Gaming WBFS to ISO conversion.

[Deleted member 475203]

Hey guys!

I know (i think) WBFS are compressed or trimmed (not sure) Wii ISO's.

But if i Convert WBFS to ISO again, does that ISO looses some data, is it still the same clean ISO that i originally made from the Disc when i backed it up using my Wii, or is there something missing, is compressed gone etc. ?

What i mean to ask is do i get clean original ISO again in the process?

Thanks!

 

[Cyan]

It depends which tool you are using.
The original Disc contains generally 2 partitions :
- Update (with system files on it to update your consoles). 35 to 400Mb
- Game partition. filling the rest of the disc size.


The Game partition contains a mix and multi chunk of actual Game Data and garbage, in order to always fill the disc to its full size.
For example :
(0Mb [Update] + [data] [garbage] [data] [garbage] [even more garbage][data] 4.7GB).iso

The wbfs format keeps only the data to create a ([data][data][data]).wbfs

There are different way to convert wbfs to iso.
- creating a scrubbed ISO without the useless data : WiiBackupManager, or Wit/WWT can do it. if the ISO is still back to full 4.7, it's now filled with 0x00 (or 0xFF) in place of garbages, and can compress pretty well with rar.
- Re-generating the useless data : Ultimate Unscrubber (by Osupka), SWiiT, NKit, new thread. (from Nanook),

in both cases, you'll still miss the update partition if you removed it when converting the ISO to wbfs. (you have the choice to keep it or remove it).

you can inject update partitions into ISO with different tools to make it look like full legit 1:1 dump.
but you could also inject the wrong version of the update partition if you don't know which one the original game contains.

 

[Deleted member 475203]

So basically WBFS-ing the game just removes the garbage data (zeros), to shrink it and nothing else?
And so the WBFS is CLEAN if not cleaner than original ISO's so to say...? I mean it compresses nothingin the process of WBFS-ig?
Cause i noticed some games even when WBFS converted dont shring at all or very little.

As for what i use, i use Wii backup manager to create WBFS's and to create ISO's!

 

[Cyan]

that's right.
wbfs is not compressing, but scrubbing : removing useless part(s) of the disc present only to fill it.
You have the choice to also remove the update partition to make it even smaller.
It does NOT remove or compress game data (video, intro, picture, sound, etc.) like ciso would do for PSP.


if the game is small (New Super Mario wii is around 400MB) then the wbfs is 400MB
if the game is big and already takes the full disc space, then there is no garbade to fill it and it'll not become smaller.


The ciso you can find in wiibackupmanager, I think it's just an ISO without filling it with "empty garbage space". so Mario.wbfs and Mario.ciso are the same size, while Mario.iso is 4.7GB

full ISO (with random garbage) don't compress well in RAR.
full ISO scrubbed, replaces random garbage with identical empty garbage (full of 0x00), it compress very well in rar, if there were lot of garbages. This used to be a common released format pre-2010 to make releases smaller and faster to upload/download on internet. but full ISO was always the real proper release. now wbfs are shared directly, no more scrubbed iso or ciso format.
cISO is like wbfs, only the game data. already small, doesn't compress more in rar
wbfs is just the game data, with additional wbfs encapsulation for loaders. doesn't compress more in rar.

 

[Deleted member 475203]

Yes, that's very clear ansver, thank you!

By the way, you mentioned removing update partition... How will i do that?

 

[Cyan]

in WiiBackupManager settings, and in Loaders (if dumping disc directly to USB).
It's recommended to choose "remove partition", NOT "keep game only".

Don't use WiiBackupManager to convert to wbfs !
use it to "install to HDD".

proper way to setup and use the program :
https://gbatemp.net/posts/7592791

 

[Deleted member 475203]

Than how am i to save WBFS files to my PC's HDD?
What software should i use for that if WiiBackupManager is for transferring to Wii USB only?

 

[Cyan]

if you want to convert to wbfs, to your PC, then you can use that program with the "convert to .... wbfs" and choose a folder on your computer.
if you want to play the game, do not choose "convert to.... wbfs" and pick the folder on your Wii HDD. that's not how to use the program.

if you want to play the game, use the "transfer to.... drive1" and the program will automatically convert/remove partition/copy in the CORRECT folder name, with the correct filename to be used by USBLoaders.

 

[Deleted member 475203]

Ohh OK, thanks!

What happens when using program the wrong way/ i mean isn't a WBFS a WBFS no matter how you transfer it?

 

[Cyan]

you can name the file wrong
put it in the wrong folder
name the folder wrong
have the file set to "read only" if you copy from one HDD to another using your file explorer.
have the wbfs file bigger than 4GB unsplit while you want to copy split format to FAT32.

The program ensure everything is properly checked based on the settings you chose (and I said to pick in the other thread) so every users have the proper layout and filename.

 

[Deleted member 475203]

I see...

So technically YOU CAN do it manually but the program ensures it's done properly as i understood...

 

[Cyan]

yes, you can
lot of people who don't want to use the tool often come seeking help because it freeze, black screen or reboot to menu when launching a game.
but if you know it can happen if not done properly, or if you know how to do properly manually, that's good.

 

[Deleted member 475203]

i see... Thanks a lot Cyan

 

[Deleted member 475203]

Oh i forgot to tell! basically i need wbfs not for wii but for wiiU injects, i want to make game smaller with it.

 

[Cyan]

are you sure wbfs are working?
it might be converted back to iso (using Wit/wwt in the background) anyway, because iso is the format used officially by nintendo to "mount" the fake disc in WiiU injected VC Wii channels.
the ISO is mounted, and emulated as if it was the disc.
I don't see Nintendo accepting WBFS format created by hackers to "make it smaller"

at best, maybe a ciso renamed to iso...

But if there's a way to make things smaller, the injector script probably already take care of it.

 

[Deleted member 475203]

TeconMoon has wbfs in file extension search when i open to select a game.
Iso and wbfs is options available so i figured wbfs can be injected as wii injects for WiiU

so that's why i asked all of this.

 

[Cyan]

yes, teconmoon script can let you choose wbfs, but VC Wii channels need iso anyway.
the wbfs will be converted back to iso using Wit.

I'm not sure if you are really winning space by converting to wbfs first. But you are for sure losing time as it'll be back to iso.
just use the format you currently have, either wbfs or iso. The script will do its job to convert it in the proper format used by the channel.

 

[Deleted member 475203]

yes, teconmoon script can let you choose wbfs, but VC Wii channels need iso anyway.
the wbfs will be converted back to iso using Wit.

I'm not sure if you are really winning space by converting to wbfs first. But you are for sure losing time as it'll be back to iso.
just use the format you currently have, either wbfs or iso. The script will do its job to convert it in the proper format used by the channel.

I see. Well thanks for the help i appreciate it!

 

[Wadeimous]

Can Teconmoon inject a game with multiple WBFS parts? Or do they need converted to ISO first? Does it pull the WBF1 if its in the same folder as part 1?

 

[jeannotte]

Can Teconmoon inject a game with multiple WBFS parts? Or do they need converted to ISO first? Does it pull the WBF1 if its in the same folder as part 1?

Hello,

types of injection supported, see here ==>https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-wiivc-injector-script-gc-wii-homebrew-support.483577/