Hacking WDF = Wii Disc File

[bowser]

You mean just for storing the file? Or so that you can play it on the Wii? The Wii can't read this format.

 

[Wiimm]

I think this will be good if the software was able to burn into a DVD-R directly from this WDF without any other conversion.

WDF file are simple files that can be stored to a DVD. But such DVD can't be used with the Wii.

If you want to burn an ISO image just pipe it to the burning program like:
wdf-cat image.wdf | the_burner (unix like; the linux program 'wdf-cat' already exists and is part of WWT)

 

[lazyguy]

ciso need to be scrubbed for max compression right?
does wdf need to be scrubbed before getting best compression

 

[Wiimm]

ciso need to be scrubbed for max compression right?
does wdf need to be scrubbed before getting best compression

In the moment: Yes.
But import to a WBFS and export as WDF do scrubbing while writing the WDF.

 

[Wiimm]

I have tested the 3 tools 'iso2wdf', 'wdf2iso' and 'wdf-cat' with more than 2 million files (mixed files including pictures and documents, but only 50 Wii ISO images) without any errors. This means that the 3 tools are stable and the usage is sure. For more details call the script './scripts/test-wdf-tools.sh' from the distribution without parameters.

The WWT tool has imported and exported my 50 ISO games with different options (--fast --iso --wdf --io 0..3 --cache) and no failure was found: The last output was always identically to the source.

Because of the positive tests, I declare WDF as ready for operation. I have already converted all of my games into WDF.

 

[mousex]

How do you test iso2wdf and wdf2iso with pictures and documents? Shouldn't they just skip these files?

 

[Wiimm]

How do you test iso2wdf and wdf2iso with pictures and documents? Shouldn't they just skip these files?

Both program can handle any files not only ISO images:
- iso2wdf searches files for holes (zero filled blocks) and builds the WDF file.
- wdf2iso takes the WDF an builds the original file

The names are somewhat misleading. But when I planned the programs they were clearly intended to convert ISO to WDF and vice versa.

 

[bowser]

Any chance of a Windows version of this tool?

 

[Shuny]

So, basically, it's a destructive format that uses what Dack discovered with his WiiScrubber a year ago, right ?

I'll keep using WiiScrubber I think,.

 

[bowser]

So, basically, it's a destructive format that uses what Dack discovered with his WiiScrubber a year ago, right ?

I'll keep using WiiScrubber I think,.

But after using WiiScrubber you have to zip the ISO to achieve compression. And unzip it before adding it to WBFS. With this you can skip the extra zip/unzip steps.

 

[Wiimm]

Any chance of a Windows version of this tool?

I have thought about it. In the moment I haven't used not much linux specific features/libraries:
- getopt (perhaps there is a windows port)
- file handling (CreateFile()... is the windows native file access)

QUOTE(Shuny @ Oct 18 2009, 01:49 PM) So, basically, it's a destructive format that uses what Dack discovered with his WiiScrubber a year ago, right ?

I'll keep using WiiScrubber I think,.

But after using WiiScrubber you have to zip the ISO to achieve compression. And unzip it before adding it to WBFS. With this you can skip the extra zip/unzip steps.

That's it! And compressing/decompressing costs a lot of time. WWT can handle WDF files fast and directly.

 

[Wiimm]

A late answer, but now I know what I say

BTW the Wii Chess size in the test is a bit of a con as thats the version that has the update partition removed, in fact, looking at the results - they all have the updates removed, in the case of Mario Kart you've also stripped the channel.
Yes, that's true. The reason is that I used an USB loader to rip my DVD. And the loader forgot the other partitions (it's ok for me). It's not a mistake of libwbfs: The tools tells libwbfs what to do:

CODEtypedef enum
{
ÂÂÂÂUPDATE_PARTITION_TYPEÂÂÂÂ= 0,
ÂÂÂÂGAME_PARTITION_TYPE,
ÂÂÂÂOTHER_PARTITION_TYPE,

ÂÂÂÂ// value in between selects partition types of that value
ÂÂÂÂALL_PARTITIONSÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ= 0xffffffff-3,
ÂÂÂÂREMOVE_UPDATE_PARTITION,ÂÂÂÂ// keeps game + channel installers
ÂÂÂÂONLY_GAME_PARTITION,

} partition_selector_t;

On the other hand I have used the linux tool 'wbfs' to build ideal sparse files. And wbfs uses the parameter ONLY_GAME_PARTITION.

 

[the]

Time effective solutions are meaningful only when something long-running is run frequently

How frequently do you import or export game images to or from WBFS? I guess not much. So ordinary compressing solutions like RAR does the job very effectively, don't they?

 

[mousex]

Time effective solutions are meaningful only when something long-running is run frequently

How frequently do you import or export game images to or from WBFS? I guess not much. So ordinary compressing solutions like RAR does the job very effectively, don't they?

no

 

[Wiimm]

Effective programming is always meaningful. And what are the advantages of rar against wdf?
WDF supports fast random access. And this means that it can be used by usb loaders, sometimes.

 

[the]

The random access is another one advantage when it is required to do frequently. And I agree that RAR isn't suitable for that.

But a periodical import / export operation isn't a such case

Meanwhile I also see this format useful it will be used by usb loaders, if it will be. So I have nothing against this format, but I think that at this moment its advantages aren't obvious

 

[Kkolko]

What's the difference between this and adding ISOs to a FAT formatted HDD using Wii Backup Manager? It scrubs the ISOs as well.

 

[zx3junglist]

...
WDF supports fast random access. And this means that it can be used by usb loaders, sometimes.

Speaking of which, have you gotten any idea if WDF can/will be implemented by any USB loaders? This would be the crowning achievement here, and would save on tons of disk space for those of us who chose not to use WBFS. If not, and if it is feasible, I'd suggest reaching out to some of the devs who are active in the community to see if they see the value in this.

Thanks
-ZX

 

[PapyJason]

...
WDF supports fast random access. And this means that it can be used by usb loaders, sometimes.

Speaking of which, have you gotten any idea if WDF can/will be implemented by any USB loaders? This would be the crowning achievement here, and would save on tons of disk space for those of us who chose not to use WBFS. If not, and if it is feasible, I'd suggest reaching out to some of the devs who are active in the community to see if they see the value in this.

Thanks
-ZX

hi
Wdf and wbfs files are very similar in term of size so it's already implemented in gx loader and cfg loader , reading directly a wbfs file from a fat or ntfs partition.Beside u have many posts who speak about this new implementation.

 

[zx3junglist]

hi
Wdf and wbfs files are very similar in term of size so it's already implemented in gx loader and cfg loader , reading directly a wbfs file from a fat or ntfs partition.Beside u have many posts who speak about this new implementation.

I hadn't heard of native support for WDF in either loader. I've got both installed so I suppose I'll give it a try. Are you quite sure about this?

thanks
-ZX