Wii:Creating Game Backups

Backing up games is a simple process that has many advantages

Advantages

 * 1) Save wear and tear on your discs
 * 2) Faster loading times
 * 3) Install certain ISO mods
 * 4) Play your favorite games in Dolphin

Datel
Datel discs are a special case. Datel was the only company that managed to break Nintendo's proprietary Gamecube disc format. There's not much reason to rip them, as all their releases have better Homebrew alternatives. Regardless, Cleanrip has supported them since 2019.

CleanRip vs USB Loader GX
There are two main options for backing up games from your console, CleanRip, and USB Loader. Each have their advantages. CleanRip doesn't require any setup, and supports ripping a disc in parts in case your output device is too small. In contrast, USB Loaders only support the most common use case, but it will automatically set them up in the proper directory for using with your loader.

CleanRip will export discs in ISO format, and USB Loader will export discs in WBFS format.

Method 1: CleanRip
CleanRip is a disc backup program, mainly used for getting full rips of discs for backup and preservation. These rips will always take the entire size of the disc, and thus dumps take more time. However, they are the most accurate versions of dumps. These are processed as a disc image in the .iso format.

Requirements:
 * A homebrewed Wii with the Homebrew Channel installed
 * A FAT32 or FAT16 SD card/USB drive or NTFS USB drive with at least 4.38 GB free or 7.93 GB for dual layer discs
 * Using FAT32 storage will add an extra step to combine files
 * The latest version of CleanRip

Steps:
 * 1) Extract the zip file you downloaded and place the   folder in the root of your SD card
 * 2) Insert the SD card into the console and launch the Homebrew Channel, then launch CleanRip from there.
 * 3) Select the drive to the dump the game in, SD or USB
 * 4) * If USB is chosen, choose which filesystem your drive has, NTFS or FAT
 * 5) If not already present, choose whether you want to download files to verify your dump once finished.
 * 6) * Not necessary, but can quickly check if the dump is good
 * 7) Insert the game to be dumped, then follow the prompt to continue
 * 8) Set the Ripper Setup as follows, then follow the prompt to continue:
 * 9) * Dual Layer: No
 * 10) ** For dual layer discs (only those on this list), set to Yes
 * 11) * Chunk Size: Max
 * 12) * New device per chunk: No
 * 13) Wait for the program to dump the game. This step can take a long time.

If you used an NTFS USB drive, you'll be done once the game is done being ripped. If you used a FAT32 device (which has a maximum individual file size limit of 4GB), or if you chose to separate into separate chunks, the dump will be split into multiple files that you'll need to combine. To do so, copy the folder containing the part files to a file system with large file support (eg NTFS), open a command prompt there, then copy the following command:

copy /b GAMEID.part0.iso+GAMEID.part1.iso GAMEID.iso

Where GAMEID is the ID of the game you just dumped, a 6 digit alphanumerical code. If you have more parts, you can add the files as necessary by adding another GAMEID.part#.iso until you get to all your parts. This will create the full  file in the directory. You can then rename and move it as you please, as well as delete the part files in the folder

Method 2: USB Loader GX
USB Loader GX is mainly a USB loader program, allowing you to play your Wii games directly from a USB drive. However, it also has the ability to rip games and directly compress them and place the files in a way that allows them to be played inside of the program. These files will be in WBFS format, which removed the unused data from the ISO. These can still be run in Dolphin.

Requirements:
 * A homebrewed Wii with the Homebrew Channel and cIOS installed
 * A FAT32 SD card/USB drive or NTFS USB drive with at least 4.38 GB free or 7.93 GB for dual layer discs
 * The latest version of USB Loader GX

Steps:
 * 1) Extract the 7zip file you downloaded and place the   folder in the root of your SD card
 * 2) Insert the SD card into your Wii and launch the Homebrew Channel, then launch USB Loader GX.
 * 3) Insert the game to be dumped into the console. In the menu that appears next, press "Install"
 * 4) Verify the game that is listed, then press "OK". The app will now dump the game files onto your USB.

Once the process is finished, a success screen will appear, and the game will now appear in the app's menu. The files will be located in your USB drive's  folder, with the folder titled the game's GAMEID. This game will be in a WBFS file format, which is a compressed version of the game.