USB Loader GX and Imation Apollo™ M100 HDD shenanigans

[copper holly]

USB loader gx would get stuck on Waiting for HDD: 10 secs left until I unplug the replug my HDD. When I unplug my HDD, the countdown resumes. Everything works fine after I replug my HDD. The light on my HDD is steadily on (not flashing).

My HDD

[flat pond]

1. Don’t use an old ass mod of usbloader gx, get it from here https://Wii.hacks.guide/wii-loaders

2. You can use Rufus on a Windows machine to easily format an external hard drive or SD card for use with your Wii.

⚠️ Formatting a drive will delete all data on the drive. Backup any essential data on a drive before proceeding with the formatting process.

1. Download and install Rufus to your machine: https://rufus.ie

• Most people will want the Standard Windows x64 version.

3. Launch Rufus.
4. Click Show advanced drive properties.
5. Check the box next to List USB Hard Drives.
6. In the Device dropdown, select the SD or USB drive you'd like to use with the Wii.
7. In the Boot selection dropdown, select Non bootable.
8. In the Partition scheme dropdown, select MBR.
9. In the Volume label text field, enter a name for your drive. Be creative.
10. In the File system dropdown, select FAT32 or Large FAT32
11. In the Cluster size dropdown, select 32 kilobytes.
12. Click Show advanced format options
13. Make sure Quick format is checked.
14. Uncheck Create extended label and icon files
15. Click Start to begin the format process.

Here is a screenshot of what your settings should look like:
https://i.imgur.com/YvYy0k2.png

[copper holly]

Oh, it's probably because I followed Michael mjd's tutorial

Imma update it and see what happens

[copper holly]

I did that already

[copper holly]

I've updated it to version 3.0 r1281 using homebrew browser version 0.3.9e

It now stops at this and doesn't reinitialize the HDD when I replug it

(also, the countdown doesn't work)

It's instead booted into channel list mode

How do I get it to remount the HDD

It reinitislises USB devices then waits 1 to 2 secs for HDD then boots normally into USB loader gx with all my games

[copper holly]

After I click on this it goes from not initialized to FAT32 (298.09GB)

It can install a game

And the light on my HDD is flashing while its being installed

It now says this but it's still in channel mode

And Wii sports is nowhere to be found

Ah, I just had to select Wii games from this

Ffs

[copper holly]

Detailed workaround steps

1. When stuck on Waiting for HDD, unplug then replug HDD
2. Go to Settings (⚙️) → Hard Drive Settings and click on Game/Install Partition
3. Exit out of setting menu (press B twice)
4. Click on Select loader mode (the icon immediately to the right of the "ABC" icon)
5. Select Wii Games and optionally deselect NAND Channels then press OK

[flat pond]

Dunno what this file is

[copper holly]

It's my phone being weird

It's supposed to be a picture

This one: #1170619069737750528 message

[flat pond]

Well anyway, shall I close this

[copper holly]

well… my original issue isn't fixed yet so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[flat pond]

What is the loader iOS set to

And are you using a hub

[copper holly]

249

[copper holly]

What is a hub

[flat pond]

A usb hub

To get more usb ports

[copper holly]

No

[flat pond]

I honestly just think it’s the way the drive is formatted

Either that or it mounts late

[copper holly]

K

[flat pond]

You could try reformatting with this tutorial

Since it should cover everything

[honest venture]

This will sound silly, but did you plug your HDD into the lower USB slot?

I'm talking about the one closest to the base.

Also, which tutorial did you follow to hack your Wii?

[flat pond]

Oh yeah forgot about that for some reason

[copper holly]

Yes

[copper holly]

Michael mjd's tutorial: https://youtu.be/BSE34AQTCdg

[honest venture]

I suggest following the one from https://wii.hacks.guide

[copper holly]

Before I formatted my drive using Rufus, the drive was split into two partitions. After I formatted it using Rufus, it turned it into one partition

Could that be the problem

[honest venture]

What were the two partitions used for?

[copper holly]

Storage

Both formatted to ntfs

Imma try reformatting the drive but if that fails, then imma try the final step on this video: https://youtu.be/cx5E8JV8uzc?si=gNjRe9WKVDP9EaZY

[copper holly]

An unusual thing about this is that the app freezes and doesn't respond to anything until I unplug my HDD

[honest venture]

Mmm.

Since your HDD only has one partition, check in the USB Loader settings if you're trying to read multiple partitions.

[copper holly]

It's not

[honest venture]

My last guess is to try and softmod your Wii from zero to see if it's a problem with the cIOS.

[honest venture]

Oh, also, is your HDD formatted as FAT32?

[copper holly]

Yes

[copper holly]

I couldn't get usb loader gx working right away after I finished following the tutorial but it magically works now after I downloaded some games and used a HDD instead of a flash drive

I can try the cIOS part again

[copper holly]

What does the cIOS do

Because I can still load games from my HDD after I manually initialise it in Hard Drive Settings

#1170619069737750528 message

[honest venture]

Look at them as drivers from your PC.

Probably you messed up somewhere and it's having trouble detecting the HDD port at the start.

[copper holly]

This could be the problem

Also, how do I get it to go online

I can't find d2x-v11-beta1 and the cIOS base keeps changing back to 37 whenever I change the cIOS selection

Imma try updating

Updated to v3.1 and I found it

Updated using the homebrew browser

After this it says highlights it as failed

Do I have to remove it first?

[honest venture]

No, just install.

https://wii.hacks.guide/cios

[flat pond]

Yes

[copper holly]

Still doesn't work

[copper holly]

Wii mod lite can't access my HDD as well

And WiiXplorerSS

[copper holly]

I think I need to use a different HDD

How well does USB loader gx handle multiple partitions

Trying to use USB loader gx with my workaround is hit and miss half the time

[flat pond]

Not worth it tbh

You can use Rufus on a Windows machine to easily format an external hard drive or SD card for use with your Wii.

⚠️ Formatting a drive will delete all data on the drive. Backup any essential data on a drive before proceeding with the formatting process.

1. Download and install Rufus to your machine: https://rufus.ie

• Most people will want the Standard Windows x64 version.

3. Launch Rufus.
4. Click Show advanced drive properties.
5. Check the box next to List USB Hard Drives.
6. In the Device dropdown, select the SD or USB drive you'd like to use with the Wii.
7. In the Boot selection dropdown, select Non bootable.
8. In the Partition scheme dropdown, select MBR.
9. In the Volume label text field, enter a name for your drive. Be creative.
10. In the File system dropdown, select FAT32 or Large FAT32
11. In the Cluster size dropdown, select 32 kilobytes.
12. Click Show advanced format options
13. Make sure Quick format is checked.
14. Uncheck Create extended label and icon files
15. Click Start to begin the format process.

Here is a screenshot of what your settings should look like:
https://i.imgur.com/YvYy0k2.png

[copper holly]

I did just that

I have a fairly new HDD that I can try and get working (made in 2022)

[honest venture]

Are you sure? It detects both partitions from my HDD pretty well.

[flat pond]

Yes it does work with multiple partitions but there’s really no point unless you have no other options

[honest venture]

Makes sense. I use my HDD for other stuff apart from Wii Gaming, so I needed another partition for my other stuff.

[copper holly]

does usb loader gx save logs

[copper holly]

my wii now (most of the time) go to a black screen then returns to the Wii Menu/HBC when I start a game from USB Loader GX after i initialise my hdd from hard drive settings (it says thinks the hdd has 0.00 gb of storage)

according to this, its something to do with the cIOS: https://www.reddit.com/r/WiiHacks/comments/dnfb81/usb_loader_gx_troubleshooting_guide/

My game goes to a black screen or returns to the Wii Menu/HBC when I start it from USB Loader GX

Again, this is commonly an issue with cIOS, so make sure you've followed https://wii.guide/cios and have all your cIOS.

Ensure that your games are formatted on your hard drive correctly. Your USB Drive should be formatted as FAT32 (I believe NTFS is also compatible, but I haven't tested this) and by default, USB Loader GX requires games to be structured in the following way:

root/wbfs/Game Name [titleid]/titleid.wbfs

If you used Wii Backup Manager and you're having issues, try formatting the games by hand. I've seen people who used Wii Backup Manager and had issues like these, and when I formatted it by hand for them it worked perfectly.

If this is correct, ensure that your game is loading from cIOS 249. You can do this by changing the game IOS setting to 249. Usually I just change loader IOS to 249 as well, but as far as I know this has no added benefit.

Finally, if nothing else works, it is likely an issue with your WBFS file. Try uninstalling the game and installing it from the disc again.

how do i know if i installed my cIOS correctly

[copper holly]

also, this is what is hear when loading usb loader gx

is it supposed to sound like that with the hdd

the noise is coming from my hdd

it doesnt make that noise when its connected to my laptop

[copper holly]

this is my slots map

is there anything wrong with it?

should i remove cIOS 254

[copper holly]

this is not the problem

[flat pond]

That would be bootmii, do not remove it

[flat pond]

run Syscheck and test all IOS on your Wii by following this guide:
https://wii.hacks.guide/syscheck

When it's done it will generate and display a syscheck.csv file.

Power down the Wii and insert the SD or USB into a PC. Drag and drop the syscheck.csv file from the root of your SD or USB into chat.

You can also upload the report and link the URL to chat or take photos of the entire report if you don’t have a USB or a SD reader on your PC

[copper holly]

i'll probably get back to you <t:1700104500:R>

[honest venture]

Couldn't they also use ModMii to check the file and being able to update their softmod if needed?

[flat pond]

One thing at a time

[honest venture]

Fair.

[copper holly]

here

this is what modmii gave me

(youll have to download it)

Here's your unique list of 33 WADs to install:

IOS11v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS14-64-v1032
IOS15-64-v1032
IOS17-64-v1032
IOS20v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS21-64-v1039
IOS22-64-v1294
IOS28-64-v1807
IOS30v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS33-64-v3608
IOS34-64-v3608
IOS35-64-v3608
IOS36-64-v3608
IOS37-64-v5663
IOS38-64-v4124
IOS40v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS41-64-v3607
IOS43-64-v3607
IOS45-64-v3607
IOS46-64-v3607
IOS48-64-v4124
IOS50v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS52v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS53-64-v5663
IOS55-64-v5663
IOS56-64-v5662
IOS57-64-v5919
IOS58-64-v6176
IOS60v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS61-64-v5662
IOS62-64-v6430
IOS70v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])
IOS80v65535(IOS60v6174[FS-ES-NP-VP-DIP-RC24])

[flat pond]

Interesting, some of your iOS were out of date

I guess you just had an early revision of 4.3

You can go ahead with the install of these new ioses if you would like. The modmii ones give you some brick protection

[copper holly]

issue remained unfixed

imma try reinstalling usb loader gx via modmii

[flat pond]

I don’t even remember what the issue was

[copper holly]

#1170619069737750528 message

[flat pond]

I feel like I’ve thought of everything

[copper holly]

compatability issue

i should add some details

guess we'll have to close this

Detailed workaround steps

1. If you are stuck on Waiting for HDD, unplug then replug HDD
2. Go to Settings (⚙️) → Hard Drive Settings and click on Game/Install Partition
3. Toggle Multiple Partitions
4. Switch Mount USB at launch to OFF
5. Exit out of setting menu (press B twice)
6. Click on Select loader mode (at the top of the screen)
7. Select Wii Games and optionally deselect NAND Channels then press OK

[copper holly]

USB Loader GX and Imation Apollo™ M100 HDD shenanigans

[flat pond]

Damn

Kind of forgot that existed