Hacking USB Loader GX

[kobeskillz]

I only ever used my Wii (since 2007) as a 16:9 console, because that's what it is: An SD widescreen console. You could downgrade it to non-widescreen if you wanted, and for obvious reasons it was in that format by default. But anyone with a modern TV switched it immediately and was happy to do so.

And it is hilarious to read that it "might be tricky to see the benefits" on a 32" monitor because if that's the case, there are no benefits. I feel like I'm arguing with an audiophile who is fully prepared to buy an electron microscope to prove that the waveforms produced by 12" 60 gram digital remaster vinyl record are superior to the original recording from the master tapes. I am happy for you that you enjoy 4:3 on your Wii. But it's 16:9 for the rest of us.

I’m not arguing. Lol. Come on now. I’m friendly!

I mean I think it’s pretty factual to say that it’s harder to see differences in a 32” vs say a 50”+ screen. That’s not me taking bad about your screen but facts.

It’s also a fact that anamorphic widescreen is more of a trick widescreen and the Wii is at its heart a 4:3 console. You’re not gaining more pixels you’re using the same amount of info from 4:3 just stretched by your tv. Thus blurrier and in some cases much blurrier depending on your TVs scaler.

I’m not telling people they are bad for choosing 16:9. I’m just saying that it’s a fact that if they want a bit more sharpness then 4:3 will provide it. On a 32” and under then the gains are much less obviously. The diflicker is still the biggest jump imo.

Agree to disagree.

If you can help me with my Virtual console on USB loader issue im forever in your debt. lol.

 

[Confruggy]

Here is the next big game changer though next to the deflicker option.

The next big game changer will be patching viWidth to the internal framebuffer width, effectively disabling the horizontal scaling the Wii does on almost any game. Paired with GCVideo it will give you a pixel-perfect image. Using this method 4:3 and 16:9 doesn't even look that much different. iirc it will implemented in the next version of USB Loader GX.

Then I purchased Retrovision component wii cables. So I plugged my new black wii with wiidual intalled via component retrovision cables to my OSSC at 480p 2x so 960p on my Oled.

I'm not sure why you even use the analog AV output when you have WiiDual installed as with WiiDual you get a native HDMI port which you can use instead.

 

[kobeskillz]

The next big game changer will be patching viWidth to the internal framebuffer width, effectively disabling the horizontal scaling the Wii does on almost any game. Paired with GCVideo it will give you a pixel-perfect image. Using this method 4:3 and 16:9 doesn't even look that much different. iirc it will implemented in the next version of USB Loader GX.


I'm not sure why you even use the analog AV output when you have WiiDual installed as with WiiDual you get a native HDMI port which you can use instead.

oh wow the viWidth patch sounds amazing!!!! i can't wait! Is this confirmed?

The reason i'm using the Analog AV is cause i ran out of HDMIs on my Receiver and TV. Also, I can take advantage of the OSSC 480p 2X mode for 960p which does look sharper than straight 480p feed into my TV.

I have a component set up for my OSSC using the gcomp component switcher so it's easier to use that and get 960p via OSSC than to find a free HDMI which i really don't have at this point.

I do have a switcher thats also almost full and i use that for my N64, Dreamcast and PS1 that are HDMI modded but those mods can give you 1080p/1200p already. The Xbox, Gamecube and Wii HDMI only give you 480p.

Hope it makes sense. : )


Edit: Now that you mentioned the 1:1 it makes sense now. On Wii going from 16:9 to 4:3 def has a clarity boost. But on Gamecube i didn't noticed one. I have that also with the GCVideo and swiss 1:1. That must be what your talking about that in that instance the difference in 4:3 and 16:9 is almost non existence. Other than flaws being more visible due to wider viewing angle.

 

[Clector]

To be honest, I don't really find the Wii to be as "blurry" and horrible as people says without the filters, although I think I may have one with the 480p bug fixed, maybe.
It can be a bit sensitive to noise interference thought.

 

[kobeskillz]

To be honest, I don't really find the Wii to be as "blurry" and horrible as people says without the filters, although I think I may have one with the 480p bug fixed, maybe.
It can be a bit sensitive to noise interference thought.

I had a launch Wii connected to my OSSS straight up through component with the recommended Wii settings for OSSC.

It looked absolutely dreadful. Just bad. I messed with settings for hours and it never looked anything close to good. My Wii U Wii looked better and the Gamecube looked light years better.

Not until Deflicker mode/480p bug fixdid my Wii truly come alive. Then i added other stuff like Wii Dual, retrovision, ect and it looked even better but the game changer was turning off that deflicker and fixing the 480p bug since i had a launch console.

Straight up launch Wii out of the box though is so bad. You can't say that about other consoles.

 

[Clector]

I don't think it's that bad, but this is for sure not a 2006 launch system:



But you could still get a cleaner and sharper image from a GC I think, let alone using GCVideo, that's another point with it being able to do digital video; although I'm using cheap cables.
The Wii U vWii has so many oddities and weird things with the upscaling, that if you are searching a good and clean signal, I probably won't recommend it.
But for most people it will be fine and good (but if someone does so, use 720p or 1080p, don't use 480p).

 

[kobeskillz]

I don't think it's that bad, but this is for sure not a 2006 launch system:

View attachment 295184
View attachment 295185
But you could still get a cleaner and sharper image from a GC I think, let alone using GCVideo, that's another point with it being able to do digital video; although I'm using cheap cables.
The Wii U vWii has so many oddities and weird things with the upscaling, that if you are searching a good and clean signal, I probably won't recommend it.
But for most people it will be fine and good (but if someone does so, use 720p or 1080p, don't use 480p).

Nintendo screwed up with the Wii U. Could have been the ultimate Wii if nothing else. But the image is terrible.

 

[mitgenuss]

I just wanted to say thnx.. it was a bit a pain in the ass to get the wii u forwarder getting functional... but now it works.

My setup:
- wii u with latest tiramisu installed ("50_hbl_installer.rpx" removed and homebrew launcher channel installed instead)
- 2tb wd for Wii U (plugged in at the top bottom usb port on the back of the WII U)
- 2tb seagate for Wii and gcn (Fat 32) (hided with ustealth V.7 and plugged in at the bottom top usb port on the back of the Wii U)
- blackb0x modded 1272 latest version of usb loader gx
- vWii UNEO Forwarder v5.1 Fix
- USB Loader GX forwarder channel for Wii U menu installed on USB (=WII U HDD)

The hdd's are plugged in with y cables while the power cabels of the y cables are plugged in a multiple socket outlet with usb.
I had to change the cios in the config of the USB Loader GX from 249 to 58 that Wii/GCN HDD was initialized.

The process till it worked was a bit trial and error :-). There's a Wii U forwarder Channel Version without an hbl2ULGX.elf file.... I tried that forwarder first and it didn't work for me neither with cios 58 nor with cios 249. At least i was able to start USB Loader GX form vWii with the uneo forwarder and vwii homebrewlauncher, but hdd got only initialized with cios 249.

After installing the now working Wii U forwarder (the one with the elf file) USB Loader GX first always froze on start screen showing "reinitialzing hdd". So i deleted USB Loader GX in the apps folder of the ssd and did a frest install. First the hdd was not initialized but i could at least launch the channel mode to get into config menu. So i decided to try cios 58 for the loader and now it works. and that worked for initializing the hdd but starting wii games led me to a black screen. I have rechanged to cios 249 for the loader and games work properly now. Only the USB Loader GX forwarder channel for Wii U doesnt work now anymore... it leads me to a blue screen.

Ive no programming skills, but for me its mysterious, that the same USB Loader GX version recognized "ustealthed" hdd first only with cios 249 and after changing the Wii U forwarder only with cios 58.

Edit: i had to recalibrate my setup so that usblgx works at least from launching in vwii environment....see changes above.

 

[awefour44]

Hi all!

I’ve just updated from the last “official” version (the r1272 version from 2019 from sourceforge) to the v7 blackb0x mod. I made sure to completely wipe all the app’s old folders/files as advised when updating.

For the most part the new version works great and I like all the improvements. However I now sometimes get the “waiting for HDD” message for about 30 seconds during loading. It always succeeds to load the drive after that, and on subsequent exits back to system menu then back into the loader there’s usually no such delays. This definitely didn’t happen on the previous version I was on from 2019 so I just want to make sure I don’t have anything misconfigured (IOS etc) that could be causing this?

Thanks!

 

[blackb0x]

This definitely didn’t happen on the previous version I was on from 2019 so I just want to make sure I don’t have anything misconfigured (IOS etc) that could be causing this?

The boot behaviour was changed to improve compatibility and boot times. But unfortunately for you it seems like your HDD is the exception, so you could try editing the meta.xml file to enable arguments, then set the boot IOS to 249.

 

[awefour44]

The boot behaviour was changed to improve compatibility and boot times. But unfortunately for you it seems like your HDD is the exception, so you could try editing the meta.xml file to enable arguments, then set the boot IOS to 249.

I changed the boot IOS to 249 and it now it loads fast without any waiting. Thank you for the fix and thanks for your work on this loader.

 

[kobeskillz]

I changed the boot IOS to 249 and it now it loads fast without any waiting. Thank you for the fix and thanks for your work on this loader.

People like blackb0x deserve so much praise for the time they take to do this work and help us starters. Can't thank them enough.

 

[Binski48]

Hey All! I have a question. I built a working wad file for Project Plus (works from the sys menu), but will not work when entered from usbloadergx. I have CIOS base 57, 56, 38, and 58 installed in slots 249-252 respectively, and I have tried loading with all of those in the usbloadergx settings for the game, as well as toggling the reload ios setting. I got some suggestions from XFlack, and I tried a forwarder iso, a forwarder channel, and installing a base ios58 in slot 248 and loading from that, nothing has worked and I'm at my wits end. Any suggestions?

 

[Binski48]

Hey All! I have a question. I built a working wad file for Project Plus (works from the sys menu), but will not work when entered from usbloadergx. I have CIOS base 57, 56, 38, and 58 installed in slots 249-252 respectively, and I have tried loading with all of those in the usbloadergx settings for the game, as well as toggling the reload ios setting. I got some suggestions from XFlack, and I tried a forwarder iso, a forwarder channel, and installing a base ios58 in slot 248 and loading from that, nothing has worked and I'm at my wits end. Any suggestions?

Btw I'm running rev 1271, I'm not sure if that makes a difference for this issue.

 

[Binski48]

So sorry for the spam, I just want to make sure I’m updating with the latest that I’ve tried. I tried updating to rev1272 blackb0x mod, and tried everything from before. Not only is it still not working, but the emulator forwarders that launched from usbloadergx no longer launch, they just give black screen. Any help is appreciated. Thank you everyone!

 

[XFlak]

So sorry for the spam, I just want to make sure I’m updating with the latest that I’ve tried. I tried updating to rev1272 blackb0x mod, and tried everything from before. Not only is it still not working, but the emulator forwarders that launched from usbloadergx no longer launch, they just give black screen. Any help is appreciated. Thank you everyone!

To clarify, he has forwarder channels installed to real nand. When launched via GX they used to work, but no longer do. When launched via the system menu they still work, and when the homebrews are launched via GX's homebrew launcher they also still work.

 

[blackb0x]

@Binski48

The last release fixed patching WiiWare games, but it broke channel launchers. So you'll need to use the loaders built in homebrew browser for the time being.

The issue has already been fixed. I just haven't had the time to release a new build yet.

 

[Binski48]

@Binski48


The issue has already been fixed. I just haven't had the time to release a new build yet.

Thanks for the reply! I’ll probably revert back to the original 1272 for now, looking forward to the next realease! I also am still not sure what’s going on with my project plus forwarder, I’m assuming it’s a gx related issue as well, and hopefully the next release will fix that as well

 

[tsubasa_holic]

I noticed that the newer version of nintendon't isn't compatible with usbloadergx forwarding. So, if you start a gamecube game from usbloadergx using the last version of nintendon't, it just launch to the nintendon't menu without the options selected previosly.

 

[mitgenuss]

i m stucked in bluescreen with background music now when i start usblgx via wiiu forwarder..... also i cant get madworld running in usblgx. i cant run it in wiiflow lite either (PAL Wii U/ Madworld USA)