you can format and use the drive above 2TB with GPT.

You can't do it on your drive? that would be better if you could use all its space.

 

[JacobM]

First of all, welcome back Cyan. I was worried for a bit that something happened to you. Glad you are back and healthy!

I know it is none of my business as a non-contributor, but I don't think it would be a bad idea to have the project become more accessible to other developers such as @blackb0x. Your efforts with USB Loader GX has been invaluable, but development has greatly slowed relative to WiiFlow in the past few years. Perhaps a migration to GitHub will help revitalize the project and make it more attractive for other developers like @blackb0x and @GreyWolf to contribute to the project. I know the move is a big and time consuming ordeal, but maybe its the best thing for the project. I'm sure somebody would be willing to help out and fill in any gaps to catch you up to speed.