Forecast Channel hasn't updated for ages

[m1WeIdeals]

Has the Forecast Channel not been updating for anybody else?

After updating to the first Dolphin release with built-in WiiConnect24 support, the Forecast and News Channels stopped updating. I turned RC24's VFF Downloader back on, then turned it off a while later in the hopes that the problem would fix itself, but it didn't.

In the interim, I also installed the WiiLink Forecast Channel to replace the RiiConnect24 one, but that didn't change anything either. I then found out yesterday about Dolphin version 5.0-19724 and its "Enable WiiConnect24 Via WiiLink" setting, so I updated to that version, but that also didn't change anything (though it could be because I'm still using the WiiLink-patched Forecast Channel, and not the original Nintendo one).

For some reason, literally all the other WC24 channels, like the Everybody Votes Channel, are working just fine. Did I break something, or is there a setting that I overlooked or don't know about?

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Attached are two screenshots of Dolphin running the Wii Menu. They show that the Forecast Channel's "As of" date is several months behind the current date.

As of right now, my computer is a MacBook Air (M1, 2020). Its specs are:

• CPU: Apple M1 (8-core GPU version)
• RAM: 8GB
• GPU: 8-core integrated
• OS: macOS Ventura 13.4.1
  

I'm using the "ARM/Intel Universal" development build of Dolphin, version 5.0-19724. I can provide which settings I have when asked.

[JMC47]

So the VFFs created by the VFF Downloader are "hacked" to never expire, so the Wii System Menu/Forecast Channel don't bother trying to download new data, since it believes that data is up to date. Back then this was kind of a necessity, but nowadays it's a serious hindrance.

You can fix this by deleting /title/00010002/48414645/data/wc24dl.vff within your emulated Wii NAND and letting Dolphin download fresh VFF files.

[m1WeIdeals]

(06-27-2023, 03:31 AM)JMC47 Wrote: So the VFFs created by the VFF Downloader are "hacked" to never expire, so the Wii System Menu/Forecast Channel don't bother trying to download new data, since it believes that data is up to date.  Back then this was kind of a necessity, but nowadays it's a serious hindrance.

You can fix this by deleting /title/00010002/48414645/data/wc24dl.vff within your emulated Wii NAND and letting Dolphin download fresh VFF files.

Yes, this worked!    And hopefully it keeps updating! I wonder if the fact that I'm still using the WiiLink-patched WAD will pose an issue....

[Sketch]

Using a WiiLink patched WAD will not pose an issue as far as Forecast Channel functionality goes. The only difference is that it no longer uses the "Enable WiiConnect24 Via WiiLink" setting as the WAD is already patched to WiiLink.

[m1WeIdeals]

(06-27-2023, 09:17 AM)Sketch Wrote: Using a WiiLink patched WAD will not pose an issue as far as Forecast Channel functionality goes. The only difference is that it no longer uses the "Enable WiiConnect24 Via WiiLink" setting as the WAD is already patched to WiiLink.

Okay, then I might just stick with the patched WAD.

[m1WeIdeals]

I did notice that, unlike the RC24 VFF Downloader, Dolphin doesn't automatically retrieve new data for the Forecast and News Channels; so at the turn of the hour, the Forecast Channel will end up being blank.

[Sketch]

You will have to reload the channels to download new data. The RC24 VFF Downloader is essentially a hack to "implement" the scheduler that will download files at a certain time. A PR is in the works by me to implement a proper scheduler + mail support.