Hacking Wii no longer boots any modded games (only home menu launcher works)

[Umpire]

Basically, I'm trying to play MKWii on Wiimmfi. I've been using a patched iso launched with USB loader GX for the past few years now with no issues.

However, when I tried to launch the game again a few days ago, I got an error about an XML file when launching ULGX that I didn't really pay attention to. When launching MKWii, I just got a black screen and had to hard reset. This is despite the game launching fine a few days ago.

I've tried:

1. Launching with MrBean35000VR's Wiimmfi patch (this stalls at "Applying main.dol patches").
2. Launching with the CTGP app (this freezes and prints "the disc drive appears to have stalled").
3. Using Modmii to install any necessary updates. It printed these instructions, which I applied: pastebin (dot) com / Kj2TMNEw.
4. Formatting my USB drive/using a different USB drive, and running the plain iso rather than the patched one (ULGX will still burn the iso from the disc to the USB stick, but the game won't launch).
5. Launching the game normally from the home menu (this works, but I obviously can't play online).

Nothing else seems to be wrong - HBC apps all launch fine, it's just the game won't actually boot.

What else can I try to fix this?

 

[EmulateLife]

Just taking a guess but perhaps it's corrupt files on your sd card. It happens sometimes even on good ones that you did nothing to cause it. Try to copy all your files on your sd card to PC, format it to FAT32 then move the files back to the sd card and try it again. Worth a try.

 

[Umpire]

Just taking a guess but perhaps it's corrupt files on your sd card. It happens sometimes even on good ones that you did nothing to cause it. Try to copy all your files on your sd card to PC, format it to FAT32 then move the files back to the sd card and try it again. Worth a try.

Thanks for that. I tried it, then launched MKW with ULGX and got the black screen. Then I tried the CTGP channel and it said my install may be corrupted and to delete /sd/ctgpr/jelly.bin. I did that, the channel loaded, but the game didn't boot (disc drive appears to have stalled error).

Is it possible some other files are corrupted on my SD and I need to redownload the HBC, ULGX + all of my apps?

 

[EmulateLife]

Thanks for that. I tried it, then launched MKW with ULGX and got the black screen. Then I tried the CTGP channel and it said my install may be corrupted and to delete /sd/ctgpr/jelly.bin. I did that, the channel loaded, but the game didn't boot (disc drive appears to have stalled error).

Is it possible some other files are corrupted on my SD and I need to redownload the HBC, ULGX + all of my apps?

You could try it, if you haven't already by now. Since it's telling you there's corrupted files it looks like that has to be what it is.

 

[Umpire]

You could try it, if you haven't already by now. Since it's telling you there's corrupted files it looks like that has to be what it is.

Didn't work unfortunately. Formatted SD and put on a fresh HBC boot.elf and a fresh download of the Wiimmfi patcher, still gets stuck on applying main.dol patches.

Should I update the Wii and redo the letterbomb exploit/reinstall the HBC? I think I'm on version 4.3, would that even be possible?

 

[Captain_N]

Is your wii capable of reading a burned dvd-r? You could burn the modded iso and try that. If it does not work then the dvd is wasted tho. I say the burned disc route just to bypase all the usb and channel stuff. A modded iso should work great on a burned disc. Also you can try the emulator to boot the iso.

 

[Umpire]

Is your wii capable of reading a burned dvd-r? You could burn the modded iso and try that. If it does not work then the dvd is wasted tho. I say the burned disc route just to bypase all the usb and channel stuff. A modded iso should work great on a burned disc. Also you can try the emulator to boot the iso.

Good idea, I didn't think of that - I don't have anything capable of burning discs atm though - think I'd prefer to just buy a new Wii if it's a hardware problem.

Is there a way to test if it can run burned discs without burning one and trying it?

 

[CinnamonDev]

Is your Wii Capable of playing GCN games? If so, It can read DVD-R. But You can just get aunmodified MKWii ISO and use the Wiimmfi option on USB loader GX.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, Getting the MKWIi disc is better than ISO since you can play CTGP

 

[Umpire]

Is your Wii Capable of playing GCN games? If so, It can read DVD-R. But You can just get aunmodified MKWii ISO and use the Wiimmfi option on USB loader GX.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, Getting the MKWIi disc is better than ISO since you can play CTGP

It has the four GCN controller slots along the top, so I assume it can? I don't have any GCN games to test though.

USB Loader GX won't load an unmodified iso off my USB stick (but it will let me burn isos from the physical disc to the storage media). I get the same black screen. I think there's a broader issue here regarding how third party apps are trying to launch games on my Wii.

 

[GreyWolf]

It's likely the flash drive. They generally don't work properly on Wiis.

 

[CinnamonDev]

It has the four GCN controller slots along the top, so I assume it can? I don't have any GCN games to test though.

USB Loader GX won't load an unmodified iso off my USB stick (but it will let me burn isos from the physical disc to the storage media). I get the same black screen. I think there's a broader issue here regarding how third party apps are trying to launch games on my Wii.

You have to convert the ISO into WBFS to play them via USB Loader GX. Wii games in ISO format will not work. You need to use Wii Backup Manager for this as welll a unmodified MKWii ISO. And yes, If the Wii has GCN ports it means they can run GCN games


Also, what cIOS are you using to load the MKWii ISO? I recomend using cIOS250 D2x v10 beta 53 base 57 for loading backups.

 

[GreyWolf]

You have to convert the ISO into WBFS to play them via USB Loader GX. Wii games in ISO format will not work. You need to use Wii Backup Manager for this as welll a unmodified MKWii ISO. And yes, If the Wii has GCN ports it means they can run GCN games


Also, what cIOS are you using to load the MKWii ISO? I recomend using cIOS250 D2x v10 beta 53 base 57 for loading backups.

Why would you recommend v10-beta53 alt? It has no benefits over v10-beta52 or just v8 and has compatibility issues with many game titles and hard drives.

 

[CinnamonDev]

Why would you recommend v10-beta53 alt? It has no benefits over v10-beta52 or just v8 and has compatibility issues with many game titles and hard drives.

You know, I don't have those issues at all. Beta 53 alt is one of the best cIOS I have, And I can say that It has no problem running any Wii game. Unless you are trying to run Wii games as ISO, The cIOS work just fine, and I have used many different USB Drives with it.

 

[tswntk]

You know, I don't have those issues at all. Beta 53 alt is one of the best cIOS I have, And I can say that It has no problem running any Wii game. Unless you are trying to run Wii games as ISO, The cIOS work just fine, and I have used many different USB Drives with it.

It works for you doesn't mean it works for everybody.
Greywolf's claim is backed by hundreds of threads asking for help right in this forum and usbloaders do support Wii games in iso format; it just requires an NTFS partition (not commonly supported by other homebrews) and a waste of disk space.

 

[Umpire]

It's likely the flash drive. They generally don't work properly on Wiis.

Why won't Bean's Wiimmfi patcher app or the CTGP channel work then? All my HBC files are on an SD card.

You have to convert the ISO into WBFS to play them via USB Loader GX. Wii games in ISO format will not work. You need to use Wii Backup Manager for this as welll a unmodified MKWii ISO. And yes, If the Wii has GCN ports it means they can run GCN games


Also, what cIOS are you using to load the MKWii ISO? I recomend using cIOS250 D2x v10 beta 53 base 57 for loading backups.

To clarify, I'm not just downloading isos, I'm ripping from a physical game disc with ULGX. Once I rip (whether I've then gone and patched it to connect to Wiimmfi or not) it boots to a black screen.

I have literally no idea what I'm doing when it comes to IOS/cIOS. But since I set all this up in 2014 it's likely to be out of date.

• ULGX says I'm using IOS 249 as both the loader's IOS and game's IOS in settings. Going and changing this to IOS 250 has a weird effect - when booting the game it kicks me back to the HBC main screen rather than displaying a never-ending black screen. EDIT - this happened 1/2 times, the second I got the black screen.
• d2X custom IOS installer says at the bottom "Current IOS: 58 v6176"
• Multi-mod manager says "Currently loaded: IOS236 v65535" - is this just what it's trying to change?

From here, I tried loading IOS250 (V21008) from MMM but it wouldn't save this setting when I re-enter the app, IDK if this is normal or not.

So to install and then load cIOS250, are these the correct d2x settings?

• Select cIOS <v10 beta52 d2x-v10-beta52>
• Select cIOS base <57>
  
• Select cIOS slot <250>
• Select cIOS revision <21010> - no idea what the difference makes here.

 

[CinnamonDev]

Why won't Bean's Wiimmfi patcher app or the CTGP channel work then? All my HBC files are on an SD card.



To clarify, I'm not just downloading isos, I'm ripping from a physical game disc with ULGX. Once I rip (whether I've then gone and patched it to connect to Wiimmfi or not) it boots to a black screen.

I have literally no idea what I'm doing when it comes to IOS/cIOS. But since I set all this up in 2014 it's likely to be out of date.

• ULGX says I'm using IOS 249 as both the loader's IOS and game's IOS in settings. Going and changing this to IOS 250 has a weird effect - when booting the game it kicks me back to the HBC main screen rather than displaying a never-ending black screen. EDIT - this happened 1/2 times, the second I got the black screen.
• d2X custom IOS installer says at the bottom "Current IOS: 58 v6176"
• Multi-mod manager says "Currently loaded: IOS236 v65535" - is this just what it's trying to change?

From here, I tried loading IOS250 (V21008) from MMM but it wouldn't save this setting when I re-enter the app, IDK if this is normal or not.

So to install and then load cIOS250, are these the correct d2x settings?

• Select cIOS <v10 beta52 d2x-v10-beta52>
• Select cIOS base <57>
  
• Select cIOS slot <250>
• Select cIOS revision <21010> - no idea what the difference makes here.

Change cIOS revision to 65535 to prevent any Update from replacing the cIOS. And then go to USB Loader GX and change Game's IOS to 250 and then boot the game. One more question, in what Port is connected the USB device being used? Port 0 or 1? Hmmm

It works for you doesn't mean it works for everybody.
Greywolf's claim is backed by hundreds of threads asking for help right in this forum and usbloaders do support Wii games in iso format; it just requires an NTFS partition (not commonly supported by other homebrews) and a waste of disk space.

I know USB loaders support ISO but is not a good option. And if this is true tell me a game that has "issues" and then I'll test it. Every game that I have Doesn't have compatibility issues. And I've tested with a few different USB Drives and they work fine.

 

[Umpire]

You have to convert the ISO into WBFS to play them via USB Loader GX. Wii games in ISO format will not work. You need to use Wii Backup Manager for this as welll a unmodified MKWii ISO. And yes, If the Wii has GCN ports it means they can run GCN games


Also, what cIOS are you using to load the MKWii ISO? I recomend using cIOS250 D2x v10 beta 53 base 57 for loading backups.

Change cIOS revision to 65535 to prevent any Update from replacing the cIOS. And then go to USB Loader GX and change Game's IOS to 250 and then boot the game. One more question, in what Port is connected the USB device being used? Port 0 or 1? Hmmm

I know USB loaders support ISO but is not a good option. And if this is true tell me a game that has "issues" and then I'll test it. Every game that I have Doesn't have compatibility issues. And I've tested with a few different USB Drives and they work fine.

Didn't work, unfortunately. I'm using the bottom USB port (left one) - when the other one is used ULGX won't recognise it.

The USB stick (with the ULGX-ripped MKW file on it) can't be read by Windows and therefore I can't use it with Wii Backup Manager, is that normal?

I tried formatting the stick NTFS and tried to use CleanRip rather than ULGX to make the rip. It wouldn't pick up the USB in either slot (even though it asks for FAT/NTFS formatted media).

At this point, what are my options regarding backing up all my data and performing a system reset? I'm running 4.3E, will doing a complete format brick my Wii? Would it even uninstall the softmods?

 

[CinnamonDev]

Didn't work, unfortunately. I'm using the bottom USB port (left one) - when the other one is used ULGX won't recognise it.

The USB stick (with the ULGX-ripped MKW file on it) can't be read by Windows and therefore I can't use it with Wii Backup Manager, is that normal?

I tried formatting the stick NTFS and tried to use CleanRip rather than ULGX to make the rip. It wouldn't pick up the USB in either slot (even though it asks for FAT/NTFS formatted media).

At this point, what are my options regarding backing up all my data and performing a system reset? I'm running 4.3E, will doing a complete format brick my Wii? Would it even uninstall the softmods?

The USB not being recognized by WIndows is strange. You don't need to do a System Reset. Try Formatting the Drive to FAT32(If possible) and the Rip MKWii via ULGX. Then instead of patching the MKWii rom, just use the Wiimmfi Private Server option/ Select the game and then go to Settings>Game Load>Private Server change it to Wiimmfi.de It should work. Ater that Boot the Game

 

[Umpire]

The USB not being recognized by WIndows is strange. You don't need to do a System Reset. Try Formatting the Drive to FAT32(If possible) and the Rip MKWii via ULGX. Then instead of patching the MKWii rom, just use the Wiimmfi Private Server option/ Select the game and then go to Settings>Game Load>Private Server change it to Wiimmfi.de It should work. Ater that Boot the Game

I've already tried that. ULGX won't load any instance of MKW, whether patched, non-patched, or with Wiimmfi turned on in settings. I'll give it another go but I don't think this cIOS update would've changed how ULGX is ripping discs (unless I'm mistaken).

If this is just a ULGX/flash drive/ios problem, why won't the Wiimmfi patcher app or the CTGP channel, both of which launch from the physical disc, run the game? And why would this issue start so suddenly? I literally hadn't made any changes to anything on my SD card or USB stick in more than four years, it's not like some HBC/automatic system update could've caused everything to go tits up.

EDIT: tried to try it again, ULGX won't read a stick formatted FAT32, gets stuck on "initialising USB device".

 

[XFlak]

The USB not being recognized by WIndows is strange. You don't need to do a System Reset. Try Formatting the Drive to FAT32(If possible) and the Rip MKWii via ULGX. Then instead of patching the MKWii rom, just use the Wiimmfi Private Server option/ Select the game and then go to Settings>Game Load>Private Server change it to Wiimmfi.de It should work. Ater that Boot the Game

USB loader gx has a wiimmfi support? OK, I think I might finally be sold on making the switch, lol