Very mysterious Snes9xGx Wii glitch

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:05 pm

Okay, so I'm faced with a rather odd glitch when running Snes9xGx on the Wii. Well, before I got my 500GB USB hard drive, I ran everything off a 8 GB SDHC card and didn't so much as have any major issues. Then about a month ago, I decided to get a 500GB HDD to use with the Wii because one, they're cheaper than 32 or 64GB SDHC cards and two, the data transfer rate is a lot faster than SD.

Well, I put everything I had on the SD and more, including Snes9xGx. The program seems to crash at random. It will either freeze at the emulator menu, or right after I launch the application. I might get a code dump, or simply a black screen and no text at all, forcing a hard reboot. This shouldn't be happening, as this particular HDD brand/model is one of the more compatible drives used for Wii homebrew as a whole.

Just as an experiment, I used the SDHC card to see if Snes9xGx 4.2.8 would crash; Nope, ran it for an hour and there was no crash/code dumps at all. Ran the same program (both SD and HDD had fresh installs) and immediately upon loading the emulator crashes.

It can't be my HDD, as every other Wii homebrew program I use runs perfectly. And yes, I deleted the no_ios_reload from all the GX apps' XML files, as suggested here (GBA temp is another place I reported it to, but wasn't given any useful advice) http://gbatemp.net/t305588-snes9xgx-random-crash

HDD Info
Manufacturer: Western Digital
Model: My Passport
Capacity: 500GB
File System: FAT32 (highly recommended for homebrew)

Wii System Info - -
Menu Version: 4.3U/NTSC
HBC Version: 1.0.8
Snes9xGx: 4.2.8 (from Google Code)
IOS: 59/250
WiiConnect24: Off
Internet: Off
Priiloader and Bootmii installed

Programs I use that run fine -
WiiMC
CFG Loader (Wii backups run fine)
USB Loader GX (same as above)
GenplusGX
FceuGX
VbaGX

Also note that I personally spoke to dborth/tantric about this and he can't reproduce the error, claiming it's something he can't fix. Am I SOL as far as using a HDD for Snes9xGx or what? Any suggestions?

Code Dump for Snes9xGx

8034DBBC-->8035B0DC-->803E7FC-->800454DC

Camo_Yoshi · Post by **Camo_Yoshi** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:13 pm

You could run Snes9xGx from SD and then store and load roms from the HDD.

I don't have my Wii hacked so I wouldn't know.

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:35 pm

Camo_Yoshi wrote:You could run Snes9xGx from SD and then store and load roms from the HDD.

I don't have my Wii hacked so I wouldn't know.

Never thought of doing that. The only issue I notice is that if you place the SD card while the HDD is on (or before you load the HBC) is that the HBC loads all the programs on the SD and the ones for the HDD don't show up (the HBC boot order, maybe...?) Yeah, this is very baffling. HDDs are supposed to work with Snes9xGx. I know there's no perfect emulator, but I shouldn't have to use an SD card when an HDD is so much better for storing. I thought the wii doesn't like having an SD card and HDD used simultaneously.

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:14 pm

Anyone have any suggestions?

SparroHawc · Post by **SparroHawc** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:23 pm

All I can think of is trimming as many variables as possible. Grab the newest version of SNES9x GX, clear it off of your hard drive, take the 'clean' download and put it on the HDD, give that a try and see if it works better.

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:29 am

SparroHawc wrote:All I can think of is trimming as many variables as possible. Grab the newest version of SNES9x GX, clear it off of your hard drive, take the 'clean' download and put it on the HDD, give that a try and see if it works better.

Alright, I'll give that a try and hope it doesn't freak out. I hope it's not because I use a USB HDD or that this particular model/make simply doesn't like Snes9x. Can anyone else reproduce this error (i.e., try spamming the GX menu to open, close, open close over and over again).

The weird part is that other times, the controller just stops responding. It's on, but the menu can't be closed. Will report in a little while.

UPDATE 9:15 PM - Tested Snes9xGx, forced the load device to "USB" from the default "Auto", and made a clean install. Tested it for an hour and there were no issues. The default load device setting may have been the cause, but I'm not 100% sure. Will do more testing.

SparroHawc · Post by **SparroHawc** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:39 pm

Wow, it worked? I was totally expecting you to come back with 'Nope, it's still crashing'. :] Glad to hear it!

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:24 pm

SparroHawc wrote:Wow, it worked? I was totally expecting you to come back with 'Nope, it's still crashing'. :] Glad to hear it!

Still, I need to do some more testing to make sure it's not a fluke, but chances are, it's fixed. Why it cause this in the first place, I'll never know.

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:02 pm

*Sigh* Oy gevalt I'm having a rotten time. Just tired Snes9xGx once more and for thirty minutes, it ran just fine. I loaded Kirby's Dreamland 3 and when it showed the HAL Labs logo, it locked up. No black screen, no code dump. Nothing. Had to force reboot the Wii. WTF is wrong with me? Am I so doomed as to never use Snes9xGx from a HDD?

SparroHawc · Post by **SparroHawc** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:26 pm

Gremlins. Blame the gremlins. It's what I always do, and now look at me - I work in an IT department!

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:58 pm

Isn't there anyone on the forums, who has a hacked wii and a HDD to test this on? Are there any other options I can try and still be able to use the HDD? I posted on another forum but he suggested I load the emulator with the HDD and make saves on an SD card....I though the HBC had boot priority for whatever is inserted first.

Edit 4:04 PM - What I did to troubleshoot the issue:

- Deleting no_ios_reload from xml file and completely shut off both WiiConnect24 and the wireless internet connection in the wii settings

- Completely reinstalled Snes9xGx by deleting the directory and making a new one with a fresh google code download

- Forced the load/save device from "auto" to "USB"

- Loaded Snes9xGx from both the forwarder and HBC

- Informed dborth/Tantric about it and said he can't reproduce the error at all.

And yet, even after doing all of these troubleshooting steps, the emulator STILL crashes on me, albeit without a black screen this time.

Again, I didn't have this issue on an SDHC card, but on the HDD it freaks out, yet other GX-based emulators run fine off the HDD, so it can't just be the hard drive itself.

SparroHawc · Post by **SparroHawc** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:06 pm

I have a hacked Wii, but the HDD I have attached is formatted to the disc format needed to run copied games. (The disc drive died, so it's the only way I could still play Smash Bros. without having to unlock everything all over again.)

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:16 pm

SparroHawc wrote:I have a hacked Wii, but the HDD I have attached is formatted to the disc format needed to run copied games. (The disc drive died, so it's the only way I could still play Smash Bros. without having to unlock everything all over again.)

And you can run Snes9xGx without the issues I'm currently experiencing. I'm convinced this ain't normal. Any suggestions? I'm not exactly in a position to keep buying and trying USB HDDs. According to the massive USB device compatibility list on GBAtemp, this one (Western Digital/My Passport Essential Midnight Black 500GB) works with pretty much all Wii homebrew out there. http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/USB_Device ... List#500GB

Is there some way to load Snes9xGx with the HDD and have the emulator use the SDHC card to load all the ROMs and save files? The only issue I can see happening with doing that is when you load the HBC, the device load priority is strange, it's either the SDHC or HDD, even with both plugged in simultaneously. I'm at the end of my rope with this; Tantric really needs to reproduce this error and fix it.

SparroHawc · Post by **SparroHawc** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:14 am

the_randomizer wrote:And you can run Snes9xGx without the issues I'm currently experiencing.

I can, but I'm running it exclusively off the SD card.

It may be that SNES9x GX makes use of memory that the hard drive controller needs to hang on to, or something along those lines. If that's the case, you may be up a creek without a paddle.

It is strange that it works for others and not for you though. I admit I'm a bit stymied in regards to that.

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:25 am

Any suggestions? I made sure that the HDD sleep mode was disabled altogether, and is formatted to FAT32, which is the file system of choice for homebrew. Is is possible to have one device load it and the other one be used to load/save ROMs? And how would I find out if SNES9x GX makes use of memory that the hard drive controller needs?

SparroHawc · Post by **SparroHawc** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 3:34 pm

Finding memory conflicts is something only within the realm of Wii homebrew developers. There's a lot of specifics that go into that sort of thing. It may not be related at all, it's just a potential explanation.

Just to verify, with the load device forced to USB, does it still crash consistently, or does it at least take longer? Is it only on certain games? At certain times?

Have you recently tried using only the SD card, and verified that it doesn't crash?

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:31 pm

SparroHawc wrote:Finding memory conflicts is something only within the realm of Wii homebrew developers. There's a lot of specifics that go into that sort of thing. It may not be related at all, it's just a potential explanation.

Just to verify, with the load device forced to USB, does it still crash consistently, or does it at least take longer? Is it only on certain games? At certain times?

Have you recently tried using only the SD card, and verified that it doesn't crash?

Switching to "USB" only prolongs the crash, but it doesn't happen immediately when booting up. Random results, black screen with or without DSI exception code, lockup in the popup menu (pressing "Home"), controller light on/off (no cursor), or simply the game itself locking up. The crashes I get typically end up being one of these. The times it crashes vary between ten minutes to an hour.

I really need someone to test this emulator on their USB hard drive.

the_randomizer · Post by **the_randomizer** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:34 am

UPDATE 8:34PM

Yep. As I thought, not ONCE did Snes9xGx crash on the SD card, nor did FceuGX. Sheesh.

Tantric · Post by **Tantric** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:37 am

What IOS is HBC running on? It should be 58. If not you will need to fix that.

SparroHawc · Post by **SparroHawc** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:09 pm

58, not 59? (OP states he's running 59)