Hacking Wii backup Manager for Windows

[Bloodlust]

Sorry, could you go into a bit more detail on :

1) Automatically update storage convention when drive is mounted
2) Ignore storage convention for transfers to WBFS file

I do not get what "storage convention" means, basically"

 

[gfarry]

found a little typo in Options>FAT32/NTFS>Storage convention
"Store files in seperate sub-folders" - should it be separate?

and one newbie question:
What is difference if I keep all partitions/remove update/game only?
I understand "game only" will take the least space.

But what are other (dis-)advantages for each of the options?

 

[fig2k4]

@Rock Raiyu
when you say rip, I assume you mean DVD->ISO? I'll check it out..

@Bloodlust
The storage convention settings allow you to specify the file/folder layout on the drive.

eg. With sub-folders and GameID_Title for the folder names, it would be something like "WBFS\RF4P6M_Super Fruit Fall\RF4P6M.wbfs".

1. When you select a drive all the files are automatically moved and renamed according to your settings.
2. Transfers to WBFS file will only use the title for the filename. eg. "Super Fruit Fall.wbfs" instead of "RF4P6M_Super Fruit Fall\RF4P6M.wbfs"

To see how it works, open up an explorer window to see the WBFS folder. Change some of the settings and mount the drive. Change settings and mount again. Keep an eye on the explorer window..

@gfarry
I'll fix the typo. That's a common 1 for me.

Some people like to keep all partitions so they can maybe rebuild the ISO for burning. So the disc will still contain channel installer partitions etc.. Or keep the update only in case it's needed in the future.

Loaders only use the game partition, so if you have a backup of the ISO, probably using "Game only" would be the best option to save space. Personally, I use game only because that's all I'm interested in.

 

[TeenTin]

Can the problem of SSBB be solved soon ?

Thanks !

Other than this, the manager works great !

 

[fig2k4]

I mentioned it to oggzee. He'll probably implement it soon but it's not essential. The games will work either way. I won't be changing anything since I think it's handled correctly this way, unless oggzee's implementation improves upon what I have obviously.

@Rock Raiyu
I found the silly DVD->ISO error. It happens after the thread has finished. The ISOs you rip are OK, it's just another one of those quirks I mentioned because there were so many code changes at once.

I also noticed that there's nothing in the log when a DVD transfer fails. I'll find that problem before releasing another revision..

@bnm81002
Sorry, just noticed your post.. Auto would be OK for normal use. It automatically splits to 4GB on FAT32 and no split on NTFS. The other settings are there for people that need them.

 

[TeenTin]

The display of custom titles seems not working.

 

[pepxl]

The display of custom titles seems not working.

works perfect for me since it was implemented, the filename must be CustomTitles.txt and no Custom_Titles.txt

 

[Wiiwu]

Tried 0.3.4 r3 and found its transfer is very slow compared to wbfs_file.exe.

This is stats for transfer from 1 hdd to another:

wbfs_file.exe 12 MB/s
wbm-0.3.4r3 5 MB/s !

 

[oggzee]

I mentioned it to oggzee. He'll probably implement it soon but it's not essential. The games will work either way. I won't be changing anything since I think it's handled correctly this way, unless oggzee's implementation improves upon what I have obviously.

Just to confirm, yes, i got the code from fig2k4 regarding the partition and it looks right, it fixes all the partition tables while libwbfs only handles the first one. However the change is pretty low priority to me, since the games will work either way, so I won't promise to integrate it fast.

 

[fig2k4]

@TeenTin
The custom titles must be in the same format as titles.txt.

RHXP78 = Battle Of The Bands

Notice the space before and after =.

@Wiiwu
wbfs_file shows an average speed over the whole transfer. eg. amount transferred divided by the time passed. WBM shows the speed per second. So the speed you see is the true speed for the past second.

With buffered transfers there's always a massive boost at the start of the transfer, something like 60 MB/s until the buffer is full and it slows down. Using the average speed, visually, it will gradually fall to around 5 MB/s if the time taken is long enough, whereas in WBM it will drop within a second or 2. It really depends on how much of a boost the transfer got through buffering at the start.

Showing the average speed might be better..

 

[Wiiwu]

It is really slow according to my clock and logs. As shown below, this game took 24 seconds in your tool but wbfs_file.exe did it in 10 seconds.


wbfs_file.exe output:

Writing: e:\wbfs\Doctor Fizzwizzle_s Animal Rescue [RJYE5Z]\RJYE5Z.wbfs
adding RJYE5Z Doctor Fizzwizzle's Animal Rescue...
100.00% (\) ETA: 0:00:00 (132.00MB of 132.00MB ~ 13.00MB/s) time: 10.16s
Done inÂÂ0:00:10

wbm log:

00:56:51 (WiiFatDrive.GetTempFilename) Created folder E:\wbfs\Doctor Fizzwhizzle's Animal Rescue [RJYE5Z]
00:56:51 (WiiFatDrive.OpenVolume) Created volume E:\wbfs\Doctor Fizzwhizzle's Animal Rescue [RJYE5Z]\~1F8F.tmp
00:57:16 (WBFSPartition.AddDisc) Disc added successfully. RJYE5Z Doctor Fizzwizzle's Animal Rescue
00:57:16 (WBFSPartition.Trim) 134 MB
00:57:16 (WiiFatDrive.RenameTempFiles) Renamed ~1F8F.tmp RJYE5Z.wbfs
00:57:16 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Refreshing drive. Drive (E:)
00:57:16 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Thread terminated. 
00:57:16 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Time taken. 00:00:24

Also to add, while WBM was transfering, the hdd sounded obviously louder and seem to be busy thrashing around.

 

[fig2k4]

OK

It could be that pre-allocating the file allows faster writes. I haven't bothered doing that with wbfs files, but I'll try it and let you know.

Edit:

The major difference I realised.. wbfs_file uses unbuffered transfers. If you don't have write caching enabled on the drive, maybe it causes slower speeds. I'll add an option to disable the buffered transfers.

 

[Bloodlust]

Thanks for the clarification in regards to "storage convention settings"

 

[zero64]

@fig2k4:
Thanks for writing this software; it works very well.

With the new version, however, I can't seem to run it as a non-administrator (i.e. UAC wants to elevate my privileges as soon as it starts). That was one of the advantages of this program over the other one I tried; presumably it works for me because I'm using FAT32 instead of WBFS. Is it a problem to only run as administrator when it's needed? I'm all for ease of use, but I also think you shouldn't run anything as an administrator when it's not necessary.

 

[XFlak]

@zero64

this is a new feature of this program, I talked to fig2k4 about that in the beta stages. Without giving it admin rights the app can't format hard drives and perform other functions, that's why fig2k4 purposely made it request for elevated privileges right away

so basically, if you're using a public computer without admin rights... well ur shit out of luck... i mean, u can always hack the admin password, lol, or easier to remove it entirely... but I digress... lol

 

[zero64]

Right, I understand the reasoning behind it (and I am an admin user; it would run if I clicked yes at the UAC prompt), it's just not good security practice to run programs as an administrator when it's not necessary. Sure, that's a bit paranoid, but caution is what keeps you safe when you're running Windows

.

My point was that you can run the old version as an administrator by right clicking and selection the option when it's needed, but (as far as I know) there's no way to run the new version as a non-administrator.

Well, in any case, I guess version 0.3.3 works well enough for now.

 

[fig2k4]

I've upped 0.3.4r4. I think it's probably the last revision.

I'll work on more features for the next full release now.

Changes in 0.3.4r4
Fixed: AV after transferring DVD->ISO.
Fixed: DVD read errors weren't logged correctly.
Added: New option to "Use buffered transfers". It could be handy to disable this when transferring over a network etc. but it's slower for normal use.
Added: Average transfer speed shown in the log, once finished.
Fixed: Some results weren't added to progress logs and some were added twice.
Fixed: Progress events for mounting a drive weren't all assigned correctly.

The major difference I realised.. wbfs_file uses unbuffered transfers
I was wrong about that.

After a few tests, I realised that the transfers are buffered.

I can't reproduce any speed problems though. I tried with all my drives and the speeds are comparable to wbfs_file. It is slightly slower, about 3 seconds slower for a 4 gig transfer in the results below. That could be caused by a number of things. Like wbfs_file calculates the time from the first write, where WBM calculates it from when the thread starts and the fact that I use threads that need synced to the main thread for the progress updates etc.
Edit: Pre-allocating the file would probably help too..

If you're really getting half the speed then I'd recommend you just use wbfs_file. If I was getting those speeds I would give up on this app now and use wbfs_file myself, but I'm not, so..

Here's a typical test result transferring to my USB drive..

CODEwbfs_file.exe "E:\wbfs\Guitar Hero 5 [SXEP52]\SXEP52.iso" convert j:\
Converting E:\wbfs\Guitar Hero 5 [SXEP52]\SXEP52.iso to .wbfs
Writing: j:\Guitar Hero 5 [SXEP52]\SXEP52.wbfs
Create Split: 1 j:\Guitar Hero 5 [SXEP52]\SXEP52.wbf1
adding SXEP52 Guitar Hero 5...
100.00% (-) ETA: 0:00:00 (4100.00MB of 4100.00MB ~ 19.59MB/s) time: 209.28s
Done inÂÂ0:03:29

10:15:23 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Thread started
10:15:23 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Disc count 1
10:15:23 (WiiFatDrive.GetTempFilename) Created folder J:\wbfs\Guitar Hero 5 [SXEP52]
10:15:23 (WiiFatDrive.OpenVolume) Created volume J:\wbfs\Guitar Hero 5 [SXEP52]\~6E5F.tmp
10:18:56 (WBFSPartition.AddDisc) Disc added successfully. SXEP52 Guitar Hero 5
10:18:56 (WBFSPartition.Trim) 4102 MB
10:18:56 (WiiFatDrive.RenameTempFiles) Renamed ~6E5F.tmp SXEP52.wbfs
10:18:56 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Average speed 19.33 MB/s
10:18:56 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Refreshing drive. Drive (J
10:18:56 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Thread terminated.
10:18:56 (FilesToDrive1Thread) Time taken. 00:03:32

About the admin rights and UAC. I came across a couple of functions that might be what I was looking for originally. They will hopefully allow me to set certain privileges on the fly. If they fail then I can show an error message. Like when you try to mount a WBFS drive, I'll hopefully be able to enable the correct privileges, then disable them again when they're not needed. This probably means having a UAC popup every time you try to mount a drive.

It's a pain in the ass.

Maybe I'd be better just checking to see if the app's been run as admin, if not, disable all functions that won't work without it and show a warning dialog..

 

[XFlak]

@fig2k4...

Added: New option to "Use buffered transfers". It could be handy to disable this when transferring over a network etc. but it's slower for normal use.

so if we're not transferring over a network, you recommend we have this enabled? Does it slow it down a lot? I'm trying to figure out how I should have my settings...

thx

 

[XFlak]

This probably means having a UAC popup every time you try to mount a drive.
u mean every time? or every time we mount a wbfs formatted drive?

QUOTEIt's a pain in the ass.

Maybe I'd be better just checking to see if the app's been run as admin, if not, disable all functions that won't work without it and show a warning dialog..

this sounds reasonable to me, what exactly needs admin rights again? Mounting a wbfs drive, and formatting a drive... anything else?

Great work, and thanks for everything!

 

[fig2k4]

Buffered transfers are basically what you've been using.. I noticed with some tests over a WLAN, the progress would reach 100% and then freeze for a good few seconds before it was actually complete. In this case, it kinda defeats the purpose of having progress bars if you're stuck waiting, like with older managers.

I mainly implemented the option to see if it helped with Wiiwu's problem, but it doesn't. Compared to buffered transfers, it's about 30 seconds slower in the same test I posted. But if the write speed is really slow, maybe over a network or a crappy usb pen drive it'll work better, with no freezing while the cache is flushed.