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Saturday, November 24, 2012

How to play GameCube games off a USB HDD.

You will need:
-An SD Card
-A USB HDD
-Wii Mote
-GameCube Controller
-A Wii with Homebrew Channel installed
-A GameCube iso


Download Links:
USB Loader: http://code.google.c...e+DownloadCount
USB Loader Mod: http://www.mediafire...b545893im623q25
DIOS MIOS v2.0 or newer: http://code.google.com/p/diosmios/
DiskEx: http://code.google.c...-v0.8b-cred.rar
EaseUS: http://download.cnet...4-10863346.html
MMM: http://www.4shared.c...od-Manager.html

COMPUTER:


1.) Download the USB Launcher easy installer from the Download List above. Run the easy installer in the folder, put it on your SD Card.

2.) Download the USB Loader mod. Open the zip file. Choose the folder with your right IOS. Extract the boot.dol to SD:\apps\usbloader_gx\

3.) Download the DIOS MIOS v2.0 wad. Move it to the root folder of your SD card, or for easier installation put it in a folder on the root titled 'wad'. Also download and put MMM in your 'apps' folder.

4.) Download DiskEx and put the zip contents on your Desktop, along with your iso. (To get a backup, use CleanRip.)

5.) Drag n' Drop the iso into DiskEx. It will create a folder on your Desktop. It will create a folder named after the game id. So to you, it's random letters and numbers.

7.) Download and Install EaseUS Partition master, and open it. Find your HDD, and right click it, and select 'format' Format it as FAT32 with 32KB Clusters. *DONT IGNORE! Press OK, and then "Apply" .

8.) Look at your empty HDD, and make a 'games' folder. Put the Folder with the Game ID in there.

WII:
1.) Plug in your HDD in USB Slot 0. Turn on your Wii. Launch Homebrew Channel. Then launch MMM.

2.) Choose WAD Manager on the menu and install DIOS MIOS v2.0.wad

3.) After you're done, exit MMM. Launch USB Launcher GX.

4.) Go to Settings, and on Page 2, select Custom Paths.

5.) Make the Path for Main GameCube Games "usb1:\games\"

6.) Go to your menu, and select the Button on top that shows a menu that has Check Boxes saying GameCube, Wii, NAND, and EmuNAND. Choose GameCube, and any other you want to display.

7.) Choose a game and press Start, then choose 'Launch from USB'.

Congratulations! You can now play GC games from your USB HDD. This only works if you have a Disc in the Wii Disc Drive. Thanks to Cyan for the modified USB Loader.


CFG USB LOADERv70 r36:

COMPUTER:
Follow steps 3-7 in the COMPUTER guide above. 

WII:

1.) Follow steps 1 & 2 on the guide above.
2.) Install DIOS MIOS using MMM.
3.) Launch CFG USB Loader.
4.) Click the icon with tools on it
5.) Set "DML Version" to DM.
6.) Launch your game!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Hiding Facebook Sidebar Ticker with AdBlock


As usual, Facebook introduced a few interface changes that most users have found unnecessary or worse, annoying.  Fortunately, for those of us who use good browsers such as Chrome or Firefox, we have AdBlock at our disposal.  AdBlock (and AdBlock Plus) block common ads on many web pages.  Fortunately, we are able to block additional page elements ourselves.  Enter the two following lines in AdBlock Plus (code courtesy Facecrooks website):
apps.facebook.com##DIV[class="homeFixedTicker"]
apps.facebook.com##DIV[class="fixedAux"]
Remember to save your filter changes, then reload the page to view without the annoying tickers.
If you want to take this even further, I created two filters that will eliminate the entire distracting righthand sidebar, including the ads and “suggestions” Facebook offers!  In AdBlock, enter this as two separate lines in your custom filter list:
facebook.com##div[class="UIStandardFrame_SidebarAds"] 
facebook.com##div[id="rightCol"][role="complementary"]
Save your changes, reload your Facebook page, and that righthand sidebar should be gone!
Here is another snippet you can use in AdBlock to remove that chat tab at the bottom of your screen.  Be aware, however, that this will no longer give you an indication that you are signed into chat (although I stay logged out at all times anyway)…
facebook.com##div[class="fbDock clearfix"]
Again, remember to save your changes, and reload the page.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

USB, Meet Gameboy: Saving your Pokemon, Photos & Memories



Backing up GameBoy saves to Your PC
(A YouTube video briefly highlighting the process)
If you were a kid growing up in the mid 90′s there was probably a good chance you had a GameBoy from Nintendo. Most early games did not allow you to save your progress, alternatively a password system was used to pickup where you left off. But in 1998 a big game came along that used the save function, and it wouldn’t have been a success without it. That game of course was Pokemon, available originally in the United States in a Red or Blue version this game would go onto break records and hypnotize millions of kids into becoming Pokemon fanatics for life.
Growing up I was always a bit of a geek, so one day I found a device in a store titled the “Mega Memory Card” made by the now defiant company Interact. I just had to have it. This strange shaped yellow device almost looked like a Game Shark, but instead of hacking your games and giving you infinite lives, this device let you backup your game saves. The Mega Memory card had 30 available slots. Meaning I can backup my Pokemon game, erase the save file and let my brother play and restore my original game at anytime. As well as having alternate saves for a variety of games. This was really cool and I loved it. But until recently there was no easy way to get these saves onto your computer or into an emulator to really preserve it forever. There were other devices that were based on the use of the old Parallel port standard, but thankfully those days are behind us.
Enter the GB USB 64m Smart Card. This is basically a blank GameBoy cartridge with internal built-in storage and a USB port. This allows you to copy gamesaves and more from a GameBoy game to your computer! Finally allowing you to really preserve your gamesaves and other data forever. GameBoy games that involve saves run on a battery. Once this battery dies your save file is lost forever. For example most games are losing their saves recently, that’s because these batteries don’t last forever. For example Pokemon Red came out in 1998 and that game is now over 13 years old. Meaning the battery is over 13 years old. While it may still work now, the time is ticking on when the battery will finally fail. Better safe then sorry right? My Pokemon Red game just stopped working, a failure much larger then the battery was the cause I’m afraid. Thankfully years ago I made a backup using my Mega Memory Card. So this really pushed me to finally back these up to a computer once and for all. The save files are small and portable. I backed up over 60 saves to my computer (yes it took a long time), but the .zip file with them was only about 3 MB. So it’s really easy to back these up and keep them somewhere safe forever. Using a Gamil account and emailing them to yourself is a good option…
Anyway, here is how you backup your games. You’ll need all the items pictured at the top which include: The now out-of-print Mega Memory card. A game of your choice you wish to backup (in this case Pokemon Red) and a GM 64m Smart Card which is thankfully available for sale here.
First you need to download the software on the GM 64m Smart Card page (linked above). For 64-bit users of Windows this is a bit of a pain, but it does work. I’ve successfully installed the drivers and software on Windows 7 64-bit and Windows XP (32-bit). Needless to say a 32-bit version of Windows is easier to get this to work on. There are Mac & Linux options, but even though I’m using a Mac I took the shortcut of using Parallels Desktop with Windows instead of attempting the native-Mac route.
Step 1: Using your Mega Memory card to backup the save. Plug the Mega Memory card into your GameBoy system, plug the cartridge you want to backup into the slot on the unit, for this example Pokemon Red. Make sure the switch ont he Mega Memory card is slid into the right side position (with the label facing away from you). So if you look at the purple label the switch should be on the left position). But from the back of the Gameboy it’ll be on the right side.
Step 2: Turn on the Gameboy. If the Memory Card manager screen does not come up clean your game contacts of dust. This is a major factor in making this work smoothly, I have dumped games which did not have a working save, this was due to there not being a secure connection. So try again until the menu comes up. Once you get to the menu select ‘Backup’. You will be given a chance to type a title or name for your save. A screen saying “Working” will let you know it’s backing up the game save. This will only take a few seconds. If you’re backing up a GameBoy camera this will take significantly longer, maybe around 10-20 seconds, but more on the GameBoy camera later.
Step 3: Once the ‘Working’ screen goes away it is safe to shut-off the system. Remove the game you copied the save from (ex. Pokemon Red) from the back of the Memory Card unit. Now plug in the GM 64m Smart Card. Turn on the system again and wait to get to the Memory Card menu. Again if it does not boot up correctly clean the game contacts. Now this time we choose ‘Restore’ since we want to write the save information we just backed up form the Pokemon game. Select the name of the save you created before. A ‘Working’ screen will again come up to let you know it’s working. When it’s done it’ll return to the main menu, this means it’s finished. It’s now safe to turn off the Gameboy.
Step 4: Thanks to the nature of USB you can disconnect the GB 64m Smart Card from the Memory card/ gameboy all together and plug it into your computer via the USB port on the cartridge. Note: If you leave the cartridge plugged into a GameBoy (even if it’s off) it will not be read properly by the computer. So remove the cartridge from any connection before continuing. Start up the GB_USB.exe application in Windows. The screen will indicate it’s loading. The program has two sections, one to save data to the card, and one to read data from the card (the bottom). We’ll be focusing on the bottom section. Game Card Information. Please note there are two 32M Slots/Pages. If you do not see anything listed under ‘Game Name’ you should change the Data page from the drop-down menu on the upper section. Changing this to Page NO. 2 solved the issue for me. You should now see something listed on the bottom section under Card Information. On my screen it reads ‘ADVENTURE’ with a size of 256k. This may vary depending on your game. Now to copy this to your PC. Since we’re copying just game saves and not a ROM, we’ll select the ‘READ SRAM’ button. You will be asked to save your game file somewhere, be sure to add a .sav extension or your GameBoy emulator will not properly read the save file. This will show a progress bar backing up your info. When it’s done it’s safe to close the program and unplug the cartridge from the USB port.
Step 5: Playing your save file on an emulator. First you need the ROM of the original game. I won’t get into the whole legal issues with this, but depending on your country it technically may be illegal to obtain or own these ROMs unless you own them. Google CoolRom to find out some information. Do not ask me where to download them. So now that you have the ROM of the game you downloaded the game save from we’re ready to go. On Windows I used VisualBoy Advance, a pretty good GameBoy emulator which emulates GameBoy, GameBoy Color and GameBoy Advance games very well. Start by selecting ‘File > Open…’ and select the game ROM (for example Pokemon Red). The game will load and start to play, don’t worry about this. Once again go to the File menu, but this time go to ‘Import’ and select ‘Battery file’. The battery file is the save file we downloaded form our USB cartridge. Make sure the file has the extension .sav (for example “MyRedGameSave.sav”). If not the program will not see it as a save file and it may not work. Select your save. The program will warn you that loading the save will cause the current game to reset and lose any unsaved data. This is just fine because we just started the game. Click OK and watch the game reboot… TA-DAH! You now have your gamesave loaded into an emulator. Your game save can be emailed to yourself, backed up, or shared online. It will live on forever!
Note about GameBoy Camera saves. Using the above method I was able to save my GameBoy camera photos. But not without a bit of a struggle. Hopefull the below notes will help you out. First this website was crucial. It follows the same process above but gives you a download link to the GBCameraDump.exe program, without this it’s not possible to view your photos. Especially since most emulators (like VisualBoy Advance) won’t read a GameBoy Camera save file because it can not properly load up the GameBoy Camera ROM file.
So please visit this wonderful site to start the process, but before doing so I have some helpful tips to ensure a smooth operation!
This is the result of a bad dump of a GameBoy Camera save file.
This is the result of a good dump of a GameBoy Camera save file.
Clean the contacts on the GameBoy camera! The camera will not easily slide onto the Mega Memory card. It can work, but it is a bit snug. This causes the game to be extra sensitive, so there’s a higher chance of it not backing up properly. I tried twice and I got gibberish photos (although my Game Face was okay). To fix this I cleaned all cartridges and slots with a Q-Tip (without anything on it, but you can go further, just be careful). Finally on my 3rd try everything worked okay. The key to this is the transfer times. The Mega Memory Card will take it’s sweet time to backup the GameBoy camera save. That is normal. However when ‘Restoring’ this save to the GM 64m Smart Card is where I was having the issue. The Mega Memory card would often take no time to restore the save to the card. And that is when I was getting zero usable pictures when opening the GBCameraDump.exe program. To fix this I formatted the GM 64m Smart Card (using the GB_USB.exe utility) and tried again. This time it worked great. So it may have been a combination of dust and formatting. This time the Mega Memory card took the same amount of time to backup the Camera save as it took to restore it to the USB card. All worked well and GBCameraDump.exe was able to save all of my photos into crisp Black & White .BMP image files. So don’t give up, it’ll work eventually! :)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Android SDK folder stays read only

After downloading/installing Android SDK, it put the files/folders here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdkif I right click on the parent folder, Android, I see that it's readonly. I unchecked readonly, and I got a prompt saying, "You will need to provide adminitsrator permission to change these attributes". I clicked Continue. It then seemed to run thru that folder and all of its children, applying the new non-readonly attr.
But when I right click on the Android folder and go to props again, it says it's readonly again.
Win7 has a lot of access problems when you install some programs in the Program Files(x86)
Uninstall the android sdk and install it in C:/ for example, it will work. 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Error Connecting GBA Action Replay to Computer


Follow the relevent link below to download the Action Replay GBX for GBA PC Link software. 
http://us.codejunkies.com/support_downloads/ActionReplayGBX_3_3_EU_ENG.exe

If you are receiving and “Error Connecting” message when trying to link the GBA Action Replay to your computer you must make sure that you have everything connected and turned on for it to link properly. First make sure that you have the Action Replay in the GBA and there is a game in the Action Replay. Then plug in the cable to the Action Replay and turn the GBA on. Let the Action Replay load to the main menu screen, and then open the GBX software on your computer. Now all you need to do is click on the AR GBX button at the bottom of the GBX software.

If it`s still not connecting, try the following:

   1. Click START -> SETTINGS -> CONTROL PANEL. Double click on "Add New Hardware".
   2. When prompted select that you want to "select the Hardware from a list".
   3. Select "Other Devices" from the list of hardware and then click Next.
   4. Click on the Have Disk button. Enter "C:\Program Files\Interact\Action Replay GBA\Drivers" or  "C:\Program Files\Datel\ActionReplayGBX\Drivers" under the box to "Copy Manufacturer`s files from".
   5. Select the "GBA Link" and Click Next.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

How to Install Oracle Java on Ubuntu Linux


This tutorial will cover the installation of 32-bit and 64-bit Oracle Java 7 (currently version number 1.7.0_09) JDK/JRE on 32-bit and 64-bit Ubuntu operating systems. These instructions will also work on Debian and Linux Mint.
If you already have Oracle Java 7 installed on your system, using this method but need to upgrade, please see the following article:
Also to upgrade the Oracle Java in your web browsers, please see the following article:

Steps

  1. 1
    Check to see if your Ubuntu Linux operating system architecture is 32-bit or 64-bit, open up a terminal and run the following command below.
    • Type/Copy/Paste: file /sbin/init
      • Note the bit version of your Ubuntu Linux operating system architecture it will display whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit.
  2. 2
    Check if you have Java installed on your system. To do this, you will have to run the Java version command from terminal.
    • Open up a terminal and enter the following command:
      • Type/Copy/Paste: java -version
    • If you have OpenJDK installed on your system it may look like this:
      • java version "1.6.0_21"
        OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.10pre) (6b21~pre1-0lucid1)
        OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 19.0-b09, mixed mode)
    • If you have OpenJDK installed on your system, you have the wrong vendor version of Java installed for this exercise.
  3. 3
    Completely remove the OpenJDK/JRE from the system if necessary. This will prevent system conflicts and confusion between different vendor versions of Java. For example, if you have the OpenJDK/JRE installed on your system, you can remove it by typing the following at the command line:
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo apt-get purge openjdk-\*
      • This command will completely remove OpenJDK/JRE from your system
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/java
      • Create a directory to put your Oracle Java JDK and JRE binaries in, open up a terminal and create the directory /usr/local/java
  4. 4
    Download the Oracle Java JDK/JRE for Linux. Make sure you select the correctcompressed binaries for your system architecture 32-bit or 64-bit (which end in tar.gz).
    • For example, if you are on Ubuntu Linux 32-bit operating system download 32-bit Oracle Java binaries.
    • For example, if you are on Ubuntu Linux 64-bit operating system download 64-bit Oracle Java binaries.
    • Optional, Download the Oracle Java JDK/JRE Documentation
      • Select jdk-7u9-apidocs.zip
    • Important Information: 64-bit Oracle Java binaries do not work on 32-bit Ubuntu Linux operating systems, you will receive multiple system error messages, if you attempt to install 64-bit Oracle Java on 32-bit Ubuntu Linux.
  5. 5
    Copy the Oracle Java binaries into the /usr/local/java directory. In most cases, the Oracle Java binaries are downloaded to: /home/"your_user_name"/Downloads.
    • 32-bit Oracle Java on 32-bit Ubuntu Linux installation instructions:
      • Type/Copy/Paste: cd /home/"your_user_name"/Downloads
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s cp -r jdk-7u9-linux-i586.tar.gz /usr/local/java
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s cp -r jre-7u9-linux-i586.tar.gz /usr/local/java
      • Type/Copy/Paste: cd /usr/local/java
    • 64-bit Oracle Java on 64-bit Ubuntu Linux installation instructions:
      • Type/Copy/Paste: cd /home/"your_user_name"/Downloads
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s cp -r jdk-7u9-linux-x64.tar.gz /usr/local/java
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s cp -r jre-7u9-linux-x64.tar.gz /usr/local/java
      • Type/Copy/Paste: cd /usr/local/java
  6. 6
    Run the following commands on the downloaded Oracle Java tar.gz files. Make sure to do this as root in order to make them executable for all users on your system. To open a root terminal type sudo -s you will be prompted for your logon password.
    • 32-bit Oracle Java on 32-bit Ubuntu Linux installation instructions:
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s chmod a+x jdk-7u9-linux-i586.tar.gz
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s chmod a+x jre-7u9-linux-i586.tar.gz
    • 64-bit Oracle Java on 64-bit Ubuntu Linux installation instructions:
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s chmod a+x jdk-7u9-linux-x64.tar.gz
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s chmod a+x jre-7u9-linux-x64.tar.gz
  7. 7
    Unpack the compressed Java binaries, in the directory /usr/local/java
    • 32-bit Oracle Java on 32-bit Ubuntu Linux installation instructions:
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s tar xvzf jdk-7u9-linux-i586.tar.gz
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s tar xvzf jre-7u9-linux-i586.tar.gz
    • 64-bit Oracle Java on 64-bit Ubuntu Linux installation instructions:
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s tar xvzf jdk-7u9-linux-x64.tar.gz
      • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo -s tar xvzf jre-7u9-linux-x64.tar.gz
  8. 8
    Double-check your directories. At this point, you should have two uncompressed binary directories in /usr/local/java for the Java JDK/JRE listed as:
    • Type/Copy/Paste: ls -a
    • jdk1.7.0_09
    • jre1.7.0_09
  9. 9
    Edit the system PATH file /etc/profile and add the following system variables to your system path. Use nano, gedit or any other text editor, as root, open up /etc/profile.
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo gedit /etc/profile
    • or
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo nano /etc/profile
  10. 10
    Scroll down to the end of the file using your arrow keys and add the following lines below to the end of your /etc/profile file:
    • Type/Copy/Paste:

      JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/java/jdk1.7.0_09
      PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/bin
      JRE_HOME=/usr/local/java/jre1.7.0_09
      PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$JRE_HOME/bin
      export JAVA_HOME
      export JRE_HOME
      export PATH
  11. 11
    Save the /etc/profile file and exit.
  12. 12
    Inform your Ubuntu Linux system where your Oracle Java JDK/JRE is located. This will tell the system that the new Oracle Java version is available for use.
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/usr/local/java/jre1.7.0_09/bin/java" 1
      • this command notifies the system that Oracle Java JRE is available for use
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/javac" "javac" "/usr/local/java/jdk1.7.0_09/bin/javac" 1
      • this command notifies the system that Oracle Java JDK is available for use
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/javaws" "javaws" "/usr/local/java/jre1.7.0_09/bin/javaws" 1
      • this command notifies the system that Oracle Java Web start is available for use
  13. 13
    Inform your Ubuntu Linux system that Oracle Java JDK/JRE must be the default Java.
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --set java /usr/local/java/jre1.7.0_09/bin/java
      • this command will set the java runtime environment for the system
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --set javac /usr/local/java/jdk1.7.0_09/bin/javac
      • this command will set the javac compiler for the system
    • Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --set javaws /usr/local/java/jre1.7.0_09/bin/javaws
      • this command will set Java Web start for the system
  14. 14
    Reload your system wide PATH /etc/profile by typing the following command:
    • Type/Copy/Paste: . /etc/profile
    • Note your system-wide PATH /etc/profile file will reload after reboot of your Ubuntu Linux system
  15. 15
    Test to see if Oracle Java was installed correctly on your system. Run the following commands and note the version of Java:
  16. 16
    A successful installation of 32-bit Oracle Java will display:
    • Type/Copy/Paste: java -version
      • This command displays the version of java running on your system
    • You should receive a message which displays:
      • java version "1.7.0_09"
        Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_09-b09)
        Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 23.1-b03, mixed mode)
    • Type/Copy/Paste: javac -version
      • This command lets you know that you are now able to compile Java programs from the terminal.
    • You should receive a message which displays:
      • javac 1.7.0_09
  17. 17
    A successful installation of Oracle Java 64-bit will display:
    • Type/Copy/Paste: java -version
      • This command displays the version of java running on your system
    • You should receive a message which displays:
      • java version "1.7.0_09"
        Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_09-b20)
        Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.0-b21, mixed mode)
    • Type/Copy/Paste: javac -version
      • This command lets you know that you are now able to compile Java programs from the terminal.
    • You should receive a message which displays:
      • javac 1.7.0_09
  18. 18
    Congratulations, you just installed Oracle Java on your Linux system. Now reboot your Ubuntu Linux system. Afterwards, your system will be fully configured for running and developing Java programs. Later on you may want to try compiling and running your own Java programs by following this article How to Create your First Java Program on Ubuntu Linux

EditTips

  • With Ubuntu Linux, you have the choice of whether to use OpenJDK, which is a free and open-source implementation of the Java programming language, or to use Oracle Java JDK and JRE. Some prefer to use Oracle Java (as it is the most up-to-date version of Java and it comes directly from the maintainers of Java technology), but this varies.
  • Keep in mind that Oracle makes security upgrades and bug fixes and enhances performance issues for each new release of Oracle Java. When installing Oracle Java on your system, be aware of the version number changes. See How to Upgrade Oracle Java on Ubuntu Linux for more information.
  • Please note that his document is in continual revision because Oracle sometimes changes the installation method of their Java JDK/JRE binaries.