Hacking UStealth - Wii U 'Format Disk' Nag workaround :)

[Cyan]

@Mrdx: no, HBC has not been updated to support drives without a proper partition table signature.
there's currently no way to do it. Maybe some other (open source) homebrew launcher could have that option.

tallpr24 : sorry to hear that
did you use the program on computer, or the homebrew version on the console to switch the drive state ?

It shouldn't edit the partition's data, only the partition table (the place which define where are located the partition on the drive).
if your FAT32 partition is still fine, Easus should fix only the MBR (Master Boot Record, the partition table) or GPT (same, but for GUID partition table type) and re-map your FAT32 partition to the proper sector/size.
I don't know if Easus can do it, but it should be easy to fix, even manually editing with an hex-editor if really required.

If the issue is your FAT32 partition, then it's probably not recoverable as it affected the data's integrity.
Ustealth tool and homebrew are only editing the MBR, not touching the partition themselves. so I hope it's really a MBR issue and you can fix it.

UStealth or the homebrew don't keep a backup of the original sector 0 (the MBR) ?

 

[tallpr24]

@Mrdx: no, HBC has not been updated to support drives without a proper partition table signature.
there's currently no way to do it. Maybe some other (open source) homebrew launcher could have that option.

tallpr24 : sorry to hear that
did you use the program on computer, or the homebrew version on the console to switch the drive state ?

It shouldn't edit the partition's data, only the partition table (the place which define where are located the partition on the drive).
if your FAT32 partition is still fine, Easus should fix only the MBR (Master Boot Record, the partition table) or GPT (same, but for GUID partition table type) and re-map your FAT32 partition to the proper sector/size.
I don't know if Easus can do it, but it should be easy to fix, even manually editing with an hex-editor if really required.

If the issue is your FAT32 partition, then it's probably not recoverable as it affected the data's integrity.
Ustealth tool and homebrew are only editing the MBR, not touching the partition themselves. so I hope it's really a MBR issue and you can fix it.

UStealth or the homebrew don't keep a backup of the original sector 0 (the MBR) ?

I was able to repair the MBR using Easus. I ran your program on windows 10 laptop. Thank God!! lol i almost lost all my games. Looks like it was mbr corruption not the partition. Everything is working now, but i didnt use ustealth this time. Im still using it on my sons wii u. His usb drive wbfs and it works great. Not sure why it corrupted my MBR on my fat 32 drive.

Is there a way to backup the MBR and restore it in case something like this happens? I really want to use this. i cant stand the format notifications on the wii u. Additionally , some one can press "format" accident.

 

[Cyan]

That's not my tool, so I don't know how it's working internally. I thought (logically) that it's dumping sector 0, editing the signature, writing the dump back to sector0.
I don't know if there's a backup/restore/verification system in place. I wanted to add signature edition into USBLoaderGX too, but I never completed it (maybe I expected too much security, and never completed it). in my idea I had for USBGX, I compared the edited dump with the original data to be sure it's still good and the dump is not bad or corrupted before writing it back. once written, compared it again with the dump to be sure it was successfully written, if not restore the original version with a message "edition failed", etc. and always keep the MBR dump so the user can restore it with another tool manually. every steps had a verification in my function, but I never completed it. It's still raw and I'll add it later.
As Onion Knight released a homebrew to do it, I didn't continue my work on USBGX as there were already a way for users to do it on the console.


yes, there's a way to backup the sector 0.
There are different ways to dump your sector. Sometime partition and HDD backup program (like Easus, Acronis, etc.) should have an option to backp/restore the MBR.
If you don't have any program capable of doing it, you can do it manually :

on windows, you can use an hexeditor capable of editing the raw disk (not the partition, so you SHOULD NOT select a drive letter, but a device name)
on sector 0, select the first 512 bytes and copy/paste on a new file.

if you are on linux, you can use dd command

dumping

dd if=/dev/sda of=/tmp/mbr_sda.bin bs=512 count=1

it will dump 1 time, 512 bytes from "if" (input) to "of" (output) paths. it will start dumping at the start of the drive, so sector 0.

restoring

dd if=/tmp/mbr_sda.bin of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

it will write, one time, the first 512 bytes of the binary dump file "mbr_sda.bin" you gave in "if" (input) into the device sda (or sdb, etc.) you selecting in "of" (output). It will start writing at the start of the drive, replacing the MBR.

 

[tallpr24]

That's not my tool, so I don't know how it's working internally. I thought (logically) that it's dumping sector 0, editing the signature, writing the dump back to sector0.
I don't know if there's a backup/restore/verification system in place. I wanted to add signature edition into USBLoaderGX too, but I never completed it (maybe I expected too much security, and never completed it). in my idea I had for USBGX, I compared the edited dump with the original data to be sure it's still good and the dump is not bad or corrupted before writing it back. once written, compared it again with the dump to be sure it was successfully written, if not restore the original version with a message "edition failed", etc. and always keep the MBR dump so the user can restore it with another tool manually. every steps had a verification in my function, but I never completed it. It's still raw and I'll add it later.
As Onion Knight released a homebrew to do it, I didn't continue my work on USBGX as there were already a way for users to do it on the console.


yes, there's a way to backup the sector 0.
There are different ways to dump your sector. Sometime partition and HDD backup program (like Easus, Acronis, etc.) should have an option to backp/restore the MBR.
If you don't have any program capable of doing it, you can do it manually :

on windows, you can use an hexeditor capable of editing the raw disk (not the partition, so you SHOULD NOT select a drive letter, but a device name)
on sector 0, select the first 512 bytes and copy/paste on a new file.

if you are on linux, you can use dd command

dumping

dd if=/dev/sda of=/tmp/mbr_sda.bin bs=512 count=1

it will dump 1 time, 512 bytes from "if" (input) to "of" (output) paths. it will start dumping at the start of the drive, so sector 0.

restoring

dd if=/tmp/mbr_sda.bin of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

it will write, one time, the first 512 bytes of the binary dump file "mbr_sda.bin" you gave in "if" (input) into the device sda (or sdb, etc.) you selecting in "of" (output). It will start writing at the start of the drive, replacing the MBR.

thanks!!, im going to check if there any programs to do that. I really would like to hide my drive again.

 

[Cyan]

Additionally, you could edit the Sector 0 manually with an hex editor.
Load the drive (not the partition letter!), sector 0, replace byte 511-512 :
55AA <-> 55AB (or AA55 <-> AB55), well, replace A with B to hide the drive, B with A to make it visible.

it's using "B" to hide the drive, but ANYTHING not "55AA" is making it hidden as the partition table signature is not good anymore.


Attention to select the Sector 0 of the drive, and not the sector0 of the FAT32 partition, because they are both using the same signature.
You could think you are editing the drive's MBR but you are in fact editing the FAT32 partition definition. so remember you need to select the "drive name" and not a partition letter.
if you are on linux, it's sdx (without partition) and not sdx1 (first partition of drive sdx).

 

[pajretX]

Hi all!
Can anyone please upload a working version of VBA GX with UStealth support enabled?
The version I have found here (in a pack called "UStealth Emus.zip") does not work :/ It crashes (core dump) on selecting a game or even on going to the settings.
When I run the version without the UStealth support, everything works fine. Well, exept for showing my HDD

Thanks!

Nevermind!
I have found a working 2.3.2 version in one of the users signature

 

[danb1983]

Hello everyone,
I'm new here and I'm sorry if this is not the correct place to post this, but when I have a Wii U formatted hard drive plugged into the front of the Wii U and a Fat32 hard drive plugged into the back, in the vWii mode fceugx cannot see the drive. Even if I unhide the drive it does not see it, but usbLoader will see it. If I remove the Wii U hard drive it works. Is there a way to fix this so I can have both installed?

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Hello everyone,
I'm new here and I'm sorry if this is not the correct place to post this, but when I have a Wii U formatted hard drive plugged into the front of the Wii U and a Fat32 hard drive plugged into the back, in the vWii mode fceugx cannot see the drive. Even if I unhide the drive it does not see it, but usbLoader will see it. If I remove the Wii U hard drive it works. Is there a way to fix this so I can have both installed?

Try switching the USB ports, a) some apps expect the drive to be in a certain port and b) all apps utilizing vIOS 58 will check from the bottom up, and if it finds the Wii U drive first it will try to read only that one (and it can't)

 

[PHF]

Lazy Linux users like me might like the following commands, since you don't need to manually edit your MBR

Check the current status:

sudo dd status=none if=/dev/sda bs=1 skip=511 count=1 | hexdump -e '"%X\n"'

Hide:

printf '\xAB' | sudo dd status=none of=/dev/sda bs=1 seek=511 count=1

Unhide:

printf '\xAA' | sudo dd status=none of=/dev/sda bs=1 seek=511 count=1

 

[MUDD_BR]

Hello! I´ve have a USB HDD and used it for my vwii for some time, and love the idea of this app as always need to skip the annoying message.
But since I´ve hide it using Ustealth I can´t load my games anymore (try 0.7 and 0.8 versions).
The games won´t appear in my loaders anymore, except for WiiFlow, but they won´t start - return to wii menu instead. I´ve already unhide the HDD but the issue still gets me.
I detach my wii u hdd and try the front and rear doors without success. And, I have the Y cables (even one for any hDD and I switched then to try the HDD).
Any clue?
Short Story:
1) My HDD with wii games works normal, but when I hide it, my loaders won´t see it;
2) I try changing the usb ports, using the same Y cable that worked before, not work;
3) I updated my loaders without luck (wii flow and usb loader gx, even try cfg);
4) On GX only the gamecube games appear, and they´re on the same HDD!!

And somebody know if is possible to plug and recognize 2 USBs (one for vwii, another for Wii U) at the same time?

 

[Cyan]

So, if your gamecube games are on the same drive, it means the drive is working, detected and mounted correctly by the loader.
your problem could be a setting in the loader.

I can help you only with USBLoaderGX.

1. is your drive formated to FAT32 or WBFS?
If it's WBFS, I guess you have 2 partitions, the FAT32 contains the gamecube isos.
If you have more than one partition (even 2 FAT32) let me know.

2. Be sure the "partition to use" for Wii games is correctly selected.
it could be incorrect if you changed the drive's format recently (somehow, it seems to keep in memory the old drive's partitions).
Settings > HDD settings > Click on the first option to force a HDD partition check, and select the Wii partition.

3. if it's not enough, be sure Wii games are selected.
Main menu > top menu > 4th icon. enable Wii games.

4. Be sure your USBLoaderGX is revision 1262.
trying to update it and having a message telling you "it's the latest version" does not mean it's really the latest. only that it didn't find a new release (google shutdown the server where new version was hosted). So, maybe you have an old version, but if it works with gamecube I guess you correctly updated. it was just to be sure you are using latest revision.

5. yes, it's possible to recognize 2 HDD at the same time, though if you use Nintendont with a WiiU HDD it's not recommended because it's complicated to setup/maintain, and some games will not work.
it's safer and faster to just unplug the drive you don't use.

 

[MUDD_BR]

Thanks, master!
Here´s my answers:

1. is your drive formated to FAT32 or WBFS?
It´s FAT32.

2. Be sure the "partition to use" for Wii games is correctly selected.
I did it already, no success.

3. if it's not enough, be sure Wii games are selected.
Main menu > top menu > 4th icon. enable Wii games.
That config i did not try! Let´s hope it solve!!

4. Be sure your USBLoaderGX is revision 1262.
It´s in 1262 rev.

5. yes, it's possible to recognize 2 HDD at the same time, though if you use Nintendont with a WiiU HDD it's not recommended because it's complicated to setup/maintain, and some games will not work.
Ok, I´ll do this, that´s no problem as I was used to it before USB hack...

Thanks a lot, I´ll try as soon as I can and update here later.

 

[Cyan]

when you go to the HDD setting menu, the first option is listing "FAT32 + partition size" or "HDD not mounted" ?
I guess it detected FAT32, or you wouldn't have the gamecube games listed.

I hope the "3" will be your issue, that's the most basic fix to games not displayed.
if not, that'll be harder to fix.

 

[T-Law]

@MUDD_BR
I had the same exact problem, USB Loader GX does not detect my HDD, wiiflow does, but it does not load them, it just returns to the Wii menu instead. Also, what was driving me crazy more, is that wiiflow can't run wii/gamecube(nintendont) games, but it can load PSX (wiisx), n64 (wii64), gba (vbax) and other emulators perfectly.

I had to backup my HDD, wipe it (used GParted) completely and recreate the partition tables (msdos) and transfer the data again. Sadly, Ustealth does not seem to be a perfect solution, hiding the HDD causes problems that persist even after unhiding (at least that's the case to me).

I hope we will be able to break the 2-HDD and Format messages one day. The idea of this project is awesome, but it's difficult to make all already made homebrew apps compatible with it.

NOTE: I used UstealthToggle which caused my HDD to behave like yours, I don't know about the windows program in this thread.

 

[MUDD_BR]

@MUDD_BR
I had the same exact problem, USB Loader GX does not detect my HDD...

Yeah, it´s a weird behaviour and all the hints @Cyan suggested me won´t work.
@T-Law after you completely wipe your HDD it comes no "normal"? Did you use Ustealth again?
For now, I clean all my loadiine games from my SD Card and will put my wii games there. But it´s a 64Gb card and my HDD was 500 Gb...

 

[T-Law]

@MUDD_BR

nope, I did not use ustealth after wiping, because I faced the problem more than once with different HDDs, I also use my fat32 HDD to load homebrew apps (I don't use my SD very often). So I am sticking to plug/unplug when switching to virtual

 

[MUDD_BR]

@MUDD_BR

nope, I did not use ustealth after wiping, because I faced the problem more than once with different HDDs, I also use my fat32 HDD to load homebrew apps (I don't use my SD very often). So I am sticking to plug/unplug when switching to virtual

Ok, that´s what worked before for me too. Your wii U it´s the 32Gb black? And you try all combinations of USB ports changing upside-down and front-rear?

 

[T-Law]

@MUDD_BR
yup, that's the case, and I don't think it has to do anything with the Wii U black/white or the USB port

 

[efen3001]

It helps, but waiting to put Gamecube, Wii and Wii U USB games in the same HDD...

 

[MrKatanaObiWan]

It helps, but waiting to put Gamecube, Wii and Wii U USB games in the same HDD...

Why wait? All you need is two harddrives atm