• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

MechaX

Member
I just ended up driving to Target and picked up a 2GB Memory Card. Using the Smash Stack method took awhile since the method listed on one of the Wiki's pages wasn't working for me. When going to the Smash Stack entry entirely (which gave slightly different directions), that step worked like a charm. I pretty much followed the wiki's route all the way up to installing USB Loader (I wonder if I can do something about that horrible theme that plays, though).

In all, it was more of a simple process with a ton of small steps. At the very least, it is harder to brick your Wii as opposed to modding your PSP where a few minor things with severe effects can go wrong at any time. But hey, Wii is modded and ready for Xenoblade.
 

Clipper

Member
FreeMufasa said:
Is there an app that let me install Gamecube games to the hard drive? I wanna play my NA Skies of Arcadia on my Wii.
No. But you can play import games via the disc options in all 4 region free methods.

The Int3rsect said:
Just to be clear, if I'm simply modding for imports and use an SD card, the only memory usage I'll be using is for the mod files, correct? Or do I have to also rip the game on to the SD card?
Yes, you only need a very small amount of space on the SD card. You have the option to install games there too if you like.

Quote said:
Are most hard drives compatible with the Wii? I'd like to get a USB powered one if possible. I know there is a compatibility list, but it doesn't have any information as far as when it was updated last.

I'm thinking this - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Seagate...lver/9929098.p?id=1218196478444&skuId=9929098
Most are fine, yes. The compatibility list stopped being updated when we got around to near universal compatibility. Just don't get any that include a USB hub.

MechaX said:
Okay... Trying to mod my system right now with the Letter Bomb method. I think I hit a roadblock because I can't actually connect my Wii to the internet (my wireless crapped out and I only have ethernet connection, and actually finding an Ethernet USB connector in stores has been nigh impossible in my area). I can't use the Smash Bros method because that method apparently doesn't work with SDHC cards.

However, I did attempt to get my DS online a few months ago by using my laptop as a wireless access point. It didn't work with the DS but would it actually work with the Wii instead?
I'm confused. The Letterbomb technique doesn't require you to connect your Wii to the Internet. Why did you think this was necessary?

As for the other question, Connectify does work with the Wii to connect it if you do need it for anything else.

MechaX said:
I just ended up driving to Target and picked up a 2GB Memory Card. Using the Smash Stack method took awhile since the method listed on one of the Wiki's pages wasn't working for me. When going to the Smash Stack entry entirely (which gave slightly different directions), that step worked like a charm. I pretty much followed the wiki's route all the way up to installing USB Loader (I wonder if I can do something about that horrible theme that plays, though).

In all, it was more of a simple process with a ton of small steps. At the very least, it is harder to brick your Wii as opposed to modding your PSP where a few minor things with severe effects can go wrong at any time. But hey, Wii is modded and ready for Xenoblade.
What part of the Wiki's Smash Stack instructions didn't work for you and what did you need to do differently? I'd like to correct that anomaly if I can.
 

kamorra

Fuck Cancer
Why can't I get Just Dance 2 working? I know that it was (is?) a problem game so I've tried d2x in both 247 and 248, also every possible combination of Hermes IOS 222/223. I even tried Waninkoko's IOS249 with no luck. After starting the game my Wii just freezes and I have to hold power for a couple of seconds to restart it. I'm using the newest Configurable USB Loader. Oh and the rip should be fine I already made two backups again from the original disc with the same result.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
I'm kinda stuck guys. I'm using a Mac and I'm trying to follow these instructions so I can play Xenoblade:

Now you have a hacked Wii. We're almost there! You just have to install a few pieces of software, and then you'll be playing those sexy European games on your plain old American Wii. First up, IOS236:

Put your SD card back in your computer reader. Then go to this website, download the zip file and extract the files to the sd:/apps directory in your SD card.
Make sure your Wii does not have any GameCube memory cards inserted.
Put the SD card in your Wii and run the IOS236 Installer from the Homebrew Channel. Follow the directions and press 1 or A when prompted.
Assuming you're still connected to the Internet (like we told you before), select "Download IOS from NUS." Continue following the instructions and press 1 or A when prompted.
At Step 2, press 2. Remember, you're not a thief.
Finish up the installation.

I don't know how to access any sd:/apps directory. When I simply copy past the folders to the SD card, nothing comes out in the homebrew channel. :( Any ideas?
 

HBroward

Member
UltimaKilo said:
I'm kinda stuck guys. I'm using a Mac and I'm trying to follow these instructions so I can play Xenoblade:



I don't know how to access any sd:/apps directory. When I simply copy past the folders to the SD card, nothing comes out in the homebrew channel. :( Any ideas?

Just make a folder called "apps" without the quotations in the root directory of the SD card. Then copy into that folder.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
HBroward said:
Just make a folder called "apps" without the quotations in the root directory of the SD card. Then copy into that folder.

I did this and placed the boot.dol app in the folder, yet homebrew channel doesn't seem to recognize it. :(
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
UltimaKilo said:
I did this and placed the boot.dol app in the folder, yet homebrew channel doesn't seem to recognize it. :(

sd:/apps/appname/boot.dol

so for IOS236
sd:/apps/IOS236/boot.dol
sd:/apps/IOS236/meta.xml
etc

if the app was called "fartsalad"
sd:/apps/fartsalad/boot.dol
sd:/apps/fartsalad/meta.xml
etc

get it?
 

Clipper

Member
UltimaKilo said:
I did this and placed the boot.dol app in the folder, yet homebrew channel doesn't seem to recognize it. :(
Do not use whatever guide you are using there. Use the GAF guide. It will step you through the IOS236 installation in much more easier to understand terms. For installing IOS236, you need to include both the boot.dol and meta.xml files in sd:/apps/IOS236.

Incidentally, which guide are you following instead?
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Clipper said:
Do not use whatever guide you are using there. Use the GAF guide. It will step you through the IOS236 installation in much more easier to understand terms. For installing IOS236, you need to include both the boot.dol and meta.xml files in sd:/apps/IOS236.

Incidentally, which guide are you following instead?

Now it says, "Failed" "could not open file: sd:/ios36-64-v3351.wad
"could not open file: sd:/ios36-64-v3351.wad.out.wad
 

Clipper

Member
UltimaKilo said:
I'm using the exact GAF guide. I've put both files inside the apps folder that I created, yet nothing on homebrew channel. I'm not including the Icon.png or other files that came with it, but I've tried both methods. :/
The quote you gave is not from my guide.

The files should not be in the apps directory. They should be in a subdirectory of the apps directory, as both Stump and I have told you and as the GAF guide stipulates:

GWHT said:
You should now have an sd:/apps/IOS236/boot.dol file among others. It is important to also have sd:/apps/IOS236/meta.xml

Edit:Hmm... seems like you realised your error and edited. Still, I'm very interested in knowing which guide you were following originally. We had one case of somebody else poorly paraphrasing my guide in another GAF thread before and I'd hope they're not doing so again...
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Clipper said:
The quote you gave is not from my guide.

The files should not be in the apps directory. They should be in a subdirectory of the apps directory, as both Stump and I have told you and as the GAF guide stipulates:



Edit:Hmm... seems like you realised your error and edited. Still, I'm very interested in knowing which guide you were following originally. We had one case of somebody else poorly paraphrasing my guide in another GAF thread before and I'd hope they're not doing so again...

Yeah, I had another issue. (it was fixed on the second try).

This was the guide I was using:

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/19/how-to-play-xenoblade-chronicles-if-you-live-in-america/
 

tale

Member
On a scale of 1 to 10 how screwed am am I?

I softmodded my Wii back in 2009, and installed HBC and all sorts of IOSs and stuff to get it to work with a USB harddrive. For some reason about a year ago, I updated it to 4.2U and then disabled automatic updates from disc so I could play Donkey Kong Country.

Recently I decided update my Wii so I had the lastest and greatest ISOs and homebrew in anticipation of an imported Xenoblade, so I had the smart idea of "Formatting the System memory" - assuming it would clear any custom IOSs and let me Letterbomb it and start from scratch.

So now I have a fresh formatted Wii at 4.2U, that wont accept updates over the internet (probably because I disabled disc updates and have no idea how to re-enable them).

Is there anything I can do, or is this Wii pretty much hosed?
 

Clipper

Member
tale said:
On a scale of 1 to 10 how screwed am am I?

I softmodded my Wii back in 2009, and installed HBC and all sorts of IOSs and stuff to get it to work with a USB harddrive. For some reason about a year ago, I updated it to 4.2U and then disabled automatic updates from disc so I could play Donkey Kong Country.

Recently I decided update my Wii so I had the lastest and greatest ISOs and homebrew in anticipation of an imported Xenoblade, so I had the smart idea of "Formatting the System memory" - assuming it would clear any custom IOSs and let me Letterbomb it and start from scratch.

So now I have a fresh formatted Wii at 4.2U, that wont accept updates over the internet (probably because I disabled disc updates and have no idea how to re-enable them).

Is there anything I can do, or is this Wii pretty much hosed?
On a scale of 0 to 10... 0. Just use BannerBomb to reinstall the HBC as per the instructions for 4.2 Wiis in the tutorial.

If you like, you can then use StartPatch to reenable system updates and update to 4.3.

LetterBomb wouldn't get you a better HBC or anything and it's actually harder to perform than BannerBomb, so don't bother with it. It's usefulness is only for those people with virgin 4.3 Wiis.
 

Quote

Member
I'm getting "wbfs error: hd num sector doesn't match" when loading a .wbfs in Configurable USB Loader. Also it says the file is 0.00GB? The drive is FAT32 if that helps and I'm using Wii Backup Fusion to get the file onto the drive.
 

Clipper

Member
Quote said:
I'm getting "wbfs error: hd num sector doesn't match" when loading a .wbfs in Configurable USB Loader. Also it says the file is 0.00GB? The drive is FAT32 if that helps and I'm using Wii Backup Fusion to get the file onto the drive.
Rip the disc yourself and you won't get that error.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Anyone know why I would get 'Error loading file' with everything except ips hacked roms when I run snes9x?
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
I haven't done any wii modding at all since the days of the TP hack so I have kinda an off beat question for everyone here; what is new and awesome? I have the CFG all set up and found a decent media player, but what else has gone on in the scene? Has it just devolved from interesting uses of the wii remote back in the day to simple backup managers and emulators and other such uses, or has someone made anything really neat? Thanks.
 
Okay...having some trouble here.

I installed the IOS 236.

When I go to install the D2X CIOS I get an exception error with a wall of numbers on the screen.

At the bottom of the screen it says my current IOS is 57...which is confusing to me because I know I installed the IOS 236.

Any help would be wildly appreciated.
 
I'm trying to copy an ISO into my 8GB SD card and it keeps telling me that the file is too big to copy. I formated the card as FAT32 with guiformat as noted in GAF's Wii Homebrew Tutorial but it still will not work.

Anyone know what could be causing this?
 

Kilrogg

paid requisite penance
I might be wrong on this one, but it's probably because it's formatted to FAT32. FAT32 can only handle 4GB files at most. You wanna format to NTFS for bigger files. But don't take my word for it just yet, wait for those with more knowledge than me.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
demolitiongc1 said:
I'm trying to copy an ISO into my 8GB SD card and it keeps telling me that the file is too big to copy. I formated the card as FAT32 with guiformat as noted in GAF's Wii Homebrew Tutorial but it still will not work.

Anyone know what could be causing this?

I suspect Clipper is going to recommend you rerip the game off your own legitimate disc on your Wii, because FAT32 can't handle files above 4GB. You can rip games >4GB, because it'll split the files automatically, but you can't just pre-drag a >4GB ISO onto a FAT32 file system.
 
Kilrogg said:
I might be wrong on this one, but it's probably because it's formatted to FAT32. FAT32 can only handle 4GB files at most. You wanna format to NTFS for bigger files. But don't take my word for it just yet, wait for those with more knowledge than me.

I'm sure that has something to do with the issue i'm having but the guide says that it will work in FAT32 if formated with guiformat.
 
Stumpokapow said:
I suspect Clipper is going to recommend you rerip the game off your own legitimate disc on your Wii, because FAT32 can't handle files above 4GB. You can rip games >4GB, because it'll split the files automatically, but you can't just pre-drag a >4GB ISO onto a FAT32 file system.

Got it.

thanks.
 
bigdaddygamebot said:
Okay...having some trouble here.

I installed the IOS 236.

When I go to install the D2X CIOS I get an exception error with a wall of numbers on the screen.

At the bottom of the screen it says my current IOS is 57...which is confusing to me because I know I installed the IOS 236.

Any help would be wildly appreciated.

Okay...so...it's working. I think.

Now I just need a way to test it.

When I first booted up USB Loader it was on NTSF. I'm using an external HD. So...am I supposed to partition my HD...then make a copy of one of my games and save it on the FAT32 side of my HD?
 
bigdaddygamebot said:
Okay...so...it's working. I think.

Now I just need a way to test it.

When I first booted up USB Loader it was on NTSF. I'm using an external HD. So...am I supposed to partition my HD...then make a copy of one of my games and save it on the FAT32 side of my HD?

You don't need to partition your hard drive if you don't want to; Cfg will recognize your hard drive and you can rip games to it directly.
 
SecretMoblin said:
You don't need to partition your hard drive if you don't want to; Cfg will recognize your hard drive and you can rip games to it directly.


Okay...then I'm not sure what I did wrong. I tried ripping Monster Hunter Tri and it's there on my HD but when I try to load it up through USB Loader...I can't find it.

Now I suppose I just need to wait for Xenoblade to show up to see if my work is all in vain.
 
bigdaddygamebot said:
Okay...then I'm not sure what I did wrong. I tried ripping Monster Hunter Tri and it's there on my HD but when I try to load it up through USB Loader...I can't find it.

Now I suppose I just need to wait for Xenoblade to show up to see if my work is all in vain.

If the game is on your hard drive, this page linked from the Wiki suggests the following:
"Q: I have copied the .iso/.wbfs files to my usb drive but the loader doesn't see them?
A: The files have to be copied to the \wbfs folder on the FAT/NTFS partition.
These filename layouts are supported:
D:\wbfs\GAMEID.wbfs
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID].wbfs
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID]\GAMEID.wbfs
D:\wbfs\GAMEID_Title\GAMEID.wbfs
Same for .iso:
D:\wbfs\GAMEID.iso
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID].iso
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID]\GAMEID.iso
D:\wbfs\GAMEID_Title\GAMEID.iso"

So try renaming the file with the game ID from here, putting it in a folder called "wbfs" and see if it works.
 
Okay, Letterbomb question

I did the whole thing up to getting the red envelope with the bomb in it. I clicked on it, and everything im reading is saying just sit back and something happens. However, I had to click 1 on a message saying that this is free and you shouldnt have paid for it, etc. Now I'm navagating some kind of menus?

Is this alright? Am I supposed to Click on Install the homebrew channel?
 
robotzombie said:
Okay, Letterbomb question

I did the whole thing up to getting the red envelope with the bomb in it. I clicked on it, and everything im reading is saying just sit back and something happens. However, I had to click 1 on a message saying that this is free and you shouldnt have paid for it, etc. Now I'm navagating some kind of menus?

Is this alright? Am I supposed to Click on Install the homebrew channel?

Are you following the Wiki? The instructions are step-by-step.

http://gwht.wikidot.com/homebrew-channel
 
Yeah, sorry about that, I figured it out.

Now, another question.

I installed the homebrew channel and bootmii, I exited the menu and now im at the homebrew channel screen with just some bubbles moving up.

What do I do now? Can I just exit this? Am I all ready for playing Xenoblade Chronicles off of the disc?

What step do I take now if I want to start playing stuff off of a harddrive instead?
 
robotzombie said:
Yeah, sorry about that, I figured it out.

Now, another question.

I installed the homebrew channel and bootmii, I exited the menu and now im at the homebrew channel screen with just some bubbles moving up.

What do I do now? Can I just exit this? Am I all ready for playing Xenoblade Chronicles off of the disc?

What step do I take now if I want to start playing stuff off of a harddrive instead?

Start on this page in the Wiki. The reason you're seeing bubbles is because nothing is installed yet. If you want to play the game from your Wii, try Gecko OS or TinyLoad. If you want to play from a hard drive (which is what I do), then get Configurable USB Loader, but make sure to install everything it asks you to and follow the directions very carefully.

I'm technically inept but I was able to install Configurable USB Loader with the guide.
 
SecretMoblin said:
Start on this page in the Wiki. The reason you're seeing bubbles is because nothing is installed yet. If you want to play the game from your Wii, try Gecko OS or TinyLoad. If you want to play from a hard drive (which is what I do), then get Configurable USB Loader, but make sure to install everything it asks you to and follow the directions very carefully.

I'm technically inept but I was able to install Configurable USB Loader with the guide.

Thanks, so wait, does the Configurable USB Loader do everything Gecko does and also the harddrive loading? So there'd be no point in getting Gecko unless you ONLY want to play off of a disc?
 
robotzombie said:
Thanks, so wait, does the Configurable USB Loader do everything Gecko does and also the harddrive loading? So there'd be no point in getting Gecko unless you ONLY want to play off of a disc?

That's right.

Just be careful to install the extra stuff in the order it asks you to.
 

tsab

Member
robotzombie said:
Thanks, so wait, does the Configurable USB Loader do everything Gecko does and also the harddrive loading? So there'd be no point in getting Gecko unless you ONLY want to play off of a disc?
usbgecko also supports usbgecko (the device) which is not that much usefull anymore (I still use it for ingame screenshots though)
 
SecretMoblin said:
That's right.

Just be careful to install the extra stuff in the order it asks you to.


Thanks, and once the initial homebrew channel and bootmii are installed, i can delete all that stuff off of my sd card, correct?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for all the help
 
SecretMoblin said:
If the game is on your hard drive, this page linked from the Wiki suggests the following:
"Q: I have copied the .iso/.wbfs files to my usb drive but the loader doesn't see them?
A: The files have to be copied to the \wbfs folder on the FAT/NTFS partition.
These filename layouts are supported:
D:\wbfs\GAMEID.wbfs
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID].wbfs
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID]\GAMEID.wbfs
D:\wbfs\GAMEID_Title\GAMEID.wbfs
Same for .iso:
D:\wbfs\GAMEID.iso
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID].iso
D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID]\GAMEID.iso
D:\wbfs\GAMEID_Title\GAMEID.iso"

So try renaming the file with the game ID from here, putting it in a folder called "wbfs" and see if it works.

Thanks man...I completely missed the whole "wbfs" folder thing. o_O

I'll cross my fingers. :D
 
robotzombie said:
Thanks, and once the initial homebrew channel and bootmii are installed, i can delete all that stuff off of my sd card, correct?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for all the help

I think you can delete the installation stuff, but you should keep the files needed to boot the programs -- so, you'll need to keep the Cfg stuff on your card in the Wii.

I'm not entirely sure, though, so it'd be best to wait until Clipper gets back. I just kept everything on my card anyways.

bigdaddygamebot said:
Thanks man...I completely missed the whole "wbfs" folder thing. o_O

I'll cross my fingers. :D

No prob!
 

Clipper

Member
Ah, it's nice to wake up to a stream of posts and find them all answered :D. The only other thing I can suggest that wasn't mentioned is that those with NTFS drives should use the option ntfs_write=1 if they want to rip their games from the discs.

If you don't have that, then you're not 'ripping' your games, you're utilising the services of some filthy pirate who put them up on the web to save yourself a few minutes of time. Yes, some people need this as their drives are dead, but for most others, think hard about whether you really want to support the actions of these pirates.

Edit: On the question of what to keep on your card, yes, the supplied answer is correct. However, if the drive were FAT formatted, you could also move the apps directory and usb-loader directory over to the hard drive, meaning you no longer need the SD card. I suggest moving the usb-loader folder across anyway (it will work on an NTFS drive if you add the option I mention above to config.txt) as it will speed up loading of images.
 
Clipper said:
Ah, it's nice to wake up to a stream of posts and find them all answered :D. The only other thing I can suggest that wasn't mentioned is that those with NTFS drives should use the option ntfs_write=1 if they want to rip their games from the discs.

If you don't have that, then you're not 'ripping' your games, you're utilising the services of some filthy pirate who put them up on the web to save yourself a few minutes of time. Yes, some people need this as their drives are dead, but for most others, think hard about whether you really want to support the actions of these pirates.


Wait...what?

Did I do something wrong?
 

Clipper

Member
bigdaddygamebot said:
Wait...what?

Did I do something wrong?
That's up to you to decide. You can rip your own games with your Wii from the discs themselves using Cfg rather than downloading them from filthy pirates and thus supporting their actions.
 
Clipper said:
That's up to you to decide. You can rip your own games from the discs themselves using Cfg rather than downloading them from filthy pirates and thus supporting their actions.

But that's what I'm trying to do...I think.

I'm just trying to find out if I'm configured properly for when Xenoblade arrives.

Is there some kind of file I can run or something and I'll get a thumbs up or thumbs down?

I'm certainly not going to start downloading games. Down that path lies madness.
 

tsab

Member
Stumpokapow said:
I suspect Clipper is going to recommend you rerip the game off your own legitimate disc on your Wii, because FAT32 can't handle files above 4GB. You can rip games >4GB, because it'll split the files automatically, but you can't just pre-drag a >4GB ISO onto a FAT32 file system.

WiiBackupManager.exe
it also converts the iso to trimmed wbfs files and splits them to 4GB files.

I found it when I wanted to make my NTFS drive with my backups to an FAT32 partition so I can use it also with homebrew apps.
 

Clipper

Member
bigdaddygamebot said:
But that's what I'm trying to do...I think.

I'm just trying to find out if I'm configured properly for when Xenoblade arrives.

Is there some kind of file I can run or something and I'll get a thumbs up or thumbs down?

I'm certainly not going to start downloading games. Down that path lies madness.
That confuses me then, as Cfg always rips the games to the correct directory and there is no need to copy them anywhere, meaning the wbfs folder info would have been no use to you.

If you can play a game with Cfg, then you're probably ready for Xenoblade. Your only concern is that your TV might not support the slightly weird image format that you get when playing PAL games on an NTSC console, but there's no way to test that.
 

tsab

Member
Clipper said:
That confuses me then, as Cfg always rips the games to the correct directory and there is no need to copy them anywhere, meaning the wbfs folder info would have been no use to you.

If you can play a game with Cfg, then you're probably ready for Xenoblade. Your only concern is that your TV might not support the slightly weird image format that you get when playing PAL games on an NTSC console, but there's no way to test that.

He can force NTSC from Cfg
 
I had my Wii all set up and working perfectly until a week ago. One of my friends accidentally updated my Wii (thanks to SMG2) to 4.3 and now none of the homebrew works. Do I have to redo all the steps again or is there a faster way? Sorry if it's already been asked/answered.
 

tsab

Member
Clipper said:
That doesn't work for all TVs.
What do you mean? You force the wii to output on ntsc. the tv doesn't receive the pal signal. Cfg patches/hacks enforcing the signal (pal50/60/ntsc or w/e) even if the game doesn't support it, for example madworld@480p
 
Top Bottom