This page explains how to rip GameCube, Wii and Triforce games, other helpful files, and/or saves to be used on Dolphin. Ripping games and saves using a Wii or Wii U console will require you to have homebrew software installed. See Homebrew Channel for instructions on how to use it, and see Homebrew setup for installation instructions. The term "vWii" means a Wii U console running in Wii mode.
Certain PC Blu-ray drives from Hitachi-LG Data Storage based on the MediaTek MT1959 chipset (including OEM rebadges) are able to rip GameCube and Wii game discs using redumper (version b699 or newer) after being flashed with OmniDrive, a custom firmware adding support for various proprietary disc formats used in video game consoles, among other features.
For Triforce games on GD-ROM, Redump has a detailed guide on how to dump them. However, further tools will be needed in order to decrypt the disc contents and produce a GCM file. Using an original Triforce is preferred if possible.
CleanRip can rip a game disc to an SD card or an external USB storage device. Running it on a Wii or vWii system requires the Homebrew Channel to be installed. CleanRip can also run on a GameCube, but running homebrew on a GameCube is more complicated and is beyond the scope of this guide.
GameCube discs can be ripped using a GameCube or Wii, but not using a Wii U.
GameCube discs always have a size of 1.36 GiB, so the entire ISO can fit on a FAT or FAT32 drive. Simply follow the instructions on-screen and you'll be able to put the game straight from the SD card or USB drive into Dolphin.
Wii discs can be ripped using a Wii or a Wii U running in vWii mode.
In order to rip a Wii disc, a storage device with more than 4.38 GiB of free space is recommended for single layer, and 7.93 GiB for dual layer. However, by dividing the rip into chunks, an SD card with even a single gibibyte of free space is sufficient.
At the CleanRip setup screen, setting Chunk Size to Max and New device per chunk to No is recommended with SD cards or external USB storage devices large enough to hold the entirety of the ripped disc file at once. Otherwise, set Chunk Size to the largest size that fits on the device (1GB, 2GB, 3GB, or Max) and set New device per chunk to Yes. CleanRip will then ask for the next device in the middle of ripping. Remove the device from the Wii and move the first part of ISO file off of the device to free up space, then reinsert the device.
Once CleanRip has finished running, you will have an ISO file either in one part or multiple parts. Dolphin 5.0-18861 and later can read ISO files even if they're in multiple parts.
Optional: You can add the game to Dolphin's game list, right-click on it, and select Convert File in order to convert it to the RVZ format (to save space) or to convert a multipart ISO file into a single ISO file (for use with other programs).
A Wii or vWii with the latest version of USB Loader GX and certain cIOSes (such as d2x-cios) installed can rip Wii game discs. The Wii system may also be able to rip GameCube game discs as long as DIOS MIOS is installed. Wii consoles sold after late 2011 and Wii U consoles lack the GameCube controller and memory card ports, and can make no use of DIOS MIOS. CleanRip is recommended over USB Loader GX for not requiring any cIOS and not leaving out any data when ripping (USB Loader GX leaves out unused data).
The USB Loader GX will ask the user two options when inserting a game disc: Install or Mount DVD drive; choose Install. It will begin the ripping process to the storage device:
X:\wbfs\GAMEID_*\GAMEID.wbfs (and GAMEID.wbf1 as continuation file, if source is over 4,194,272 KiB)
X:\games\* [GAMEID]\game.iso (file system must be FAT32)To dump an eShop Wii title, you'll need a Wii U running homebrew, a NAND dump from that Wii U (specifically the OTP and SEEPROM), an external hard drive formatted by that Wii U, and DumpsterU.
If you try to verify the rip, it will most likely be missing its UPDATE partition and have some minor errors. This is normal.
You can also dump the Wii game to your computer using another program such as Dumpling or DDD, however DumpsterU is the fastest method and is fairly straightforward.
In order to dump from a Triforce, there are a few steps of preparation required.
Once you have powered your Triforce, please allow the boot process to complete. Once the game has loaded, press the service button on the back of the Triforce in order to enter the service menu. Identify the IP address of the Triforce on your network and run the tridump executable from the command line/terminal. To make things easier, navigate to the directory you have the tridump executable. Then you can run:
tridump.exe <Triforce IP Address> <network port> <ISO name>
An example for a Triforce that is located at 192.168.0.104 on the network would be the following.
tridump.exe 192.168.0.104 7070 "F-Zero AX.iso"
Please allow time for the process to complete. Once the process is complete, the game ISO can be copied to another location, such as your current game list directory.
You can use Yet Another BlueDump MOD to turn channels installed on a Wii or vWii into WAD files that you can run in Dolphin.
Alternatively, if you don't want to use WAD files, you can copy the whole NAND memory of a console into Dolphin by following the NAND Usage Guide. This not only copies all channels that are installed on the console, but afterwards, you can also transfer channels between the console and Dolphin by using an SD card and the Wii Menu's data management screen.
A homebrewed Wii with GameCube memory card ports or GameCube with SD Gecko is required.
Download GameCube/Wii Memory Manager (GCMM for short) and launch it through Homebrew Channel on the Wii. It's a homebrew app that can transfer save files between a real GameCube Memory Card and an SD card. It can extract an individual save as .GCI file or dump the entire contents (RAW or batch dump .GCI files) from a real memory card to the root of SD card. For the purpose of this guide you should extract what you need for Dolphin onto the SD card. Then they should be placed into \GC\ for Dolphin to use while emulating a game. It is also possible for the data that was created with Dolphin to be added back into the real GameCube Memory Card using GCMM and an SD card.
This section is for ripping individual saves to be used on Dolphin. To dump an entire Wii's internal storage for use with Dolphin, skip this section and move ahead to NAND Usage Guide.
Download SaveGame Manager GX and launch it through Homebrew Channel on the Wii or vWii. It's a homebrew app that can transfer save files between the console's internal storage and an SD card. It can extract an individual save from the Wii's internal storage for Dolphin to use. Like GCMM, it is possible for save files that were created in Dolphin to be added back to the Wii by selecting the game in Dolphin to export the Wii save into a X:\private\wii\[GAMEID] format, then adding it back into the real console's NAND using SaveGame Manager GX and an SD card.
By using a GameCube with access to homebrew via PicoBoot, SD Media Launcher, or another method, a user can gain access to the GameCube IPL and DSP files, which can be used in Dolphin. The following steps are for the PicoBoot method, but the only difference should be the device that the user exports the files onto. This assumes that Swiss is already running on the GameCube.
Note: Dumping DSP files via this method is not currently supported. See Audio Emulation § Dumping Wii DSP files with DSPSpy for instructions for using DSPSpy.
The easiest way to grab the IPL from a Triforce is through using PicoBoot to load Swiss and prevent the Triforce from fully initializing its hardware. By donating a front panel from a normal GameCube, you can then use the GameCube homebrew as if it were a normal GameCube. This may require a bit of hardware disassembly, but once done the same steps can be used as for a normal GameCube.
Virtua Striker 4 and Virtua Striker 4 ver.2006 both contain an updated Segaboot file for the Triforce. This is an incredibly useful file as it allows users to access a game's service menu to adjust difficulty and other settings. The following guide assumes that the game has already been properly dumped and is readable by Dolphin. Because the Android builds of Dolphin lacks the disc filesystem browser, the Segaboot file must be extracted on a desktop.