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Softmodding and Homebrew
USB Loader GX
USB Loader GX offers a great deal of functionality with a clean, easy to use interface and compatabiliy with the lastest cIOS, making it a great contender for the USB loader of choice. It’s default interface looks much like the Wii’s own menus making it’s integration seamless, plus with access to the Homebrew Channel and other Wii Channels (such as Virtual Consoles) from the main screen, it presents itself as an all-in-one solution.
USB Loader GX v2.3 is downloadable from http://usbloadergx.koureio.net/downloads. There are several package options ranging from a single .dol file to an all-in-one package that also contains the .wad file for the forwarder channel. To install it, simply select the correct package and copy to a SD card or USB hard drive, installing the forward channel using an app such as Multi-mod Manager or Wad Manager.
Usage
On first run the games list will probably be emtpy so you will need to install your first game, you can do this by clicking on the Disc Install option on the menu bar at the bottom – just rinse and repeat for all games. The games are stored in the location specified in the Settings->Hard drive menu, which is in a folder named WBFS on the selected parition of the selected device.
Initially, the cover art will not be available as there are none to show. To download the cover art press button (1) to open the options and select the type of cover art you want – I recommend clicking them all. Alternatively you can click the cover on the left to open the same box.
To select a game you can either use the Wii Remote to move up and down the list or use the D-pad to scroll through the list. This is the same for both cover and list display styles – I recommend using the D-pad in the list display style as I find using the Wii Remote floaty and jumpy.
Pressing button (2) opens the WiiTDB information for the selected game. This window shows various information for that game such as age rating, supported controllers and game genre, while pressing (A) switches to another window with the description of the game. Using the D-pad to scroll left or right will bring up information for the previous or next game.
To play a game, simply select it from the list of games and press (A) while the selection is highlighted. If Quick Boot is turned on the game will load, otherwise the Game Options window will open and you will need to click the spinning disc to start it.
Interface
The main screen of USB Loader GX is divided into three sections.
- Toolbar – consisting of sorting, filtering, game display style toggling (list or cover scrolling), parental lock and disc launch buttons
- Game chooser – shows list of games and corresponding cover, or row of covers, depending on display style chosen
- Menu buttons – supplies access to other functions of the loader
- Disc install – installs the disc in the Wii to the currently selected device (SD or USB harddrive)
- Settings – opens the settings menu to configure the loader
- SD card – opens the contents of the SD card
- Homebrew launcher – opens the Homebrew Channel for access to other homebrew applications without having to exit USB Loader GX. This option also has a title launcher to run any Wii Channel without exiting to the main Wii dashboard.
- Wii – return to the main Wii dashboard
- Power – reset or power off the Wii
Settings
There are a lot of options in the Settings menu for configuring USB Loader GX. Most of these can be left as the default but there are several that I recommend you change or at least made aware of.
- GUI – here you can set the language, clock, and enable/disable various other display options
- Loader – sets the global options, most of which can be left as default.
- Quick Boot – if enabled, does not display the Game Options menu when selecting a game but instead just loads the game
- Return to – allows you to set a channel to load after you exit a game.
By default, when exiting a game you will be returned to the main Wii menu and will have to reload USB Loader GX. I recommend that you set this to the USB Loader GX forwarder channel (if you have it installed or the HBC if you don’t). - Hard drive – sets options for the hard drive such as parition selection, install directory, split game size and install options (I recommend you leaving as Game Only).
- Features – enable or disable different features of USB Loader GX, although these do not effect the functionality of it.
- GameTDB – names the game titles from a database. This ensures it is named correctly and saves editing.
- Messageboard Update – this writes back to the play log in the Wii Messageboard to display what games you have been playing and for how long, just like if the game was normally played.
- Wiinnertag – a service that displays a tag of games played, much like the XBOX360 gamertag. You need to sign up to this service and enter your details here for it to work.
- Parental Control – allows you to set a password and various access levels to pretty much most areas of the app. You can set what level of games can be played and place restrictions on individual menu options.
- Sound – set sound options. Nothing of interest or importance.
- Theme Menu – displays a grid of 4×4 thumbnails of available themes.
- Theme Downloader – shows a grid of 4×4 thumbnails of available themes to download. Selecting one with download it to the theme folder and enable it for selection in the Theme Menu.
- Custom paths – sets the folder for different elements of USB Loader GX such as coverart and cheats. I recommend you change some of these to point to a config folder outside of the default apps one, especially if you use multiple loaders as the elements can be shared.
- 3D / 2D / full / disc covers – individual paths for each cover type. I recommend these are changed to USB:\\Config\Covers\3D (or 2D or full or disc).
- Theme – USB Loader GX themes. These can be left in the default folder as they are specific to this app.
- GameTDB – Game title database file that by default is placed in the usbloadergx folder. I recommend this is changed to USB:\\Config\
- GCT / TXTCodes – Cheat code files that by default is placed in the root of the device. For tidiness, and file sharing between apps, I recommend these are changed to USB:\\Config\GCT (or txtcodes)
- DOL / BCA / WIP / WDM – various files that I recommend are moved to USB:\\Config\xxx
- Update – update everything including the USB Loader GX dol file to the latest release, or just the WiiTDB file.
- Credits – credits for the makers and contributors for USB Loader GX
Game Options
Selecting a game opens the Game Options which can be turned off by enabling the Quick Boot option in the Settings menu. The Game Options displays a spinning disc of the chosen game (complete with coverart if downloaded) and several more options.
- Star Rating – set by you to indicate your likeness for the game.
- Play count – shows how many times you have played the selected game.
- Details – opens the WiiTDB information for the game
- Game Settings
- Game Load – a menu of the same options found in Loader Settings allowng an override on a per disc basis
- Ocarina – enable cheats for the game. If none exists, an option for downloading will be displayed instead.
- Category – assign the game to a category. This is used for sorting and displaying the game list in the main interface.
- Extract Save – extracts the save of the game from the nand to the USB drive or SD card for use in nand emulation.
- Uninstall – options to uninstall the game, reset the play count, remove associated cover/disc art, or remove GCT/TXT cheat codes.
Final thoughts
When I first started using a USB loader, USB Loader GX was the first one I used and thought it was brilliant, but that was when it was something like v1.5 and support seemed to die out for it. However, since then support has picked back up and v2.3 has become a very strong usb loader app. There’s a lot going on that you may not neccessarily use or need, but that fact that the creators have thought about putting it in there does warrant kudos. The application works superbly and doesn’t seem to be overwhelming with the large selection of options and features – I particularly like the Homebrew Launcher and Title Launcher so you can load a different app or game without having to close back to the main Wii menu. Another good feature of USB Loader GX is that all options are accessible from within the app itself, negating the need to edit any config files on the drive or having to use a separate PC application to create them. They have also made it easy to reload USB Loader GX after exiting a game by making it an option in the settings – although why you would want to be able to choose a different app is a bit puzzling!
THUMBS UP!