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Wanting to buy Wii and softmod. What to look out for?


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Hi guys,

 

Well I have avoided buying a Wii for so long now but it looks like the missus wants one. I have been trying to determine what I need.

As the title says what should I be looking out for in terms of firmware version etc to perform a softmod successfully?

 

I want to be able to attach a USB drive and run ISO's direct from that.

Thanks

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If your buying one new it will be 4.3 and not be able to play backup discs , it will however be able to run the external drive as you want :) .

 

Your going to have to buy a copy of one of several games that can trigger an exploit to start installing homebrew though.

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Thanks for the advice. So if I get one with firmware under 4 can I then softmod and also play burnt games?

 

Is it still the same process as the 4.3 firmware?

 

I have seen videos where the dude just used some software and memory sticks. Bit of a long process but manageable.

I will be getting a second hand one so hopefully the person has not connected it to the internet and updated.

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I think any Wii being sold now is going to come with system menu 4.3 MJ, unless you're lucky enough to find a retailer with ancient stock. The latest Wii's, and the black Wii's won't play games from burnt media, but you can still boot off of a hard drive, which is much better anyhow.

 

Soft modding any Wii prior to system menu 4.3 is a piece of cake. If you do end up with a Wii with system menu 4.3, it's still doable, you just need to purchase a game that triggers an exploit.

 

You will need one of the following games (just buy it second hand for cheap or rent it from a video store, you only need to do it once):

  • Lego Indiana Jones
  • Lego Batman
  • Lego Star Wars
  • Super Smash Bros Brawl
  • Yu-Gi-OH 5D's Wheelie Breakers

 

You will also need an SD card and obviously an external hard drive. One of the above games will trigger an exploit that will allow you to run a file from the SD card, which will then allow you to install the homebrew channel. From here, it's all smooth sailing.

 

---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 PM ----------

 

So if I get one with firmware under 4 can I then softmod and also play burnt games?

 

Yes. As long as it isn't a black Wii or the red Mario edition one. Some of the later Wii's changed the DVD drive too, and also won't run burnt media, regardless of the system menu version.

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Cool. That pretty much covers what I needed to know.

Hard drive would be the way I would be going on this one.

I am sure there are a few AA members that have hard drives that could possibly be borrowed for some leaching action.

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Have a read through this site MJ: http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/Main_Page

 

Emulators are great on the Wii too.

 

Homebrew on the Wii is pretty well organised and polished.

 

The homebrew channel is an icon that sits on your Wii's desktop, and is like a file browser that allows you to launch other homebrew applications.

 

The homebrew browser is an application that allows you to install new programs and keep them updated. It connects to a servo online and will display a range of homebrew ranging from games to emulators and utilities.

 

Check here for USB loader programs: http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/USB_Loader_Releases

 

The first 3 listed are probably the best, I use Configurable USB Loader.

 

BootMii is pretty much where it all starts. This allows the installation of the homebrew channel, which then opens the floodgates.

 

Anyhow, this won't make much sense to you until you get in there and start doing it yourself, if you need a hand just yell out.

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MJ, if the system's running v4, v4.1 or 4.2, you'll be fine - ours is running 4.1 and was nice an easy to sort out :)

 

Frank's crazy up to date with softmodding the Wii, so I'm sure he'll be able to help out. Ours is only used (and therefore) updated ad-hoc, depends on what games we're playing :)

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I am fine with doing a bit of software hacking :)

 

just wanted to make sure that the Wii Key was not going to stop me from doing this.

Didn't think it would but hey just wanted to ask the question. At least I know it plays burnt disks.

 

Now to the important stuff. Who in Melbourne has a USB drive full of goodies???:cool:

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OK. Got myself a second hand Wii which luckly had 3.4e firmware on it.

I have installed the homebrew channel now.

 

Another question. Is it possible to update to firmware 4.2 safely?

If so how do I do it as the Wii wants to grab the latest firmware.

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This program lets you do it: http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/DOP-Mii:_WiiBrew_Edition

 

Very easy if you have your Wii connected to a wireless internet connection, as it will grab all the files it needs online.

 

Not 100% safe, but I've used it without problems before. Just make sure you don't select something stupid like a Korean Wii system menu etc.

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Oh shit. I am already at 4.2 now.

 

Hey Frank,

 

With DOP-Mii if i update to 4.3 will it retain my homebrew channel?

I ask as when i updated to 4.2 it retained everything.

 

If not can I downgrade to 4.1 so I can use priiloader?

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To be honest, upgrading/downgrading the system menu is not something that I would recommend doing unless absolutely necessary. In your case, now that you're on 4.2 I don't think it necessary to downgrade to 4.1. There is nothing that doesn't work in 4.2, it's 4.3 that makes life difficult. All homebrew, including major programs like hackmii, bootmii, the homebrew channel/browser etc runs fine in 4.2. Go ahead and install priiloader and block updates. Don's stress, 4.2 is fine, I'm on 4,2 myself.

 

What I would do if I were you is to install bootmii, if you haven't already. It does 2 crucial things - 1) lets you backup your Wii's NAND, so you can resort back to it if you do something silly and 2) it provides a way of booting programs before the system menu is loaded - super important if you ever brick your Wii, means you have a way of restoring it.

 

http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/BootMii

 

The NAND is dumped to an SD memory card, and takes up around 500+MB. Once on the SD card, you can simply transfer the NAND dump anywhere you like (PC hard drive or flash drive for example).

 

Also, with the bootmii app installed to an SD card, when it is inserted in the Wii you can invoke the bootmii app before the system menu is loaded. Handy for several reasons, being able to bypass the Wii's boot code can come in real handy. If you have it installed on your primary SD card, you can just rename the bootmii folder to something else (e.g. bootmiiXXX) so that it doesn't launch everytime you fire up the Wii, and rename it back if ever needed.

 

P.s. re 4.3, updating to it wipes out all homebrew, no ifs ands or buts. You can restore homebrew but it's a little tricky and not all things work. With 4.3, the usual methods for invoking homebrew code won't work, so you will have to resort to exploits from certain retail game discs. 4.3 adds NO new functionality to the Wii, all it does is detect and delete homebrew. Some channels like the shop channel will require an update, but you can do this manually without updating the entire system menu to 4.3.

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Not sure if we're allowed to post links to other sites.

But the guide here will get you through from start to finish and covers all System Menu's.

Will also get you setup on Configurable USB Loader which i find compatible with more games than USB Loader GX.

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Ok. I downloaded donkey kong country iso to test out the loader app. I only have an 8gb sd card to use at the moment. What do I do with this now. I copied the iso to the sd card but loader cannot see any games on the card. What do I need to do to prep the CDs? Is the any single guide for this? There is so much information to wade through.
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What loader are you using?

 

There are various options available. You can play straight ISO or convert to WBFS format. You can have an NTSC partition, FAT or WBFS.

 

I won't into detail just yet, as I need to know which loader you're using and I'm about to eat some lunch! :)

 

---------- Post added at 01:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 PM ----------

 

Try putting the ISO in a root folder of the SD card named WBFS - the loader should find it then.

Edited by Frank_fjs
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You winning MJ?

 

I would recommend one of these 2 loaders:

 

Configurable USB Loader

 

WiiFlow

 

If you haven't installed any cIOS's, download and install this one (place it in the apps folder of your SD card and run it from the HomeBrew Channel - internet connection required): http://filetrip.net/file.php?id=23351

 

Create a FAT32 partition or ensure whatever you're using is formatted to FAT32 (be it an SD card, USB flash drive or USB hard drive).

 

Create a folder in the root of the device named wbfs.

 

Add any ISO's to this folder. A naming convention must be followed in order for the games to appear:

 

D:\wbfs\GAMEID.iso

D:\wbfs\Title [GAMEID].iso

 

So, assuming you have a PAL ISO of Donkey Kong Country Returns, make sure the file is named accordingly (either one will work):

 

- SF8P01.iso

- Donkey Kong Country Returns SF8P01.iso

 

If using a USB device, make sure it is inserted into the first USB slot of the Wii (the one closest to the edge).

 

That should get you going, let me know either way...

 

---------- Post added at 03:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:44 PM ----------

 

One more thing to add, this is a handy PC application for organising your Wii games/hard drive:

 

Wii Game Manager 1.5.0.2: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D0MBCKAA

 

It lets you convert to/from the wbfs and iso formats. It ensures files are named correctly (in order to be recognised by USB loading software) and it will let you transfer games from one hard drive to another.

 

Just make sure your device has a folder in the root of it named wbfs and all iso's or wbfs files are in it. If you're using an SD card for now, you'll need to hook it up to your PC via a USB adapter.

 

The wbfs format is better in the sense that it will compress the games down to their actual size. E.g. an iso of Wii Sports will be the standard 4.7GB DVD file size, in wbfs format it's under 1GB.

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Hey Frank,

 

Looks like your advice has gotten me across the line. I am currently playing DK Returns on my Wii using CFG USB Loader.

 

Thanks so much for that!!

 

Awesome.

 

One more thing if you don't mind. With Wii Game manager I have downloaded the cover art for the game but I am not sure the folder locations that it needs to be in the HDD.

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Do you have your Wii connected to the internet? If so, this is the easiest and most trouble free way of downloading cover art. It (CFG USB Loader) will do it all for you, automatically. You can either enter the options for a specific game and select download cover art, or if you have heaps of games there is a global option to download all missing cover art.

 

If you still want to do it manually, there will be a folder on the root of your SD card named usb-loader -> covers, place the cover file (named GAMEID.PNG) in the 'covers' folder. You will see some sub folders in the covers folder as well, should be pretty self explanatory.

 

CFG USB Loader is extremely configurable, read the readme.txt file for more info.

 

You can load the covers from the SD card or the USB hard drive. I believe CFG USB Loader looks for them on the SD card by default, under the folder path I described above. There is a text command you can place in one of the configuration text files to specify a different location for cover art.

 

I find loading the covers from the SD card best. They load faster and they really don't take up much room.

 

By the way, you can run games from an NTSC partition too. I would recommend doing this, but still create a FAT32 partition as this is what nearly all homebrew apps require. I have a 50GB FAT32 partition on my hard drive for roms, emulators and other Wii apps and the rest is NTSC for all my .wbfs Wii games.

 

The reason I think CFG USB Loader is the best, is aside from being the most customisable and having the most features, it has the greatest compatibility and is the most frequently updated.

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