Talk:Homebrew Browser

Title	Directory
Another Rock Paper Scissors Game	RockPaperScissors_v02
AtaWii	AtaWii
Ballion	ballion
Barrage	barrage
Bichejos	bichejos
Box2D Balls	Box2DBalls
Briicks	Briicks
Bubble Dizzy	bdizzy
BuscaWiinas	buscawiinas
CharioMan	CharioMan
Chess	chess
DragonMedia Player	dmp
DrawingBox	DrawingBox
Duck Hunt	duck_hunt
DVDx Installer	dvdinst
ExistenzE	ExistenzE
FCE Ultra Wii	fceu
FCEU (aksommerville)	fceu_aksommerville
FCEU (Suloku)	fceu_suloku
FCEU (Tantric)	fceu_tantric
FCEU (Vicious1988)	fceu_vicious1988
Freecell	freecellwii
ftpii	ftpii
FUSE	fuse
Gamecube Saver	Sd2gc
GCBooter	GCBooter
Genesis Plus	genplusgx
Gravity	gravity
Guitar Fun	guitarfun
Headtracking Demo	Headtracking
HiivelyPlay	HiivelyPlay
Hugo-wii	hugo-gx
Jewel Quest	JQuest
Jumpnbump	jumpnbump
Kobo Deluxe	kobodl
MadQuiz	MadQuiz
MahJongg Wii	mahjongg
Map Maker	mapmaker
MAsteroids	masteroids
Matching Cards	matching_cards
Metronome	metronome
Mii Extractor	mii-extractor
Mii Installer	mii-installer
Minesweeper	mine_sweeper
MiniMP3 Player	MiniMP3Player
Missile Command	missilecommand
MPlayer	mplayer
MPlayerWii	MPlayerWii
MTP	mtp
Neopop Wii	neopop
NuGaSa	NuGaSa
Ocarina Wii Cheating application	ocarina
OpenTyrianWii	opentyrian-Wii
Pacman (emulator)	pacman
PlanetHively	PlanetHively
PONG	PONG
Quake	quake
RayTracer	RayTracer
Rock Paper Scissors	RockPaperScissors
SameGame	SameGame
Save Extractor	save-extractor
Save Installer	save-installer
Scogger	scogger
ScummVM	scummvm
SD Explorer	sdexplorer
Simon	simon
SMSPlus	smsplus
Snake2	snake
Snes9X Wii	snes
Snes9X (Falco)	snes9x_falco
Snes9X (LoPsT)	snes9x_lopst
Snes9X (Michniewski)	snes9x_michniewski
Snes9X (Robert)	snes9x_robert
Snes9X (vicious1988)	snes9x_vicious1988
Snes9X (Yoysothoth)	snes9x_yoysothoth
SpaceShooter	SpaceShooter
steroids	asteroids
Sudoku 2	wiisudoku2
Sudoku	sudoku
Tanks	Tanks
TicTacToe	TicTacToe
Tetris	Tetris
Touhou Fangame	Touhou
Trojan Wii	TrojanWii
txt-read	txt-read
Visual Boy Advance	vbawii
Wii MFE Port	mfe-wii
Wii Web Server	wiiwebserver
Wii-Tac-Toe	Wii-Tac-Toe
Wii64	wii64
Wii Breakout	breakout
WiiBServer	wiibsrvr
WiiDoom	WiiDoom
WiiEngine	wiiengine
Wiihttpd	wiihttpd
wiilight	wiilight
WiiMotionDemo	WiimoteDemo
WiiMPC	wiimpc
WiiOperation	operation
WiiPaint	WiiPaint
WiiPhysics	WiiPhysics
WiiPoker	WiiPoker
Wiiship	wiiship
Wii Shooting Gallery	WiiShootingGallery
Wii Solitaire	wiisolitaire
Wiitube	wiitube
WiiWhiteboard	wiiwhiteboard
Yabause Wii	yabause
Yabause (Ac_K)	yabause_ac_k

Questions

Important Question!

Does the DVD-X Installer download come with PatchMii so it can install the patchmii version for modchip users? or is patchmii a seperate app you have to install altogether?

PatchMii is a separate application for modchip users which can be found here: http://hackmii.com/2008/08/libdi-and-the-dvdx-installer/ --Teknecal 08:46, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

LAN adapter support

Does HBB support the use of a LAN adapter? If so: do downloads get any faster compared to WLAN? delirium83 15:03, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Suggestions/Comments

Speed

Right now the downloads are fairly slow. I don't know if this is a limitation of the Wii or of your servers, but either way it would be nice if you could still browse the homebrew and queue things for download while something is downloading. If things were queued it would be nice if there was a separate download section.

In fact, a whole "installed programs" section would be nice, it would make it easier to see what needs to be updated.--Hamelin 01:13, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Stats

Awesome App! But i think maybe you should add some stats (most downloaded) to get some competition going in Homebrew Development :)—Preceding unsigned comment added by Mjbauer95 (talk • contribs) 07:37, 30 June 2008 (CEST)

Statistics sound good. Where should these statistics be available? Should it be in HBB or just on a webpage? --Teknecal 18:52, 3 July 2008 (CEST)

I was thinking more in the HB --Mjbauer95 21:22, 3 July 2008 (CEST)

Some stats for the Top 9 applications downloaded

Last updated 24 July 2008

3697 wiiphysics

2888 sdexplorer

2872 duck_hunt

2562 ftpii

2039 tetris

1845 mplayer

1673 snes

1565 wiipaint

1392 operation

Name

When I first saw the name "Homebrew Browser", I thought it was a web browser. Maybe "Homebrew Downloader" would be more appropriate? Felix 10:09, 30 June 2008 (CEST)

(agree)x1 otto888

Another person got confused:[1] Felix 03:48, 10 July 2008 (CEST)

Another confused right here. :) What about Homebrew Manager? Xyrion 21:40, 11 July 2008 (CEST)

Disagree. Name a web browser that's NAMED (Something) Browser. There isn't one. Homebrew Browser would be at best a description of a homebrewed browser. This is definitely a name, and it fits perfectly. "Downloader" is more of a misnomer than this. And stupid people on the forums are hardly a convincing argument --ProdigySim 04:34, 10 July 2008 (CEST)

Agree with ProdigySim, Homebrew Browser is a good name, it does exactly as it states, browsing through homebrew which is what I thought. --DrMario 02:18, 28 July 2008 (CEST)

Agree, partially; How about get_homebrew, apt-homebrew or apt-brew? Graingert 21:07, 3 August 2008 (CEST)

I would not use short names in a name since people might see that as a technical application. Technical name will be seen as hard to use in contrast of what it is now. anolma 08:56, 4 August 2008 (+3 GTM)

Background downloading

It would be nice if we could keep on browsing while it is downloading. Felix 10:09, 30 June 2008 (CEST)

Background Music

Help out by finding and linking us to any calm music loops so we can decide which one to use.

Loop_01 Loop_02 Loop_03 Loop_04

Robert Rich: Past Glances Parallel Horizons Felix 13:58, 4 July 2008 (CEST)

Definitely 'Loop 3'! Quixada 03:31, 7 July 2008 (CEST)

I agree on loop 3 IF teknecal does this feature. It sounds the most wii-oriented. Pinball wizard 16:44, 11 July 2008 (CEST)

Loop 1: Too much beat for BG music. Loop 2: Sounds a little too old school for Wii. Loop 3: I'd have to agree that this is probably best... Loop 4: ...But this one is fine too.--PCDude2143 23:40, 13 July 2008 (CEST)

I'd like to put in the background music but am not great with threads. I've tried but can't get the mp3 to keep playing in the HBB. If anyone has a threading example which can loop an mp3 and do other things like draw graphics/display pictures, etc, please post a link to it here. --Teknecal 16:44, 19 July 2008 (CEST)

I found 3 more loops for backgound music that I think would sound good on the HBB. What do you think?

BBT Loop 1 BBT Loop 2 BBT Loop 3

--Big Bang Theory 23:46 31 July 2008 (CEST)

From the First 4, my favorite is loop 3, I also liked all of Big Band Theory's, the second one kind of sounds like the temple of time, For the 3rd one I can't recall which game but I'm sure there is something similar to it in Mario Galaxy or 64 I think. --DrMario 01:08, 2 August 2008 (CEST)

Out of the first loops, 3 or 4 but personally I prefer BBT Loop 1... It's catchier :) --Neversoft 20:21, 6 August 2008 (CEST)

I have some of that calm music that you wanted for the Homebrew Browser. it's the music that is played when you run Windows XP for the first time- if you have Windows XP, you can find it at this directory: C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma. I hope it suits you well. --yoshicircuit 20:49, 11 August 2008 (CEST)

Categories, Sound and more

I have a suggestion as to make it look more like the shop channel so it is divided into categories. Other than that, GREAT JOB!!! Also, do you need help adding more content into the lists? I noticed that you don't have things like any utilities, media things, etc. I know most need other folders but if you put up a warning message that in order for it to work it must include XXX installed then it should work. Pinball wizard 16:29, 1 July 2008 (CEST)

At the moment I'm working with LowLines to get some better graphics. I'm thinking that some background sound to the HBB would be nice as well (can anyone recommend some calm background music like the shop channel). In a future version of HBB I plan to include those applications that don't run off a single boot file or need to create directories, both of these would be done by HBB. Good suggestion about the categories. I might need help with the content list in the future. If you'd like to help straight away, link me to some homebrew games that use a single boot file or homebrew applications that would likely be run more than once (like WiiPaint, ftpii, etc). Thanks. --Teknecal 17:15, 1 July 2008 (CEST)

Here are the ones I didn't see yet added. I included TItle lister since it can be quite useful but it is YOUR project so don't let my ideas change yours unless you agree. Pinball wizard 17:00, 1 July 2008 (CEST)

File:JQuest Wiimote.zip

Homebrew apps/MissileCommand

Homebrew apps/Title Lister

The problem with the first two is, they load up files from the SD card and HBB doesn't support downloading those files yet. --Teknecal 17:15, 1 July 2008 (CEST)

They do? I installed at least Missile Command with only the elf I thought. Sorry my mistake. EDIT: I see, you cannot have more than the .elf/.dol the meta.xml, and the icon.png in anywhere. I thought it was that it couldn't link to anywhere else in the card other than the folder. Pinball wizard 18:23, 1 July 2008 (CEST)

This is my proposed layout of the categories to make it even more of a "wii shop channel feel" -Categories; Popular Titles (top ~10 from HBB stats), New/Updated Titles, Your Updates, Browse All Apps (keep the sub categories and layout you’ve already got for this one). -Also sort the apps alphabetically instead of date in within the categories (except within the New/updated titles) so they are easier to find --DrMario 02:59, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

From who is the Jewel Quest v1.0.3? this is the version from Aquilino or Pho? -Yod4z GMT+1 12:37

Update All Button

I would like to suggest a "Update All" button that allows updating all installed apps at once instead of having to select all update buttons separately. --delirium83 20:43, 23 July 2008 (CEST)

Or maybe just an Auto-Update at start feature --Mjbauer95 04:24, 26 July 2008 (CEST)

Amazing/Adjust CLI

This is just awesome. Very well made, and easy to use ;) Just one little detail: the screen is pushed down a bit. Anyway, that's just a little thing compared to the rest of the app. --PaRaDoX 22:08, 1 July 2008 (CEST)

I agree with PaRaDoX. It's completly awesome, it works really good and is really usefull. Continue the good job, I know it could lead to something even more powerfull =D. Keep updates on. --LaPatateInc 22:12, 1 July 2008 (CEST)

It's helpful that I don't have to bounce back and forth between the Wii and the computer. You also seem very into the project, because there have been 2 updates in the past week. One small cosmetic thing I would adjust is the CLI at the beginning. Maybe a Wii Shop-like loading screen instead with a single line of text underneath so you can see the progress and any status messages. --PCDude2143 23:52, 13 July 2008 (CEST)

Info/Stats Bar for sd disk

First off, GREAT WORK! If I may suggest, would it be possible to put in some form of info/stats bar illustrating sd card disk (free) space vs data used..etc. Maybe similar to Wii menu > save data management screen (Blocks used/free) Thanks! --ramie 07:52, 10 July 2008 (CEST)

Just a number showing free space is good enough for me. Felix 12:13, 10 July 2008 (CEST)

Make buttons bigger

Can the about/download/delete buttons be made bigger? I have a small tv and it is hard to aim for the buttons. Felix 12:13, 10 July 2008 (CEST)

Unofficial releases in HBB?

Will you also add unofficial releases to the HBB? (e.g.: SNES v3.1 of LoPsT) --ChronoX 09:53, 13 July 2008 (CEST)

Yeah, I will probably do this in a few days. I'd have to put plain text over the icon image to signify whose unofficial release it is. --Teknecal 15:25, 14 July 2008 (CEST)

Couldn't they be under a new category named something like "Unofficial" Cboomf 14:56, 19 July 2008 (CEST)

Yeah, unofficial releases (as well as development releases if added) should have a separate category to avoid accidental downloads by newbs who don't know what they are doing. I had an unofficial release almost break my wii one time. --DrMario 02:27, 28 July 2008 (CEST)

Loading GUI First - Do not show black/white text at startup

Why don't load the GUI first, and them tell the user that is loading the network, them looking for an update and downloading the list. The idea will be not to show that ugly command text at startup. A little bit similar to the Homebrew channel, whe it shows an icon when loading the network device and reading the SD card. --EvilMind 13 July 2008.

I kinda like having the terminal pop up to show what it's doing. It also helps users to debug what may be going wrong such as when Teknecal forgot to upload an image. I'm sure it would have gotten fixed but it just brought the problem to our attention so much faster. --NatenNator 18 July 2008

GUI - but if there's an error (i.e. like Linux with its bootsplash) bring up the terminal and display. Alternatively, you could check for a file in the folder where the HBB is stored (say ilikemyterminal) and if so, then leave it at terminal. But that needs lots of effort (I think) and I want ZIP support first! :P --Lukegb 10:27, 23 July 2008 (CEST)

Other Platforms?

So now, we can download emulators. But what about Homebrew games from consoles we have emulators for? I know, this would be much work, but you can do it like Nintendo, only two games a week ^^ Oh, I need to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH, you've created the most usefull homebrew app for Wii! Homebrew browser is a must-have like DSOrganize for DS. :))))) --Elgamblo 18:57, 18 July 2008 (CEST)

This sure would be interesting and something to think about doing in the future. Though I'm wondering how many people would really use this? For this sort of thing there could possibly be another button near about/update/delete which you would click and then a window would pop up with the homebrew list for that emulator. I'd let you guys find the homebrew games and add them to another list, etc. --Teknecal 17:29, 26 July 2008 (CEST)

I would be very careful about adding game roms download to this application. I agree that it would be easier to use and I would like to have it. But we must take legal implications into account also. There are lots of older games that developers or immaterial property right owners have released to free use but not all of them. Now when Nintendo virtual console is warming up old games IP owners might be keen to hunt down rom distributors. --anolma 10:02, 4 August (+3 GTM)

Ratings?

It would be a great feature to be able to rate the homebrew games. I don't know if would work without too much work, but I had some ideas: You can only rate downloaded games and you can change your rating whenever you want. Of course, you would be able to sort by rating. I know, it would be much work and it seems pretty useless, but I think there are already (or soon) over 100 homebrew games online and you don't know what you should download when you first launch Homebrew Browser. Sorry for my broken English... :/ --Elgamblo 18:57, 18 July 2008 (CEST)

Ratings -> could work, with the help of a server side programming language. Changing your rating... ummm... that is going to be quite difficult, since IPs change, and so on. Short of finding an unique individual Wii ID, that is... --Lukegb 16:15, 21 July 2008 (CEST)

Yes, but it should be possible to get the Serial Number. When I buy something in Wii Shop Channel with the Credit Card, it shows the Serial Number. --Elgamblo 16:18, 21 July 2008 (CEST)

OK - calling ES_GetDeviceID() should get a Wii-unique device code. --Lukegb 17:58, 25 July 2008 (CEST)

Bigger fonts?

Is it at all possible to increase the font size by 2 points or something? Something a little closer to what is on the HBC. As it is currently, it's hard to read on an SDTV without having to lean forward and guess what the blobs mean. --Shuffle

custom icons?

Is it possible to use this to update without losing my icon and getting yours? And I noticed that the fcemu soluko version to my understanding uses the boot.dol file but the name is boot.elf since the boot.dol was 2.25mb and the boot.elf was around 3+mb but your boot.elf is the same size as the boot.dol and it only recognizes it if you have the elf version that is the dol size, why is that? Pebls123 18:56, 22 July 2008 (CEST)

At present, no. (Unless you make your icon read-only, but I'm not sure if it respects that). And no idea. --Lukegb 11:49, 26 July 2008 (CEST)

If you are updating an application, HBB does not download the icon, so your custom icon will be kept. --Teknecal 12:46, 26 July 2008 (CEST)

I've also noticed the problem with the dol being renamed to elf for FCEU Soluku as Pebls123 mentioned, I'm not sure if this can cause any problems. --DrMario 02:46, 28 July 2008 (CEST)

Implementing into Homebrew Channel

Have you ever thought about making this a part of the Homebrew Channel? --Mjbauer95 04:22, 26 July 2008 (CEST)

It would be great, but HBC is closed source and I'd think it'd be much easier for the HBC team to integrate HBB in into HBC instead of me doing it (I'm sure they wouldn't give me the source anyway). I haven't had any contact with the HBC team as of yet. --Teknecal 14:05, 31 July 2008 (CEST)

It would be better if they just included it with the apps package since integrating it with the HBC would just mean that there are more things to worry about breaking + you would have to roll out an update for the HBC every time the HBB was updated. --DrMario 00:46, 1 August 2008 (CEST)

Different Icons for installed/update available

Instead of having a blue or green (I think) check-mark for installed apps and apps with updates available, would it be possible to have different icons such as a check and a cross? This isn't a cosmetic niggle, I'm red/green colour blind (as are approx 1 in 10 men) and against the white background I find it almost impossible to tell if I have the latest version of an application at a glance. --Neversoft 19:23, 7 August 2008 (CEST)

When LowLines did the design he did have a cross to mark applications that don't have updates, but as the cross is universally recognized as "something is wrong", I asked him to just make the blue tick. Maybe instead of a blue tick, we should have a little down arrow like this: http://www.codemii.com/status_update_on.png? --Teknecal 11:06, 8 August 2008 (CEST)

Dangerous Program Dialog

Maybe some kind of warning message if downloading something such as Homebrew apps/Starfall? --Lukegb 01:22, 10 August 2008 (CEST)

I agree, same for unofficial releases and development builds found in the development section that are still at alpha status and have not gone through as much testing. --DrMario 03:16, 10 August 2008 (CEST)

Just don't add those apps to HBB. If users want these apps, they will have to manually download them. This way, they might think about what they are doing before doing it.Felix 12:31, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

I think Felix has the right idea, it provides a little buffer from someone casually downloading a dangerous app, and if you don't know how to add the app to the sd card yourself, then that app probably isn't for you anyways.--DrMario 22:00, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Application Channel Background

I had a user email me a new application channel background as well as some other images. http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/6163/scoggerko4.png

What do you guys think? --Teknecal 13:41, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

The stripes look good on screen, but would it suit TV displays? Felix 12:26, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

I'm quite happy with lowlines "wii style" look, this one is a little too dark.--DrMario 22:11, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

HB Titles

It seems like in the emulator categories all of the pictures all just say "NES Emulator" and the details don't help distinguish them apart (Just says, "NES Emulator" for most.") -- I installed FCE Ultra GX manually (the one linked here on wiibrew.org) but it didn't set off the installed mark on any of the ones in the browser: why are there like 10 versions of an NES emulator in this browser, anyway?

Same thing goes for the SNES emulators: we need a way to tell the versions apart! Nago 05:04, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

The way to tell them apart is to look at the image and you'll see the authors name on it. --Teknecal 09:51, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Even so, is there a way to expand the "details" so we can see a readme or something for each port to help us discern the different versions? "SNES Emulator" is kind of evident by the logo and the category it is in alone. Any chance of more details here? Nago 18:10, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Unrecognized Apps

A list of applications and/or files on your SD card that don't match what anything in the browser's database. Allowing the user to delete duplicates and other such things that the browser may not delete or replace.

Disk Usage/Management

A little section that allows us to see how much free space we have and how much is taken up, this could be tied in with the above Unrecognized Apps so that we can make sure that we have proper space.

Apps deliberately not included HBB

(This list could change, and was not made by the Teknecal)

Title	Reason
AnyRegion Changer	Add extra barrier to prevent unsafe usage
Starfall	Add extra barrier to prevent unsafe usage

Wanted Apps

If you want an app added, list it in the following format:

===[[Page name|App name and version]]===

Description.

Wii Quizz

v1.0

TehSkeen Thread - [2]

Wii Breakout

I heard you put v0.01 in the HBB but I didn't see it there when I checked. Maybe I missed it, but maybe I didn't. Just check.

GeckoOS

Update to version 1.07 Supports GC Discs (Can launch Action Replay Cheats) Also has Master Hook Reboot Feature that could let the system menu and other built-in features be hacked and cheated.

GnuBoy GX

Update to (080917)

Pacman Emulator

V1.0 /w full PacMan MAME romset (pacman.5e, pacman.5f, pacman.6e, pacman.6f, pacman.6h, pacman.6j, 82s123.7f, 82s126.4a)

TehSkeen Thread - [3]

VBA Emulator by Tantric

V 1.0.1 by Tantric, here: [4]

I believe this version has superseded the old VBA port currently available on HBB, though a key distinction for now is that VBAGX cannot read zip files.

This version is better in most ways but still has some limitations/bugs over the old one so maybe it should be kept separate from the other version. Since neither are "unofficial" this one can just take the place of the official version while the old one could be labeled alternate/old version or something.

This version is as official as it gets - I've 'officially' taken over the VBA Wii project. --Tantric 03:31, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

FCE Ultra Port by Tantric

V 2.0.2 by Tantric, here: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/FCE_Ultra_GX

I think this version has superseded the official version, it is far better and more stable than the current official version on the HBB.

My version is the 'official' version. It's downloadable on the FCEUGC Google Code site. --Tantric 03:33, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Then teknecal should update the HBB so it has your version as the original and have the app delete the seperate tantric-specific folder in the process when downloading it as the official. --Twile

AnyRegion Changer By Tona

Change Your Wii's Region. Use with Extreme Caution (Note: I think that a new category Named "System" Or similar could have these apps.

These kinds of apps shouldn't be in Homebrew Browser. Make the user download them manually so they have a chance to think about what they are doing before doing it.Felix 11:27, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Starfall by Crediar

Add features to your Wii such as removing BGM or Region Free. (Note: Like above, it could also be in the "System" category.--Dr Eggman 12:43, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Map Maker v0.1

A demo application that generates cool-looking terrain you can edit with the Wiimote. Initial release :D

FTPii 0.0.14

Rebuilt with latest libfat CVS to fix delete corruption bug and speed up opening large files (should implement this libfat into Homebrew Browser too :)

Gravity v1.1

Added ability to zoom and adjust acceleration, and also the planets have guns now. It's starting to come along...

Note

The apps which suggest a system category can potentially brick your wii. I advise against adding them to the homebrew browser. Instead of starfall though, you could use The Menu Loader which has most of the same hacks as Starfall, but only keeps these hacks temporarily (As long as the app is in use) and it also carries a smaller risk of bricking your wii.

Help with the HBB / Give a hand?

Can I help in some way? I'm better at the web side of things with PHP skills (don't know - are you using FTP or something :) ). --Lukegb 21:34, 11 July 2008 (CEST)

If you would like to help and don't mind doing something repetitive, you could find all the applications HBB supports and add "| hbb = 1" to the Infobox homebrewapp of that application and "| hbc = 1" if that application can work out of the box with HBC. What do you think about having a HBB website which lists all the applications in HBB and make them downloadable similar to this website (http://skhsarki.extra.hu/files/download/apps.html) --Teknecal 15:45, 12 July 2008 (CEST)

Sounds great :) - I'll start on doing the repetitive task first. --Lukegb 10:33, 13 July 2008 (CEST)

OK - I did a test version of something similar to the website you mentioned (but with your awesome channel graphics) - at the moment it only displays the graphic (table style). I've put it up at http://www.lukegrangerbrown.uni.cc/hbb/. --Lukegb 12:08, 13 July 2008 (CEST)

Doesn't look too bad, are you reading all the applications from the list file? I probably should start zipping up the games so that they can be linked to. Wonder if there will be enough interest in this sort of thing. --Teknecal 14:00, 13 July 2008 (CEST)

Don't worry about zipping, I think I might link to the original archive... --Lukegb 05:47, 14 July 2008 (CEST)

Yes - the script is reading from the listv020b.txt file on your server (which I discovered by running strings boot.elf | grep HTTP). Easy - thanks to PHPs EXTENSIVE string handling, parsing and processing functions! --Lukegb 15:14, 13 July 2008 (CEST)

Mmm, didn't know elfs contained plain text --Teknecal 15:15, 14 July 2008 (CEST)

Well - yes. Because it's got to read the stuff to send out and print to screen _somehow_. And they do it by storing it as plain text. :) --Lukegb 16:13, 21 July 2008 (CEST)

How do you tell when something is new? Is it just a stored copy of the list (because obviously that wouldn't work for a web-side script) --Lukegb 22:16, 23 July 2008 (CEST)

There is a timestamp for each application (app release + 48 hrs). HBB reads the time on the Wii console and figures out if the application is new that way. --Teknecal 13:03, 24 July 2008 (CEST)

Also - if you can (I understand this is a long-term thing) - INCLUDE ZIP SUPPORT IN HBB ITSELF - fast downloads + easier to dl onto PC! :D --Lukegb 16:13, 21 July 2008 (CEST)

I've thought about doing this and it'd be much easier this way than separate files. I'm all about examples, if someone can provide me an example source code where unzipping is being done I'd put it in HBB much sooner.

Well - there's the 7-zip open source project, which supports zip. --Lukegb 11:13, 22 July 2008 (CEST)

Specifically the files at 7-zip SF.net page containing 7zip and its LZMA SDK. --Lukegb 11:23, 22 July 2008 (CEST)

| mupen64gc has code for unzip that (presumably) compiles for the Wii already --ProdigySim 17:29, 22 July 2008 (CEST)

mupen64gc C++ file - don't forget it --Lukegb 08:37, 23 July 2008 (CEST)

Incidentally - mupen64gc is under the GNU GPLv3. The 7-zip LZMA SDK is under the GNU LGPL (link to v3, unknown v used for LZMA SDK). These usually mean (except for the LGPL, AFAIK) that the source must be released. --Lukegb 08:37, 23 July 2008 (CEST)

So this would mean I would need to release the HBB source or just say the function that I use the unzip function? Also if anyone could make a really simple function to unzip all files from an archive to the root of the SD card that would be great and all that I would need! Thanks. --Teknecal 13:03, 24 July 2008 (CEST)

Just realized that that bit of mupen64gc is ZLIB-licensed - i.e. can be used (almost) freely. Therefore you can use it without releasing source. Everyone's happy. --Lukegb 17:12, 3 August 2008 (CEST)

Also: if you can make the HBB access another URL, I could set up download statistics (PHP script). Does your webserver support PHP? --Lukegb 22:19, 23 July 2008 (CEST)

Yeah the server supports PHP. Seems like most developers want this. I might have to make this sort of script on the weekend or so. Might put it in v0.2.1. Might just make a DB with name/download count and get HBB to request another URL as you've suggested. --Teknecal 13:03, 24 July 2008 (CEST)

I could write one, if you tell me what format you'd like it to output. --Lukegb 18:10, 24 July 2008 (CEST)

Can I have a copy of the "NEW!" PNG, because I really don't want to attempt to extract it from the elf. Update - now uses new server & list & adds "NEW" if new. All images now routed through my server for post-processing (i.e. add new if necessary). --Lukegb 12:31, 3 August 2008 (CEST)

Yeah sure - http://www.codemii.com/new_icon.png --Teknecal 12:39, 3 August 2008 (CEST)

Added - also, image caching is now on to stop it hitting codemii.com every time someone looks at it. --Lukegb 16:59, 3 August 2008 (CEST) (Note: UNO is not new, that's simply a demo to show it is working)

HBB Downloadable things listing

Well - I did a pretty listing here of everything. After the page has loaded completely, you should be able to hover over an image to see its download statistic. Enjoy. Comment. --Lukegb 12:51, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Cool. I got a broken image for the hover statistic though. Suggestions: add a link back to this page. The index page needs some graphics. Felix 13:17, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

HBB Issues

Crashes when downloading an app

I launched Homebrew Browser 0.2.1b (the most current version I could find on WiiBrew as of time of writing) on an NTSC Wii (Menu version 3.2) via Homebrew Channel Beta 8. The program started just fine, but when I attempted to download Barrage, it started... the blue bar got to about roughly 15-20% complete, then my screen flickered green and crashed, kicking me back to the Homebrew Channel menu. When I check the SD card on my computer, it did create a /apps/barrage/ directory, but it is empty.

Notables: This was my first time using the program, ever. Also, I very recently installed dvdx to my Wii, and have been running MPlayer. However, my attempt to use Homebrew Browser was off a fresh reboot; first thing I did upon starting the system. Would this have any impact? GespenstM 12:26 AM CST, August 15, 2008

Can not initialize internet connection

I am currently using a Wii with 3.2 firmware, and homebrew channel beta 8. I have installed and gotten plenty of apps to work fine, however I have never been able to get this application to work. It just says that it cant initialize with the network. Opera works fine, weather channel, wii connect 24, and the Homebrew channel had updated automatically when I installed beta 7. Is there are a port you would recommend opening up on my router to try and solve this issue. I have a feeling my routers firewall is blocking it. Its an actiontec wifi router that comes standard with verizon fios.

The Homebrew Browser uses HTTP on port 80 to get all of the data... So unless port 80 is blocked by your firewall, I don't think that's the issue. However, I have heard of other people having this same issue without resolution. Can I ask specifics about how your Network connection is set up on the Wii? As in, Wireless, Nintendo Wifi adapter, Wired... Static IP, Automatic, Proxy.... ? Any info would be helpful --ProdigySim 19:12, 22 July 2008 (CEST)

So i use the wii's built in wifi, with automatic configuration on a WEP key. I believe its 64 bit WEP, but it may be 128 bit. I can check when I get home. I will try disabling it though when I get home and see if that changes anything.--Dave 14:53, 22 July 2008 (EST)

So I resolved the problem by placing my wii in a DMZ in the routers settings. I also noticed that the homebrew channel doesn't connect to the internet unless the wii is in the DMZ as well. For some reason my firewall doesn't play nice with homebrew. I can try to email you a log of my firewall activity if you like. --Davey 20:16 22 July 2008 EST

It appears that after one successfuly connection, I could not log in again. I Switched to WPA on my wifi, and I did get it to work, but i dont know if thats just one time because it involved resetting my router. I will do more testing tonight. If the wii is in the DMZ though it cant be a firewall issue. I would keep it on WPA, but not all wifi devices in my house support it. --Davey 09:16 23 July 2008 EST

The other case I had heard of got resolved, and it was also a case of using automatic configuration (AOSS). He changed from that to a manual configuration and it began working. --ProdigySim 07:31, 24 July 2008 (CEST)

I now have my router set to no security, but to only allow certain MAC address, and the homebrew channel seems to work.--DaveyDucati 18:13, 24 July 2008 (CEST)

Have you tried to disable wiiconnect24 before starting HBB?

I'm having this same problem. (To post above, I just tried that, and it still doesn't work.)--Sin 09:47, 1 August 2008 (CEST)

I had the same problem using wireless and WEP, but it seemed that changing to a Static IP solved the problem. tpw_rules 22:34, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Another thing to try is to disable WEP. I spoke to had a user who couldn't initialise the network and when they disabled the WEP security, it worked.

Debug: Fwrite error

Just a heads up on a bug. Downloaded Mplayer Wii on HBB and an error message came up and said "Debug: Fwrite error (1)" the rest of the message was off the screen. The download status bar continued to grow beyond the download area into the next homebrew app about and download buttons. Eventually it finished and all went back to normal. Also when trying to launch Mplayer from HBC another Error comes up as "This is not a valid Wii Application." Did a manual install of the wiibrew Mplayer wii and it works fine. --Big Bang Theory 23:16, 26 July 2008

Can you try this again? I've tried it and didn't get any errors. Have you been able to download anything else? --Teknecal 14:03, 31 July 2008 (CEST)

I got the same error when my SD card ran out of free space. --Bdr9 16:46, 31 July 2008 (CEST)

Updated to v 0.2.1a and have no problem as before. No problems in HBB or HBC after updating. My have been an issue in prior version. I downloaded everything and they all work fine. I did however reformat my SD card so may have been a problem on there? --Big Bang Theory 23:47, 31 July 200

This happens to me when I run out of free space. DEBUG: fwrite error: [i] not owner Anyway it then says it is deleting, but I can't download anything else. I end up with a full SD card with no files on it, and have to format it each time. --Malefactor 19 August 2008

Stops on Attempting to connect to server...

Video output: Wii Homebrew Browser v0.2.1 To exit, press the Home button.

Waiting for network to initialise... Network initialised. Attempting to connect to server...

and here's where it stops. If i leave it for 5 minutes or so, it says "connection established" and then gives me a "read error -10076" when attempting to retrieve the homebrew list.

I'm behind a standard port 80 proxy.NuVanDibe 21:10, 28 July 2008 (CEST)

Hm, try this Netsend Example and see if that works for you. Have you tried other networking apps, like ftpii? wii webservers?

Unknown Error

The HBB starts downloading images, but once it gets some images, it crashes. Tried it again, same thing.

Does it crash at the same place every time? I don't think it should. How many dots does it take for it to crash? I'm thinking maybe it's writing too fast to your SD card perhaps? Is your SD card full?

I have the same problem. It stops at different stages of downloading the images. When all images are downloaded HBB starts normally. Besides that I also had a black screen after all images were downloaded. This was because one of the apps folders was emtpy or not complete. Please check all your apps folders if they are correct (see the namelist) and all the files are there. And last: check the temp directory in the root of your SD card. It should contain all the pictures HBB needs (delete corrupted images) --DigDug 14:33, 31 July 2008 (CEST)

It crashes with 10 dots onscreen. Deleting the temp directory caused it to download 10 dots again and crash.

Oh, wait, never mind, the SD card was full. It works now.

File dates

I noticed when HBB writes to the SD, the files and folders doesn't have date, the field it's blank. I don't know if this is a problem with a library or the program itself. For the record, I'm using a FAT formated SD card. --Janus 17:54, 2 August 2008 (CEST)

Same. FAT32. 2G SD Card CarstenK 05:07, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Same, Fat16 2GB Sandisk SD --DrMario 14:24, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Long Filenames corrupt

Last two updates I did in the HBB caused crashes after the /TEMP images finished loading, and each time when I repaired the disk I had corrupt long filenames for Freecell. After repairing there were two freecell images in my dir, one fine, one with 0 bytes length. I deleted both the freecell images from temp to be safe after the last update yet it happened agin when Freecell was updated.

Verify and Repair volume “WIISD”
** /dev/disk3s1
** Phase 1 - Preparing FAT
** Phase 2 - Checking Directories
long filename record cluster start != 0
Invalid long filename entry for /TEMP/FREECE~1.PNG
Remove? yes
** Phase 3 - Checking for Orphan Clusters
Found orphan cluster(s)
Fix? yes
Marked 5 clusters as free
Free space in FSInfo block (16378) not correct (16383)
Fix? yes
1227 files, 65532 KiB free (16383 clusters)

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

I think you might be bitten by bug in libfat.

Cursor hotspot incorrect

It might already be somewhere on this page but then I've missed it. The hotspot of the cursor is incorrectly placed. This is most notable when you hold the remote upside down so that the cursor is upside-down: you have to click a lot below the actual button for it to register. Rumble helps a bit but with the small buttons it's still a bit of a guess where to click.

Delete Files Bug

Sometimes when you delete files you don't get the space back on the SD card (mines 2gb FAT 16 Sandisk) I originally noticed this bug in SD Explorer and someone had already posted a bug report for it, I think it is the same cause for both programs. They thought the problem is for libfat so if someone knows where to post bug reports for libfat for the wii, could you do that for me?

Quote "Currently there are some bugs in the delete function. If you delete files, you don't gain the released space. I think this error is rather in libfat but I search for a solution.

-Yes, I've noticed this too. If you use the error-checking tool in windows on the SD card, it finds the data and places it in FOUND.000 and then you can delete it. I think whoever thought the bug was in libfat is right since the HBB has the same bug. "

Probably a related bug, I downloaded a bunch of the SNES homebrew to check out the different versions. Afterwards, i was unable to delete any of them. (It just says delete failed or couldn't delete in the little status window/ progress bar area for that homebrew in the HBB.) Nago 18:08, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

that's a different bug that comes as a result of having another file in the same folder where the HBB installed the app so it is unable to delete the folder, this was fixed by now deleting everything in that folder. The bug I am talking about refers to everything being deleted off the card so you can't see it anymore in any file explorer but it is still there technically and you don't get the free space back.

Controls

Maybe you could add the controls used by the application (wiimote/gamecube/etc.) just like on the wiibrew article sites?

Please explain this further. --Teknecal 10:56, 30 July 2008 (CEST)

OP wants homebrew apps/Peripheral info included inside HBB. Personally, I would like some notification if some non-standard hardware (balance board, GC controller, etc) is required to use the homebrew. Felix 13:21, 30 July 2008 (CEST)

Ah I see, good idea. I'll put it in the next HBB release. --Teknecal 13:43, 30 July 2008 (CEST)

I couldn't put it in because there was too many little icons to fit in the "channel". Maybe when I use a bigger about window it could be added there. --Teknecal 01:56, 13 August 2008 (CEST)

Great, thanks! That was exactly what I meant! --DigDug 14:43, 30 July 2008 (CEST)

HBB Stats

I saw the stats page. Change the bit that outputs that text to output '<img src="/homebrew/'.$(whateveryoucalled the name var).'/icon.png" alt="'.$(whateveryoucalled the name var).'" />' - and you'll have images (along with ALT tags for those using text-based browsers) instead of boring, plain text. --Lukegb 17:15, 3 August 2008 (CEST)

Implementing Into WiiManage

I am currently making a mac application that will set up and manage your entire SD card. It needs some way to go to the web and gather the files for download that people want. Is it possible we could collaborate on something to work with your system? Pinball wizard 01:32, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

What kind of collaboration are you looking for? You are probably looking for some sort kind of a http library for C. I can help you out if you need help with how the HBB system works, the application listing file and directory structure, etc. Keep in mind that I don't have a mac. You can contact me on teknecal@gmail.com or at #wiidev on EFnet. --Teknecal 11:06, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

You have a great system setup for HBB and I know that you have this all setup somewhere with all the images, files, and .xml things that the HBB goes to and grabs. I know I can implement into my application more or less anything HTTP. I want it to help you(the end user who is clueless) update everything, but on the computer side. I don't know if your a forum member on either forum but I just more or less need your file hosting. Pinball wizard 14:11, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

I am a member of the Wiibrew Forums. The listing file is found at http://www.codemii.com/homebrew/listv021.txt which lists the application name, timestamp, image file size, dol/elf file size, is it a dol or elf, total directory size, folders to create, files to copy, any files to delete. In http://www.codemii.com/homebrew/, you will see the directory structure. The images files are in this directory as well as the folders for the applications. In each directory are the boot.dol/elf, icon.png, meta.xml and any additional files. --Teknecal 10:01, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

So you don't mind me implementing it into WiiManage? Either way thank you. Pinball wizard 14:22, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah I don't mind, go ahead. --Teknecal 09:23, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

New download behavior

The old style suited me better. I have a slow internet connection, so downloading the images takes a bit of time. I would prefer all the images to be loaded at the start, so my homebrew-browsing experience is not interrupted by waiting for images to load. Maybe add it back as an option? Or make the images download in the backgorund. Felix 12:24, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

I also do not like this new behavior. It takes much too long to change pages, even when the page's icons are already loaded. --Blooper4912 03:52, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Same here, I think that the on-the-fly downloading is kind of out of place. I liked the downloading the images to a temp dir when the app first starts. --Niceguy1012 03:01, 19 September 2008 (UTC)