Hacking USB Loader GX

[therealedk_]

There's some major issues with your pull request. For example, you've rebranded USB Loader GX into "Wii USB Tool" and you've broken support for every language other than English. Plus some of the extended strings can be problematic for anyone using a 4:3 display.

The original developers weren't native English speakers, so that's where a lot of the spelling and grammar mistakes come from. And I haven't bothered to correct many of the remaining issues because eventually I might change all of the strings and then have AI/people create new translations.

Yes, I should've tested the code before opening a pull request, I deleted it earlier this morning
The USB tool stuff was still in there?? I thought i deleted that.. i was messing around with it on my own and thought i cleared it.

Nothing against the original developers, everyone who actually put functionality into it are incredibly smart people (you included ofc) and i see them in only the highest light
Misspelling is OCD for me haha
I like to fix spelling in everything, drives my parents crazy

 

[blackb0x]

Yes, I should've tested the code before opening a pull request, I deleted it earlier this morning
The USB tool stuff was still in there?? I thought i deleted that.. i was messing around with it on my own and thought i cleared it.

I seen it before you edited it earlier today. And of course I can now see that you've closed the pull request and deleted the images, although some of the strings still say "Wii USB Tool" and "USBLoaderGX" when "USB Loader GX" is correct.

Nothing against the original developers, everyone who actually put functionality into it are incredibly smart people (you included ofc) and i see them in only the highest light
Misspelling is OCD for me haha
I like to fix spelling in everything, drives my parents crazy

I understand

Once I'm done adding and improving features I'll most likely get around to changing all of the strings. It's just a time consuming process since you need to factor in aspect ratios and other languages.

 

[therealedk_]

Once I'm done adding and improving features I'll most likely get around to changing all of the strings. It's just a time consuming process since you need to factor in aspect ratios and other languages.

True, I dumbly assumed for some reason that the entries would automatically spill to a new line

Completely understandable, probably would end up being a whole heck of a project on it's own.

 

[NormalFish]

Hey folks, @blackb0x is there any chance that we see automated game detection for the Memcard PRO GC (from 8bitmods) like Swiss has implemented (see v0.6r1400)?

I realize most people are using VMCs, this would allow us too share a memorycard between NGC and Wii without hassle, and ensure compatibility. Would be appreciated, in any case.

 

[leejaclane]

Recently I noticed with all the loader settings set to auto or their defaults, I was getting an error message a lot of the time when trying to load one game in particular, Quantum of Solace, which was only fixed when I switched its settings to use IOS 250 (base 57) and I haven't gotten the error since while testing.

Spoiler: more details

I didn't always get the error, but any time I loaded another game first and then loaded Quantum of Solace after (this is with redirecting to the vWii channel forwarder on), then I did get the error every time I did that.

I've got the up to date versions of cIOS and USB Loader GX with cIOS installed in the proper slots, and this was on vWii with an HDD (one I've confirmed to be in good condition) using a Y cable plugged into the Wii U.

I'm not sure if it was an IOS issue or an IOS reloading issue though because some of the time it would work while set to Auto IOS, but any time I played another game first it wouldn't work.

But I thought I should mention the issue in case you weren't aware of it. I didn't write down the exact error message, but it was something like "an error has occurred. please eject the disc and turn the power off." When googling it I found various results for an "error 002" and a fix that's supposed to exist in various loaders, but I didn't see the fix in the loader's settings. I haven't been using USB Loader GX for very long so I'm not familiar with its history.

I was also wondering, how exactly do the "auto" settings work, like Auto IOS for instance but also the others?

 

[blackb0x]

Hey folks, @blackb0x is there any chance that we see automated game detection for the Memcard PRO GC (from 8bitmods) like Swiss has implemented (see v0.6r1400)?

I realize most people are using VMCs, this would allow us too share a memorycard between NGC and Wii without hassle, and ensure compatibility. Would be appreciated, in any case.

Wouldn't this be more of a Nintendont feature request, since it's Nintendont that'll actually use the memory card and boots GC games?

Recently I noticed with all the loader settings set to auto or their defaults, I was getting an error message a lot of the time when trying to load one game in particular, Quantum of Solace, which was only fixed when I switched its settings to use IOS 250 (base 57) and I haven't gotten the error since while testing.

The next release contains a few vWii related fixes, so I'll see if one of them fixed it.

I was also wondering, how exactly do the "auto" settings work, like Auto IOS for instance but also the others?

Every Wii game and channel contains information about what IOS they'll use. So, for example, Call of Duty Black Ops will use cIOS 250 (base 57) because the game requests IOS 57.

As long as you've got the cIOS installed in the recommended way then the auto setting should work for every game.

 

[leejaclane]

The next release contains a few vWii related fixes, so I'll see if one of them fixed it.


Every Wii game and channel contains information about what IOS they'll use. So, for example, Call of Duty Black Ops will use cIOS 250 (base 57) because the game requests IOS 57.

As long as you've got the cIOS installed in the recommended way then the auto setting should work for every game.

Ah, that makes a lot more sense than the nonsense I was thinking. You know what, it didn't even occur to me to test that game on the Wii, so when I get the chance later I'll check on it since I've got that console too.

 

[Amuro-san]

I would love for them to add more features to Nintendont, it is precarious in terms of resources, and I saw that the Swiss has much more features than it, including putting PAL games in progressive, but I believe that changing the USB Loader GX gives, since before RE zero did not work in progressive (including the old USB Loader GX versions) and now it is playable (it and RE 2)

 

[NormalFish]

Wouldn't this be more of a Nintendont feature request, since it's Nintendont that'll actually use the memory card and boots GC games?

That's a good point, I actually hadn't considered that would be a nintendont thing. My bad!

 

[chipsnblip]

i wanted to autoboot into USB loader GX, and after checking the wii.guide/priiloader could not for the life of me get it to work, until i remembered having installed BootMii as boot2 (with BOOTDELAY=0 no less..DOH!)
the system had been running fine for a few years and went virtually untouched so i forgot my way around.

if anyone else has has made my dumb mistake, change AUTOBOOT=HBC to AUTOBOOT=SYSMENU in <SDCARD>/bootmii/bootmii.ini

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

Quick question: I'm on the pre-r1280 version still and I'm wondering if the official Wii Menu's SD card menu is accessible in some way from USB Loader GX in the latest r1281 version?

If not, then I don't really feel like I have any reason to update under the logic of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and the like.

i wanted to autoboot into USB loader GX, and after checking the wii.guide/priiloader could not for the life of me get it to work, until i remembered having installed BootMii as boot2 (with BOOTDELAY=0 no less..DOH!)
the system had been running fine for a few years and went virtually untouched so i forgot my way around.

if anyone else has has made my dumb mistake, change AUTOBOOT=HBC to AUTOBOOT=SYSMENU in <SDCARD>/bootmii/bootmii.ini

Um, couldn't you have just used the modified bootmii file linked by Cyan in the following thread rather than needing to mess around with priiloader? (unless you already had priiloader installed, but I never did and still don't):

• https://gbatemp.net/threads/autoboot-usb-loader-gx.273680/#post-3384586

That being said, it does technically require installing the UNEO forwarder, but I already had been using that so this was a much easier solution on my own bootmii-as-boot2 Wii.

EDIT: Heck, I just realized that the aforementioned bootmii mod is even linked on the SourceForge for USB Loader GX's forwarders page:

• https://sourceforge.net/projects/usbloadergx/files/Releases/Forwarders/

 

[blackb0x]

Quick question: I'm on the pre-r1280 version still and I'm wondering if the official Wii Menu's SD card menu is accessible in some way from USB Loader GX in the latest r1281 version?

No. Anything put on the SD card via the Wii's menu is still ignored.

If not, then I don't really feel like I have any reason to update under the logic of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and the like.

If you have everything configured the way you like it and just boot straight into games then maybe not. But if you want to download cheats, have your library load faster or improve the way games look then only r1281 can do all of that. And my next release will further improve game compatibility and the deflicker filter and 480p patches.

 

[chipsnblip]

Um, couldn't you have just used the modified bootmii file linked by Cyan in the following thread rather than needing to mess around with priiloader? (unless you already had priiloader installed, but I never did and still don't):

excellent, thanks for the heads-up! yeah, already had priiloader installed as per wii.guide but the system appears to be booting much faster now

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

the system appears to be booting much faster now

So are you saying that the modified bootmii file has it load much faster than the priiloader method?

 

[chipsnblip]

So are you saying that the modified bootmii file has it load much faster than the priiloader method?

it does indeed! based on a quick stopwatch test it shaves an average of 5 seconds off.

average boot times (3 samples each):

• stock ppcboot.elf: 18.52s
• mod ppcboot.elf: 13.85s

sha256sums:
b478e01406773a82879ed92d2706bf04358dfb54e3f79ba2557e3ffd61f26bec ppcboot.elf (stock)
0fa17eccf3a91897553dc8914d10a8c7025f04a0468ee716a6da9fc99b565349 ppcboot.elf (mod)

seems like a no-brainer unless there are any (hidden?) drawbacks, but everything seems fine to me thus far.

 

[vizkoze]

I've made adjustments for the next release that'll make some patches work correctly with almost every Wii game


I don't have a balance board to test, but it'll probably be fixed in my next release.

Hi blackb0x, tnx for your continuous work on usbloader_gx.
I just registered on gbatemp to report that i have this date issue on Wii fit plus too.
for some reason it thinks that the date is somewhere in 2014 on both my Wii's.
i reverted back to the old version 1271 which doesn't have that issue.
both versions 1280 and 1281 suffer from that issue.

any indication when your fix could be tested?

 

[alcab]

I posted this message in another thread, but I think it makes sense to ask this question here.

Yesterday morning I installed the last version of priiloader in my vWii. It all works flawlessly, but i have noticed that priiloader is causing a problem in USB Loader GX.

Wii U with lastest version of Aroma environment
vWii mode
priiloader: https://github.com/DacoTaco/priiloader/releases/tag/0.10.0-RC3
Usb Loader GX: https://github.com/wiidev/usbloadergx/releases/tag/v3.0-r1281

First of all, the problem is always present, it doesn't matter if I launch USB Loader from the Homebrew Channel, the Forwarder Channel in the system menu, or even from Priiloader.

And the problem is that, when I launch a game in USB Loader GX and the animated banner is shown, the "settings" and "start" buttons DO NOT appear on screen. I can press the buttons, they are there, but I cannot see them. The only way I have found to solve the issue until now is uninstalling priiloader completely.

Searching on the internet, I have found that someone had a similar problem a long time ago:
https://sourceforge.net/p/usbloadergx/issues/2283/

From what I understand, this could be related to the AHBProtection. But more than that, I do not know how to solve the issue.

On the other hand, I have read that there are some incompatibilities between priiloader and USB Loader GX, so this could be it too, and not the AHBProtection issue...

As you can see, I'm a little confused. I'd be very grateful if anyone could help me.

 

[ukigh4ie2]

I posted this message in another thread, but I think it makes sense to ask this question here.

Yesterday morning I installed the last version of priiloader in my vWii. It all works flawlessly, but i have noticed that priiloader is causing a problem in USB Loader GX.

...
And the problem is that, when I launch a game in USB Loader GX and the animated banner is shown, the "settings" and "start" buttons DO NOT appear on screen. I can press the buttons, they are there, but I cannot see them. The only way I have found to solve the issue until now is uninstalling priiloader completely.

Could it be that USB Loader GX uses system menu resources? And SM has been moved/modified by PriiLoader.

 

[alcab]

I guess it is perfectly possible. In this case there would be nothing I could do to fix it, until a new release of USBLGX with the proper fixes is launched.

Thanks for answering!

 

[blackb0x]

I guess it is perfectly possible. In this case there would be nothing I could do to fix it, until a new release of USBLGX with the proper fixes is launched.

I actually seen your post the other day, but I assumed you'd figured out the problem since you'd found and liked my post.

If Priiloader isn't critical to your setup then I'd recommend uninstalling it until I release a new update. Otherwise changing the game window mode to rotating disc will work around the problem.