This guide will explain how to install USB Loader GX on your Nintendo Wii.
There are two different installation methods (automatic or manual), and two different installed channels which will be displayed on your Wii (Full channel or Forwarder). The differences will be detailed on this page.
- Requirements
- Installation
- After the installation
- Choosing a Hard Disk Drive
Requirements
To use USB Loader GX you need:
- A Soft-modded Nintendo Wii with the Homebrew Channel and the latest cIOS installed. (cIOS d2x is recommended)
- A USB 2.0 Hard Disk Drive or Flash Drive (see bellow for HDD format)
- A SD/SDHC Card (optional, you can use one if you have limited USB storage or if you find SD access on your computer easier than USB)
Additional informations you need to know:
If you don't have the Homebrew Channel installed on your Wii or if you don't know if your Wii has the necessary cIOS installed, you can follow one of these guides first (Choose one based on your knowledge and understanding, they are both identical):
- ModMii guide
- Modify any Wii 4.3 and bellow
Throughout this guide, you will see references to things like \apps\usbloader_gx_ or \wad_. This is simply the location of the folder or file in question on your SD card or USB drive. For example:
See how my usb drive is _E:_. Well yours might be _D:_ or _G:_. We remove the drive letter path (E:) in this guide to avoid confusion.
- SD or USB? The Homebrew Channel can only recognize devices formatted as FAT32. If you choose to use a USB drive for the installation then you need a FAT32 partition. If you want to keep your USB drive only with NTFS partition(s) then choose a FAT32 SD/SDHC card for the installation.
Installation
Choosing an installation mode
USB Loader GX can either be installed as Homebrew Channel application (HBC) or as a Channel on the Wii.
USB Loader GX on The Homebrew Channel
USB Loader GX as a Channel on the Wii System Menu
The Homebrew Channel mode means that USB Loader GX is not physically installed on your Wii, it is only copied on your SD Card or your USB device and is launched from the Homebrew Channel. The advantage of this installation is that it is very easy to install and update the loader manually (place the executable on the SD card or USB device using your computer).
The Full Channel mode means that USB Loader GX executable is copied on the Wii internal memory. It appears as a channel directly on the Wii System Menu. You don't need the executable on a SD card or USB device to launch the USB Loader GX, but you need a USB or SD to store the configuration files. To update the loader you can reinstall a new channel over the old one, or use the loader's internal online update feature. Updating a Channel is not as simple as when updating from the HBC or forwarder.
The Forwarder mode is a mixed method from both previous modes. It installs a Channel on the Wii System Menu but it does not include the USB Loader GX executable. Instead, this Forwarder Channel launch the USB Loader GX executable located on your SD card or your USB Device.
The Forwarder is the preferred installation of many users, and it shares the advantage of both first modes: "Easy update" from the computer, and a "Channel" available on the Wii System Menu. You don't need to go into the Homebrew Channel anymore to launch the loader and all the needed files are kept on your external device.
Automatic Installer
The installation can be done by a program on your computer (Windows only).
To install USB Loader GX on your SD or USB, you can use the USB Loader GX Installer v1.8. This is a multi-language Windows application which will download and copy the latest USB Loader GX release on your SD Card or USB device.
The installer has the following additional options:
- Allows you to pre-install language files (note: you can still do this easily in the loader),
- Download the latest Full Channel of USB Loader GX (note: you will need a WAD manager to be able to install on your Wii),
- Delete existing game covers
Note: The Automatic Installer does not install the Forwarder Channel.
Manual Installation
The installation can also be done manually and gives you more options, like different IOS versions and installation of the Forwarder Channel.
- Download the full package from the left menu on the main page. Select the __USBLoader_GX_Vx_x_AllinOnePackage_IOS249.zip, download and save it on your computer.
- Open the downloaded package using winrar or 7zip.
The package contains two folders: apps and wad. - Extract and copy the apps and wad folder on your SD or USB. Your device should looks like this:
\apps\usbloader_gx\boot.dol\apps\usbloader_gx\icon.png\apps\usbloader_gx\meta.xml\wad\USBLoader_GX_Vx_x_UNLR_Channel_AHBPROT.wad\wad\USB Loader GX-UNEO_Forwarder_4_0_AHBPROT.wad
(The other files in the package are not needed)
- Installing the Full Channel or the Forwarder Channel:
You can stop here or delete the wad folder if you don't want any channel on your Wii System Menu. USB Loader GX will work as a Homebrew Application and can be launched from the Homebrew Channel.
If you want to install a channel, you need another homebrew application: A WAD Manager.
- Download a WAD Manager (for example Wad Manager 1.7, or WAD Manager GUI 1.5v2, or any other).
- Extract and place the WAD manager's boot.dol on your SD Card like for the USBLoader:
\apps\wad manager\boot.dol\apps\wad manager\icon.png(optional)\apps\wad manager\meta.xml(optional)- Insert the SD or USB in your Wii
- Launch the Homebrew Channel
- Select and Launch the WAD Manager.
- If you are not already in the correct folder, browse the folders present on your storage device to \wad\If you want the Full Channel: Select and install the UNLR_Channel_AHBPROT.wad file.
If you want the Forwarder Channel (Recommended!): Select and install the UNEO_Forwarder_4_0_AHBPROT.wad file.- Exit the WAD Manager and return to the Wii System Menu to see the channel you just installed. You can now launch USB Loader GX from this channel.
Note: If you selected the Forwarder Channel, remember that you NEED to keep the \apps\USBLoader_gx\boot.dol file on your SD or USB.
What is the difference between file's version IOS222, IOS249 and IOS250?
There is no difference in how USB Loader GX is working. This is only an option used to speed the launch process.
Just use the file with IOS249 if you don't know which version to choose.
Note: This IOS number is not the one used to specify which feature you will have access, it's only the one used at the launch of the application in order to find the setting files. USB Loader GX will later allow you to specify a different IOS slot if you want to use different features (they will be detailed in other pages of this guides). The default IOS defined in the User's Settings is 249.
If you want more explanations, read this:
USB Loader GX (and all games or homebrew running on the Wii) requires a IOS to access the Wii hardware, IOS which is defined at the very beginning of the application.
When you launch the loader it starts by loading a IOS capable or accessing hardwares (such as SD or USB). This IOS is usually located in slot 249.
Now that USB Loader GX is running and has access to SD card or USB device, it can load your User's Settings to read your preferences and see which IOS you really want to use. If you want to use the IOS in slot 249 and you are already using USB Loader GX version "IOS249", then it's fine and it continues the loading process.
If you want to use a different IOS than the one currently loaded, then USB Loader GX will need to change it and reload the one you specified in the User's Settings before continuing the loading process. Reloading an IOS can takes up to 2 additional seconds.
By using a "IOS slot number" matching the IOS you defined in your User's Settings, you prevent the 2 seconds reloading delay and it speeds the booting process.
It has no other purpose than speeding the launching delay of the loader.
If you don't understand what it means, do not worry as they are ALL working the same way.
Advanced users: This option can be bypassed by editing the meta.xml arguments and specifying which IOS slot you want to load the first time. Specify the same IOS slot number than the one defined in your User's Settings to prevent any IOS reloading.
After the installation
USB Loader GX uses the _\apps\usbloader_gx_ path on your SD or USB as the main place to store all your settings and downloads.
You need to keep that folder on SD or USB all the time.
Remember that The Homebrew Channel requires a FAT32 partition to recognize the SD or USB devices.
If you choose to launch USB Loader GX from the Homebrew Channel, then you need to keep a FAT32 partition to store the boot.dol file on it. If you have multiple partitions on your USB drive, it is recommended to format the first partition as FAT32 for homebrew compatibility reason.
If you choose to always launch USB Loader GX from the Channel or the Forwarder, then you don't need a FAT32 partition, and you can move the _\apps\usbloader_gx_ folder either on:
- SD/SDHC card as FAT or FAT32 partition format,
- USB on a FAT32 partition,
- USB on a NTFS or ext2/3/4 partition.
USB Loader GX is looking in all partitions of your USB drive until it finds the installation folder (up to 8 partitions are supported).
The SD card is the first device accessed, it will load faster if you place the installation folder on your SD/SDHC card.
Note: Keeping a FAT32 partition on your SD and/or USB is a good idea if you want to exploit all features of USB Loader GX, and to have access to a larger choice of homebrew.
Updating USB Loader GX
If you have internet access on your Wii, you can update USB Loader GX directly from the loader. Go to the Update menu in the Settings.
If you don't have Internet access or want to update USB Loader GX manually:
- If you are using the Homebrew Application mode or Forwarder Channel mode: Download the latest package and replace the file \apps\usbloader_gx\boot.dol present on your SD card by the one from the package.
- If you are using the Full Channel mode: Download the latest package, extract the UNLR_Channel_AHBPROT.wad file and place it into your _\wad_ folder. Use a Wad Manager to install the new version. It will overwrite the previous version.
Choosing a Hard Disk Drive
A lot of Hard Drives are compatible with the Wii, but you might want to check the USB Devices Compatibility List first.
The Wii can be used with self-powered Hard Drives, but if your drive is big (>500GB) you should prefer external powered drives as the Wii USB port might not provides enough power.
HDD Format
USB Loader GX supports a lot of partition format: WBFS, FAT32, NTFS, Ext 2/3/4
- WBFS: Old and deprecated Wii Backup File System format. Not compatible natively with computers, you need a dedicated program to manage the content of this partition and you can store only Wii games on it. The partition needs to be primary and active. This partition format is limited to 500 games.
- FAT32: Compatible with the Wii and all computers. Partition size limited to 2.2TB, maximum file size limited to 4GB (Wii games are automatically split in multiple parts when needed).
- NTFS: No size limit. Not supported by a lot of Wii Homebrew.
- Ext2/3/4: No size limit. Not compatible with other Wii Homebrew.
The Wii Homebrew Applications (such as The Homebrew Channel, Emulators, Games, Media players, etc.), USB Loader GX's NAND emulation feature and DIOS MIOS (Lite) require a FAT32 partition format. You can use a FAT32 SD/SDHC card for that purpose and set your USB hard drive as NTFS or Ext partition format.
You can of course create multiple partitions format on your HDD if you want to separate partitions for Wii Homebrew, Wii games or your computer's data.
USB Loader GX supports up to 8 partitions.
If you want more informations between each format, you can read this.
Guide for USB Loader GX, Copyright © 2012. Created by Shano56 and Cyan. All rights reserved.
