Friday 25 June 2010

How to Manage WBFS Partitions in Ubuntu Linux

A previous post of mine, How To Play Nintendo Wii Games from a USB HD, deals only with the Windows OS.  Suppose you'd like to load Wii games from a USB HD, but you're using, say, Ubuntu Linux?  Well then you would need an alternative WBFS partition manager.

Enter Wiithon.

Wiithon is python-based GUI linux application for managing WBFS partitions.  It's clean, simple to use, and even supports remote updates of game info, pictures, etc.  If your external HD doesn't already have a WBFS partition, Wiithon can create one.  The application can even copy wii games from one partition to another...

The current stable version is 1.1 and I believe development might be at a standstill (the latest repo is Karmic), but it works great on Lucid.  To install, simply run the following commands from Terminal:

grep "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/wii.sceners.linux/wiithon-1.1/ubuntu karmic main" /etc/apt/sources.list || echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/wii.sceners.linux/wiithon-1.1/ubuntu karmic main | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 1F882273 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wiithon && sudo gpasswd -a $USER disk

This will add the Wiithon repository to your /etc/apt/source.list, and download and install the program.  Once installed, you can launch from the Applications > Games > Wiithon menu, but you must be in sudo mode to do so!




If you'd like to give the current user permission to launch (recommended), simply run

sudo gpasswd -a $USER disk

You can now launch Wiithon from the Applications menu using your current user profile!

Tuesday 22 June 2010

How to Convert MTS to AVI in Linux

I played in an Ultimate tournament yesterday and thought it would be great to take some team video and create a highlights/bloopers reel.  However, this requires some editing on the computer and I was filming with my Sony HDR-SR10, which records in full HD 1080 AVCHD.  This results in an bunch of .MTS files on your computer, and though some media players will play these files, they video quality is chopping and full of weird horizontal lines.

Clearly these video files must be converted to a more workable format....

I've tried many different scripts and packages, including m2tstoavi and handbrake without success.  After some fiddling, it seems that the best option is a customised ffmpeg.  Here's how it worked for me:

1. Download the Necessary Packages

sudo apt-get install build-essential libxvidcore4-dev libfaad-dev libfaac-dev libmp3lame-dev subversion


2. Grab Most Recent FFMPEG

svn checkout svn://svn.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg/trunk ffmpeg


3. Compile the Source Code

cd ffmpeg
./configure --enable-gpl --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libxvid --enable-libfaac --enable-nonfree
make
sudo make install

This will probably take a little while...


4. Configure FFMPEG to Your Camera

Run ffmpeg and pass it one of your .MTS video files to the program.  This will allow you to see some basic info about the video/audio formats your camera uses.  Then, tailor ffmpeg to your camera (assuming you only have one of these super-hd video cameras).  I'm using a sample video called 00451.MTS.

ffmpeg -i 00451.MTS

The important output will be near the bottom:

Input #0, mpegts, from '00451.MTS':
  Duration: 00:00:24.54, start: 1.000033, bitrate: 5510 kb/s
  Program 1
    Stream #0.0[0x1011]: Video: h264, yuv420p, 1440x1080 [PAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], 59.96 fps, 59.94 tbr, 90k tbn, 59.94 tbc
    Stream #0.1[0x1100]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16, 448 kb/s
    Stream #0.2[0x1200]: Subtitle: pgssub

There are 3 streams: video, audio, and subtitle.  I'm not sure what subtitle is, but let's ignore it for now.  Video is in 1440x1080 resolution, pixel aspect ratio is 4:3, display aspect ratio is 16:9, and 59.96 frames per second, at 5510 kb/s.  Audio is in ac3 at 448 kb/s.

5. Use FFMPEG

Now ffmpeg can be used to convert video.  If you only have one or two files to convert, simply navigate to the proper directory, and enter the following comand in your terminal:

ffmpeg -i InputFile.MTS -vcodec libxvid -b 18000k -acodec libmp3lame -ac 2 -ab 320k -deinterlace -s 1440x1080 OutputFile.AVI


But if you have many files you may want to use a batch conversion script.  Create a gedit file in your favourite scripts directory... /usr/share/myscripts will do fine.  Save the following text file to the directory:

#!/bin/bash
for a in `ls *.MTS` ; do ffmpeg -i $a -vcodec libxvid -b 18000k -acodec libmp3lame -ac 2 -ab 320k -deinterlace -s 1440x1080 `echo "$a" | cut -d'.' -f1`.avi ; done
exit

Call it ConvertMTS or something.  When run, this script will convert any .MTS files in the current directory to .AVI and save the new files in the same directory.   To use the script, navigate to your MTS folder in terminal:

bash /usr/share/myscripts/ConvertMTS

.... Sit back and wait :-)

Thursday 17 June 2010

How to Play DVDs in Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu linux comes ready to do many things out of the box, but DVD playback isn't one of them.  However, it's quite easy to enable this feature by following the steps below.

To play DVDs in a movie player like VLC or Totem Movie Player (Ubuntu default) you require a package called libdvdcss2.  You can't get this package directly from the repositories, probably for legal reasons, but it can be downloaded via the libdvdread4 package.

sudo apt-get install libdvdread4

Now run the libdvdcss2 install script:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

This is all you need to play DVDs....Just open via Totem, VLC, or your favourite movie player.  I had to restart the system before it would take effect.

Monday 14 June 2010

Guayadeque: Great Linux Music Player

Yeah, we all know about Rhythmbox, Banshee, Exaile and Amarok... some may even be familiar with Helix, MPlayer, and VLC as music players.  None of them quite had what I was looking for in a music player.  In fact, I've been on a mini-quest for a good gnome music player for some time now.  I believe that quest has ended with Guayadeque.

Guayadeque is a simple, well-organised GUI music player for gnome.  It's performs well with large libraries (30,000+ files) and satisfies all my music playing criteria.  Anonbeat, the developer of Guayadeque, is a Gran Canaria native and I believe the project is named for a nature reserve valley on the island.  Features include:

  • Support for mp3, flac, ogg, wma, aac and other common formats
  • Auto-lyrics pull from lyricwiki.org or 5 or 6 other sites
  • AudioScrobble compatibility (last.fm and/or libre.fm)
  • Internet radio station support (e.g. Shoutcast)
  • Static/Dynamic playlist
  • Custom label support (in addition to normal tags)
  • Musicbrainz tags
  •  Smart Playlist mode (suggests music based on your style)
  • Minimize to tray/song change alert
  • Automatic album art cover fetching
  • Search functionality
  • Overall easy-to-use gui

You can see more screenshots of Guayadeque here.


Installing Guayadeque

You can install the stable .deb installer package from the Guayadeque homepage (v0.2.5), but there are a few cool features that only exist in the 0.2.6 builds.  To install...

Add the Guayadeque repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:anonbeat/guayadeque
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install guayadeque-svn

Launch from Applications > Sound & Video > Guayadeque!  You can update to new builds using:

cd guayadeque
svn update
sudo make install

Happy listening!

Thursday 10 June 2010

How To Install Java (JRE) in Ubuntu Linux

Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by Sun.  Java is used by a large number of websites and you will likely require it for an optimal web browsing experience.  Ubuntu doesn't come with Java, but it is incredibly easy to install (note: make sure you have previously enabled the multiverse repository).


A quick search for "sun-java" in Synaptic Package Manager results in the following main packages:

  • sun-java6-bin
  • sun-java6-demo
  • sun-java6-fonts
  • sun-java6-javadb
  • sun-java6-jdk
  • sun-java6-jre
  • sun-java6-plugin
  • sun-java6-source
 If you only require java for your internet experience (99% of users), you only require sun-java6-fontssun-java6-jre, and sun-java6-plugin.  Mark the packages for installation via Synaptic Package Manager or install via terminal:

sudo apt-get install sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin

After going through the install prompts, you may verify the install via terminal with the command:

java -version

You should see output that looks something like this:

java version "1.6.0_20"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_20-b02)
Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 16.3-b01, mixed mode)

Lastly, you can check that java is working in your favourite internet browser by visiting this test page.  You have now successfully installed java in Ubuntu!

How to Enable Multiverse Repository in Ubuntu

Ubuntu comes by default with Multiverse repositories installed by not enabled.  There are many useful packages in multiverse that won't appear unless you enable the repository.  What is multiverse?  It's basically a repository of software packages not supported by ubuntu proper.  This includes non-free and restricted-use packages.  Don't let that scare you.  For the most part, it just means that you may be using some closed-sourced software.  Many of this software is quite common (e.g. Java).


You can enable this repository simply by selecting the multiverse checkbox under System > Administration  > Software Sources.  You might also want to check universe and restricted while you're in there.  This can also be accomplished via terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list  (backup first if squeamish)

The # or ## character(s) represent a line that's commented out.  Removing these characters from the beginning of a line will make it live.  Simply find the lines beginning with deb and ending in multiverse and remove the #


sudo apt-get update
Finish off with an update, and you're finished!  Multiverse is now enabled.

How to Make Ubuntu Linux Look Like Windows 7

This post will show you how to modify your Ubuntu linux OS to look like Windows 7.

After displaying some pretty annoying warning messages for the last 3 months, my wife's Win7 eval copy has finally expired.  Now, I'm not spending $100 to upgrade to a new win7 system... apart from the fact that I don't like win7, it's definitely not a necessity when most time on the computer is spent in a browser or word processor.

Enter Ubuntu.  v10.04 (Lucid Lynx) is the most current and easiest-to-use distribution of linux yet.  If you're not yet on the Linux wagon take a look at this post.  But what if you don't want to learn a new operating system?  Or if you've gotten used to the look and feel of Windows?  No problem.  Among ubuntu's many benefits is its ability to customise its appearance - even to the likes of Windows7.



Step 1: Put Your Best Foot Forward

Make sure that your system is fully updated and that you are able to run normal Visual Effects.  You can do this by running:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

You can confirm that you are running normal Visual Effects by right-clicking anywhere on the desktop, selecting Change Desktop Background, selecting the Visual Effects tab and selecting Normal.




Step 2: Install Emerald

Emerald is a handy tool that allows you to install non-standard themes in Ubuntu.  We'll use Emerald to install the Windows7 theme.  Install emerald & libemeraldengine0 via Synaptic Package Manager or terminal:

sudo apt-get install emerald libemeraldengine0

You should now be able to access Emerald via System > Preferences > Emerald Theme Manager or via terminal:


from this link and save to a temp directory.  Run Emerald Theme Manager and load your newly downloaded theme by clicking in the Import button and navigating to the theme file in temp directory.  The theme details and imagery should now be seen in Emerald.  Close Emerald and open a window, say nautilus... you should see changes.  If there are no changes, hit Run Application (alt + F2 by default) and type:

emerald --replace

You should now see new Win7-like windows with transparent borders (as in first image in this post).  If you had to do this, chances are you'll need to do it each time you start your system.  To keep yourself from going insane, add the command to your startup procedure.  Go to System > Preferences > Startup Applications and add the above command.



You can also grab the default Windows 7 desktop wallpaper from below if you so desire (click to open).




Step 3: Install GnoMenu

The Windows Start menu doesn't exist in Ubuntu, but the gnomenu package does a pretty good job of replicating it.  Obviously it's not 100% the same.... probably not even 80% the same but I think it's good enough.

Install the gnomenu dependencies via terminal:

sudo apt-get install python python-xdg python-cairo python-gconf python-xlib deskbar-applet

Download the gnomenu .deb installer from this link and install with Package Installer.  After installation, simply add the menu to your bottom panel by right-clicking a free space on the bottom panel > Add to Panel > GnoMenu.  Note: If GnoMenu does not show up in this list you may need a quick restart.



Step 4: Some Visual Housekeeping

Now, of course you're free to keep your panels and menus however you desire.  But to adopt a truly Windows look and feel a few changes must be made.

Get rid of your top panel altogether by clicking on free space and selecting Delete This Panel.  Remove everything you no longer want on your lower panel (in my case I got rid of everything except GnoMenu, a couple launch icons, the Window List and the Time/Date).

Right-click on the bottom panel, select Properties and change the size to 38 and the background to "solid."  You can also add Window Selector to replace Window List, but this is a matter of personal preference.

Right-click on GnoMenu and select Properties.  Play around with the settings until you get a look and feel that works for you.  I recommend XP for Button Selection and Vista for Menu & Icon Selection. I also made the Windows icon (Super L) as the menu launch button on the Preferences tab.


Lastly, add the Computer, Home and Trash icons to the desktop.  In terminal, run:

gconf-editor


Check computer_icon_visible, home_icon_visible, and trash_icon_visible in the apps > nautilus > desktop key.  You should now see all three icons on your desktop.

Whew -- that's it.  As with any customisation, you may need to play around a little bit to make it work for you.  But you should now have a desktop that looks like this:



Note:  I found a particularly good set of Win7 icons that you can download from this link (password: justplainobvious.  You can use these items with any theme by customising the theme under Appearance Preferences. 

Wednesday 9 June 2010

How to Add a Code Box in Blogger

This has been nagging at me for some time... why, oh why, does Blogger not have a code box built into the editing interface???   In the past I've used adjustable text boxes and other weird presentation formats to simulate code boxes but they are lengthy and cumbersome.  Here's how to create an easy-to-use, stylish code box for your blogger articles.

From your Blogger account, click Layout in the top menubar and select Edit HTML on the resulting page. You may want to save a copy of this template if you have previously modified it in any way.  Find the text ]]></b:skin> and add the following code immediately before it

.code {color: #006AB0; border : 1px solid #DADADA;padding : 5px 5px;font-family : Consolas, "Courier New", Courier, mono, serif;font-size : 12px;background-color : #fAfAfA; width : 90%;overflow : auto;margin : 10px 0 10px 10px; border-left : 20px solid #DADADA;max-height : 500px;min-height : 16px;line-height : 16px;}
.code:hover {background-color : #f3f3f3;
Make sure you added this code BEFORE the red text above.  Save your template.

Now you're finished!  To create a code box in a Blogger post, just insert your "code" like so:
<div class="code">
INSERT CODE HERE
</div>

Note that the code box shown above is not my design, but was taken from Bariski.

Thursday 28 January 2010

How to Play Nintendo Wii Games from a USB HD

This guide will show you how to play wii games from an external USB HD.  Note that for this to work, you will need to have Hacked Your Wii to Play Burnt Games.

You will need:
  • Hacked Nintedo Wii with Softmod (guide here)
  • SD card or USB stick with Homebrew Apps (same guide as above)
  • Computer with Windows XP/Vista/7 and SD card reader or USB slot
  • External hd (with own power supply)

Step 1: Partition the USB HD

The Wii can't read games from a normal FAT, FAT32, or NTFS drive.  It needs an active drive formatted via WBFS.

1a - Select an external USB hd.  You will lose all data on the hd during the format, so make sure that everything is backed up beforehand.  Also, you may need to use a hd with an external  power supply, though I'm not 100% sure.... I originally started with a 500GB Western Digital My Passport Essential, but the Wii wouldn't detect it properly.  I switched to a cheap, generic 250 GB white box type with an external power supply and it worked fine.


1b - Connect your hd to an XP/Vista/7 computer and load Disk Management.  You can do this in XP by right-clicking on My Computer, and selecting Manage > Storage > Disk Management, and on Vista/7 by going to Control Panels > Administrative Tools > Computer Manager > Disk.


1c - Right click on the external hd and delete all partitions/the entire volume.   Then, right click on the empty volume below and create a new partition.  Make it a Primary partition and assign a letter to the drive (like Z:/) and do not format.  When choosing the size of the partition, remember that wii games will be between 0.5 GB and 6GB depending on the game.  You may also want to leave some space for a FAT/32 or NTFS partition on the drive, since windows will not be able to recognise the WBFS partition after formatting.  The above image shows an initial WBFS partition of 230 GB with a FAT partition of 3.4 GB on Disk 1 (external hd).

1d - Right click on the new partition, mark as active, and close Disk Manager.  


Step 2: Format USB HD & Copy Games 

2a - In order to complete this step, you will need WBFS Manager and .NET Framework on your computer. You probably already have .NET Framework from a Windows Update, but if not you can download it here. Next, download this package (password: justplainobvious), which contains WBFS Manager 3.0 and USB Loader GX 1.0.  Install WBFS Manager to your PC, and keep USB Loader GX for later.


2b - Run WBFS Manager from the Start Menu or Desktop, and select your new external drive letter in the top left hand corner (you may need to press Refresh once or twice).  Click Format and allow WBFS Manager to format the external hd.


2c - Once finished formatting, you can copy any ISO files from your local hd to the external drive by clicking Browse in the right windows of WBFS Manager.  Click the Add button to copy the selected ISO, and repeat this step for multiple files.   Note that WBFS Manager filters out junk material on the CD, so your game will probably be a lot smaller on the external hd than the 4.37 GB on your local hd.  Once finished copying, remove the ISOs from the right hand window by clicking Remove From List.


2d - Note that you cannot rip ISO files from a Wii disc on your computer like you would a normal dvd/cd.  There are only a handful of LG dvd-rom drives that can read wii discs and if you don't have this drive you're out of luck.  However, you can rip wii games directly to your external hd from the wii itself!  Just load up USB Loader GX (see below), and press the + button to copy.


Step 3: Play USB HD Games on Your Wii

3a - Start off by inserting your USB key or SD card into the PC and copying the USB Loader GX folder into the /apps/ directory.  If you don't have an /apps/ directory, see this guide.  (Note: I'm no longer recommending USB Loader GX and am now using NeoGamma) Boot up your Wii and insert the USB key or SD card into the slot (Note: if using a USB key, you must insert it into the top-most/right-most slot and must not plug in the external hd yet).  Load the Homebrew Channel (if you don't have the Homebrew Channel, again, see this guide).

3b - Once your Homebrew Channel has loaded, plug in the external hd to the left-most/bottom-most USB slot.  Run USB Loader GX (Note: or NeoGamma) and simply select your game from the menu!  You should download and run games from your coding region (i.e. NTSC for North America and PAL for Europe/Asia), but you should be able to run any region game using the Force option.  Just Force to your region (I haven't tested this).


Done.  You're all set !!

Tuesday 26 January 2010

How to Hack Your Nintendo Wii to Play Burnt Games (homebrew)

This guide will show you how to:
  1. Install the Homebrew channel on your Wii
  2. Hack your IOS packages
  3. Load & Play Burnt discs
You will need:
  1. Nintedo wii
  2. SD card
  3. Computer with SD card reader
  4. Internet connection for wii and computer
  5. DVD burner (optional - only to burn games)....and if so, blank DVDs.

Preface -- Read This!!!

The Wii is a beautiful little piece of hardware, and with a little modification, is capable of doing much, much more than when purchased off the shelf.  Some important points before we begin:

1- Read every part of this guide.  Each point is important.

2 - I did not invent this method of hacking the wii.  There are numerous guides online; some very similar to the text below.  This guide is my modified version of ShadowSonic2's Softmod for ANY 4.2 Wii! guide found on www.wiihacks.com.  Full credit goes to ShadowSonic2 for many of the steps... I've just made it more user friendly.

3 - This guide works for consoles on system 4.2.  It is not recommended that you upgrade your console if currently on a system lower than 4.2.  In that case, see Dogegg's guide for systems 3.1 to 4.1 (untested).  If you are unsure what system your console is running, see this short guide on How to Determine Your Wii's System.

4 - Illegally gained wii games are illegal.  I do not condone the use of this guide for such activity.  Downloading wii games that you have not purchased may be illegal in your country.  However, it is perfectly legal to burn a copy of your legally purchased games.

5 - I have tested this guide on my wii, running system 4.2u, with no hardware mods, serial no.LU5163xxxx  and received positive results.

6 - This is a softmod, meaning that there is no need to open up your wii and change any hardware.  It is relatively safe and shouldn't void your warranty.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED TO YOUR CONSOLE.  ATTEMPTING THESE MODIFICATIONS COULD TURN YOUR WII INTO A BRICK!


Step 1: Install the Homebrew Channel

1a - Get an SD card and a computer that can read it.  MMC cards will not work and neither will USB keys, but a MicroSD + adapter will.  Format the SD card to FAT32 or FAT/FAT16 via the Windows menu (right-click) or by using the free SD Formatter tool.

1b - Download this archive (password is justplainobvious) and unpack using either WinRAR (free trial) or 7Zip (free to keep).  Copy the entire contents of the archvie to your newly formatted SD card.  The root of the SD card should look like:

X:\apps\
X:\00000001
X:\wad
X:\private\
X:\boot.elf
X:\IOS38-64-v3610.wad


1c - Remove all wii discs, gamecube controllers, and other memory cards.

1d - Power on the wii and in the main menu, click the SD card icon on the lower left-hand corner.


1e - Insert the SD card into the wii.  Accept the loading of boot.dol/elf from the card (if the pop-up doesn't appear, you may need to navigate load boot.dol/elf manually via Data Management > Channels > SD Card).



1f - Accept the warning, and proceed to the installer options (Note: it may take some time for the hackmii installer to continue....be patient, it's working).


1g - After continuing, you will have the option of installing 3 packages: The Homebrew Channel, DVDX and BootMii.  You must install the first two, and may need to install BootMii (many guides recommend installing BootMii, but I never did and everything worked for me).  After these installs are finished, you will see a new channel in your main menu: The Homebrew Channel.   This channel will allow you to launch homemade and internet-downloaded applications, which will launch from the \apps\ folder on a USB key or SD card.

1h -  As an aside, you can get applications for the Homebrew Channel on the web or by using the homebrew browser (password: justplainobvious).  If you're using the browser, try both downloads.  v0.3.3 worked fine on both a USB key and an SD card but v0.2.3 only worked from the SD card.  NOTE THAT ANY APPLICATIONS YOU LAUNCH VIA HOMEBREW CHANNEL MAY BE MALICIOUS!)


Step 2: Hack Your IOS Packages


2a - Ensure that your SD card is still in the wii.  From the wii main menu, select the Homebrew Channel and open the DOP-IOS MOD application.


At the welcome screen, press A on the wii remote to continue.... on the next screen press down and then A to select "Install an IOS that accepts fakesigning."  Load IOS36 (press A) and on the next menu select "Downgrade to IOS 15."  When asked where to get the files from (SD Card, etc.) always select "Download from NUS."  (Note: you will need a working internet connection to the wii in order to do this.  If it doesn't work, make sure your internet works by launching the Internet Channel or the Homebrew browser.)  After finishing the install (with no errors) exit to the Homebrew Channel main menu.



2b - Run DOP-IOS MOD again:
  • Install an IOS that accepts fake signing
  • Load IOS15 by pressing the left arrow
  • Choose "IOS36 menu"
  • Install the patched IOS36 with the following configuration:

    • Install IOS to slot (36)
    • Hash Check (trucha):  Yes
    • ED_Identify:    Yes
    • NAND Permissions:   Yes
  • Press A to install, and choose "Download from NUS"
  • Exit to Homebrew Channel main menu

2c - Run DOP-IOS MOD again:
  • Install an IOS that accepts fake signing
  • Press B for "No IOS Reload"
  • Select "Restore IOS15"
  • Keep selecting "Download from NUS"
  • Once finished, exit to the Homebrew Channel main menu
2d - From the Homebrew Channel, run "Any Title Deleter DB."  You may get some errors on start, but that's fine... just press A.  Press the RIGHT button to get to the Titles menu and select "System Titles."

2e - Navigate to IOS222 and press A to delete.  Once deleted, do the same thing (i.e. delete) for IOS223, IOS249, and IOS250.  Press HOME to exit to the Homebrew Channel main menu.


2f - From the Homebrew Channel, run cIOS38-rev14 Installer.  You'll hear some rockin' music...but don't let that distract you from the task at hand!  Navigate to IOS36 by pressing the LEFT button.  Press A and select "Network Install."  (you may be able to do a WAD install from the SD card if you don't have a network connection....but I haven't tried.  Once installed, exit to the Homebrew Channel.



2g - Run DOP-IOS MOD from the Homebrew Channel.  This time, don't select the fakesigning... Load IOS36 (or IOS249 may work), press A to continue, and select the "IOS" option in the menu. Use the RIGHT button to navigate to IOS53 and Press A to dop (say Yes to Sig Hash Check (trucha bug)).  Repeat procedure for IOS55.  Once both have been done, exit to Homebrew Channel.

2h - From the Homebrew Channel, run WAD Manager (there may not be any image for this application).  Press A to agree, and A again to load IOS 249.  Navigate to the WAD folder (it's probably already there) and select IOS60patched.wad.  Ensure that the action is set to INSTALL,  NOT UNINSTALL, and go for it.  Once done, press HOME to exit to the Homebrew Channel.  Repeat for IOS70patched.wad.


2i - From the Homebrew Channel, run WAD Manager.  Use the IOS 249 and SD Card default settings, and browse for cIOS202[38+60].wad.  Press A to install, and repeat for cIOS222[38].wad and cIOS[38+37].wad

2j - Go to this site and copy the code for your box under the Ready-Made Hack.inis.  In my case, it is USA 4.2 (below). Copy this code (or your code from the site) to notepad, and save as "hacks.ini" on the root folder of your SD Card.
[Disable HAXX,DVDX,RZDx Checks]
version=481
offset=0x813345A0
value=0x60000000
[Block Disc Updates]
version=481
offset=0x8137F5BC,0x8137F5C0,0x8137F564,0x8137F568,0x8137F4BC,0x8137F4C0
value=0x60000000,0x60000000,0x60000000,0x60000000,0x60000000,0x60000000
[Block Online Updates]
version=481
offset=0x8168FDB0
value=0x6E756C6C
[Remove NoCopy Save File Protection]
version=481
offset=0x813C55EC,0x813C55F0,0x8134E260,0x815C2624,0x81353F5C,0x8134E270,0x8134E274,0x8134E278,0x8134E27C
value=0x7C000000,0x4182001C,0x7C000000,0x38600001,0x3BE00000,0x801C0024,0x5400003C,0x901C0024,0x48000018
[Move Disc Channel]
version=481
offset=0x813AFC00
value=0x60000000
[No System Menu Background Music]
version=481
offset=0x8136B224
value=0x4E800020
[No System Menu Sounds at all]
version=481
offset=0x8136B1F8
value=0x4E800020
[No System Menu Sounds (Channel BGM)]
version=481
offset=0x8136B270
value=0x4E800020
[Recovery Mode (D-Pad Up 4th GC)]
version=481
offset=0x8137ACCC,0x81379900
value=0x2C000008,0x60000000
[Force Standard Recovery Mode]
version=481
offset=0x8137ACB4
value=0x48000020
[Remove Diagnostic Disc Check]
version=481
offset=0x81379900
value=0x60000000
[Auto-Press A at Health Screen]
version=481
offset=0x813BD524
value=0x48000034
[Replace Health Screen with Backmenu]
version=481
offset=0x81656FF4
value=0x81409C9C
[Force Disc Games to run under IOS249]
version=481
offset=0x8137BD7C,0x8137BD80
value=0x3B200001,0x3B0000F9
[Region Free Wii Games]
version=481
offset=0x8137DBE8,0x8137DBC8,0x8137D904,0x8137FC84,0x8137E43C
value=0x4800001C,0x38000001,0x38000001,0x38600001,0x60000000
[Region Free GC Games (No VM Patch)]
version=481
offset=0x8137D90C,0x8137D910
value=0x900DA5D8,0x38000032
[Region Free Channels]
version=481
offset=0x8152DA88,0x81530F34,0x8152DF70,0x813B68AC
value=0x60000000,0x4E800020,0x38000001,0x48000028
[Lock out System Menu with Black Screen]
version=481
offset=0x8137ACDC
value=0x60000000

2k - From the Homebrew Channel, run Priiloader v0.3 or v0.2 (it might not have an launcher image in the menu either).    Press + to install.  Theoretically, the wii should reboot into Priiloader after this install (I received an error during this install process and, after waiting a minute or two for good measure, just hard rebooted my wii and continued to Step 3).  However, if this worked for you:
  • Priiloader should load automatically after the installation
  • Go to System Menu Hacks and enable "Skip Disc update Checking" and any other desired hacks
  • Click "Save Settings" and press B to return to the main menu
  • Go to Settings and set Autoboot: System Menu
  • Click "Save Settings" and press B to return to the main menu

Step 3: Load & Play Burnt Discs

3a - Now that the wii can recognise the discs, you need some software to actually load them. From the Homebrew Channel, load the WAD Manager.  Navigate to Neogamma_r8b7.wad and press A to install the package.  Make sure you give it time to load, with no errors.  Do the same for USB_Loader_GX_r815.wad.  Neogamma will load burnt discs and USB Loader will load digital files (discs via a USB harddrive). (Note: Actually, NeoGamma will do both these and more and I now use it exclusively)

3b - You are now set up to play burnt discs.  Simply insert the disc into the wii and launch Neogamma from the Homebrew Channel.  You should be able to play both NTSC and PAL discs from any wii region.... however, I haven't tried any PAL discs yet (my wii is NTSC).


3c - For more discs, you can copy your wii games via your optical DVD drive on your computer, or can download copies from a variety of websites (e.g. www.wiiiso.com).  A full iso file should be exactly 4.37 GB (4,699,979,776 bytes), however, a download might be archived, thereby smaller.  Once downloaded, simply burn the iso file using an application like ImgBurn (free).  Note: most of the guides I've read mandate the use of super high quality DVD-Rs, burned at a max rate of 4x.  However, the first disc I tried was an inexpensive DVD+R, burned at max speed and it worked fine.

That's it -- enjoy!

How to Determine Your Wii's System

This short guide will show you how to determine what operating system your Nintendo Wii is currently running.  This information is very important if you plan to perform any modifications, because the steps for modifying will be different depending on the system.

After powering on you wii, select the "wii" button in the bottom left hand corner of the main menu screen.  This will take you to the Data Management/ Settings page.



Select Settings, and on the next page you will be able to see you system version in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  As seen below, my wii is running 4.2u.



What can you do with this data?  Well you can hack your nintedo wii to play burnt games, for starters.

Monday 11 January 2010

How to Sync Cellphone Gmail Contacts for Free

Easy process for syncing Gmail/Google contacts to your cellphone for free! Worked on my Nokia e51 (and should work with any Symbian phone)

http://thesymbianblog.com/2009/02/10/how-to-sync-your-mobile-contacts-with-your-google-account-for-free/

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