USB Loader GX

In this guide, you will be setting up USB Loader GX, an easy to use program that will allow you to backup and load games on an external USB device, load channels, homebrew apps, and more.

If you are choosing to use a USB hub, all italicized text is specifically for you.

If you are choosing to not use a USB hub, all bolded text is specifically for you

What you’ll need

• A USB drive formatted as FAT32. If you are not using a USB hub, this drive will have to be the same one you are using for games. If you are using a USB hub, this can be the same drive you are keeping your games on, but we highly recommend you use a separate drive.
• If you are using a different drive for your games than your apps, format your drive for games as FAT32 if you are planning on backing up and playing GameCube games. If you are only going to be playing Wii games, format your drive as NTFS.
• USB Loader GX
• A way to transfer files to your USB drive

Setting up USB Loader GX

Plug in your USB drive into whatever you are using to transfer files to it

Plug in your apps USB drive into whatever you are using to transfer files to it

Then, extract the USB Loader GX .7z that you downloaded earlier.

Inside the extracted folder, you will find a folder named apps. Transfer that to the root of your USB drive. If you already have an apps folder, it will merge with it.

Once you have done this, you may eject your USB drive.

Plug your USB drive into your Wii Mini

Plug your USB hub into your Wii Mini, and connect both your apps and games USB drives

On your Wii Mini, open the Homebrew Channel and launch USB Loader GX. Once you launch it, you should see the USB Loader GX logo and several loading messages below it. Eventually, it should load to the main USB Loader GX interface.

USB Loader GX is now ready for use.

Backing up Wii games to your USB drive

Backing up your Wii games onto your USB drive is an extremely simple process.

Before you rip your games, make sure USB Loader GX sees the correct drive for games. To do this, press the settings icon in the bottom left, and choose Hard Drive Settings. Then, click on the first option in the list, and choose the correct drive. The easiest way to tell would be to look at the reported size and find out which one matches your games drive.

Insert the Wii disc that you would like to rip into the disc drive, and close the lid.

Once you have done that, you can either wait for the on screen prompt to show up, where you can choose to install the game, or you can press the + button in the bottom left of the menu and confirm that you would like to install the game.

USB Loader GX will now proceed to rip the disc onto your USB drive. Wait for it to complete, then press OK.

Repeat this process for each of the games you wish to backup.

Downloading game covers (requires USB hub)

USB Loader GX’s UI will show you the covers for the games you have on your USB drive, but you have to download them first.

Do note that you will be required to be connected to the internet in order to do this (if you don’t know how, see this page, and have your USB drive plugged in at the same time, meaning a USB hub with either a built in ethernet port or a separate USB adapter is required.

Once you are connected to the internet, load USB Loader GX and press 1 on your Wii Remote. This will bring up a download menu. Ensure all the boxes are checked, and then start the download. It may take a while depending on how many games you have and your internet speed.

When it is done downloading, press OK, and your game covers will now show up.

You are now done setting up USB Loader GX and backing up your games.

You can now continue on to some things to keep in mind when running homebrew on the Wii Mini