Talk:Playstats

This looks pretty cool. What are you using to access the stats? Is it part of the message board log files? --Mjbauer95 19:46, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

Indeed, it reads from the log at /title/00000001/00000002/data/cdb.vff My findings on this file (not that there is that much) will be listed in the source when released but it's all going so painfully slow, too much ~~playing games~~ real life stuff at the moment. Chris 17:56, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

Just popping in to tell you what a great idea this app is! I hope your bugs get sorted out. -- MetaFight 01:02, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Bugs

v1.0

when i look at the amount of time i have been to the hbc, it shows more than 27000 hours, is this a bug in the code, or is it just my wii?

My Wii also shows a huge number of total time. Like 30000 days. And some titles appear doubled, like Twilight Princess. And the titles are cut on the beginning. Each copy has a different cut on the name. Maybe that's because there are copies...? -Kyuubi840 14:21, 02 April 2009 (UTC)

Some of the Times are buggy, look at my screenshots --lord fiSh 15:11, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Bugger, that's what I get for skipping beta testing. Doesn't anyone get any sensible totals? Thanks for the screenshots lord fiSh but I can't work out what's causing this, needless to say it all works fine on my Wii. Unless anyone with a strong stomach is prepared to go through the source and find the bugs, I'm going to need some people who are prepared to send me their messageboard files. These are quite easy to extract using Fs browser but they are 20MB in size so they would need uploading somewhere. Contact me on my website if you can help. Chris 21:46, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

hmm, black screen after starting Fs Browser. My Wii Version is at Systemmenu 4.0, no cios or anything else --lord fiSh 23:29, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Looks like the latest FTPii will also work. You need to extract isfs/title/00000001/00000002/data/cdb.vff Chris 08:56, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

will try this later --lord fiSh 13:15, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

same problem here on a "clean" System 4.0, PAL - can't sent you the files because fs_brwoser is not starting at all. And with the latest FTPii I only got 2 files with 1.5k in that isfs/title/00000001/00000002/ directory (data & content). Maybe you should give us a debug version which dumps the data to the sd card. --T--o--m 07:52, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Update: bug gone :( Started my Wii and got the white "press a to continue" screen. All messages on the board missing. But now your tool is working. --T--o--m 15:28, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7477/0402172518.png lol, do i win some sort of prize?

Wow! You like going on HBC!!!! Is this some kind of late April's fool? :D RedChaos 11:21, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

no, i just left it on overnight more times than i can count :P yossi 20:31, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm noticing a pattern here, probably a misleading pattern, but all the people who have attempted to help by sending me their message board files, either through this page or by contacting me directly, have all failed because they are on System Menu 4.0 and FTPii and Fs browser don't work for them. Which means either the bug does not exist on lower versions or it does and this is all just a coincidence. Sadly the only person who has confirmed it is working (apart from T--o--m above who seems to have somehow reformatted his messageboard) is myself. I'm on 3.3v1. So can anyone on 3.x say below whether they do or don't get nonsense stats from this program? Thanks. Chris 16:33, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm on 3.2 (EU PAL) and get nonsense stats. Downloaded the file via FTPii but haven't found any strange data yet. Except in the first entries (late 2007) I found "LOG" somewhere around 0x1400, and in the last entries it's "TXT" instead of "LOG" --Gonzo 21:40, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Well bang goes that theory; thanks for the info Gonzo. I can see both those types of data in my messageboard. I haven't looked into what they are for as they always comes after the records that Playstats reads and shouldn't be relevant. Chris 16:57, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

My 3.4e displays ludicrous results plus the names of some of the channels have missing characters. I don't have access to a computer at the moment but hopefully in the next week I can attempt to obtain the file. malexous ~~20 May 2009 (UTC)~~ —Preceding undated comment added 14:10, 20 May 2009.

It'll be great if you can, malexous. Chris 16:29, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

FS_Browser doesn't work for me. I'll try FTPii soon. malexous 20:51, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Neither does FTPii :( malexous 15:00, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Oh well, thanks for having a go. I'm not sure if something like FSToolbox would work any better, might want to wait and see if it's stable first. Chris 22:05, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

It turns out that FTPii does actually work but using FileZilla I don't see a data folder in /00000002, just two files; data and content. malexous 14:35, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

It's because FTPii doesn't work,at least not for this purpose, and requires a fakesigning IOS (<3.3v1) to work properly :( Chris 01:16, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I just used FSToolbox and the folder isn't there. Do you know why that might be? malexous 17:32, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

No idea, it was only a suggestion. Thanks for testing it though. I think Bootmii's NAND backup facility might work, however this is probably a more complex procedure. Thanks for your efforts but I have now identified the bug and a fix will eventually come out, however it would be good to test it out on as many messageboard dumps as possible. Chris 01:16, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

v1.01

I'm still getting jumbled statistics with version 1.0.1 of Playstats. Kilroy 05:13, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Same. Also: This talk page is sure messy. --ExtremsAlt 05:21, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Damn, obviously more bugs than I thought. The problem is no-one has been able to send me a dump of their messageboard file, so I have made lots of assumptions about the format based on my own dump. Until anyone with bugs can send me this, the problems will stay. Chris 09:00, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

When i load the app through HBC it hangs on the loading screen at 57%. I'm on 3.2 and have full access to ftpii. Let me know what you need and how I should get it to you. thx! --bengalih —Preceding undated comment added 05:00, 18 May 2009 (UTC).

This would be great if you can get me a copy of your messageboard log. As discussed above, the file is isfs/title/00000001/00000002/data/cdb.vff. The file is 20MB large and although it will probably compress quite well, I would prefer it if you could upload it somewhere and send me the link to chris(swirly thing)toxicbreakfast.com. If this a problem though, please go ahead and attempt to email the file instead. Chris 16:18, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

v1.02

just reporting back, stats are still not acurate in this version, i have a total playing time of 16225 days, pal wii on 3.2e. maby /title/00000001/00000002/data/cdb.vff is corrupted somehow. i have bootmii as boot2 and a decent backup so i can try resetting the file (but don't know how) to see if that helps. Bitflusher —Preceding undated comment added 07:54, 20 May 2009 (UTC).

update: formatted my wii guide by nintendo, did an update to 4.0e and ran it again, now it shows proprer times (12 mins and 9 seconds) Bitflusher—Preceding undated comment added 10:29, 20 May 2009 (UTC).

Oh dear, there was no need for that. If the messageboard worked, then the file was not corrupted, the problem is with Playstats. v1.02 was not supposed to fix the "wacky stats" bug, this will remain until someone with the bug can send me a dump of their messageboard. Chris 16:29, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Han how can I send it to you so ? I have the bug... PAL Wii (France) + 4.0 + bootmii + preloader... OuahOuah 21:00, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Not sure how you can on system menu 4.0. I've updated the FAQ on the main page with some advice. Chris 16:30, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

I've successfully dumped my cdb.vff on a 4.0. You can download it, along with a description of the messed up stats here. Please remove link after downloading. Helsionium 17:19, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much Helsionium, hopefully I can crack this now. I won't be able to try until later in the week though. Chris 08:11, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

I see you have found what might be the problem. Can you tell me the offset(s) of one such example of a fragmented play stat in my cdb.vff file? Maybe I can help you find a solution. Helsionium 18:23, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

I was having a bit of a mental block when I put that message up earlier and I have some ideas now but some stuff has come up at work so I cannot look at this properly for a few days. Here's some examples if you are curious. At 0xb5a220 there is a 0x200 byte structure which is causing the bug in your Animal Crossing stats. I'm not sure what these structures are for but they pop up throughout both your and my messageboard, normally not getting in the way of anything else. These are easy to seek past, however there is a more complicated example at 0x475a20 distorting your Super Paper Mario stats. You have two of these structures, followed by a board message before the rest of the stats resume at 0x481a30. Although I haven't found a way to determine the length of the message, the first bit is just a null terminated string, then there is some zero padding and then you have what looks like a u8 archive; I'm sure this format is sufficiently understood to be able to determine the length but I have not read up on any of that yet. Hopefully have an update out before too long. Chris 21:41, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, I'm not so positive now. Some of the messages are more than just one string so I'm stuck again as to how to seek past the end of the message. Unfortunately, I think the only solution would be to sacrifice some accuracy and read the stats directly from the message text, which is only accurate to the nearest minute. Also, you would only have the dates the games were played, not the times. I can't really face re-writing this all right now though :( Chris 15:53, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

v1.1

Just a couple of minor bugs: on my Wii, Playstats is reading Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 as the same title (i.e. the two games both contribute to a single entry, "SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2", on Playstats. I'm also having the same problem with Sam & Max Season One and Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space (both contribute to a single entry called "Sam & Max"). PAL Wii, System Menu 4.3. If there's any other info I can give to help figure this one out, let me know. Atomicblue (talk) 10:35, 17 November 2013 (CET)

Deleting logs

Hello. Is it possible to add a fonction to clear/reset the data to clear the logs/stats ?? Can it save some memory blocks ? Thank you. OPIK 09:02 18 may 2009 (UTC)

It won't save any blocks. The messageboard is fixed at 20MB, no matter how much stuff is on it; the rest is just padded with zeros. Deleting items from the messageboard only makes more room for other messageboard items. Some people want the logs deleted for other reasons but my app is buggy enough without it attempting to do things that are quite likely to brick the Wii if it goes wrong. Chris 16:18, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Unless I'm misremembering my experiments from a year ago, you can delete cdb.vff entirely. The next time you boot, you will get the message "Wii Message Board data was corrupted. The data has been repaired, but some messages or addresses may have been lost.", and it will recreate it. YMMV, test this with a backup first, etc. -- Bushing 22:02, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Support for Japanese Wii systems?

Are you planing on adding support for Japanese Wii systems in the near future? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Duffman6 (talk • contribs) 21:03, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Two obstacles to this. First and foremost I would have to make a font that includes support for this and that will take a lot of work (unless the messageboard only shows kana and no kanji?). Secondly, I would really need someone to send me a dump of a Japanese messageboard to test it properly. Chris 22:56, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Both Kana and Kanji I'm afraid. However I would be more than happy to send you my dump if you decide to proceed with a Japanese version. Duffman6 10:04, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Even partial support would be nice, since I region modded my JP Wii and have both Japanese and English titles =) tsdmk 22:24, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

If you get the message saying Japanese Wiis are not supported, you can change your Wii's language to a european one to get past this screen or if this is not possible, it should be straightforward to comment out the region check from the source and recompile; however loading Japanese titles may have unpredictable results. Chris 08:11, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Reading games booted via Gecko OS and/or reading GameCube games?

Any way either of these things could be done? Import games or games loaded with cheats via Gecko OS simply appear in Playstats under the "Homebrew Channel" title. I'm also curious about whether there'd be any way to read info on GameCube games. Atomicblue (talk) 10:37, 17 November 2013 (CET)