Why do USB loaders need the drive chip?

Discussion in 'Wii - Backup Loaders' started by x_r3ap3r_x, Jul 3, 2010.

Share This Page

Share This Page

  1. x_r3ap3r_x
    OP

    x_r3ap3r_x GBAtemp Regular

    Member
    2
    184
    Level 2
    Mar 14, 2010
    Hi, I'm cuurently making a slim Wii (or Minii Wii) and i want to know why do USB loaders need the drive chip to be plugged in? And is there any USB loader that doesn't? The question for this is that the drive chip is very annoying even though its not very big, it would be better to remove it completely but games refuse to load if the drive chip isn't plugged in. Do any modchips overcome this problem? Any suggestions?
     
    #1 Jul 3, 2010
  2. jefffisher

    jefffisher GBAtemp Advanced Maniac

    Member
    6
    1,602
    Level 6
    Dec 17, 2006
    United States
    usb loaders do not need a modchip
     
    #2 Jul 3, 2010
  3. x_r3ap3r_x
    OP

    x_r3ap3r_x GBAtemp Regular

    Member
    2
    184
    Level 2
    Mar 14, 2010
    I know they don't need a modchip, i was asking if a modchip would act as a replacement for the Wii drive chip. You know the PCB board that is underneath the Wii drive?, that's what i want to remove or replace as the Wii will not boot games without it. This is what i'm talking about: http://www.consoletronics.com/images/P/wii...ive%20board.jpg
     
    #3 Jul 3, 2010
  4. paulmikeybarker

    paulmikeybarker Member

    Newcomer
    2
    15
    Level 2
    Jan 5, 2010
    Isn't that like asking if a PC will still work without the mobo
    or if I remove my spine can I still stand up?
     
    #4 Jul 3, 2010
  5. harmor

    harmor GBAtemp Fan

    Member
    1
    420
    Level 1
    Jan 8, 2010
    United States
    I'm assuming "drive chip" has something to do with the disc drive.
    If so you can dissemble the disc player to take out the little board.
     
    #5 Jul 3, 2010
  6. Jamstruth

    Jamstruth Secondary Feline Anthropomorph

    Member
    4
    3,456
    Level 4
    Apr 23, 2009
    North East Scotland
    Unfortunately it is impossible. The Wii is designed to take data input that's been processed from there, the USBLoaders therefore need to put the data through there to load games off the HDD and have the Wii recognise them.
     
    #6 Jul 3, 2010
  7. Slowking

    Slowking GBAtemp Maniac

    Member
    3
    1,401
    Level 3
    Dec 31, 2006
    Gambia, The
    But you could probably just use the drives pcb, removing the rest of the drive. that little pcb wont make your Wii fatter.
     
    #7 Jul 3, 2010
  8. WiiPower

    WiiPower GBAtemp Guru

    Member
    2
    8,165
    Level 2
    Oct 17, 2008
    Gambia, The
    I would say the system menu or the IOS does some drive init stuff, which simply fails if no drive is connected. If that was patched out, it might work, but i'm not really sure, see down.

    I don't think anything usb loading related uses anything from the drive. But asking the drive for its manufactoring date or checking if there's a disc in the drive(old Waninkoko's cIOS, some/all(?) Hermes cIOS), that's something that really involves the drive. Also Calling DI_Init, or whatever you want to call it, does drive init stuff, even on usb loader cIOS, maybe when loading from usb, because it's required for dvd compatiblity, and maybe it's even easier to write that way.

    Short, i think you need the drive chip, and a software solution without it seems very complicated to me.
     
    #8 Jul 3, 2010
  9. Wiisel

    Wiisel GBAtemp Maniac

    Member
    3
    1,310
    Level 3
    Dec 4, 2008
    wode will replace a drive but then theres the issue of where to locate the slave board, Not sure if flatmii can do the same but it would be a cheaper alternative.
     
    #9 Jul 3, 2010
  10. x_r3ap3r_x
    OP

    x_r3ap3r_x GBAtemp Regular

    Member
    2
    184
    Level 2
    Mar 14, 2010
    Thank you I'll look into the flatmii, i was even thinking the WiiKey Fusion might do the job.
     
    #10 Jul 4, 2010
  11. DarkMatterCore

    DarkMatterCore I like turtles.

    Member
    5
    972
    Level 5
    May 30, 2009
    Venezuela
    Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain.
    That's exactly my situation! You know, the only way to load games on consoles in this state is by using SNEEK+DI (maybe because the drive commands are emulated and not just interpreted, like the conventional USB Loaders?). I'm using it and there are no problems (I still don't have the PCB board, the "accident" was something like a year ago). I don't know if you can't also load any channels... The only ones that work for me are the HBC and the injected SSB64 from PaRaDoX (well, I can load the channels, but a black screen will appear some seconds later, :/).
     
    #11 Jul 4, 2010
  12. Krestent

    Krestent What to post?

    Member
    3
    3,953
    Level 3
    Mar 31, 2009
    United States
    You could use the Flatmii Fusion, it's board is quite small.
     
    #12 Jul 4, 2010
  13. x_r3ap3r_x
    OP

    x_r3ap3r_x GBAtemp Regular

    Member
    2
    184
    Level 2
    Mar 14, 2010
    I just had a look at the flatmii fusion website and it looks promising, I might purchase a flatmii fusion and wiikey fusion and even a cheap sunkey light as I'm not fussed on SD loading games. Thanks for the info.
     
    #13 Jul 4, 2010
  14. paulmikeybarker

    paulmikeybarker Member

    Newcomer
    2
    15
    Level 2
    Jan 5, 2010
    My point being, it won't run disc based games without it!
    Obviously it's necessary hardware, just like a spine, unless you can software emulate it
     
    #14 Jul 4, 2010
  15. TRushInfo

    TRushInfo Banned

    Banned
    0
    978
    Level 0
    Jun 13, 2009
    United States
    dude shut up, you have no clue about anything. this guy is trying to do something and doesnt need ur tard ass telling him about thigns u know nothign about
     
    #15 Jul 4, 2010
  16. toejam316

    toejam316 GBAtemp Regular

    Member
    2
    259
    Level 2
    Apr 20, 2007
    New Zealand
    Seems like SNEEK + DI would be your best bet if you don't want to spend cash, otherwise buying a WODE and gutting that and internalizing it could work quite well.
     
    #16 Jul 4, 2010
  17. TRushInfo

    TRushInfo Banned

    Banned
    0
    978
    Level 0
    Jun 13, 2009
    United States
    Id love to see the finished product if you get everything figured out!!!!
     
    #17 Jul 4, 2010
  18. Pippin666

    Pippin666 SSF43DE Master

    Member
    5
    1,935
    Level 5
    Mar 30, 2009
    Canada
    Montreal, Qc
    TRashInfo is trash. Calm your temper, it's stupid. If someone comment or information is not relevent just ignore it.

    Pip'
     
    #18 Jul 5, 2010
  19. x_r3ap3r_x
    OP

    x_r3ap3r_x GBAtemp Regular

    Member
    2
    184
    Level 2
    Mar 14, 2010
    I'm just finishing of the CAD design and ill send it off late this week or early next week.

    On another note, does anyone know if you can use the same 3.6v logical supply for all 4 GC controllers? I know i can use the same GND and +5V but the logic supply im not to sure about, i might test it tonight if i have time.

    EDIT
    I just tested it and it works you can run 4 gamecube controllers with just 6 wires. [​IMG]
     
    #19 Jul 5, 2010
  20. WiiStrudle

    WiiStrudle Member

    Newcomer
    1
    17
    Level 1
    Nov 18, 2008
    Canada
    @x_r3ap3r_x you rule! I have a board in my basement thats still working (my "accident" as well [​IMG] anyways, I was wondering about this too for quite some time, but you're making it happen, AwEsOmE!! (high pitched voice)

    I would love to see the finished product as well...you've got me all excited, I'm looking to flatmii right now.
     
    #20 Jul 6, 2010
Loading...
Similar threads with keywords: loaders drive Hide similar threads
  1. jpmcruiser

    External Hard Drives for use with vWii Backup Loaders Not Working with Wii U

    jpmcruiser, Feb 2, 2018, in forum: Wii U - Homebrew
    Replies:
    8
    Views:
    726
    Tri-Z
    Feb 18, 2018
  2. lakitu213

    VWii USB loaders do not detect flash drive correctly

    lakitu213, Nov 5, 2016, in forum: Wii U - Hacking & Backup Loaders
    Replies:
    0
    Views:
    311
    lakitu213
    Nov 5, 2016
  3. DarkRioru

    wii backup loaders that can load from a flash drive?

    DarkRioru, Apr 27, 2016, in forum: Wii - Emulation and Homebrew
    Replies:
    9
    Views:
    534
    Supster131
    Apr 28, 2016
  4. uscjunkie

    USB Loaders do not detect my Hard Drive

    uscjunkie, Nov 19, 2009, in forum: Wii - Backup Loaders
    Replies:
    14
    Views:
    24,029
    Duncan Idaho
    Dec 23, 2015
  5. bluedragon700

    usb loaders not reading hdd but reads usb flash drives

    bluedragon700, Sep 20, 2013, in forum: Wii - Hacking
    Replies:
    18
    Views:
    3,878
    bluedragon700
    Oct 5, 2013