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GAF Wii Homebrew thread: Homebrew, emulators, USB disc installs! Easy tutorial!

d+pad

Member
Donkey Thong said:
Anybody know which PC Engine emulator is better, Hugo or WiiEngine?

I've played both quite a bit and they're pretty much the same - neither of them play all games 100%. However, Hugo does have an annoying tendency to, all of the sudden, act like you're constantly hitting the A and/or B buttons (when you aren't), which makes games unplayable, so I generally stick with Wii Engine. I'm hopeful the guys/gals working on this emulator will fix some of its bugs, though, since quite a few games still don't run 100%.
 

Haunted

Member
d+pad said:
My thoughts exactly. For many games, it does run at full speed, but for others (FFIV, V and VI Advance, for instance) the sound and framerate are all over the place. I'm guessing the people working on updates will get it working eventually, though.
What bothered me the most were the slight sound problems, the buffering.
 

d+pad

Member
Hey, folks, looks like the NES, SNES and GBA emus all received an update today. Haven't checked them out yet, but I will and then will report back.

Honestly, I can't imagine the NES emu being any better than it already was - the last version works perfectly for me (including FDS ROMs)!

Edit: Just tested the GBA emu, and while it's *slightly* better while trying to play FFIV Advance, it's still pretty much unplayable unless you're the most patient (and deaf) gamer ever. There's rampant slow down when fighting or flying.

I honestly can't tell what's different or better about the NES emu, but like I said, I thought the last version was perfect :)

Didn't try the update to Snes9x yet, but will in a minute. I have had no complaints about that emu either, so I can't imagine what could have been done to improve things.

Hopefully Hugo is up next? :)
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
d+pad said:
Edit: Just tested the GBA emu, and while it's *slightly* better while trying to play FFIV Advance, it's still pretty much unplayable unless you're the most patient (and deaf) gamer ever. There's rampant slow down when fighting or flying.

Damn, could you by any chance try it with Mother 3?
Don't wanna play it on my Macbook Pro :-/
 

yoopoo

Banned
More details on BootMii

The first thing that you need to realize is that BootMii isn’t a single application or hack - it’s a platform for hacks. Up until now, we’ve had little control over what software our Wiis truly run. Sure, we can run our own stuff, but ultimately we’re users of the system - everything we do has to go through Nintendo’s software. We can avoid updates and try to understand the existing system, but we’re still dependent on it. Every piece of Wii Homebrew currently depends on Nintendo’s IOS. This isn’t a bad thing (it provides many bits of code that we don’t have to write), but it also means we have to follow its rules.

BootMii - let’s call it the BootMii platform - is about changing that. Instead of being users of the system, doomed to hacking our ways from the inside, we’re going to turn the tables around. Now we’ll have control and Nintendo’s software will have to go through us to do anything.
BootMii-Core is a very important piece of BootMii, ideologically speaking. What it does is give us full control of the console as early in the boot process as possible. A mere fraction of a second after you hit the power button on your console, BootMii-Core will already be running and you’ll have the ability to do anything at that point. This isn’t the only advantage, though. By being such an early hook, BootMii-Core is also the most brick-resistant piece of software that can be written for the Wii. You’d have to deliberately brick your Wii to kill BootMii, excluding one particular type of update by Nintendo (we’ll get to that later).
you can stick a file on an SD card and it’ll be running about a second after you turn on your Wii - with full control over Starlet, and therefore full control over Broadway, Hollywood, and the rest of the Wii’s hardware. No restrictions. Cool, huh?
So what can you do with BootMii-Core anyway? Well, the sky’s the limit - you’re running Starlet code on boot, really, there are no limits. However, a simple example was seen in the video: by using a very simple iosboot.bin that just loads the original boot2 and patches it to change the boot title, we can run The Homebrew Channel on boot instead of the system menu. This by itself will already let you fix banner / system menu bricks and the like, as long as you have HBC and BootMii-Core installed. As a more elaborate example, you could load a NAND backup/restore utility from SD, using custom code instead of IOS and without depending on the filesystem. This would let you fix pretty much any brick that didn’t mess up BootMii-Core. And of course, other parts of the BootMii platform will also take advantage of this run-on-boot system to let you do more fun things. We’ll talk about those when the time comes

http://hackmii.com/2008/10/bootmii-the-beginning/#more-177
 

Twig

Banned
angelfly said:
BootMii sounds like it's the starting point for custom firmware.
That's what I was thinking -- and hoping.

Glad I waited so long to jump into homebrew, as it finally seems like it's really getting somewhere (besides region stuff)!
 

later

Member
It would be great if they could clone the entire wii OS, but add stuff like SD channels right in the menu, etc etc :)

Don't know if that is feasible though.
 
Can someone clarify if homebrew will work for me. I'm on 3.3 and I've never modified my wii before. Some websites say it won't work at all, some sites elude to it working.

Thanks
 

CTLance

Member
bdizzle said:
Can someone clarify if homebrew will work for me. I'm on 3.3 and I've never modified my wii before. Some websites say it won't work at all, some sites elude to it working.

Thanks
It'll work.
Just stick to Threis (or my) guide and you'll be fine. Nintendo hasn't managed to keep homebrewers out, and there's precious little they can do, really.
 

Vagabundo

Member
later said:
It would be great if they could clone the entire wii OS, but add stuff like SD channels right in the menu, etc etc :)

Don't know if that is feasible though.

They already have linux working on it, they will hook this up to boot-mii and you have a complete open machine.

They could use one of the mobile GUIs for the light tablet-computers based on QT or gnome.

With boot mii and linux already ports a lot of the hard stuff has been done.
 
d+pad said:
I've played both quite a bit and they're pretty much the same - neither of them play all games 100%. However, Hugo does have an annoying tendency to, all of the sudden, act like you're constantly hitting the A and/or B buttons (when you aren't), which makes games unplayable, so I generally stick with Wii Engine. I'm hopeful the guys/gals working on this emulator will fix some of its bugs, though, since quite a few games still don't run 100%.

You're right. I tied WiiEngine last night and, though it wasn't TERRIBLE, it's nowhere NEAR as polished as SNES9X or Genesis Plus. Oh well...
 

TunaLover

Member
Hands down to Genesis Plus GX emulator, one of the best thing in the Wii.

Yes its better than SNES9X, the problem with the SNES emulator are the sound hiccups in some games, not big deal if you aren't so picky with the sound.
 

MoogPaul

Member
i'm trying to get this going after I get to the blck screen with all the text it says it can't boot the .elf file and then hanging


so, uhhh, what is up with that huh?
 

markatisu

Member
MoogPaul said:
i'm trying to get this going after I get to the blck screen with all the text it says it can't boot the .elf file and then hanging

so, uhhh, what is up with that huh?

More info please, what steps did you do?
 

MoogPaul

Member
markatisu said:
More info please, what steps did you do?

I follwed ste by step the instructions posted but at the black screen it says it found boot.elf but then a whole slew of err messages and replies come scrolling through

is it true some SD cards dont work?

EDIT:

To be more specific

boot.dol not found, reading boot.elf:
starting cluster = 0002
found boot.elf!
err=c1000002, reply=a whole bunch of hex numbers
 

markatisu

Member
MoogPaul said:
I follwed ste by step the instructions posted but at the black screen it says it found boot.elf but then a whole slew of err messages and replies come scrolling through

is it true some SD cards dont work?

Who is the maker of your SD Card, it should have worked just fine. I have done it on 3 different Wii's with 3 different kinds of SD Cards and worked fine each time following the instructions for the SD Installer after using the Panasonic SD Card Format app which is linked earlier in this thread

I just used this http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wii_Brew_SD_Installer

Anything else is too complicated and could produce errors, with the SD Installer it should load everything on the card properly so when you run the TP save file it installs
 

MoogPaul

Member
sometimes I get an error that says, after it found the boot.elf
no code found in boot.elf, hanging...

then it just sits there

its a canon SD card
 

markatisu

Member
MoogPaul said:
sometimes I get an error that says, after it found the boot.elf
no code found in boot.elf, hanging...

then it just sits there

its a canon SD card

Sounds like a file is missing or corrupt, I guess try formatting the card again maybe? Then run the Installer and make sure you run the right Zelda save file in the game (there are 2 depending on the inner dvd ring of your game)

Thats about the only thing I can recommend because the files should all be there
 

MoogPaul

Member
I just tried reformatting and reinstalling with the 1.4v installer. I'm using the right save because i got a -JPN us disc and 0 is the correct one.

Now it says:
Found boot.elf!
Failed to read boot.ef (-1)!
No code found to load, hanging.

and it sits there :-\
 

markatisu

Member
MoogPaul said:
I just tried reformatting and reinstalling with the 1.4v installer. I'm using the right save because i got a -JPN us disc and 0 is the correct one.

Now it says:
Found boot.elf!
Failed to read boot.ef (-1)!
No code found to load, hanging.

and it sits there :-\

I am using 1.1 installer so if you want to pm me your email I guess I could send that to you and see if it does any better
 

CTLance

Member
MoogPaul said:
I just tried reformatting and reinstalling with the 1.4v installer. I'm using the right save because i got a -JPN us disc and 0 is the correct one.

Now it says:
Found boot.elf!
Failed to read boot.ef (-1)!
No code found to load, hanging.

and it sits there :-\
Sounds to me like you need another SD card. What's its capacity? Are you 100% sure you've formatted the card correctly? Is it error-free? Did you correctly unmount it before pulling it out of your reader?

Have you inserted any GC memcards? Thake those out, as well as any other GC-related peripheral.
 

MoogPaul

Member
so i used a different SD card and it finally work! too bad the GBA player is slow and crappy. It won't save? Is this a me specific problem?
 

CO_Andy

Member
MoogPaul said:
I just tried reformatting and reinstalling with the 1.4v installer. I'm using the right save because i got a -JPN us disc and 0 is the correct one.

Now it says:
Found boot.elf!
Failed to read boot.ef (-1)!
No code found to load, hanging.

and it sits there :-\
I had the same problem. Definitely need a new SD card (preferably Sandisk or Kingston).
 

MoogPaul

Member
I figured out what was wrong with my GBA, apparently through the homebrew channel, for one reason or another, only version 1.0.2 was available. I had to download 1.0.3 (Oct 15th build) off the internet, drop on card and bring it over. 1.0.3 fixes the issues with not being able to save preferences but leaves an interesting bug where you can't leave the player to the browser. You have to reset the system, reseting to the browser just puts you in the game again. very odd.

Any idea as to why the most recent builds aren't on the browser yet?
 

markatisu

Member
MoogPaul said:
Any idea as to why the most recent builds aren't on the browser yet?

You have to wait like 1-3 days for it to get updated via the browser, just because a homebrew app is updated does not mean the Homebrew Browser is made aware, its not an automatic thing.

For example if you logged on now VBA 1.0.3 is showing as available with a big "NEW" symbol attached to it
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
Started fucking around with the newest version of GeckoOS today, specifically the built-in Ocarina functionality. Just dicking around with some random codes, it's pretty awesome to have a functional cheat system without having to spend a wad of cash on a shitty Datel Action Replay device!
 

TunaLover

Member
Mejilan said:
Started fucking around with the newest version of GeckoOS today, specifically the built-in Ocarina functionality. Just dicking around with some random codes, it's pretty awesome to have a functional cheat system without having to spend a wad of cash on a shitty Datel Action Replay device!

heh, the 999999 LBs cheat code in NMH is priceless, I can go straight to the boss, without working :D
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
TunaLover said:
heh, the 999999 LBs cheat code in NMH is priceless, I can go straight to the boss, without working :D

I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds very much like the kind of code I'd never use. I only like using the occasional assist code that makes replaying a much loved game a little faster or in a more streamlined fashion.
 

TunaLover

Member
Mejilan said:
I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds very much like the kind of code I'd never use. I only like using the occasional assist code that makes replaying a much loved game a little faster or in a more streamlined fashion.

LB dollars, the money in No More Heroes, well, this cheat code allows a more streamlined-faster playtrough since is not necessary make money to pay ranking fees, of course it not for someone that will play the game for first time, still a worth code since the boss fight were the meat of the NMH.
 

Linkhero1

Member
I'm having some problems. I decided to borrow Naruto 4 for the GC from a friend to see if it works with my Wii and for some reason as soon as it gets to the menu a black screen pops up with words in Japanese and OFF in the middle of the sentence. Any help?
 

d+pad

Member
Dash Kappei said:
Damn, could you by any chance try it with Mother 3?
Don't wanna play it on my Macbook Pro :-/

You've probably already tried yourself, but in case you haven't: the newest version of VBA GX seems to work much better for Mother 3 than it does for the FF Advance games. I seem to be having a hard time pulling off combos, but I can't tell yet if that's due to some lag with the emulator or my lack of ability. Also, you may have to use save states instead of the in-game saving method.
 

d+pad

Member
It seems that Wii Music forces you to update your firmware - any word yet as to how this does or doesn't affect the Homebrew Channel (if it's true that you have to update the firmware)?
 

Linkhero1

Member
Linkhero1 said:
I'm having some problems. I decided to borrow Naruto 4 for the GC from a friend to see if it works with my Wii and for some reason as soon as it gets to the menu a black screen pops up with words in Japanese and OFF in the middle of the sentence. Any help?
I guess it's one of those games that just doesn't work even with GeckoOS. :(
 

markatisu

Member
d+pad said:
It seems that Wii Music forces you to update your firmware - any word yet as to how this does or doesn't affect the Homebrew Channel (if it's true that you have to update the firmware)?

Its true it has a firmware update but as far as I know its the same firmware we all have, just included on the disc for those without internet access

We wont really know till more people either rent it or see what firmware version it is. Even if effected the HBC team got around the last update in 16hrs
 

markatisu

Member
I can now confirm that you can run Wii Music and not mess up Homebrew

The firmware on the Wii Music disc is just the version we already have (3.3 I think)

I just finished playing and booted up the Homebrew Channel to verify and everything was still working
 

yoopoo

Banned
Yahoo pushing Wii homebrew http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/yoon/1643

Using your copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, you can install a freeware "homebrew" channel that allows you to run unofficial software on your Nintendo Wii. There are emulators, games, media players, and more—the potential is limitless.

Front page of Yahoo

yaa.jpg


hoho
 

Somnid

Member
TunaLover said:
WOW, it took what', 2 days' :lol .

What did you expect? They didn't do anything other than repack the update for use with HBC, and really the update didn't affect HBC in the first place.

Also, I know who isn't going to be invited to any future Nintendo conferences. I'm surprised Yahoo would even run that.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
Sorry I'm slow, why do I need to use that installer for the Shop again?
Wasn't the shop redesigned with 3.2 already?
 
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