What is Reddit's opinion of
Wii Backup Manager?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
Here's exactly what I do. You will need WiiBackupManager
I'll go throught the steps: (First format your usb thumb drive to "fat 32" insert it anytime after you download the game but before you open wii back up manager)
1. Download the game (I download mine to my download folder)
2. On your C: drive create a file "wbfs"
3. Put the game in the wbfs file on your C: drive
4. Open Wii Back up manager
5. Once it's open you will see some tabs: file, dvd, drive 1, drive 2, etc...
6. Click on drive 1, below where you clicked you will see a drop down tab that says 'inactive' change that tab to C: (your games from your wbfs folder should show up.
7. Drive 2 click the 'inactive' drop menu to whatever drive your usb thumb drive is, mine is E: yours could be different
8. Go back to drive 1 and you should see your games click on the boxes next to the game name you want to 'transfer', once you click transfer it will give you the option to pick drive 2 (your usb thumb drive)
9. Just wait while it transfers (depends on how big the file is but about 3-5 minutes per game)
10. Put your usb thumb drive in the back of the Wii, boot up home brew channel and you should be good to go.
I find it easier to follow along with youtube directions vs reading so if you just youtube wiibackup manager all the steps will be there to show you how to do it. It's really easy once you do it once.
EDIT: I also use Wii Flow for my loader on homebrew vs UBS Loader GX don't know if it makes a difference but Wii Flow works great for me.
Try using "Wii Backup Manager (build 78)" to convert the iso into two wbfs files with the correct folder and file names. Then copy into the wbfs folder on your FAT32 drive. http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html
(The app will split the large iso file into a primary wbfs file with a second wbf1 file.)
Don't use WBFS, if you're tempted. It's a horrible solution that breaks more than it fixes.
Format your drive as a single FAT32 partition. Just use Wii Backup Manager to transfer your Wii games to the drive- it automatically splits them into smaller *.wbfs subfiles, which any modern loader will be able to read perfectly.
Also, make sure you're using Nintendont, rather than DIOS-MIOS. You're in for a world of pain if not.
On the topic of game roms, with wii and GameCube games, the easiest and best way to back them up from a wii that has homebrew installed.
Wii backups can be taken in either iso format that takes the whole disk size (4 - 8 gb like normal) or wbfs which is essentially a compressed version of the iso (its lossless and can be converted between iso and wbfs using either http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk or the dolphin emulator).
GameCube games will be ripped in an iso format that always takes up exactly 1.4GB. If you would like to compress them, it can be done with the dolphin emulator and will turn them into lossless gcm format. However compressed GameCube backups cannot be played on a physical console like compressed wii games.
A full guide can be found here: https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Ripping_Games
Edit: for DS and 3DS games, a homebrewed 3DS is often your best bet (however USB devices to exist to extract game backups). Once you have a hacked 3DS, you can use GodMode9 to make backups in any format you please https://3ds.hacks.guide/godmode9-usage
Edit 2: when I say "compressed", I mean that they are trimmed to not include all of the blank disc space. There is no actual compression applied to the files.
You need GC controllers and a GC memorycard in order to make use of the GC functionality.
I think the wii is better for reason listed in number 3
You can softmod any wii that has gamecube functionality anyway. I recommend softmodding (legal purposes only of course), just for the fact that you don't have to mess around with the friggin discs all the damn time. You can load everything from a big flash drive or external HDD. Here is a guide that explains how: https://sites.google.com/site/completesg/home
Now to manage your games, and rip your own discs as well, you'd need Wii Backup Manager. Rip your wii games to wbfs format. I am unaware if this format works for gamecube games, but I don't think it's likely. Rip those to iso format. (You could rip your wii games to iso format too, but that costs a lot of wasted space. WBFS is more compact).
Also, get rid of the one that can't play GC games. Keep the older one.
I have this Wii 2 HDMI thingy I bought off Amazon to play the wii on an LCD screen.
You can use Wii Backup Manager to fetch the cover art.. In the settings you can select the Loader directory structure you want it to use and then you can just copy those over to your SD card or HDD depending on where you have setup the loader to look for the covers
I recently built an iso using brawlbuilder and I usb-load it via usbloadergx. Works well so far, as long as you have your usb loader set up right
Edit: made this comment shortly after, in reference to fitting such an iso on a Fat32 usb stick. Should work for an sd card, I think usbloadergx has an option to get it's input from an sd.
Just did this today: pm 3.6 without subspace emissary is less than the fat32 limit. Build the iso from brawl with brawlbuilder, check whatever the "remove subspace emissary" option is, then convert it into a wbfs (or whatever the Wii file format is) file. The result should be less than 4gb
EDIT: followed this tutorial
https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-properly-build-an-iso-of-project-m-inc-wi-fi-instructions.441293/
then converted to wbfs with wii backup manager
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/
put the result on your flash drive in directory like so:
\wbfs\game name [GAMECODE]\GAMECODE.wbfs
where GAMECODE is specified in that tutorial i linked, depends on if you're using the wifi or full codeset.
(SECOND EDIT: wii backup manager creates the folder "game name [GAMECODE]" containing "GAMECODE.wbfs" from your iso named "game name [GAMECODE].iso" All you have to do is create \wbfs on your flash drive and transfer that folder, making sure the rest of the drive is empty.)
Plug that in to the right usb port (closer to the edge of the wii - the one towards the center is just power no data) and you should have functioning project m from any usb loader (I use usb loader gx, like most do).
your softmod is ancient, waninoko cIOS arent used anymore and the most modern that everyone uses is d2x, here is a guide to update your softmod, by the way if you are planning to run gamecube games use Nintendont and format your usb/hdd to fat32, 32k cluster, set as primary partiton and marked as active.
as for adding wii games use Wii Backup Manager since is the only one that supports fat32 drives.
Wii games can be held on pretty much any filesystem - FAT32, NTFS, EXT3, EXT4 etc. providing your mods are up to date.
For cooler things like playing GameCube backups and NAND emulaiton you need to be FAT32.
If you have files over 4GB already you can't go FAT32 though so stick with how you are presently. If you odn't need big file support convert it to FAT32.
No matter what you do format wise, just stick games into a folder called USB:\wbfs as .wbfs files (not .ISOs) and your loader will see them. This should use Wii Backup Manager to convert ISO->WBFS and put them on your drive (this splits files at the 4GB mark if necessary automatically).
Use gcit it trims your roms, and creates folder names so you don't have search for them. Also you can load isos with nintendont, don't have to covert. Usbloader gx handles nintendont it's nice cause you get boxart too. xD http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/gcit.html
OK - If you are talking about Wii game backups, it is my understanding that they should be in WFBS format.
I would recommend using http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/
Make sure your drive is formatted to FAT32 format.
Your Wii games go in the /wbfs folder Your GC games go in the /games folder
Some not all if you want to use GameCube games your best to keep it as FAT32.
I used wii backup manager and have had no issues it’ll break the game up into multiple files if needed.
To piggy back off of this, use Wii Backup Manager to transfer your ISOs to your USB-stick in WBFS format. It's a very handy tool that never fails to transfer the game even if it's compressed to .RAR or .ZIP format. :)
>a properly formatted WBFS USB thumb drive.
cringe
You really don't need to use WBFS anymore. Format it as FAT32 (32k cluster size) and use Wii Backup Manager to transfer your files across- it splits >4GB files up into subfiles, which any modern USB loader will read just fine. You can even convert your existing WBFS partition directly to FAT32 with this guide.
It'll save you so much trouble in the long run.
As for your question- are you sure you're running the latest version of USB Loader GX? Check.
I used Wii Backup Manager program to transfer isos to a FAT32 Harddrive. Then I can boot it with the USB Loader GX channel.
Yes. It used to be that you needed a WBFS formated drive to play backups. However, that's been fixed for awhile. You can format to FAT32 and play both types of games. The only problem with that is that you can't have files larger than 4gb.
Wii Backup Manager will allow you to chunk those files up into two files so that they will fit on a FAT32 drive.
Yes, you can use the WiiFlow Lite loader for playing Games with an Sd Card, but you can't use the Usb Loader GX loader, because it's only working with a usb. And about the split size of fat32: When you format a device to fat32, it is not possible to have a file in the card that is bigger than 4 GB. The solution: You can split the games! The Best method I know is the Windows tool: Wii Backup Manager. It is a windows only tool that can collect your games at one spot and it's doing the whole folder transfer, naming, and everything else and splits the games automatically for you! Hope I helped you!
Aunque no parezca mucho al hacer la tediosa transformación de formato wbfs a rvz realmente funciona para ahorrar espacio. En mi caso con 17 archivos me ahorre casi 10 gb de espació. Para ésto es necesario una PC para convertir el Wbfs a iso y un dispositivo Android o pc para convertirlo en RVZ. En su momento con mis juegos de Gamecube (33 isos)se logre ahorrar 19 Gb. La pérdida de peso va variando segun el juego.
Convertir a RVZ
Para Gamecube solo es necesario la app de Dolphin (se puede hacer perfectamente en Android).
1) Manter apretada la carátula del juego y elegir "Convert File".En formato elegimos"RVZ",Block size "2MiB"y Compresion level "22".
Para Wii Generalmente tenemos nuestros juegos en formato wbfs para eso lo convertiremos a iso y después a rvz
Es necesario wii backup manager para PC y Dolphin (Android/PC)
1)Abrir el programa. hacer click en "añadir", busca el directorio y selecciona los archivos. Después haz Click en "seleccionar" y en todos. al final da click a "transferir" y elige a "ISO..." empezará la conversación a ISO.
2) Sigue exactamente igual que como se convierten las isos de Gamecube dentro de dolphin
link de la página oficial de wii backup manager y descarga. http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html
I would help out but honestly I use wiiflow. Its given me less issues compared to usb loader gx. I would say download the cover art from wii backup manager and put them in the appropriate folder for boxart. You can also download the covers from gameTDB.Like I said, I recommend wiiflow more if you are using multiple drives.
All I can suggest us based off my experience, but I say go with USBLoaderGX. I use Wii Backup Manager with an old 500GB harddrive that doesn't require external power. WBM is great because it should let you know if the ISO/WBFS is good or not when you transfer it over to the HDD. USBLoaderGX has a nice menu and even works as a frontend for Nintendont to run Gamecube games, and the TitleDB it has will give every game its cover art in the UI. Been using this setup for about 3 years now and have had no issues. To minimize cord clutter I even got a Wii2HD adapter so it is only plugged into my TV with a single cord. Get yourself a Wave Bird controller and you get a pretty sweet setup. I even have the Mario Kart and F-Zero arcade games running on it.
Soneone in a below reply kindly posted http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/gcit.html
Basically is a better program than what i was using initially and if you open an ISO you can export to 2 different formats.
You are right about YouTube though but it did get my stuff working, but now I have saved a lot of hassle.
It's just weird I did not really need nintendont but it has better compatibility overall so it works out.
I had this problem too. I used Wii Backup Manger (http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk) to convert (or, as it says in the program, transfer) the WBFS file to ISO, and vice-versa when an ISO failed.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html
You install it on your computer, insert the Wii's SD card into your computer, choose the game under the file tab, click on DVD drive 1, select the "Inactive" drop down box and choose your SD card. It should show your installed Wii games if you have any (the need to be in a folder called WBFS in the root of your SD card). Go back to the file tab, click the checkmark box next to the game and then choose transfer to DVD drive 1.
You would have known if cIOS installation failed.
Im assuming your trying to load Wii games.
HD should be FAT32 with 32k clusters.
Wii games go in a folder on the root of HD named wbfs
Use http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html to get your games in correctly named folders with game ID after you download. (run the win64.exe file)
You actually have one of the cleanest SysChecks Ive ever seen. It looks really good. So lets continue to trouble shoot.
What format is your HD in?
Where are you getting your Wii games from?
Are you using WiiBackupManager to convert them to wbfs and name them correctly with gameID?
If your HD is in FAT32 format, are your Wii Games in a folder labeled wbfs on the root of HD?
I had a similar problem with Xenoblade Chronicles. I never got NTFS support working correctly, but I got around the issue by keeping it FAT32 and using Wii Backup Manager to convert my >4Gib ISO file to a set of .wbfs, .wbf1 files.
I personally prefer using Fat32 so I can see the filesystem on PC and store additional content on the disk.
First format your USB stick or external HDD to Fat32 with 32kb clusters.
Then make a folder on your USB stick or HDD called wbfs.
Get Wiibackup Manager.
Open WiiBM and under Drive 1 select drive letter of the USB stick or HDD.
Now under the Files tab select Add and find your iso.
It should come up as the name of the game and game ID.
Make sure the box to the left of the game is checked off and select Transfer and Drive 1.
Let it do it's business and eject it, pop it in your Wii, and let USB loader GX take it from there.
You can repeat this process for any subsequent Wii games that are over 4GB. For games under 4GB you don't need WiiBM and you can just make a properly labeled folder in the wbfs folder and rename the iso to game.iso and put it there yourself. WiiBM can do it for you if you prefer not too.
The main reason to use WiiBM besides convenience is it can automatically split Wii game isos that are above the Fat32 4GB file size limit.
My original Mario Kart Wii profile/license came right up recently after not playing it for years using a backup iso instead of the original disc which wouldn't read anymore.
Backup your wii games into .iso files and run wii backup manager http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk Set up your drive and load the isos. Then transfer them over. Plug into into the USB closest to the edge ( if you're looking at the USBs it'll be the one on the right) then USB loader should see them
if your backups' size is less than 100 gb. make a fat32 partition. if you want to make it wii /gamecube only format it to fat 32. make a folder called games for gamecube.for example if you want to play melee put the iso in this path X/Games/(any name)/ and don't forget to rename the iso to game.iso. for wii games ,Use Wii Backup Manager (http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/) to load ISOs and WBFS files onto your drive. Simply plug in your drive, select "Drive 1" in the top bar, click where it says "Inactive" (you'll see a drop-down). Select your USB drive's letter. Now go back to the Files tab and click "Add". Select the wbfs/ISOs you'd like to add. If you get asked to create a new folder, select "Yes". Your games will be automatically formatted and split. Now just plug your drive back into your Wii and download cover art!
Use Wii Backup Manager to load ISOs and WBFS files onto your drive.
Simply plug in your drive, select "Drive 1" in the top bar, click where it says "Inactive" (you'll see a drop-down).
Select your USB drive's letter. Now go back to the Files tab and click "Add". Select the wbfs/ISOs you'd like to add.
If you get asked to create a new folder, select "Yes".
Your games will be automatically formatted and split.
Now just plug your drive back into your Wii and download cover art!
Are you using WII backup manager to transfer to your HDD? That has made things easy peasy for me. If not I didn't look at your cios list but you could use modmii and syscheck to make sure they are up to date.
use Wii Backup Manager to pass your wii backups to the usb/hdd.
if you want to run gamecube games use Nintendont and also make sure your usb is formatted to fat 32, 32k cluster, primary partiton and set as active.
On the Wii using CFG USB Loader, WiiFlox, or USB Loader GX you can install the disk to an external device. It installs as a .wbfs though so you'll need to convert it to use with the ISO Builder. Use WiiBackupManager_Build78 for converting.
Use Wii Backup Manager. It lets you add Wii games to your devices and splits large games up so they can still be read by USB loaders and used on a FAT32 device.
I personally haven't had good experiences with WBFS Manager or USB Loader GX when trying to do PM. Instead, try Wii Backup Manager and Configurable USB Loader.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/
https://code.google.com/p/cfg-loader/
Wii Backup Manager allows you to keep your USB drive formatted as a FAT drive, no need to reformat to WBFS. I'd recommend removing the ISO and starting over.
Use either http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/ or http://sourceforge.net/projects/wiibafu/files/Wii%20Backup%20Fusion%201.1/ to copy the files on the usb harddrive back to your computer and save them as a *.wbfs
reformat your external HD to Fat32 32k Clusters. Need to use a program like Mini Partition Wizard http://www.partitionwizard.com/ to format harddrive. Windows won't do it correctly.
Make a /wbfs directory and copy all your *.wbfs files into it.
now you can put files in directories that the homebrew channel & emulators can see.
Remember, not all apps work off the usb, but most do and set up is the same for SD & USB.
Stop using wfsb manager, as it if an extremely outdated method. Instead, make the switch over to "WiiBackupManager" located in this https://www.reddit.com/r/WiiHacks/comments/2psisn/nintendont_for_wii_not_wii_u_a_guide_for_playing/ sticky guide.
While .WBFS format specially isn't outdated, WBFS formatted drives are.
WiiBackUpmanager will solve that for you and open a lot more possiblities. This is general advice.
But if you don't want to use my advice, just do what i did. Convert it to ISO format and let WBFS manager re-convert it to WBFS (sounds stupid, but it works).
Follow the guide to this guide T. You risk bricking your Wii if you deviate from the guide before you finish. This will modify your Wii so you can load games from a USB drive.
Acquire a brawl .iso through some method. Some people pirate it, but if you can acquire it via a legal method you by all means should. If you don't know what an ISO is, there's this wonderful tool you can use called a search engine. I personally prefer Google. But some really silly people like Bing.
Put brawl iso on your usb drive with a tool such as Wii Backup Manager
Put Homebrew PM on your SD card from the main site as if you had a disc
In the usb loader of your choice (I reccomend CFG loader or USB Loader GX) open up the settings for your brawl .iso and turn ocarina cheats on (you may or may not have to do this everytime you start the game, depending on the loader or if you save your settings or not)
Build the ISO from a brawl one, then use this http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/ to turn the built ISO into wbfs files. The target for where the files end up should be, for example, F:\wbfs\ (where F: is the USB you're loading the games from).
Then go into the USB loader and don't change the default settings. Ocarina cheats are used to load codes off of the SD card, but since you're using a pre built ISO this is not necessary.
is this the first time you are using a usb loader? It does not have to be changed more than any other game, but you definitely won't do anything wrong regarding this, if you use "WiiBackupManager" or "WBFS manager" just load your usb hd as a drive in one of the said programms, choose the iso and transfer it .
you can make a 3.02 iso and convert it into wbfs for your wii. The iso builder lets you build straight to wbfs but i'm not sure if it works, i'm pretty sure it doesn't. I'd use something like wii backup manager from the iso to make it wbfs. This means you don't need an sd card at all, long term I recommend grabbing a 2GB sdcard though.
Instructions for netplay, which contains the guide for making the iso What I use to convert to wbfs
Ideal filesystem is FAT32. NTFS will work for Wii disc rips but you can't use it for Gamecube rips or NAND emulation via NEEK.
WBFS should be avoided at all costs. If you see it mentioned anywhere online just forget you even saw it.
You can use Wii Backup Manager to put games on a FAT32 or NTFS formatted drive without affecting any existing data. It will convert games and put them in the paths expected by the main USB loader.
I know you've now fixed it but look into using Wii Backup Manager. This will put games into the correct folder structure automatically as well as removing unnecessary partitions from your backup image and converting .isos if you need that.
It's a great one stop shop for getting your games on your drive.
Wii Backup Manager will split it into multiple files for you (and stick them in the correct location).
For info, depending on how you got the wbfs files originally it may also shrink them (not by much) by removing update partitions from the disc image for you too.
When you do your modding - ignore any and all guides you find online (as they're invariably out of date) and use ModMii. It will download everything you need to get up and running. Super easy.
Also to save yourself time in the future format your external drive as FAT32. There's lots of reasons that I shan't bore you with - just trust me it's the best format. Your games can be stored on it as WBFS files. Use Wii Backup Manager to convert/copy your games over with it.
TL;DR: Mod using ModMii, make sure drive is FAT32, Wii Backup Manager is best way to copy games about.
You might want to look into a program called Wii Backup Manager. I use it to format my games properly and move them to a fat32 formated 2TB drive. Then you don't have to do the gymnastics to have a split formated drive working on a Wii for native and GC games.
Well, assuming you have a PC or something similar then try Wii Backup Manager.
and copying u/WiiExpertise.. i am gonna say this.
Update to 4.3 if you are not on it yet.
You mean converting your games, which currently are in ISO format into WBFS?
The Wii Backup Manager should automatically do this when transferring your games to your hard drive / usb stick.
Also, you can select your games and use Transfer -> WBFS File to directly convert them into WBFS and save them to your computer
You can install Priiloader [guide here] to block Disc updates in case you're worried about that. As for adding more games to the USB is the USB formatted to FAT32 or NTFS? If not you want to do that since WBFS file system isn't the most stable file system (You can use Wii backup Manager to backup your games off the USB before formatting it).
Also No, adding more games to the USB won't delete other games.
Get the Pal iso and convert the file to wbfs. I use wii backup manager for this: http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/ It is also possible to convert your save data, but its a hassle, do not recommend: https://gbatemp.net/threads/change-wii-save-region.196052/
I have followed the whole guide and changed every setting but when I press on Drive 1 or 2 nothing happens. No options pop up. I installed this version off Wii backup manager:
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html
You can use Wii Backup Manager to convert .ISO files to wbfs, and you can get .ISO files by ripping the game using a Wii disc ripper. You can download Wii Backup Manager here: http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html
Yeah absolutely I’ve been messing with usbloader gx a lot lately so feel free to ask me or dm if needed. Firstly you’re going to want to get a program call Wii backup manager. http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html After that you will make drive 1 a custom folder and select where your iso file is. Then check mark the iso file loaded in. Then click transfer and select wbfs and wait for it to complete. Afterwards you can make your sd card drive 2 and transfer the wbfs you just made to it from drive 1 again. Then there’s some settings you’ll have to adjust in usbloader settings
There are backup managers that will take care of all that for you (convert iso file to wbfs file and split files larger than 4GB if you are using FAT32 drives). Other people use an NTFS partition for their Wii games (these are the only games that could possibly be larger than 4GB).
Hmm.... maybe use Wii Backup Manager and go to tools and select format and backup your games to your pc and then format it to WBFS and then go to drive 1 and choose your location where your games are and then go to drive 2 and select your usb and once that is done go back to drive 1 and check the games you want to put on your usb and then select transfer and then drive 2 and wait for it to finish.
​
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html
Just a suggestion also, don't use iso files on any USB Loader, especially USB Loader GX. Download 'WiiBackupManager' and extract it anywhere, then run 'WiiBackupManager_x64.exe' or the x32 variant if your on 32 bit windows. Note this will ask for Administrative privileges due to it also being able to format drives to the NTFS, Fat32 and WBFS partition schemes. When your in the app press 'Drive 1' and in the drop down box bellow press your drive letter corresponding to your External USB/HDD, click 'Files' to return to the previous page and press 'Add' a popup should appear allowing you to select any .iso or .wbfs file, finally press 'Transfer' and then 'Drive 1'. This will initiate the copy process to your external drive creating the final file no mater the compression method initially as a .wbfs file and placing it in the correct directory in 'DriveLetter\wbfs\GameName(GameID)\GameName.wbfs'.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/ does that automatically. Can't you just redirect to your SD card slot. If not use the pc and a usb stick or something. then copy it from the usb to the SD.
Ps: Invest in a normal pc with normal ports. I don't even know how people get by without that stuff.
Fat32 is possibly the most used drive format for this. A backup manager, such as Wii Backup Manager is helpful for putting games in the right places, converting them from .iso to .wbfs format to take up less room, and can split large games into multiple chunks to avoid exceeding the maximum file size for fat32 disks.
Just use Wii Backup Manager. It can format your drive, convert your files, download the game images, and transfer everything to the drive with the correct folder structure.
You first need something like Wii Backup Manager to copy them to your USB drive. I'll PM you a few links for downloading ROMs/WBFS's because this subreddit contains a rule for no piracy
>I tried out the Wii on a new TV and the USB loader application never loaded properly
Does it not show the loading screen and it just goes white? (with nothing on it)?
Maybe try replacing the usb loader with an updated version of it
You can download the latest version from here and then transfer it to the SD card on the wii (there should be an apps folder where USBLoader and other apps go)
>I tried to plug it into my computer to see if there was a problem I could address there but my computer doesn't even have the option to open up the hard drive.
Many years ago, instead of using a more common/standard format like NTFS or FAT32, a hard drive for wii games had to be formated in a special format called WBFS. It's likely that it's formatted that way.
Wii Backup Manager should be able to open it and see its contents: http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html
I'd recommend switching from WBFS Manager to Wii Backup Manager. It's newer and more up to date then WBFS Manager is.
If you're only wanting to use the drive for Wii games, use NTFS. Use a Windows or Linux computer to format your drive to this.
If you're wanting to use Gamecube games and homebrew files, use FAT32. Use this tool called GUIFormat, or a Linux computer, to format your drive.
If you're having issues with the drive, and only want Wii games, use WBFS. Use Wii Backup Manager to format your drive to this.
first you could try to to get a second usb drive and put it in your wii and transfer the files with wiixplorer https://sourceforge.net/projects/wiixplorer/
and after youre done with that you should stop using the the WBFS partition its outdated you should use wii back up manager with your FAT32 formated drive http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html
Download build 78 from there, which apparently is the latest on that site. I had 79 too, but got some problems yesterday (it crashed when downloading titles from gametdb) and 78 worked properly
You can grab the wbfs version here.
If you need the game as an iso, use WBFS to ISO or Wii Backup Manager.
If you do get an HDD though you might as well use it for Wii and Gamecube games instead of an SD card. Use this guide for Wii games and this guide for Gamecube.
I'm not sure if any old HDD will work but I have been using a 500 GB WD My Passport with this style of USB cable for about 2 years with no issues whatsoever.
I have heard people say you should use a HDD that has it's own power supply but this setup has been working fine for me since the drive seems to get enough power through the Wii, but not sure if one would work well with a regular USB cable or not.
I'm not familiar with the 79 build. I'm googling now and seems to be an unreleased version? At least to discard possible issues with the software, try to use the 78 build: http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html
I only use WBM, since everytime someone copy-pastes the files by themselves, more often than not, they don't work. And in my PC works great, so I've never needed to do anything else.
Wii Backup Manager does allow split up WBFS files to be used, but I haven't heard (before your post) of people trying to use a split up ISO from CleanRip. Yours might just be an edge case that they never thought of.
If you haven't yet, maybe submit a ticket to their bug tracker: http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/bugtracker/my_view_page.php
The way that scrubbed work it replace the random (filler) data with zero or F. So when compress it smaller.
You need trim the iso or you can shrink it with GCMUtility if you want it smaller uncompressed.
Scrubbing and Trimming - GC/Wii http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Save_Disk_Space_for_ISOs#GameCube_.2F_Wii
I'm not really sure what is available for the Mac. or not, and it's been a while since I've done this, so I don't really know if methods have changed much, but I do remember that I couldn't just drop these files on the drive like normal because the drive had to be formatted wbfs and the PC or Mac didn't recognize the drive - I needed the special computer software to be able to access the drive, and the software only wanted to recognize ISO format.
But I just found out that WBFS Manager is not the preferred software anymore. There is something called Wii Backup Manager - which might handle both ISO and wbfs. So check that out, hopefully it'll run on Mac too! I also just learned that Fat32 is the new preferred format for the drive when using Wii Backup Manager.
By Wii backup manager, do you mean this ?
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/home.html
Because if yes, that's exactly what I'm using.
That aside, The images are the most downloaded ones,hence I assume its the most adequate. As I stated before, First time I do it, fresh, it starts literally any game. Like if I do a fresh install on the SD card,after format And pick a game first time running, it runs fine, can make saves and everything, problem comes , when I try to run another game, or if I quit to wii channel and try to run the game again, wiiflow just loads for a moment before fading to black and I have to hard reset the console otherwise it's frozen.
Create a folder on the drive and name it wbfs
Use Wiibackupmanager to convert any files to wbfs. It can convert discs, iso, rar files to wbfs. Than put them in the wbfs folder on your drive. It also gives you correct folder names and [gameID] which is a really nice feature.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html
Download this to your computer. Run the Wii games through it to get correct names and gameID before putting them on your hard drive. Use this video to teach you how to use it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsDtPN4Brhw , In the beginning, he tells you to click on the .exe file to run it, you want to click on the one that is x64.exe, you’ll see it.
Yes sorry about that.
Use Wiibackupmanager to convert any files to wbfs. It can convert discs, iso, rar files to wbfs. Than put them in the wbfs folder on your drive. It also gives you correct folder names and [gameID] which is a really nice feature.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html Download this to your computer. Run the Wii games through it to get correct names and gameID before putting them on your hard drive. Use this video to teach you how to use it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsDtPN4Brhw , In the beginning, he tells you to click on the .exe file to run it, you want to click on the one that is x64.exe, you’ll see it.
You need to run your Wii games through Wii backup manager before putting them on your hard drive.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html
Download this to your computer. Run the Wii games through it to get correct names and gameID before putting them on your hard drive. Use this video to teach you how to use it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsDtPN4Brhw , In the beginning, he tells you to click on the .exe file to run it, you want to click on the one that is x64.exe, you’ll see it. Install to your PC, open using the Win64.exe file, add your games to it, than place on hard drive. This give you correct folder names and GameID, which you need.
Also you only need 1 partition on your hard drive. The whole drive should be FAT32, 32k cluster, MBR partition table. Wii games go in a folder named wbfs.
Use http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html to get your games in correctly named folders with game ID after you download. (run the win64.exe file)
It will split the files and place them in a folder for you, put that folder in your wbfs folder. Enjoy.
Place the games in a folder on the root of your sd card named wbfs
if the file is not already in wbfs format, or is over 4gb, run it through wii backup manager
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html
Run your wii games through WiiBackupManager and it will convert them, clean them up, name them correctly, and place them in the correct folder for you.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html
> Also use a program called wiibackupmanager to transfer Wii games from a pc to hard drive. It will automatically split the files larger than 4gb into appropriate folders
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk I'm not quite sure what you meant, what it is , and what it does. Your making me feel old and useless . whippersnapper . LOL.
It transfers games from the PC to the drive (hooked to the wii) via the wii . Instead of hooking the drive to the pc and loading games then rehooking it to the wii . Correct ?
Well, d2x 8 is fine, system is 4.3U...
​
If you say that this set up is several years old, it may be severely outdated, and apps must be changed for newer ones. As far as I know, if apps are not working with Motion Plus controllers, is because those homebrew applications are outdated and haven't been recompiled with necessary fixes and improvements. Thing is, those improvements should have happened years ago, so maybe your apps are quite old.
Could you see what date do your apps have? Before doing anything is better to be sure if they're too old.
Also, WBFS Manager is also not recommended when Wii Back Up Manager exists.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html
It's much better, and you don't need a WBFS formated usb device. WBFS Format is not recommended anymore (mind you, there's a difference between WBFS files, and a WBFS formated drive. The game files are a-okay).
I’m assuming for usb loader. For GameCube games, nothing special, you make a “games” folder and in that folder you make another folder that’s the name of the game and put the iso in that folder and rename it “game.iso”.
For Wii ISO’s or WBFS’s, when you have then, get Wii backup manager (http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/). Put your Wii games in then make the backup WBFS and save it to the hard drive.
I can’t give you the exact location where you can get your games, but if you look up Wii or GameCube iso Reddit, you can find them easy
If you're talking about reversing a flash drive or HDD from wbfs you can try BOOTICE
If you just want to convert a game from wbfs back to iso just use Wii Backup Manager
Wii Backup Manager
Quick tutorial
Select a drive under "drive 1"
Click the check box next to your wbfs file(s)
Click "transfer"
Select the destination
Profit
​
Awesome, progress.
Might want to reformat as fat32 now. Use something like this:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
Set to 32k clusters if it asks.
Then use Wii Backup Manager to add your games. They also have a GameCube manager as well.
USB Loader GX works with up to 8 partitions, formatted with FAT32 or NTFS. IMHO I would use only one FAT32 partition for Wii/GC games. If you are not interested in GC games, you can go with NTFS (files bigger than 4gb, so you can use it with your PC). After formatting, you can manage/ sync your games with Wii Backup Manager: http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/home.html
i think you've accidentally downloaded the source code for the wii backup manager. you can download a windows build from here http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/WiiBackupManager_Build78.html if the download link doesn't work, you might need to disable your ad-blocker for the site. as an aside the wii backup manager doesn't have a setup program because it's a portable program, which stores all its settings in its own folder
It's not hard at all, there's just a lot of unfortunately outdated guides out there so it can be hard to wrap your head around. Here are the steps once you have the Homebrew Channel installed:
First, follow this guide (read it carefully)
Download Wii Backup Manager and use it to transfer Wii games to your USB stick
Download the latest version of ULGX. Copy the folder inside the .7z to your USB/SD Card (NOT the .7z itself, the folder inside it).
Launch USB Loader GX from the HBC.
Of course, you can skip step 2 at first if you just want to ensure that the loader works
If you only want GCN and Virtual Console games, you can get away with an SD Card. They're fairly cheap, I'd go at least 8gb, 4 is okay if you're pinching your pinnies. If you want Wii games as well you'll also gotta get a USB Stick; go for 8gb at least because you will need at least 8gb go play any Wii game.
So your shopping list, after you have the Wii, is an SD Card at least 4gb, and a USB stick at least 8gb. Both are fairly cheap.
First, install the HBC with the method I linked.
For GameCube games, install Nintendont with the method I linked. To use your PS4 controller on it, you will have to use custom controls
For Wii games, first, you first have to follow this guide. Then, use Wii Backup Manager to transfer your Wii games to your USB stick. Then, download the latest USB Loader GX from here; copy the folder insize the .7z to your SD Card (not the .7z itself, the folder inside it). Once you have done these steps, you can launch USB Loader GX from the HBC.
I use this for Wii games. You basically just create a folder somewhere called "wbfs" somewhere on your C drive and in the root of your device being used with your Wii. You then select drive 1 as the C drive wbfs folder and then drive 2 as the USB wbfs folder and then hit the transfer button. Once that's done, USB Loader GX should be able to play whatever Wii games you want to.
Somebody's Nintendon't cannot load iso like that (just like me). GCIT's website, http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/gcit.html Extract to DiscEx means extract the iso file to DiscEx format (there will be this option)
Thank you for questioning
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/gcit.html
Load any Gcube ISO in this program, select the save icon and then export as EXdisc format and point it at the games folder of your flash drive. It will make a top level folder with the rom name and put the game.iso and other files in that folder. When browsing via Nintendont it will just display the name of the game picked up off the USB. I really recommend DIOS MIOS 2.11 and Nintendont over USBloader.
You can backup the sd in your computer, and delete everything in that sd, you will be fine just with usb loader gx ( sdroot/apps/usbloader )
I downloaded backup manager from http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk and i still use it
For Wii games you need to use WBFS. You can use http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html to turn your files into WBFS and send them to the drive. I use FAT32 for my drive as I have my Gamecube games on it as well. You can use Nintendont to launch GC games from within USB Loader GX as well. They would go in the games\Game Name [ID from GameTDB]\game.iso (game.iso is the actual filename)
If you have a NAND backup from before you messed with the CIOS you had installed, I would say go back to that and try a different version of the CIOS. Use the /d2x-v10-beta53-alt.zip from HERE for 249 and use the /d2x-v10-beta52.zip for 250. I also install Hermes CIOS from HERE in lower slots (202, 222 - 224 ) for some compatibility issues. I have a large collection of Wii games on a 2TB drive ( so much easier than swapping discs, plus my Wii's disc drive died, so without the USB loader it would be practically worthless ) and everything works great with this setup. If the game doesn't run with 249, I try 250, then 222, 223, 224, and 202. One of them gets it to boot. The only time it doesn't is when I have an error in my dump because of scratched discs and my terrible laptop disc drive. As far as the drive goes I have it formatted FAT32. It was originally WBFS, but I used WBFS2FAT to convert it into a FAT32 partition. Since then things have worked much better. The WBFS format is not stable and is very easy to corrupt. Especially because the managers are not that great. For my game management and stuff I use THIS ( Best one I've found )
I don't pirate them. I rip my physical game discs with CleanRip, a Wii Homebrew application.
CleanRip rips the game in the ISO format (on your Wii). I then transfer the ISO(s) to my computer and convert them to the WBFS format using Wii Backup Manager.
After that, I just put them on my FAT32 drive and I'm good to go.
Just did this today: pm 3.6 without subspace emissary is less than the fat32 limit. Build the iso from brawl with brawlbuilder, check whatever the "remove subspace emissary" option is, then convert it into a wbfs (or whatever the Wii file format is) file. The result should be less than 4gb
EDIT: followed this tutorial
https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-properly-build-an-iso-of-project-m-inc-wi-fi-instructions.441293/
then converted to wbfs with wii backup manager
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/
put the result on your flash drive in directory like so:
\wbfs\game name [GAMECODE]\GAMECODE.wbfs
where GAMECODE is specified in that tutorial i linked, depends on if you're using the wifi or full codeset.
(SECOND EDIT: wii backup manager creates the folder "game name [GAMECODE]" containing "GAMECODE.wbfs" from your iso named "game name [GAMECODE].iso" All you have to do is create \wbfs on your flash drive and transfer that folder, making sure the rest of the drive is empty.)
Plug that in to the right usb port (closer to the edge of the wii - the one towards the center is just power no data) and you should have functioning project m from any usb loader (I use usb loader gx, like most do).
The only problems with it are:
"also it must not be an SDHC card" - which isn't true anymore
"WIFI SAFE Homebrew version" - a) the Wifi Safe version doesn't exist anymore, it's now an addon, b) for me at least I didn't need to extract the wifi addon into the regular folder (but that said mine does crash after about 2 hours of gameplay so whether that's the cause, I don't know)
"WBFS Manager" - usb loaders can read FAT with a /wbfs/ folder made using WiiBackupManager (http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/downloads.html), which is much easier, quicker and doesn't force you into only being able to have Wii isos on your USB stick (which is incredibly helpful)
"USBLoader GX" - randomly doesnt like some USB sticks and refuses to let you use them, so use Configurable USB Loader instead (https://code.google.com/archive/p/cfg-loader/downloads - it's the zip at the top) - then to enable PM you need to click on RSBE (Super Smash Bros Brawl), Options, Page 2 (use the right arrow), change Ocarina (cheats) to On, make sure Hook Type is VBI (you only need to do this the first time you use Project M). Now click Start to boot up Project M.
Reiterating from above, ULGX doesn't have SD card support. Make sure you're using CFGL or Wiiflow.
Not sure if ISOs work, but I've always been using WiiBackupManager to convert all my ISOs to WBFS files, they're much smaller and no difference in loading times. Make sure your SD card is formatted as FAT32 (Windows won't allow you to do this; get a free partition manager like Easeus) and throw your .wbfs files into SD:/WBFS/. That should really be the end of it, I'm pretty sure both backup loaders default to that folder. If not, check your loader's options and its default paths.
Update: As I came home I started the process, and damn that went fast.
I have now done everything except for the Wii Backup Manager Part because I think I will get a bigger usb HD than the 32GB stick I currently would have available for the job.
http://www.wiibackupmanager.co.uk/gcit.html Does that tool essentially just do the task you told me to do manually?
E: Are there any settings that I should toggle/make? (e.G. turn onlocalization patch, DOL patch, Private server etc.)
I already pointed the loader towards nintendont as you told me to.
A big thank you again. You did help me a lot.
1) I actually didn't install d2x cIOS (had no idea it existed haha). I went ahead and installed it using the guide, but now when I try to launch USB loader GX, I get an error that says "usb loader gx needs unstubbed cios 222 v4 or 249 v9." Any clues on how I can fix this? I googled it and found people saying to just reinstall them, but I'm not sure where :(
2) I downloaded this Wii Backup Manager (assuming this is the correct one), put in the game iso, and had it transfer to a WBFS file, where it created a folder on my desktop (which I chose as the destination ofc) with the WBFS game in it. I just manually dragged that game into the wbfs folder that i mentioned was on my flash drive. Should I set the destination of the folder to my flash drive instead? Will it still work without the folder being named 'wbfs'?
Thank you so much!!!