Hacking WiiFlow Lite

[fledge68]

here's a test dol file with gecko prints added

https://www.mediafire.com/file/df6wpjamy5bspbx/wfl_nand_source_test.zip/file

before you run it:

open wiiflow_lite.ini in text editor

change:
[DEBUG]
sd_write_log=no to yes and save

next open source_menu.ini

and make sure to use this:

[BUTTON_2]
hidden=no
image=Emunand.png
image_s=Emunandb.png
magic=454E414E
source=plugin
title=Emu Nand

[BUTTON_3]
hidden=no
image=Nand.png
image_s=Nandb.png
magic=4E414E44
source=plugin
title=Real Nand

run wiiflow and try each button at least once then exit wiiflow via the home menu and exit menu. now you should have a wiiflow.log file on the root of your sd card. upload it here for me to download or copy and paste ALL of the text here for me to see.

 

[AdamCatalyst]

Done!
Set it up exactly as you instructed.
Ran through each source button in sequence, exactly as you described.

Welcome to WiiFlow WFL 5.6.2!
This is the debug output.
WiiU
vWii Mode
AHBPROT disabled = yes
Found WiiFlow Save
Loading IOS Settings from wiiflow save
Using Port Settings from wiiflow save
Using SD Only Settings from wiiflow save
Using IOS58
IOS58 v6432
FAT Partition at sd: mounted.
Wiiflow boot.dol Location: sd:/apps/wiiflow
Data Directory: sd:/wiiflow
Setting Wii games partition to: 0
Wii Games Directory: %s:/games/Wii
GameCube Games Directory: %s:/games/GC
Nintendont found
emunand = sd:/vwiinands/wiiflow
savesnand = sd:/vwiinands/default
Running sound thread
Loading cIOS map
Found d2x base 56 in slot 249
Found d2x base 57 in slot 250
Found d2x base 58 in slot 251
ListGenerator: fileNameSkipPattern=((dis[ck]|tape|side|track)[ _-]([b-l][^a-z]|0*[2-9]|0*[1-9][0-9]))|(^disc2[.]iso$)|(^neogeo[.]zip$)|(^funboot[.]rom$)|(^(ecs|exec|grom)[.]bin$)
Bootup completed!
Displaying covers
Creating Gamelist
Adding wii list
Games found: 52
Displaying covers
Displaying covers
Creating Gamelist
Adding wii list
Games found: 52
Displaying covers
Displaying covers
Creating Gamelist
Adding plugins list
chantypes=1
Adding real nand list
Games found: 10
Displaying covers
Displaying covers
Creating Gamelist
Adding plugins list
chantypes=1
Adding real nand list
Games found: 10
Displaying covers
Cleanup Coverflow
Stopping sound thread
Stopped sound thread
MEM1_freesize(): 6905840
MEM2_freesize(): 42812416

 

[fledge68]

Took me a little while to figure out you are using sourceflow not the source menu. and you have sourceflow on wiiflow start. thats why Displaying covers shows twice.

anyway, i have found the problem and sorry for thinking you are crazy. apparently you can't compare a string to a #Defined string. you have to compare c strings for it to work. my if statements never worked so wiiflow just used the setting in main config. for me that was always emunand, i never used real nand.

so here SHOULD BE the fix (it works for me). sucks that I can't just hop on my wii to test things. luckily i got a hour this morning before the kids woke up.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/5qtgngwo3y1wgke/wfl_nand_source_fix_2.zip/file

 

[impeeza]

Wow mate! Thanks a lot

 

[AdamCatalyst]

Took me a little while to figure out you are using sourceflow not the source menu. and you have sourceflow on wiiflow start. thats why Displaying covers shows twice.

anyway, i have found the problem and sorry for thinking you are crazy. apparently you can't compare a string to a #Defined string. you have to compare c strings for it to work. my if statements never worked so wiiflow just used the setting in main config. for me that was always emunand, i never used real nand.

so here SHOULD BE the fix (it works for me). sucks that I can't just hop on my wii to test things. luckily i got a hour this morning before the kids woke up.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/5qtgngwo3y1wgke/wfl_nand_source_fix_2.zip/file

This works perfectly!!!!

thank-you so much.

My sincere apologies if my terminology was misleading. I tried to be as precise as possible, but clearly I misused a term.

I can't thank you enough for clearing up this long-standing issue.

 

[fledge68]

This works perfectly!!!!

thank-you so much.

My sincere apologies if my terminology was misleading. I tried to be as precise as possible, but clearly I misused a term.

I can't thank you enough for clearing up this long-standing issue.

by the way i hope you changed:

[DEBUG]
sd_write_log=yes back to no and saved

and you can delete the wiiflow.log file

 

[Intoxicus5]

Edit 4: I came across several similar issues. One recurring issue involves only Japan Region Wii games working. I'm going to download one and try it after I go run some errands. I'm coming to suspect that what corrupted my eMMC also did some damage to my vWii system. I'm going to look deeper into a few potential paths for a fix.

I've been trying to disable plugins one at a time and so far no change. There was mentions of a 480p patch that was breaking WiiFlow for people also. I don't know much about what that is yet though. I've yet to find a anyone with a clear and concise fix. But many people with the same and/or very similar issues.

1 - It's some sort of weird region issue and somehow the vWii - Wii U menu connection is bugged to only flange Japan region Wii games.

2 - These issues are the result of some sort of damage/corruption to the vWii system/firmware.

3 - The 480p patch thing

4 - Potential issues with reading the USB Drive/Partition structure

Edit 3: I found someone else's .ini and it changed nothing. WiiFlow isn't getting far enough to read or generate a new .ini file and/or create any log. Whatever is causing this is likely connected to why I can't launch Wii games from the Wii U Menu. Anyway, I implore the WiiFlow dev to please include/make available a default/sample .ini for all the reasons. What kind of WiiU/vWii settings/plugins could be maybe causing this issue?

-USBLoaderGX detects my HDD partitions just fine. USBLoaderGX works 100% so far, but no actual wbfs games have been tried yet.

-I can't help but wonder if the Wii partition(FAT32) is where the issue is. I need to shrink my WiiU partition and expand the Wii partition anyway. If I need to reflange the Wii partition that's not a big deal. Is there a step to format/prepare the Wii partition I may have missed?? I'm using the USB partition plugin for Aroma (https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-partition-use-partitioned-usb-hdds-with-the-wii-u.656209/).

-I wonder if a WiiU Aroma plugin like evWii or Wii VC Launch may be all or part of the issue. What are the best settings for WiiU plugins? Is there something on the Wii U side of things I maybe derped on??

-The vWii has some old saves before my WiiU bricked due to a failed update. Should I get rid of those(as in backup proper then delete?) I wouldn't be surprised if those old saves could be an issue.

Edit2: HOLY FUCK WHERE THE FUCK IS "wiiflow_lite.ini" AND/OR WHERE DO I GET ONE WITH ALL DEFAULTS HOLY FUCK THIS IS DRIVING ME INSANE!!!! It's not making one for me or I don't know where it is. Why is there not a default version included with WiiFlow!?!?! I need this file and/or the proper structure for arguments in it to do anything more.

Edit:I found about the startup config app and that got me as far as now seeing the WiiFlow splash screen, but it crashes to the HBC menu. (force cios to no and set the cios to 251). Trying to launch Wii games from the Wii U Menu hasn't changed.

Whenever I try to run WiiFlow(latest version from your GitHub) it gets stuck at a black screen until it eventually returns to the Homebrew Launcher. I can not start/use WiiFlow at all. This is on a vWii of a hacked Wii U.

I get the same thing when trying to run a Wii game through the Wii U Menu. I can run a disc game, but haven't got around to trying a wbfs file. USB Loader GX works fine so far.

I've tried a number of things and I'm getting frustrated. I noticed you telling other how to get a log and I'll get that flanged up when I can.

I'm using SDIO's USB Partition plugin with the Wii partition being a FAT32 partition. I'm using a USB HDD. I'm not using redNAND or anything like that. I'm using my original eMMC currently.

 

[fledge68]

@Intoxicus5
obviously wiiflow doesn't mount your USB HDD for some reason.
there is no default wiiflow_lite.ini. even if there was it wouldn't do you any good because wiiflow doesn't need it till after your usb hdd is mounted. which wiiflow fails to detect and thus exits to the HBC.

one thing to try:
1. delete the wiiflow save file in vwii just like you would delete any save file.
2. download and install wiiflow 5.6.1 from github
3. download this boot.dol i posted a few posts back. here's the link again - https://www.mediafire.com/file/5qtgngwo3y1wgke/wfl_nand_source_fix_2.zip/file
4. replace the boot.dol with this one.
5. now run wiiflow and see if this helps. you might also try plugging your usb hdd into a different port if possible.

if this doesn't help then try a different usb hdd.

 

[Intoxicus5]

@Intoxicus5
obviously wiiflow doesn't mount your USB HDD for some reason.
there is no default wiiflow_lite.ini. even if there was it wouldn't do you any good because wiiflow doesn't need it till after your usb hdd is mounted. which wiiflow fails to detect and thus exits to the HBC.

one thing to try:
1. delete the wiiflow save file in vwii just like you would delete any save file.
2. download and install wiiflow 5.6.1 from github
3. download this boot.dol i posted a few posts back. here's the link again - https://www.mediafire.com/file/5qtgngwo3y1wgke/wfl_nand_source_fix_2.zip/file
4. replace the boot.dol with this one.
5. now run wiiflow and see if this helps. you might also try plugging your usb hdd into a different port if possible.

if this doesn't help then try a different usb hdd.

Edit 2: I tried your boot.dol and nothing changed. I did finally actually install and test a game with USB Loader GX on the FAT 32 partition. USB Loader GX works. It's just WiiFlow and launching Wii games from the Wii U Menu that black screen crash me. I am using the USB partition plugin that allows a Wii U to have partitioned HDDs. But that plugin wouldn't be in effect while in vWii mode. But perhaps that extra NTFS partition is confusing WiiFlow? (https://gbatemp.net/threads/usb-partition-use-partitioned-usb-hdds-with-the-wii-u.656209/)

Edit: I tried the Wii file explorer app and that could see the HDD's partition as a USB device.

Thank you!

I already tried the full wipe of WiiFlow down to the save file and all that. That had no change.

I had seen you link that boot.dol and wasn't sure if it would be appropriate for my context. I'll give it a try.

USB Loader GX detects it just fine. I tried it switching ports already and no change. The drive itself is definitely good. Perhaps I did something wrong with how I partitioned everything? If anything on the hardware end were an issue it would be the y cable or the enclosure's PCB interface.

Ultimately the real issue is not being able to launch Wii games from the Wii U menu. Which isn't a WiiFlow issue directly. But with how both issues have almost the exact same symptoms I suspect they have a same, or similar, root cause. In both cases I get a black screen crash that results in a return to menu or reboot.

It's also definitely not a region related issue. Japan region games also black screen.

I'll give your new to me suggestions a try first. But I've concluded it's likely something corrupted from what bricked my Wii U in the first place. I'm going to use the decaffeinator on extreme and go for as clean an install of the entire vWii as I can flange up.

 

[fledge68]

@Intoxicus5
are you using SD card at all?
is apps/wiiflow on SD or USB?
how are you launching wiiflow? via HBC? a forwarder?
are you going to vwii first?
i was told a long time ago using a wiivc game works for only SD ... USB doesn't work. has that changed?

 

[Intoxicus5]

@Intoxicus5
are you using SD card at all?
is apps/wiiflow on SD or USB?
how are you launching wiiflow? via HBC? a forwarder?
are you going to vwii first?
i was told a long time ago using a wiivc game works for only SD ... USB doesn't work. has that changed?

Edit 3: Wii VC games should work from an HDD while using the USB partition plugin. SDIO told me to try v3.0 of his plugin to see if that works. I'm still very curious about how WiiVC games work differently from the vWii.

Edit 2: I tried installing Mario Galaxy 2 to the eMMC/MLC(It didn't give me an option to install to the sd card in NUSpli) and it works now. Is this something where WiiVC games can be patched to work when on a USB device? I wouldn't be surprised if this already exists but it's not easy to find. Or perhaps it's something about how NUSpli installs them and I should manually install them instead?

are you using SD card at all? -- Yes

is apps/wiiflow on SD or USB? -- apps & wiiflow on the SD

how are you launching wiiflow? via HBC? a forwarder? --both, nothing works differently

are you going to vwii first? --For WiiFlow? Generally yes, the Wii U forwarder doesn't (not) work any differently.*

i was told a long time ago using a wiivc game works for only SD ... USB doesn't work. has that changed? -- Now that you say it I think I did read that somewhere. There's so much information, with a lot of it being dispersed in various replies, that I could have completely derped. I'll try installing one on the sd card and see what happens. If that does work, well I need a bigger sd card I can't afford anytime soon anyway.

Edit: If the Wii "VC" games need to be on something FAT32 formatted because, reasons, then that makes this all make sense. They may not be able to run on something that NTSC?? And if that is the reason maybe it's something that can be fixed/changed?


On this note a constant frustration I have is with the guides(all of them.) As much as I am extremely thankful, someone needs to compile all this info an advanced guide on the hacks.guide website. The current guide(s) on there are awesome if you have an already working Wii U with no issues. Which is increasingly rare as time goes on.

*What exactly is the difference between vWii and Wii "Virtual Console"?? I thought the Wii "VC" basically forwards/injects the game over to the vWii. But I read someone saying that the Virtual Console is "more like emulation" which is probably some kind of translation layer I would guess(which is NOT emulation at all truly.)

How the Wii U "passes" games to the vWii, or if it actually runs them in a significantly different way, really matters to troubleshooting this issue. Does the Wii "VC" need to be able communicate with the vWii at all? Or are they independent of each other?

As I understand it, the vWii is literally actual Wii hardware in some shrunk down form. Similar to how the Wii did Gamecube flanging, etc. If it's actually a translation layer type flange instead. That's actually significantly different than running a modified form of the OG hardware.

(On a sidenote the Switch 2 is going to be using the Nvidia Universal Driver/Device Architecture[UDA]. Take note that CUDA stands for Compute Universal Device Architecture. Which is the core of backwards compatibility on the Switch. It's a lot more than a translation layer. The Switch 2 does NOT emulate Switch 1 games. What it does is closer to WINE or Proton, but more so at the hardware level. The Wii U could never ever be directly compatible with the Switch because it uses PowerPC architecture. Which is what Macs used to use.)

 

[fledge68]

@Intoxicus5
you said apps/wiiflow and the wiiflow folder are on SD card, right?
if so it seems to me wiiflow is not finding your SD card or is not finding sd:/apps/wiiflow.
if thats the case then wiiflow will abort and exit.
i wonder what would happen if you moved apps/wiiflow and wiiflow folder to your USB HDD fat32 partition. and remove them from your SD card?

 

[Intoxicus5]

@Intoxicus5
you said apps/wiiflow and the wiiflow folder are on SD card, right?
if so it seems to me wiiflow is not finding your SD card or is not finding sd:/apps/wiiflow.
if thats the case then wiiflow will abort and exit.
i wonder what would happen if you moved apps/wiiflow and wiiflow folder to your USB HDD fat32 partition. and remove them from your SD card?

Edit: Well fuck me diagonally. That actually worked.

I'll try that

I got the WiiVC games working. It was a bug in the USB Partition plugin.

 

[fledge68]

Edit: Well fuck me diagonally. That actually worked.

I'll try that

I got the WiiVC games working. It was a bug in the USB Partition plugin.

great! but it makes me wonder why wiiflow didn't mount your SD card or find sd:/apps/wiiflow?
wonder if wiiflow isn't compatible with your sd card.

 

[Intoxicus5]

great! but it makes me wonder why wiiflow didn't mount your SD card or find sd:/apps/wiiflow?
wonder if wiiflow isn't compatible with your sd card.

I can try getting some logs for you now that it runs.

WiiFlow is the only thing having issue with this SD Card, if it is the SD Card. It is an older/slower one, but it tested fine and all that.

Perhaps something about the USB Partition plugin is confusing WiiFlow? Perhaps the Wii U partition is throwing it off? The HDD has a FAT32 partition for the vWii and a wfs partition for the Wii U. If it doesn't know to ignore that Wii U partition that could perhaps be the issue?

WiiFlow takes a long time to startup still. It stays on a black screen for decent amount of time before the splash screen even shows up.

 

[fledge68]

I can try getting some logs for you now that it runs.

logs will not work if its not mounting the SD Card. you could go into main settings>partition settings and just try to change wii games partition to SD to see if it will let you.

WiiFlow takes a long time to startup still. It stays on a black screen for decent amount of time before the splash screen even shows up.

how many seconds is a long time? i know wiiflow waits for the usb HDD to spin up.

 

[Intoxicus5]

Yeah, for some reason it doesn't want to see the sd card, it's the only thing with this issue.

We're talking about a 1 minute 15 seconds long time to start up.

If I accidently formatted as 32kb cluster instead of 64k could that be the issue?

 

[fledge68]

Yeah, for some reason it doesn't want to see the sd card, it's the only thing with this issue.

We're talking about a 1 minute 15 seconds long time to start up.

If I accidently formatted as 32kb cluster instead of 64k could that be the issue?

no

 

[Intoxicus5]

no

I was looking at the settings file and noticed a couple partition=8 entries that I wonder if that's the issue?

"
[GAMECUBE]
current_item=
default_loader=1
devo_memcard_emu=no
disable=no
emu_memcard=1
favorites=no
game_language=0
gc_games_dir=%s:/games
last_cf_mode=1
partition=8
play_banner_sound=yes
play_default_sound=yes
preferred_partition=-1
sort=0
video_mode=0
wiiu_widescreen=yes
"
"
[WII]
current_item=R9IE01
current_save_emunand=default
favorites=no
fix480p=no
last_cf_mode=1
partition=8
preferred_partition=-1
save_emulation=0
savepartition=1
show_full_banner=no
sort=0
wii_games_dir=%s:/wbfs
"
"
[CHANNELS]
channels_type=1
current_emunand=default
current_item=
disable=no
emulation=0
favorites=no
last_cf_mode=1
partition=1
real_nand_config=no
real_nand_miis=no
sort=0
use_vwiinands=yes
"

 

[Sogun]

Hello. Can someone explain to me how the plugings system works and if what I have in mind is possible or not?
I haven't used WiiFlow before and it seems I'm very late to the party. I use USB Loader GX and standalone apps until now with a custom Homebrew Channel theme; all well organized and suited to my likings. Recently I've been updating my Wii setup and many things have changed. I wanted to give Wiiflow a try and use it as a frontend from which select the game and forget about choosing the better app or configuration because that was done beforehand. After all was ready and set, I also wanted to make a custom theme and probably organize things in a different way.

I downloaded the latest Wiiflow Lite (v5.6.1 December 22nd, 2025), Rhapsodii Shima 5.5.4 (16:9 version) theme and the WiiFlow Plugins Pack Complete (Updated May 30, 2025). I'm running Wiiflow from the SD.

Wii and Gamecube games work fine. EmuNAND probably too, but I haven't tested it. It's the plugins where I'm totally lost.

First I thought I could edit the ini files and link the source menu buttons to my existing apps and avoid duplicated *.dol. But I haven't found how to do it. It seems I have to stick to what the Plugins Pack delivers.

So I tried Nintendo 64 and it said "No plugins found" or something like that. Pressing the home menu on the N64 icon and searching for the plugin didn't work. When I chose 'Nintendo 64', Wiiflow freezed and I had to shut down the console manually. I took a look in the ini files and saw that the magic number didn't match. So I set everything to the Wii64 magic number 57493634. Then it worked.
The question is, if everything is related to the same Wii64 magic number. Do I have to create a separated button to use wii64_rice and not64? That kind of defeats the purpouse of using Wiiflow as a frontend instead of standalone applications.

I also downlodad a few covers from the Cover Collections—part 2 thread and stored them in the HDD. I had to change the path for them to show. And they short of do. The problem is that the texture doesn't wrap around the box and the full texture displays in the "front cover face" and leaves all the other faces in black. Furthermore, it isn't the right box format. Instead of the N64 thick horizontal box is the tipical DVD case. How can I fix that? Have I broken something while editing the ini files?

It's getting very frustrating not knowing how the folder structure should be, what do the different files do, what data and files do they expect, what options do I have, trying things blindly and not knowing if that's the expected behaviour or it's broken. I can't find any guide or instructions. I have read several pages of the threads but I couldn't find any tutorial. I tried youtube but everything is from many years ago and doesn't match what the Plugins Pack has.


So what I specifically want to know is:
1. Can I use custom paths for the apps or should I use the plugins pack .dol and have duplicates?
If it's customizable, what files do I have to edit and how?
2. Can I use custom paths for the roms/isos/games? Is it possible to have the dol in the SD card and the games in the HDD or should they be in the same device?
If it's customizable, what files do I have to edit and how?
3. What about the save files?
4. Taking N64 as an example... I navigate through Wiiflow -> source menu -> Consoles -> Nintendo 64 -> boxes of games... Can I set it so some games run with Not64, others with Wii64 and others with Wii64_rice? If not, is there any alternative?
5. Let's say I don't like the box proportions and how the current covers look and want to make my own. What files do I need to change?

Sorry for the long post.