Clairvoyance said:
for 4.3 you must use letterbomb to install the homebrew channel, custom ios etc.(delete stub IOSes).
http://hackmii.com/2011/08/letterbomb/
GAF Wii Homebrew thread: Homebrew, emulators, USB disc installs! Easy tutorial!
- Thread starter radioheadrule83
- Start date
for 4.3 you must use letterbomb to install the homebrew channel, custom ios etc.(delete stub IOSes).
http://hackmii.com/2011/08/letterbomb/
pelicansurf
Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
I'm thinking about getting into home brew again. I had softmodded my wii before, but my brother updated the wii and all traces of the softmodding had been removed. If I try to soft mod my wii again, will I break it?
Clairvoyance
Member
tsab said:
Thanks! Everything is back to working.
You shouldn't have needed LetterBomb as your HBC should have survived the update (unless it was very old).Clairvoyance said:
If you had followed the GAF guide in the last year or so, the update wouldn't have even had any effect at all (unlike most of the other guides out there which continue to use the 249 slot).
Good to see you got it fixed up anyway.
Forcing NTSC still doesn't work on all games and TVs. It works in most cases, but games like Pikmin 2 don't like it and some TVs still don't like the type of NTSC that is output. If your TV supports 480p, it's almost certain to work, but with SDTVs, there's a decent chance it still won't.tsab said:
Follow our guide and you won't have any trouble. Don't worry about what you had before, just treat your Wii as being unhacked and follow all the steps for the things you want to do.pelicansurf said:
As per our guide, you can use Gecko OS or any of the other region free techniques.MetatronM said:
A little confused, and I'm starting from square one. A lot to sift through here recently so I don't even know if I can find the answer to my questions.
1. I haven't done anything yet. I'm starting with the Letterbomb exploit. Bad decision? Preferably, I'd like to bypass the Bootmii step if possible. Is this required? Are the odds of bricking my Wii high enough that I should DEFINITELY do this?
2. So just going on the GAF site, this is what I have gotten to as my first step(s), and I'm already confused:
"Installation Procedure
1. If there is an sd:/private directory on your SD card rename it to sd:/privateold.
2. Navigate to your Wii Settings via clicking the Wii button on the menu then selecting Wii Settings with A."
Now, does this SD card have to be the one my Wii typically uses? Can I just make this directory on a blank SD card I haven't even put into my Wii before, or must I put it in my Wii and then turn the Wii on before I make this directory? (a directory is just a folder, right?) If possible, I'd like to use a completely different SD card than the one I have in my Wii that has Wii Shop games and other information saved onto it. I want to use this blank SD card to install the Homebrew stuff and then never have to use it again and revert back to my normal SD card with my games on it. Am I able to do this?
1. I haven't done anything yet. I'm starting with the Letterbomb exploit. Bad decision? Preferably, I'd like to bypass the Bootmii step if possible. Is this required? Are the odds of bricking my Wii high enough that I should DEFINITELY do this?
2. So just going on the GAF site, this is what I have gotten to as my first step(s), and I'm already confused:
"Installation Procedure
1. If there is an sd:/private directory on your SD card rename it to sd:/privateold.
2. Navigate to your Wii Settings via clicking the Wii button on the menu then selecting Wii Settings with A."
Now, does this SD card have to be the one my Wii typically uses? Can I just make this directory on a blank SD card I haven't even put into my Wii before, or must I put it in my Wii and then turn the Wii on before I make this directory? (a directory is just a folder, right?) If possible, I'd like to use a completely different SD card than the one I have in my Wii that has Wii Shop games and other information saved onto it. I want to use this blank SD card to install the Homebrew stuff and then never have to use it again and revert back to my normal SD card with my games on it. Am I able to do this?
There is no issue to using the card that has the existing stuff on it. You will notice the later steps rename your old private directory back. That will restore your SD games. No other steps in the tutorial will interfere with these either.Pyrokai said:
Having said that, you can use a different card for the HBC installation if you like. You should do everything else with your Wii's normal SD card as the apps you want to run (for region free launching or whatever) are generally not installed to your Wii, they are executed off the SD card instead.
As for the BootMii question, there is no risk of bricking if you follow the tutorial instructions and don't install things from other tutorials, so you don't need it in that regard.
Clipper said:
So if I do use my "in-use" SD card to install this, after I do everything, my SD card will be back to the way it used to be and the Homebrew Channel will be installed on my actual Wii console's memory, correct?
Clipper said:
Let's say I didn't use my "in-use" SD card to install the Homebrew Channel. Couldn't I just swap in this "other" SD card that I used to install it whenever I wanted to play a game from another region (that's all I'm installing it for) and store the apps and stuff on that instead? That would be nice if I could.....
Another hypothetical question to help ease my panicking heart:
-Say I install *just* the Homebrew Channel (no apps), will I still be able to use the Wii Shop Channel and download games as per usual, or must I follow this guide in order to do that?
-Uhhh.....this should work on my SDtv, right? I'm not gonna have PAL-on-NTSC-SDTV video issues, am I?
Yep, correct.Pyrokai said:
Of course that's fine too.
Yes you can use the Wii Shop. If the Wii Shop updates in the future, you may need to follow that guide to get it updated, but you will still be able to use it regardless.
With an SDTV, you could have issues. We can't tell you now whether that will definitely happen or not as some TVs work while others don't and there's no clear reason why. It should work on all HDTVs and forcing video to NTSC gets it to work on most SDTVs.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
Hey guys, I need some help. I've been playing Xenoblade, forcing it to play NTSC. I installed everything I need but the game has a lot of tearing. It seems to be from the Wii Homebrew channel because as soon as I open Homebrew, the tearing begins.
Is this normal? If not, any idea how I can fix it.
Is this normal? If not, any idea how I can fix it.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
Clipper said:
I tried it on two televisions and I get the same thing.
SecretMoblin
Member
UltimaKilo said:
It could be your Wii, then. Have you tried playing a game from the disc? Others who have imported said it works just fine.
Quote
Member
First of all, thanks for the hard work Clipper, your guides are excellent.
Now- I followed this guide:
Now- I followed this guide:
But i'm getting that bug where USB Loader locks up every second time a game is loaded. As far as I can tell I never installed IOS249, unless it it was part of d2x, which it doesn't look like from the guide. Should I install IOS249?
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
SecretMoblin said:
Yep, playing from the disc. I'm going to try and re-install everything and hope that works. Really strange.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
I ordered some component cables, hopefully that will fix the tearing. I figure the cables have gone bad since I haven't used my Wii for as long as I can remember.
pelicansurf
Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
I just ripped my first Wii game to my WSBS formatted external HD. The CFG loader detects the game and I started to boot it. It's been sitting at: [+] Booting Wii game, please wait... For the past ten minutes. Does it take this long or am I effed?
edit: fixed it. Installed Hermes cios and it worked beautifully! Guess it was a dual layer DVD and I didnt notice.
edit: fixed it. Installed Hermes cios and it worked beautifully! Guess it was a dual layer DVD and I didnt notice.
Good thinking and good luck. It certainly could be the cables causing the problem.UltimaKilo said:
What game and what cIOS were you using before Hermes'?pelicansurf said:
Also, I strongly suggest you reformat to FAT before you rip any more games. It's much better than being stuck with WBFS. You can also transfer the games you have ripped so far using the techniques in the tutorial if you have ripped a few already and don't want to do them again.
pelicansurf
Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
I was using the dx248-247 you described in your tutorial, since it said Hermes was optional, I didn't bother installing it, but I clearly needed it. Also I have a Mac, so I don't know if those steps will work.Clipper said:
Also why is WBFS not the way to go, besides being unable to use my HDD for anything but wii games?
So I was working on getting Startpatch on my Wii and the tutorial suggested that I not install anything that I'm not familiar with, so I figured I'd ask about the item I didn't really understand.
Should I care about removing the diag disc check, or should I just totally ignore that patch?
Should I care about removing the diag disc check, or should I just totally ignore that patch?
It's unstable, difficult to deal with, troublesome to undo and less compatible than FAT and NTFS.pelicansurf said:I was using the dx248-247 you described in your tutorial, since it said Hermes was optional, I didn't bother installing it, but I clearly needed it. Also I have a Mac, so I don't know if those steps will work.
Also why is WBFS not the way to go, besides being unable to use my HDD for anything but wii games?
Are you familiar with it? No. So don't touch it. I'm barely familiar with it myself. I believe it deals with a particular 'fish disc' that was discovered in a refurbished model a while back with some diagnostic functions.Codeblue said:
The Real Napsta
Member
I've been using wbfs and it is working great, should i switch to FAT?
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Anyone on AIM/MSN who is willing to help? Having a problem getting the HDD for my friend's Wii to recognize his back up ISO with a FAT32 partition. The GAF wiki says you don't need a WBFS partition.
EDIT: Got it.
EDIT: Got it.
SecretMoblin
Member
No question, just wanted to say:
I got Xenoblade in the mail today. It was the reason I looked into softmodding my Wii, and after all the heartache and frustration,
it works. It works great! I tried it on several TVs and with several different configurations, and it worked with every one. So thanks Clipper and everyone else in this thread who helped. I now get to play a game I have been waiting a few years to play, and the solution to the region-lock problem was simple and free. Plus, I got the game for slightly less money than I would have paid here, so it all worked out great.
Thanks again, everyone!
I got Xenoblade in the mail today. It was the reason I looked into softmodding my Wii, and after all the heartache and frustration,
it works. It works great! I tried it on several TVs and with several different configurations, and it worked with every one. So thanks Clipper and everyone else in this thread who helped. I now get to play a game I have been waiting a few years to play, and the solution to the region-lock problem was simple and free. Plus, I got the game for slightly less money than I would have paid here, so it all worked out great.
Thanks again, everyone!
In a similar vein as the post above me, I just wanna say thanks to Clipper and everyone that made the homebrew wiki and this thread. I installed all my games on my external harddrive, and it's made my Wii gaming so much more convenient. No more disc switching or long load times! 
demolitiongc1
Banned
Once I finish installing USB Loader in my homebrew channell and its working correctly, can I delete the cIOS installer and the IOS236 from my apps folder?
lowrider007
Licorice-flavoured booze?
I only just soft modded my Wii yesterday and am using WBFS myself, don't seem to be having any issues, although tbh after reading the last couple of pages on here....., what's the best way to run backups on the wii then?, I'm currently using USBLoaderGX combined with WBFS Manager, I guess this isn't the best way to go then?
Easier for you to read this than try to explain.lowrider007 said:
http://gwht.wikidot.com/usb-loader
I've got the Homebrew Channel installed..but I have no idea how to get Gecko or any of the other region-free apps installed. I downloaded Gecko's zip and put it on my SD card but nothing comes up in the channel. How do I make app directories? (I'm on a Mac, btw)
Right now the only things I have on my SD card are boot.elf, the private folder, the bootmii folder, and the installer.log. I deleted Gecko until I find out how to properly place it in the card.
Right now the only things I have on my SD card are boot.elf, the private folder, the bootmii folder, and the installer.log. I deleted Gecko until I find out how to properly place it in the card.
If you don't have the apps directory yet, you go to the root directory of the SD card in whatever file management app Mac's use (where you see the folders and files and stuff), right click (or whatever the alternative is if you only have a one-button mouse), create a new directory (aka folder) and name it "apps" without the quotes. You might then need to go to that folder and make another sub-folder if the tutorial specifies it.mjc said:
mjc said:
Are you following the instructions?
They show your mistake fairly clearly:
What you did was copy the contents of the Gecko1931 folder to sd:/apps.
Yes, the drive needs to be external. And for instructions about ripping and playing, go here.Anabuhabkuss said:
I started to write this post out this afternoon but had to cut out of it quick so I want to do this now while I'm thinking of it. Everything's a-ok here, I just wanted to try to simplify a few things for everyone since there's going to be a TON of people trying to mod their Wii thanks to Xenoblade.
First off, I'd strongly recommend ripping the game, your physical copy of it to either an SD card or an external HD. Judging by how hefty and meaty that game is and the amount of time you're likely gonna spend with it, ripping to SD/external HD just seems like a no brainer and will keep your Wii's disc drive in good shape.
Secondly..and it's really important, make SURE you install IOS236 before doing anything else! You absolutely, positively NEED to install that in order to do the back-ups. Just looking at the Wiki page and some of this thread it seems like that might be a common problem people run into, so I can't emphasize enough to make certain you install that IOS before anything else, period. You'll save yourself a ton of headache and you won't suddenly be going "Uhhh I feel like I forgot something" later or be faced with errors.
Next, for the D2X installation..in the wiki guide the installation process looks long winded and complicated but it's really not. Once IOS236 is installed, all you'll do for the D2X installation is change a few numbers around twice and then you'll be good to go. Be sure to only change it to the numbers the Wiki says! DON'T screw with any other numbers, just the ones given. Also, it would be a good idea to download the already done meta.xml file for the D2X install, and make sure you replace the meta.xml file that comes downloaded with D2X with the already prepared one. Trust me, if you do that, install IOS236 first and THEN D2X you should have zero issues.
Finally, a few things about the configurable USB loader...
-Download the .zip file for the Cfg USB Loader from the wiki page.
-Then, extract that .zip file using 7zip, winrar..any of those will work.
-After extracting, you'll see a folder called Cfg_USB_loader_69.
-Open the Cfg_USB_loader_69 folder and you should see a inSDroot folder, along with license.txt and readme-cfg.txt files.
-At this point, open up the apps folder on the SD card that'll go into your wii.
-Once you're in the apps folder on the SD card, go back to the window with the inSDroot folder, and open the inSDroot folder.
-Next you're gonna see an apps folder and a usb-loader folder.
-Click on the apps folder, and you'll see one USBLoader folder..drag and drop that folder into the apps folder on your SD card for the Wii.
-go back to the window you copied the USBLoader folder from, and click back so you're seeing the apps and usb-loader folder. Finally, drag and drop the usb-loader folder into the SD card for the Wii.
-When it's all said and done, on the SD card for the Wii, in the apps folder you need to have both the USBLoader folder from the apps folder from the Cfg download, and the usb-loader folder copied over.
Clipper's guide is great, I'm certainly not trying to walk on him at all, the reason I mentioned all that is, if you just simply drag and drop the cfg_usb_loader_69 folder that you get after extracting over to the apps folder on the SD card, your Wii won't be able to see anything past that folder. It's a folder inside of a folder inside of a folder type situation that I want to help as many avoid as possible because it can be a frustrating headache to get it to where the Wii will be able to see it and just wanted to note all that here so anyone reading the thread can keep the amount of windows ya gotta have open to a minimum during the copying folders part.
Finallyyy..
-once you're in the actual cfg app itself, tell it whether you're using an external HDD or SD card..either way it should recognize whichever one you're using and it will then show partitions, asking which one you want to use. If you have lots of space on your SD card or HDD, you shouldn't need anything beyond your basic partition. Make sure whatever you're using, it's formatted to FAT32. With FAT32 formatting, you can have your games plus other files on the SD/external HDD without the need for completely reformatting.
-after that, you can put in the Xenoblade disc, and it will ask you to push A to open the DVD disc..it's just another term for ripping. It should open the disc and basically tell you it's Xenoblade Chronicles.wbfs. It should say it's 6.8 GB.
-Finally, push A to start the rip to the external HDD/SD card..if it starts ripping at that point you should be good to go, as long as your Wii's DVD drive doesn't crap out during the ripping. If you're gonna get any errors or it's refusing to rip the disc you'll get told that up front, it won't rip it. It will automatically create the WBFS folder that will be needed to store the game for you and will save it there so you don't gotta worry about that part
-Last note, the rip should take about a half hour to complete, go eat, run to the store real quick, whatever and it should be done when ya get back..when it's done, on a FAT32 formatted external HDD, it will tell ya it had to make 1 split to complete the rip. Don't panic, since with FAT32 it ends up with one 4 GB chunk and then another 2.8 GB chunk..layman's terms it's gonna cut everything down to smaller files so they can be easily accessed while playing. I hope this helps..again excellent job on the Wiki Clipper, I was really impressed! I just thought I'd try to simplify some of it for people.
First off, I'd strongly recommend ripping the game, your physical copy of it to either an SD card or an external HD. Judging by how hefty and meaty that game is and the amount of time you're likely gonna spend with it, ripping to SD/external HD just seems like a no brainer and will keep your Wii's disc drive in good shape.
Secondly..and it's really important, make SURE you install IOS236 before doing anything else! You absolutely, positively NEED to install that in order to do the back-ups. Just looking at the Wiki page and some of this thread it seems like that might be a common problem people run into, so I can't emphasize enough to make certain you install that IOS before anything else, period. You'll save yourself a ton of headache and you won't suddenly be going "Uhhh I feel like I forgot something" later or be faced with errors.
Next, for the D2X installation..in the wiki guide the installation process looks long winded and complicated but it's really not. Once IOS236 is installed, all you'll do for the D2X installation is change a few numbers around twice and then you'll be good to go. Be sure to only change it to the numbers the Wiki says! DON'T screw with any other numbers, just the ones given. Also, it would be a good idea to download the already done meta.xml file for the D2X install, and make sure you replace the meta.xml file that comes downloaded with D2X with the already prepared one. Trust me, if you do that, install IOS236 first and THEN D2X you should have zero issues.
Finally, a few things about the configurable USB loader...
-Download the .zip file for the Cfg USB Loader from the wiki page.
-Then, extract that .zip file using 7zip, winrar..any of those will work.
-After extracting, you'll see a folder called Cfg_USB_loader_69.
-Open the Cfg_USB_loader_69 folder and you should see a inSDroot folder, along with license.txt and readme-cfg.txt files.
-At this point, open up the apps folder on the SD card that'll go into your wii.
-Once you're in the apps folder on the SD card, go back to the window with the inSDroot folder, and open the inSDroot folder.
-Next you're gonna see an apps folder and a usb-loader folder.
-Click on the apps folder, and you'll see one USBLoader folder..drag and drop that folder into the apps folder on your SD card for the Wii.
-go back to the window you copied the USBLoader folder from, and click back so you're seeing the apps and usb-loader folder. Finally, drag and drop the usb-loader folder into the SD card for the Wii.
-When it's all said and done, on the SD card for the Wii, in the apps folder you need to have both the USBLoader folder from the apps folder from the Cfg download, and the usb-loader folder copied over.
Clipper's guide is great, I'm certainly not trying to walk on him at all, the reason I mentioned all that is, if you just simply drag and drop the cfg_usb_loader_69 folder that you get after extracting over to the apps folder on the SD card, your Wii won't be able to see anything past that folder. It's a folder inside of a folder inside of a folder type situation that I want to help as many avoid as possible because it can be a frustrating headache to get it to where the Wii will be able to see it and just wanted to note all that here so anyone reading the thread can keep the amount of windows ya gotta have open to a minimum during the copying folders part.
Finallyyy..
-once you're in the actual cfg app itself, tell it whether you're using an external HDD or SD card..either way it should recognize whichever one you're using and it will then show partitions, asking which one you want to use. If you have lots of space on your SD card or HDD, you shouldn't need anything beyond your basic partition. Make sure whatever you're using, it's formatted to FAT32. With FAT32 formatting, you can have your games plus other files on the SD/external HDD without the need for completely reformatting.
-after that, you can put in the Xenoblade disc, and it will ask you to push A to open the DVD disc..it's just another term for ripping. It should open the disc and basically tell you it's Xenoblade Chronicles.wbfs. It should say it's 6.8 GB.
-Finally, push A to start the rip to the external HDD/SD card..if it starts ripping at that point you should be good to go, as long as your Wii's DVD drive doesn't crap out during the ripping. If you're gonna get any errors or it's refusing to rip the disc you'll get told that up front, it won't rip it. It will automatically create the WBFS folder that will be needed to store the game for you and will save it there so you don't gotta worry about that part
-Last note, the rip should take about a half hour to complete, go eat, run to the store real quick, whatever and it should be done when ya get back..when it's done, on a FAT32 formatted external HDD, it will tell ya it had to make 1 split to complete the rip. Don't panic, since with FAT32 it ends up with one 4 GB chunk and then another 2.8 GB chunk..layman's terms it's gonna cut everything down to smaller files so they can be easily accessed while playing. I hope this helps..again excellent job on the Wiki Clipper, I was really impressed! I just thought I'd try to simplify some of it for people.
abstract alien
Member
I see the OP hasn't been updated in quite some time, so I just wanted to ask if it was still valid for use even though I have the latest firmware on my Wii. I need to play Xenoblade bad, so what must be done, must be done...
SecretMoblin
Member
abstract alien said:
Yes. I have the latest firmware and just did it in order to play Xenoblade Chronicles. Just follow the instructions carefully and you'll be fine.
abstract alien said:
Just check the guide. There's a recent exploit called Letterbomb that allows you to hack your 4.3 Wii without any games required. Just make sure this is the right method to employ in your case by carefully reading the guide, but I think it is, if I'm not mistaken.
abstract alien
Member
Will do.SecretMoblin said:
Gotcha. Ill check it out immediately. Thanks again for the heads up.Kilrogg said:
*cracks knuckles*
abstract alien
Member
Lmao, that was a little TOO easy! Thanks, just finished it. Homebrew channel is flowing with bubbles now :^)
Edit: Damn, that only took 27 minutes, and this is for someone who has never even read a word of the tutorial before. I had no idea what to expect, or what I would really need, and it took 27 minutes total to do it. Wow lol
Edit: Damn, that only took 27 minutes, and this is for someone who has never even read a word of the tutorial before. I had no idea what to expect, or what I would really need, and it took 27 minutes total to do it. Wow lol
The SD card would be slower. Here's some tests that would show you some differences. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, time how long it takes to get from the Subspace Emissary map into the battle, it should be a second or two faster. Doors in Metroid Prime should open a lot faster on average. And I think if you play Resident Evil Chronicles, you'll notice the delays and slowdown that appear during many turns completely disappear (if not RE, it's a different on-rails shooter).Kilrogg said: