WiiMC

WiiMC

General
Author(s)	Tantric, rodries
Type	Media player
Version	1.2.0
Licence	GPL
Links
Download
Website
Discussion
Source

WiiMC (Wii Media Centre) is an open source media player for the Nintendo Wii. The GUI is powered by libwiigui.

Features

• Attractive libwiigui-based interface, designed with the Wii in mind
• Picture viewer
• Music player
• On-line media support, including SHOUTcast, YouTube, and Navi-X
• FAT32/NTFS from SD and USB 2.0 (FAT32 recommended)
• Network playback via SMB, HTTP, and FTP
• Multi-language support: Asturian (in WiiMC beta), Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Tamil

Wii Channel

wilsoff was gracious enough to create an official Wii Channel. You can find it on the Downloads page.

Prerequisites

• You must have IOS58 to use this channel. Either upgrade to System Menu 4.3, or use the IOS58 Installer.
• You must have Homebrew Channel 1.0.8+ running on IOS58 to run the installer. If HBC is not using IOS58, reinstall it.
• This channel tries load apps/wiimc/boot.dol from SD or USB. You must have WiiMC installed in one of these locations.

Installation

1. Copy the installer files to your SD/USB device
2. Launch the installer from HBC
3. Click Install
4. Done!

Media Playback

• DVD playback, with DVD menu support (newer Wiis have incompatible drives)
• Files with AVC/H.264 video streams (typically .mp4, .mkv or .flv's from YouTube or other sites) with resolutions up to 720x480p usually play correctly.
• Files with MPEG-4 Simple video streams (typically XVID/DIVX .avi's) with resolutions up to 656x352 play correctly.
• Files with MPEG-2 PS video streams (typically DVD rips and TV-DVR recorded .mpg's) with resolutions up to 720x480 play correctly.
• Files with MPEG-2 TS video streams (typically HDTV recorded .ts files) with resolutions up to 1280x720 play correctly.
• AAC, AC3, FLAC, MP3, OGG Vorbis, WavPack, and WAV PCM Audio Streams all play correctly.

Supported File Extensions

Video

3gp, asf, avi, bik, divx, dpg, dv, dvr-ms, evo, f4v, flc, fli, flv, iso, m1v, m2t, m2ts, m2v, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mp4v, mpe, mpeg, mpg, mqv, nsv, nuv, ogm, qt, rmvb, swf, trp, ts, vdr, vfw, viv, vob, vro, wmv, y4m (maximum allowed resolution: 1280x720)

Audio

aac, ac3, aif, aiff, amr, ape, apl, asf, flac, m4a, m4b, m4p, mka, mp2, mp3, mpc, ogg, ra, ram, rm, shn, wav, wma, wv

Pictures

bmp, jpeg, jpg, png, gif

Playlist

asx, m3u, pls, plx, ram, smil

Limitations

• CD playback: the Wii drive is DVD only
• HD output: even on component cable Wii hardware is limited to 480p or 576i
• 5.1 sound: Wii hardware has only two analogue audio output channels (2.0)
• 720p/1080p playback or downscale: power is not enough to even decode, not to mention downscaling
• Deinterlace: CPU is not powerful enough, and MPlayer filters are not optimized

Prerequisites

• You need to have IOS58 (more info) for USB 2.0 support. It comes with game "Your Shape" and also with System Menu 4.3, or you can use the IOS58 Installer
• DVD playback requires HBC 1.0.8 or the latest official WiiMC channel
• No cIOS is required!

Quick Start Guide

You must have an SD or USB device, even if you only want to play over the network. WiiMC's core (MPlayer) requires a scratch area.

• Unzip the archive's contents directly to the root of your SD or USB device (FAT32 or NTFS)
• Load WiiMC via HBC
• SD cards and USB drives will show up automatically
• Set up network shares in the Settings menu if you want to play media over the network (optional)
• Set your subtitle encoding and language (optional)
• Navigate and play your media files

Video

Usage

1. WiiMC will start in the Videos area
2. The folder used in the last session is remembered for Video, Music, Pictures, and Online Media. You can view and set them to fixed locations in the Settings if you wish
3. Toggle between areas with the 1/2 buttons, or click on the icons at the top (Videos, Music, Pictures, DVD, Online Media, and Settings)
4. Browse to the media file you want to open, and select it to begin playback
5. You can view/change all application preferences in Settings

Videos Playback

1. During playback you can pause, rewind, forward, and change volume level with the wiimote keys or with the on screen controls (these appear, if you point a powered on wiimote at any part of the screen)
2. You can stop playback and return to the file list with the Home key
3. Here you can select another media file to play, or resume playback with the on screen Resume button (WiiMC can automatically resume and play the file from the last stopped position if Auto Resume is set to yes in the Settings)
4. Files that have been watched, both partially and completely, are indicated with a checkmark.

Music Playback

1. Music playback stays in Menu so you can continue browsing.
2. You can create add files to the playlist selecting them with +.
3. You can easily play a whole folder, by pointing at the folder and adding its contents to the playlist with +
4. Play mode selected (Continuous, Shuffle, Single etc.) only works if you have files in your playlist - it will not use the folder you are playing a music file in (put them into the playlist).
5. You can view playlist and change playback volume with the on-screen button.
6. You can leave your TV on while playing: WiiMC has a built-in screensaver also showing what is playing.

DVD Playback

Basically it works as video playback does. You can switch subtitles and audio with d-pad up and down here as well! DVD playback does not work on new Wiis with the internal drive. If this is your case, then you can remove it from the media menu disabling DVD support in settings. Use a DVD lens cleaner kit, if your dual layer DVDs do not play!

Settings

• Videos - Disabling frame dropping improves performance.
• There is a setting to automatically play the next file in the directory.
• You should set the default encoding for the subtitles, and the preferred subtitle language as well (for cases, where multiple subtitles are available). Size and color of subtitles can be changed as well.
• You can change if you want to go to the DVD menu or play the main title at once in Settings.
• You can edit stations for On-line playback in /apps/wiimc/onlinemedia.xml on your SD card, it is not possible from the GUI currently.
• You can set a sleep timer in Settings as well.

FAQ

Will WiiMC ever be able to play HD video?

No. The Wii can't support anything over 480p.

Help! My USB device isn't showing up!

Do you have IOS58 installed? If not, use the IOS58 Installer. Is HBC using IOS58? If not, reinstall it. Finally, check that WiiMC is using IOS58.

Something isn't working right, how do I get help?

Start by reading all of the documentation - the answer you're looking for might be there. If not, search the WiiMC Forum to see if anyone has already asked the same question.

I have a question not covered by this FAQ. Where can I get an answer?

Check out the Forum, your answer may be there. Otherwise, make a new post and wait patiently for a response. Please be aware that it's possible no-one will have an answer to your question.

Changelog

1.2.0 - September 4, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer r34053 and libav 5938e0218543
• Adjusted DVD drive ID detection – fixes drives that stopped working

1.1.9 - August 26, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer r34002
• New YouTube scraping code (thanks jhb50!)
• Fixed problem with some subtitles not appearing
• Added support for subtitles over FTP
• Added chunk support in HTTP protocol
• Added Bulgarian translation
• Other minor bug fixes

1.1.8 - May 17, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer r33269
• Added Danish translation
• Clicking on a browser file already loaded will now resume instead of reload
• Faster loading of online streams
• Fixed a bug with some MMS streams
• Improved network initialization – now you can unplug/plug USB ethernet
• Fixed a potential crash caused by the audio code
• Improved memory management
• Other minor optimizations and improvements

1.1.7 - April 16, 2011

• Fixed a bug that caused a crash if Aspect Ratio was not set to Auto

1.1.6 - April 14, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer r33122
• Fixed an issue with music playlist queuing
• Fixed an issue playing a music playlist with a picture slideshow
• Fixed a bug that caused some MMS streams not to work
• Fixed a bug that caused WiiMC to crash with a malformed restore_points file
• Added a setting to write a debug log to SD - set "debug" to "1"
• Video rendering corrections and optimizations
• Translation updates

1.1.5 - March 25, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer r33036
• Fixed Inactivity Shutdown feature
• Fixed plain playlist support
• Added support for encrypted DVDs for USB DVD drives (thanks clava!)
• Fixed network initialization for some USB LAN adapters
• Other minor changes

1.1.4 - March 4, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer r32994
• Fixed crash in Online Media area
• Fixed crashes on ogg and mp4 files
• Fixed YouTube support
• Added Inactivity Shutdown setting
• Added separate settings to change backward/forward skip
• Improved memory management
• Other minor changes

1.1.3 - February 19, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer 32866
• Fixed crash for some USB drives
• Added option to change screensaver delay
• Fixed incorrect warning about picture sizes being > 6MB
• Improved network initialization routines
• Improved subtitle scaling calculations
• Improved shutdown - if WiiMC fails to shut down within 5 seconds, shutdown will be forced
• Experimental USB DVD drive support (thanks clava!)
• Other minor optimizations and improvements

1.1.2 - January 29, 2011

• Synced to MPlayer r32815
• Fixed broken audio/subtitle switching
• Fixed "Exception (Alignment)" crash
• Changed from mpg123 to ffmp3 (fixes some audio-related problems)
• Added ext 2/3/4 support
• USB compatibility improvements
• Improved performance (enabled 64-byte fetch mode for the L2 cache)
• Large file (> 4GB) support
• Fixed relative playlist paths
• Paired-singles enhancements (thanks Extrems!)
• Added IOS whitelist - a warning will now appear if you are not using IOS58 or IOS61
• Disable dvdnav over SMB (it's too slow!)
• Added Tamil translation (thanks dpandian!)
• Other minor optimizations and bug fixes

1.1.1 - December 16, 2010

• Synced to MPlayer r32709
• Fixed image stuttering and audio sync issues
• Fixed pointer alignment on DVD menus
• Added ISO/IFO DVD playback, with DVD menu support
• Added screen resizing while watching a video via the Wiimote. Just hold down B and use the arrow keys (thanks clava!)
• Performance optimizations using paired singles (thanks Extrems!)
• Improved USB compatibility
• Added support for playlist files in the Videos and Music areas
• Enable negative subtitle delay values
• Replace libmp3 with libmpg123. Fixes a number of MP3 audio bugs
• Added a setting to change the starting area
• New JPG scaler for the Picture Viewer (thanks puddles!)
• Display artist and song on separate lines for SHOUTcast (thanks jhb50!)
• Added settings for YouTube quality and caching for online media
• Subtitle autoscaling
• Added a delay on startup so those with slow USB drives are not bumped back to the main browser list
• Shifted all GUI elements inwards to fix left/right cropping occuring on 16:9 for some people
• Fixed a Picture Viewer crash
• Fixed lowercase bug for NTFS
• Many other minor fixes and improvements

1.1.0 - October 8, 2010

• Synced to MPlayer r32341
• Fixed a crash that happened if your router was turned off
• Fixed "blank listing" issue for SMB
• Improved memory management, resulting in improved performance
• Improved USB compatibility and speed
• USB bug fixes
• NTFS bug fixes
• Fixed audio sync regression from 1.0.9
• Change YouTube default to 480p
• Fixed "vanishing pointer" issue when watching CPU-intensive videos
• Improved shuffle for music
• Channel updated (improved USB compatibility)
• Other miscellaneous bug fixes/improvements

1.0.9 - August 18, 2010

• Fixed a bug that caused NTFS drives not to show up

1.0.8 - August 17, 2010

• Improved USB mounting and updated channel. Should hopefully help those who are receiving the “Could not find a valid SD or USB device” message
• Improved network initialization

1.0.7 - August 15, 2010

• IOS 202 support removed
• USB 2.0 support via IOS 58 added - requires that IOS58 be pre-installed
• WiiMC channel updated - requires IOS58 and does NOT require a cIOS to install (Thanks to megazig and svpe for help with this)
• DVD support via AHBPROT - requires latest HBC or latest WiiMC channel
• Synced to MPlayer r31961
• YouTube support (thanks to lukegb and ataraxis for some help)
• Picture zoom, rotate, pan, auto-rotate via exif data (thanks ataraxis!)
• Fixed seeking for local FLV files
• Fixed black-screen video issue with videos having widths over 1024
• Fixed playback of MKV files
• New YUV->RGB conversion in TEV for videos up to 720p (thanks sepp256!)
• Restrict video loading to 720p (1280x720)
• Enable caching of DVD CSS keys. They are written to the 'css' folder (created automatically).
• Fixed playback of files with mono sound
• Fixed issue with HTTP over-buffering
• Other minor improvements/corrections

1.0.6 - July 21, 2010

• Reverted USB2 changes
• Synced to MPlayer r31761
• Fixed display of radio stream information
• Other minor changes

1.0.5 - July 14, 2010

• Synced to MPlayer r31641
• Added volume control in Music area
• Added option to hide DVD functionality from the UI
• UTF-8 SMB support
• Ability to use both USB ports (requires IOS 202 installed with installer v1.1 – WARNING: older versions of IOS 202 are NO LONGER supported)
• Increase max SMB shares to 9
• Fixed sleep timer
• Added “Now Playing” to screensaver
• Disable screensaver while slideshow is active
• Increased video auto-play limit from 20 to 50
• MMS support (thanks denper!)
• Improved online stream display (thanks gazstone!)
• New SHOUTcast support (WARNING: updating will overwrite your onlinemedia.xml to install new links – backup your old links if necessary)
• Audio language setting
• Jump to and highlight folder when going up one level
• Highlight file when returning to menu
• Save settings when power button is used
• Added option to use static folder locations
• Display parent directory beside Up One Level
• Improved restore points behavior
• Other miscellaneous improvements/corrections
• Language updates

1.0.4 - June 3, 2010

• Subtitle color/size adjustment
• Added checkmark next to viewed files
• Added sleep timer
• Improved device mounting
• Improved stability
• Fixed artifacts issue with online media files (VP6 codec)
• Synced to MPlayer r31303
• Added option to auto-play next video
• Add GIF image viewing
• More codepages added
• Thumbnail support for online media (Navi-X)
• Hide folders beginning with '.' and '$'
• Added screensaver
• Add ability to view PNG's over 1024x1024
• Added theme color options
• Add more seek time options
• Language updates

1.0.3 - May 12, 2010

• Fixed issue with browser reloading
• Fixed freeze on seek issue
• Fixed a back-to-menu freeze
• Changed stereo downmixing
• Added codepages
• Translation updates (and added Hungarian and Polish translations)
• Other minor changes

1.0.2 - May 8, 2010

• Significant changes to improve stability
• Significant improvements to video performance
• Frame dropping now disabled by default (see Settings)
• Corrections to device mounting code (fixes crashes on startup)
• Translations to the following languages: Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean, Romanian, Estonian, and Brazilian Portuguese
• Video scaling issues fixed
• Audio static bug at EOF fixed
• Fixed issues with radio streams
• Fixed DVD issues
• Improvements to settings loading code
• FF/RW time is now configurable
• Friendly names now shown for playlists
• Radio stream information now shown in the now playing area
• Allowed file extensions list expanded
• ASS subtitle file support added
• Added settings for subtitle language and codepage
• Other various bugfixes and improvements

1.0.1 - April 18, 2010

• Fixed NTFS crashes
• Fixed Navi-X search, audio files work in Navi-X now
• Added Down button to switch audio stream, Up is now to switch subtitles
• Added FTP port setting
• Fixed potential picture viewer crashes
• Fixed some pause/resume issues
• Fixed some cache issues

1.0.0 - April 16, 2010

• Initial release