Homebrew Browser
| This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Flark (talk | contribs) at 18:43, 26 July 2009. It may differ significantly from the current revision. |
- Not to be confused with Homebrew Channel.
| Homebrew Browser | |
 | |
| General | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | teknecal |
| Type | Utility |
| Version | 0.3.3 |
| Licence | Freeware |
| Links | |
| Download | |
| Website | |
| Peripherals | |
       | |
The Homebrew Browser allows you to download the latest homebrew applications and games all through your Wii. You don't need to take your SD card out. You don't even need a computer! You can also delete homebrew you no longer want.
No more dead links, no more extracting files, no more finding out that the homebrew application doesn't include an icon.png and meta.xml in the zip file!
Have a useful application that isn't in HBB? Request it be added.
Check out the up to date blog with development progress at www.codemii.com. Add hbb@codemii.com to the Wii address book to get updates sent to your Wii.
Have a look at the most popular applications downloaded with the Homebrew Browser
Features
- One click download/(un)install/update for each homebrew application
- Auto updating when your Homebrew Browser version is out of date
How to Install
Copy the homebrew_browser folder to the /apps folder on your SD card. Ensure that the little write lock switch on your SD card is off. Launch via the Homebrew Channel.
Usage
You can view this guide which shows how to use the Homebrew Browser.
- If you are using the Homebrew Channel then extract the homebrew_browser directory from the archive in your apps directory in the root of your SD card.
- Launch Homebrew Browser from Homebrew Channel and your Wii must be connected to the Internet.
- Uses the Wiimote with IR to choose your favorite homebrew application.
- Green Tick - You have the latest version of that homebrew application installed.
- Yellow Question Mark - You might not have the latest version of that homebrew application installed.
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Action |
|---|---|---|
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Move Pointer |
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Click button |
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Cancel download/extract |
 /  |
? | Previous/Next category |
 /  |
? | Scroll up and down the list slowly |
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? | Remove/Add application to download queue |
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Menu |
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? | Work offline |
How it works
- The Homebrew Browser (HBB) contacts the main server to receive a list of current homebrew applications. The list includes the application names, image file sizes, boot file sizes and whether it is a dol or elf file, as well as the names of any other required files.
- HBB checks to see if the user has the latest image files (stored in ~/temp) for all homebrew listed. If the image is out of date or missing, it downloads the image file.
- Once in HBB and when selecting a game to install, it downloads the zip file and downloads the icon.png if needed from the server. It then extracts the zip file and deletes the zip file.
Notes for Homebrew Developers
How icons for HBB are selected
If there is no icon.png file in a homebrew application then an icon is included if one can be found.
If there is no name on the icon and if the picture doesn't represent very clearly what the application does then it is replaced with an icon that has a name.
Homebrew Application folder naming
I will stick to the folder names used when you extract each homebrew application. Folders with spaces will be replaced with underscores. If your files don't come in a folder, then a folder name will be created. If your homebrew application used a folder name before HBB and you've updated your application, the user will notice that there is an update to your application.
An example is MAsteroids. The game was developed before HBB. Lets say that the game gets updated. Since they are using a folder name, I can simple place the new boot.dol/elf on the server, change the file size and when the user loads HBB it will notice that they have an existing install of MAsteroids and then the user can update to the latest version.
Homebrew Standards
- Include an icon.png and a meta.xml file with your homebrew application.
- Try to follow the meta.xml standard and test your meta.xml file in HBC.
- Include a date and version number with your homebrew release, otherwise I will use the timestamp from the boot.dol/elf file and name it v0.1 or v1.0.
- Put your homebrew application files into a folder and then zip up that folder. Try to keep using that folder name for the homebrew applications life.
Homebrew Apps in HBB
Chronological log below. Alphabetical list. Visual list. (Hosting problems)
| Date Added | Application |
|---|---|
| 25 July 2009 | |
| 21 July 2009 | |
| 17 July 2009 | |
| 14 July 2009 | |
| 12 July 2009 |
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| 10 July 2009 |
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| 7 July 2009 |
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| 4 July 2009 |
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| 1 July 2009 |
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| 28 June 2009 |
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| 21 June 2009 |
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| 14 June 2009 | |
| 13 June 2009 |
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| 10 June 2009 | |
| 5 June 2009 |
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| 3 June 2009 |
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| 31 May 2009 |
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| 30 May 2009 |
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| 28 May 2009 |
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| 26 May 2009 |
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| 24 May 2009 |
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| 22 May 2009 | |
| 20 May 2009 |
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| 17 May 2009 |
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| 16 May 2009 |
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| 15 May 2009 |
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| 12 May 2009 |
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| 6 May 2009 |
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| 4 May 2009 |
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| 2 May 2009 |
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| 30 April 2009 |
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| 27 April 2009 |
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| 24 April 2009 |
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| 19 April 2009 |
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| 15 April 2009 |
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| 12 April 2009 |
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| 8 April 2009 |
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| 3 April 2009 |
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| 28 March 2009 |
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| 21 March 2009 |
|
| 14 March 2009 |
|
| 7 March 2009 |
|
| 1 March 2009 |
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| 28 February 2009 |
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| 22 February 2009 | |
| 21 February 2009 |
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| 14 February 2009 |
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| 8 February 2009 |
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| 1 February 2009 |
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| 29 January 2009 |
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| 23 January 2009 |
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| 17 January 2009 |
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| 10 January 2009 |
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| 2 January 2009 |
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| 27 December 2008 |
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| 20 December 2008 |
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| 13 December 2008 |
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| 6 December 2008 |
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| 29 November 2008 |
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| 23 November 2008 |
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| 18 November 2008 |
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| 15 November 2008 |
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| 9 November 2008 |
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| 1 November 2008 |
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| 26 October 2008 |
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| 18 October 2008 |
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| 11 October 2008 |
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| 4 October 2008 |
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| 26 September 2008 |
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| 21 September 2008 |
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| 15 September 2008 |
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| 7 September 2008 |
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| 3 September 2008 |
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| 28 August 2008 |
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| 24 August 2008 |
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| 22 August 2008 |
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| 17 August 2008 |
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| 14 August 2008 |
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| 10 August 2008 |
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| 07 August 2008 |
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| 03 August 2008 |
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| 01 August 2008 |
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| 31 July 2008 |
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| 29 July 2008 |
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| 26 July 2008 |
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| 22 July 2008 |
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| 20 July 2008 |
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| 19 July 2008 |
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| 17 July 2008 |
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| 16 July 2008 | |
| 15 July 2008 | |
| 13 July 2008 |
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| 11 July 2008 |
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| 10 July 2008 |
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| 09 July 2008 | |
| 08 July 2008 |
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| 07 July 2008 |
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| 06 July 2008 |
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| 05 July 2008 |
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| 02 July 2008 |
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| 01 July 2008 | |
| 30 June 2008 |
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| 29 June 2008 |
|
History
25 July 2009 (v0.3.3)
- Speed up extracting using updated libfat (speeds up download too, but it's not noticeable)
- Added USB support (plug in your USB device before booting HBB and turn off "Use SD" in settings)
- Added sorting of applications by name
- Added delete functionality to the queue (press minus to queue an application to be deleted)
- Added download and extract information (MB downloaded/MB total, Extracted files/Files to extract)
- Added a check to make sure Wii Network is initialised and active before downloading applications
- Fixed bug where you couldn't cancel the download queue if you had download prompt enabled
- Fixed bug where the meta.xml file name would change back to normal when you updated an application (this allows you to keep your custom name of applications)
2 June 2009 (v0.3.2)
- Added an updated applications pop-up which can be disabled in the setting. When applications are updated, you will be notified of the date, application and version when starting HBB.
- Added number of Wiimotes supported by applications by showing the number in the Wiimote icon
- Can revert to using IP address if HBB can't find codemii.com domain
- Added a download icon to indicate which application is being downloaded when you are browsing whilst downloading
- Added setting to disable Wiimote power off as some users experienced their Wii's turning off automatically
- Fixed bug where download/delete buttons would show when rating an application
- Fixed an issue when deleting applications wouldn't delete some folders
- Fixed squares that occasionally showed after name, description, etc which would cause creating/deleting directories to fail
- Fixed download queue issue when removing applications from the queue
- Fixed code dumps that occurred when scrolling the lists
1 May 2009 (v0.3.1)
- Able to download and browse at the same time (just click on a category when downloading)
- Fixed bug which didn't show the last character for applications names, descriptions, etc.
- Fixed bug where the wrong applications were shown after downloading from download queue
- Added GC controller support (port #1)
- Added Nunchuk support for scrolling the apps list
- Added ability to power off the Wii via the Wiimote power button
- Menu items are now accessible when in the help or settings screen
12 April 2009 (v0.3)
- Brand new GUI (thanks DayDreamOz)
- Ability to scroll through applications without waiting to download images (images loading or being downloaded will show as "Image not found")
- Images download in the background
- Much more information on applications which includes a longer description, author, version, size, date, SDHC support and controllers supported
- Shows the total amount of downloads for each application
- Ability to rate applications and shows an average rating
- Ability to queue applications for download in a download queue and download all at once
- Ability to sort applications by date, rating and download count
- Added background music (off by default, change loop.mod with your own music if you like)
- Uses threads
- Ability to move the cursor once downloading or extracting
- Ability to cancel extracting process
- Ability to work offline (by pressing the 1 Button when HBB is initialising the network)
- Ability to hide installed applications from the lists
- Checks for SD card to make sure there is enough free space before downloading each application
- Settings now include show SD card space, check free space, hide installed applications, retreive my rating, background music, rumble, update icon and offline mode
- Added lots of help screens
- Added widescreen support (thanks Cashman)
- Checks that server connected to is really www.codemii.com
- Added check to make sure the SD card isn't locked
- Downloads all image files before loading HBB v0.3 the first time to make things faster
6 April 2009 (v0.2.5d)
- Uses domain www.codemii.com to connect instead of an IP address
17 March 2009 (v0.2.5c)
- Fixed issue with utilities section that was causing it to be empty
- Fixed zip progress issue
24 January 2009 (v0.2.5b)
- Keep retrying networking initialisation
- Now shows the progress when extracting the zip files (thanks Tantric)
- Detects the ftpii directory when using a password like ftpii_mypass
- Keep meta.xml name when updating if it has been edited
- Added more error checking when updating HBB, if updating fails it reverts back to the previous version
- Media category becoming unavailable should now be fixed
- Fixed controller screen to display accurate Dpad information
19 December 2008 (v0.2.5a)
- Fixed XML issue which caused a code dump
- Added update text so it now tells you what's new before you update
13 December 2008 (v0.2.5)
- Changed blue tick to yellow tick so it can be seen easier
- Made help and controls window larger
- Free space is now shown at the bottom right of screen
- Added menu when pressing home, can go into settings, reboot the wii or return to loader. Hold the home button to return to loader at any time.
- Added settings which allow you to change when the image files are downloaded; either at startup or on-demand. Can enable or disable the free space text.
- Added update all applications feature. You access this when clicking on the SD card icon. Once you are shown your applications, the SD card icon changes to an update icon which you can click.
9 November 2008 (v0.2.4)
- Able to view currently installed
- Fixed bug in downloading and removing applications which affected uno and may have affected other applications
- Retries increased to 10 times with a longer pause in-between
- Able to reboot the Wii by holding B and pressing Home
- Detects if you have a .elf version of any application and lets you update that application
- Now uses zip files which means download sizes are reduced (thanks Tantric)
- Added SDHC support
- Detects if HBB icon or meta file exist, if they don’t then it downloads them
26 October 2008 (v0.2.3b)
- Using dol instead of elf to work with HBC beta 9
30 September 2008 (v0.2.3a)
- Wlan adapter should now work with the HBB
- Applications should now be detected properly
- When applications are downloaded/deleted from the popular category they will now appear correctly in other categories and vice versa
29 September 2008 (v0.2.3)
- Rebuilt with latest libfat CVS to fix delete corruption bug (thanks joedj)
- Added Popular category
- Updated HBB about information
6 September 2008 (v0.2.2)
- Now downloads images in real time, no more having to wait for HBB to load
- Fixed IR cursor, no more IR cursor correction is required (thanks Wil)
- Deleting applications now deletes all files from the directories created (emulator roms/saves directories aren't deleted)
- Dpad left and right now controls the categories
- Updated HBB about image to include information about wii message notifications for HBB
3 August 2008 (v0.2.1b)
- Added the ability to cancel downloads at any time by pressing B
- Added a slight rumble when moving over any button
- Moved help and controls icon to left of banner
27 July 2008 (v0.2.1a)
- Fixed the issue when downloading most of the temporary images for the first time it caused HBB to exit
- Added text to describe what each icon does when you move the cursor over it
26 July 2008 (v0.2.1)
- Cursor now rotates and disappears when IR is not pointed to the IR sensor (thanks ebool)
- Added about and controls icon
- Added functionality to remove old files that some applications don't use when you update
- Added statistics gathering which will be displayed on a webpage
- Changed IP address from wiiregionworld.com to codemii.com
13 July 2008 (v0.2.0b)
- Increased buffer size so applications that require a lot of files will work
- Added HTTP no-cache so users behind a proxy will always retrieve the latest version of the apps list
10 July 2008 (v0.2.0a)
- Small bugfix, downloading Raytracer, Wiiwhiteboard, etc should now work
9 July 2008 (v0.2.0)
- Supports applications which load files from the SD card
- Added categorisation of homebrew applications
- Ability to install HBB via wiiload
- Updated tick icons
- Updated "Download" image to change to "Update" if you already have the application installed
- New icon displays even if you have an older version of the application
- Fixed issue when downloading 4 applications HBB would exit
- Does not download the icon.png file if you already have that application installed
4 July 2008 (v0.1.2)
- Added checks to make sure the server response is valid
- Uses new graphics made by LowLines
- New mouse pointer
- "New" icon appears depending on the time
- Uses GRRLIB 3.0.1a
- (A few hours later) Fixed images getting corrupted when loaded previous and next 6 images a few times and now downloads the icon.png and meta.xml files for the HBB if you update
30 June 2008 (v0.1.1)
- Fixed issue with requesting files from server (thanks joedj)
- Enabled auto updating (press B when asked if you don't want to update)
- New logo and HBC icon (thanks LowLines)
29 June 2008 (v0.1)
- Initial Release
To do
- Don't use a black screen when loading
Find calm background musicPrint text on images at run time, instead of having images with text- Allow users to change the default icon
Prompt user if they want to keep their existing icon for a homebrew application they are updating (done in settings)Replace the little about box with an about window, so things like ratings, download statistics, a longer description and maybe a screenshot can be shownUse 7z files instead of downloading each individual fileHave an update all button to update all applicationsIncrease font sizeUse threading to download files so that you can do other things whilst downloadingAdd controller images to each application
Credits
- DayDreamOz for the new v0.3 HBB design
- LowLines for the Homebrew Browser v0.2.x graphics including logo, HBC icon and all other graphics
- joedj for network code in ftpii
- Tantric - Used unzip library
- NoNameNo and RedShade for GRRLIB
- Thanks to all the Wii homebrew developers and icon artists
- Thanks to all the people who tested the HBB revisions
- Thanks to Team Twiizers, #wiidev & #wiihelp
Loop.mod found on ModArchive.
Homebrew Browser was written in C using devkitPPC r16 and libogc (SVN 20090608), libfat and GRRLIB (with Freetype support).
NetSend Example
A message from Low Lines
While designing graphics for teknecal's Homebrew Browser, I have been using a Flash-Based Demo to simulate it (makes it easier to design) and work on possible future features that may be added when teknecal feels ready. Discussion about this can be found here. I am open to ideas and suggestions, and this also provides everyone with a usable demonstration of the Browser.