Nintendo Wii User manual

2023/11/16 19:32 1/11 Nintendo Wii
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Nintendo Wii
The Nintendo Wii is a console developed by Nintendo. It was
released on November the 19th, 2006 and retailed for $249.99
USD.
The Wii sports a IBM PowerPC CPU at 729 MHz with 88MB of RAM,
and a GPU infamously created by ATI (Wii consoles have “ATI”
printed on its shell) dubbed the “Hollywood” chip. Its internal
architecture is very similar to its predecessor, the GameCube, so
Dolphin supports running both Wii and GameCube games. In fact,
some GameCube games can be more difficult to run than Wii
games.
Dolphin is pretty much the only Wii emulator.
This system scrapes metadata for the wii group and loads the
wii set from the currently selected theme, if available.
Quick reference
Accepted ROM formats: .gcm, .iso, .gcz, .ciso, .wbfs, .wad, .rvz, .elf, .dol, .m3u,
.json
Folder: /userdata/roms/wii
Emulators
Dolphin
libretro: Dolphin
BIOS
The libretro version of Dolphin requires its NAND to be stored in bios/dolphin-emu/Sys.
The standalone version will generate the needed files on first launch.
ROMs
Some users have reported issues with using regular traditional controllers as Wiimotes in
Wii games if the game loaded has the .cc.rvz extension. Renaming this extension to
.nkit.iso solved the issue for them (no actual conversion was done, just renaming).
Place your Wii ROMs in /userdata/roms/wii.

Last update: 2023/02/04 07:05 systems:wii https://wiki.batocera.org/systems:wii
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If you have a Riivolution patch, first create its JSON file as outlined on the Dolphin emulator page.
Emulators
Dolphin
For general information about the Dolphin Emulator itself, you can also visit the Dolphin
emulator page instead.
Dolphin configuration
ES setting name batocera.conf key Description ⇒ ES option key value
Settings that apply to all cores of this
emulator
GRAPHICS BACKEND wii.gfxbackend Choose your graphics rendering
⇒ OpenGL OGL, Vulkan Vulkan.
UBERSHADERS wii.ubershaders
Improve performance with Ubershaders.
Ubershaders take advantage of your GPU to
avoid in-game stutters as it generates shaders
for the first time; this can happen when a
certain special effect shows on the screen or a
new model is rendered. Hybrid ubershaders are
preferred, it will use the GPU accelerated
ubershader if available to avoid stutter,
otherwise it will fall back to traditional shader
generation. Exclusive ubershaders will only use
ubershaders, only activate this option if you
have an extremely powerful GPU. Normally
there is no downside to activating ubershaders,
however it does increase the minimum
requirements out of your GPU to run. On
especially weak hardware, such as SBCs,
ubershaders are disabled by default. They can
still be manually turned on, but you may
encounter more stutter if on an SBC. Skip draw
is a hack that opts to take a different approach
altogether: don't display the object in game if
its shader hasn't compiled yet. Obviously, this
can result in visual glitches, but may be the
best option performance-wise if your hardware
is extremely weak.; asynchronous is preferred,
synchronous is more compatible
⇒ No Ubershaders no_ubershader, Exclusive
Ubershaders exclusive_ubershader, Hybrid
Ubershaders hybrid_ubershader, Skip
Drawing skip_draw.

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ES setting name batocera.conf key Description ⇒ ES option key value
PRE-CACHE SHADERS wii.wait_for_shaders
Wait for shaders to compile completely before
starting the game, can reduce micro-freezes
⇒ Off (default) 0, On 1.
PERFORMANCE HACKS gamecube.perf_hacks
Increase emulator performance, at the cost of
accuracy/stability. Settings set to “True” with
this option: Defer EFB copies to RAM
DeferEFBCopies, Scaled EFB Copy
EFBScaledCopy, EFB Copies
EFBToTextureEnable, Skip Presenting
Duplicate Frames SkipDuplicateXFBs, XFB
copies XFBToTextureEnable, Force Texture
Filtering ForceFiltering, Arbitrary Mipmap
Detection ArbitraryMipmapDetection,
Disable Copy Filter DisableCopyFilter,
Force 24-Bit Color ForceTrueColor. Settings
set to “False” with this option: Bounding Box
BBoxEnable, Ignore Format Changes
EFBEmulateFormatChanges.
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
USE PAD PROFILES wii.use_pad_profiles Search for custom configured joystick profiles
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
VIDEO RESOLUTION
wii.internal_resolution
Improve the fidelity of 3D models (does not
affect 2D sprites)
⇒ 1x native (640×528) 1, 2x 720p (1280×1056)
2, 3x 1080p (1920×1584) 3, 4x 1440p
(2560×2112) 4, 5x (3200×2640) 5, 6x 4K
(3840×3168) 6, 7x (4480×3696) 7, 8x 5K
(5120×4224) 8.
ANISOTROPIC FILTERING
wii.anisotropic_filtering
Enhance the quality of distant perspective
textures
⇒ Off 0, 2x 1, 4x 2, 8x 3, 16x 4.
DUAL CORE MODE wii.dual_core Usually not much faster than single core mode
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
GPU SYNC wii.gpu_sync
Speed hack for dual core mode to fix some
glitches
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
ANTI-ALIASING wii.antialiasing Smooth out jagged edges on 3D object polygons
⇒ Off 0, 2x 2, 4x 4, 8x 8.
ANTI-ALIASING MODE wii.use_ssaa
Toggle MSAA/SSAA. Depends on anti-aliasing
being enabled.
⇒ MSAA (default) 0, SSAA 1.
HIRES TEXTURES wii.hires_textures Use HD texture packs
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
WIDESCREEN HACK wii.widescreen_hack You must use a 16/9 RATIO to work
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
ENABLE CHEATS wii.enable_cheats
To use game cheats or 16/9 Aspect Ratio Fix
codes
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNIT wii.enable_mmu Allows many games to boot and work properly
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
FAST DISK SPEED wii.enable_fastdisc Speeds up disc speed to remove any loading
⇒ Off 0, On 1.

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ES setting name batocera.conf key Description ⇒ ES option key value
VSYNC wii.vsync
Fix the heavy screen tearing in games (CPU
heavy)
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
DUALSHOCK MOTION CONTROL wii.dsmotion
Emulate the Wii pointer with your DS4's
gyroscope
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
MOUSE AS IR WIIMOTE wii.mouseir Emulate the Wiimote IR control with a mouse
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
RUMBLE wii.rumble To use vibration on games with Rumble mode
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
Settings specific to wii
EMULATE WIIMOTE wii.emulatedwiimotes
Use your gamepad like a vertical Wiimote in
game
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
CUSTOMIZE WIIMOTE & GAMEPAD
wii.controller_mode
Emulate a Wiimote Sideway with L2 for Shake
and Nunchuk on R-stick.
⇒ Off disabled, Classic Controller cc, Wiimote
Sideway side, Wiimote Sideway + Swing is,
Wiimote Sideway + Tilt it, Wiimote Sideway +
Nunchuk in. More details on its own page.
SHOW LIGHT GUN CROSSHAIRS wii.dolphin-
lightgun-hide-crosshair
Show a crosshair for the Wiimote's emulated IR
sensor.
⇒ Off 0, On 1.
RetroArch
RetroArch has its own page.
libretro: Dolphin
Standardized features for this core: wii.autosave
ES setting name batocera.conf_key Description ⇒ ES option key_value
Settings that apply to all systems this core supports
RENDERING RESOLUTION
global.wii_resolution
Enhancement. Increase the rendering resolution.
Makes 3D objects clearer.
⇒ 1x native (640×528) x1 (640 x 528), 2x 720p
(1280×1056) x2 (1280 x 1056), 3x 1080p
(1920×1584) x3 (1920 x 1584), 4x 1440p
(2560×2112) x4 (2560 x 2112), 5x (3200×2640)
x5 (3200 x 2640), 6x 4K (3840×3168) x6
(3840 x 3168).
LANGUAGE global.wii_language
Wii NAND's language setting.
⇒ English English, French French, German
German, Spanish Spanish, Italian Italian, Dutch
Dutch, Japanese Japanese, Simplified Chinese
Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Traditional Chinese, Korean Korean.

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ES setting name batocera.conf_key Description ⇒ ES option key_value
WIDESCREEN HACK (GLITCHY)
global.wii_widescreen_hack
Enhancement. Only works with a 16/9 ratio and
bezels disabled.
⇒ Off disabled, On enabled.
UBERSHADERS global.wii_shader_mode
May not work well on all hardware. Hybrid is
preferred, where supported.
⇒ No Ubershaders sync, Exclusive Ubershaders
sync UberShaders, Hybrid Ubershaders a-sync
UberShaders, Skip Drawing a-sync Skip
Rendering.
ANISOTROPIC FILTERING
global.wii_anisotropic
Improves clarity of distant textures.
⇒ Off 1x, 2x 2x, 4x 4x, 8x 8x, 16x 16x.
Settings specific to wii
WII TV MODE wii.wii_widescreen
Wii NAND's aspect ratio setting. Most games support
both ratios natively.
⇒ 16:9 enabled, 4:3 disabled.
CONTROLLER 1 TYPE
wii.controller1_wii
Emulate a Wiimote Sideway with L2 for Shake and
Nunchuk on R-stick.
⇒ WiiMote 1, WiiMote Sideways 513, WiiMote +
Nunchuk 769, WiiMote + Classic Controller 1025,
WiiMote + Classic Controller Pro 1281, Real Wiimote
1536, GameCube Controller 1281.
CONTROLLER 2 TYPE
wii.controller2_wii
Emulate a Wiimote Sideway with L2 for Shake and
Nunchuk on R-stick.
⇒ WiiMote 1, WiiMote Sideways 513, WiiMote +
Nunchuk 769, WiiMote + Classic Controller 1025,
WiiMote + Classic Controller Pro 1281, Real Wiimote
1536, GameCube Controller 1281.
CONTROLLER 3 TYPE
wii.controller3_wii
Emulate a Wiimote Sideway with L2 for Shake and
Nunchuk on R-stick.
⇒ WiiMote 1, WiiMote Sideways 513, WiiMote +
Nunchuk 769, WiiMote + Classic Controller 1025,
WiiMote + Classic Controller Pro 1281, Real Wiimote
1536, GameCube Controller 1281.
CONTROLLER 4 TYPE
wii.controller4_wii
Emulate a Wiimote Sideway with L2 for Shake and
Nunchuk on R-stick.
⇒ WiiMote 1, WiiMote Sideways 513, WiiMote +
Nunchuk 769, WiiMote + Classic Controller 1025,
WiiMote + Classic Controller Pro 1281, Real Wiimote
1536, GameCube Controller 1281.
Further options can be adjusted in RetroArch's Quick Menu ( [HOTKEY] + in-game).
Controllers for the Wii

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There are multiple choices for controllers and connections for playing Wii on Batocera:
Native Wiimote using native Bluetooth: Use original Wiimote controllers with either a native
Bluetooth receiver.
Native Wiimote using a Dolphinbar: Use original Wiimote controllers with a Dolphinbar.
Emulated Wiimote/Classic controller with a gamepad: Use a standard gamepad to emulate a
Wiimote for the emulated game.
Emulated GameCube controller with a gamepad: Use standard gamepads for classic/GameCube
controller-compatible games. This is the default mode.
Native Wiimote using native Bluetooth
When Dolphin is launched, put the Wiimote into pair mode and it will pair. That's it. Use the IR bar as
you would a normal Wii, place it either at the top or bottom of the TV screen and point at it for the on-
screen Wiimote cursor.
This will work for as long as the Bluetooth dongle itself supports communicating with the Wiimote.
An ordinary controller (or keyboard) will be required to navigate menus when outside of the emulated
Wii game, as the Wiimote itself cannot be used for this.
This method cannot be used simultaneously with pairing the Wiimote in EmulationStation

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(the main menu).
( unless you choose the “gamepad” option for the wiimote gun
settings? Needs confirmation)
Native Wiimote using a Dolphinbar
The Dolphinbar acts as an intermediary body between the machine and the Wiimote. It also includes
IR LEDs which automatically shut off when not in use. Its Bluetooth module is the most unresponsive
of all the available options, usage of native Bluetooth connection instead is usually more responsive.
An ordinary controller (or keyboard) will be required to navigate menus when outside of the emulated
Wii game, as the Wiimote itself cannot be used for this.
Connect your DolphinBar with USB to the machine.1.
Press the right ( MODE?) button to switch to MODE 4, the passthrough2.
mode.
Launch any Wii game from ES using a traditional controller.3.
To permanently pair the Wiimote:
On the Wiimote, hold down the red sync button inside of the battery compartment. The1.
LEDs will begin flashing.
To only temporarily pair the Wiimote:
On the Wiimote, hold down buttons [1] + [2]. The LEDs will begin flashing.1.
Wait until the LEDs stop flashing. Once they do, the Wiimote is connected to the emulated Wii4.
system.
Repeat for each Wiimote desired.
For more info, refer to the Dolphinbar-specific page.
Do the same limitations about pairing in ES apply here?
What does the light gun page for Dolphinbar have to do with this? Maybe the link to it
should be removed.
There's a SYNC button on the Dolphinbar itself. What does that do in this context? Is it

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required to be pressed or does Batocera automatically put the Dolphinbar into pairing
mode once Dolphin is launched? Is the button just a passthrough for the Dolphin hotkey
which automatically puts the emulated Wii into its sync mode?
Using Bluetooth passthrough
This is not required to use Wiimotes regularly with Bluetooth adapters. Dolphin
works fine using its emulated Bluetooth connections in most cases.
Doing this will render your Bluetooth module inoperable with anything that isn't Dolphin,
including navigating the EmulationStation front-end! Be sure to have a different way of
navigating the menus prepared.
A keyboard and mouse are required to initially configure this.
If instead you'd like to utilize Dolphin's Bluetooth passthrough feature, do the following:
Go to the dolphin-emu-config application in Files ([F1] in system list) → Applications.1.
Go to Options → Configuration → Wii and add your Bluetooth module to the Whitelisted2.
USB Passthrough Devices box.
You can test for this by plugging in your Bluetooth USB dongle and seeing which
device appears, if that's what you're using.
Close the configuration window, then launch a Wii game directly from Dolphin (double-click one3.
of the Wii games on the list).
Press [Alt] + [Tab] to go back to the Dolphin menu.4.
Go to Options → Controller Settings and under Passthrough a Bluetooth adapter click5.
Sync.
Press the red [SYNC] button on the underside of your Wiimote. You can either remove the6.
battery cover to get to it or use a toothpick to press it through the hole in the cover.
You can press [Alt] + [Tab] again to get in-game and confirm that your
controller is working.
Go to Emulation → Stop to stop the game.7.
Exit Dolphin.8.
You can now use Bluetooth passthrough with Dolphin after launching the game from Batocera!

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Wiimote profiles can be manually set via Batocera configs, however it is recommended to
just use Dolphin's sophisticated remapping tools and use a custom pad profile instead.
Use of the Skylanders portal with Dolphin's passthrough
Navigate to [F1] File manager → Applications → dolphin-emuconfig
Once Dolphin is opened, navigate to Options → Configuration → Wii and then add the portal to the
Whitelisted USB Passthrough Devices.
Batocera v35 and below
Batocera v35 and below requires a new udev rule to be intsalled to function correctly. Save this file to
/userdata/rules.d/51-gcadapter.rules:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1430",
ATTRS{idProduct}=="0150", MODE="0666"
Emulated GameCube controller with a gamepad
This is the default mode, when nothing else is configured. Shown on a Batocera RetroPad:

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Troubleshooting
There are infrequent frame-drops in my games despite them running at full-
speed most of the time
Your GPU might not be strong enough to calculate the caches in real-time while playing. This can be
worked around by activating the PRE-CACHE SHADERS wii.wait_for_shaders setting, at the
cost of having to wait a while on your next launch of the game (one time only).
It's still happening!
For exceptionally weak hardware, it might also be worth turning off UBERSHADERS
wii.ubershaders altogether.
I have X problem with Y game
Dolphin has a great and informative wiki, usually detailing which settings may need to be altered to

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avoid issues in certain games. Search for your game on it here:
https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
Further troubleshooting
For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.
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Permanent link:
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Last update: 2023/02/04 07:05