Softmod any Wii (Version 1.0 - 4.3)

 by vishalapr
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What does softmodding a wii do?
Well the answer to that question is that...you can play backups of games if you lost your original games...(Like I do) You can play N64, SNES and SEGA console games on your wii! With the appropriate emulators...and you can use homebrew applications (There are loads of them http://wiibrew.org/wiki/List_of_homebrew_applications) Then you can also unlock the hidden DVD movie player, if you have a version older than 2010, or if its newer, then you can unlock the USB movie player!

Just one simple thing..."HACKING A WII UNLEASHES ITS TRUE POTENTIAL!"
This is a 100% legal! (Unless you go and download pirated games,even though you don't have the original games...) (So don't do that!)

This softmod/hack works for any wii! Old Wii's, New Wii's, VIrgin Wii's, Korean Wii's, Japanese WIi's, Softmodded Wii's, Hardmodded Wii's etc...

Password = NOT-A-PIRATE (This is the password for any downloaded files)

Softmoding can brick your wii, this is very highly unlikely. Accept this fact or stop now.

It works with 4.3u/e/j/k as well!

Warning:
Never Ever Ever Update Your Wii From Nintendo



Here is a video of some of the cool things you can do once you have hacked your wii!
Sometimes the video gets a bit blurry and distorts a bit but that is because of my bad camera...Sorry about that :(

So if you want to start softmodding your wii, then lets gets started!



Step 1: Installing Bootmii and the Homebrew Channel

Have 350 free blocks of nand space

Remove all GC controllers, GC memory cards, USB devices
Don't lose power

Format SD-CARD
Use a standard SD-Card (Not an SHDC)
If you have issues formatting your SD card, then use this program http://ad5b5bf7.dyo.gs/

Part 1 :

Launch Hackmii Installer :
For versions 2.0 - 3.4 (Twilight Hack)
Download http://a1e04241.dyo.gs/
and extract to sd:\

-Play The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, make a savegame

Put your SD card in your Wii and turn it on.
Go into Wii Options --> Data Management --> Save Data --> Wii.
Find your Zelda save, click on it, click "Erase", and click Yes.
Open the SD card and select the "Twilight Hack" save that corresponds to your game region. Note: Some people are having problems with the Wii not "seeing" the save file on the SD card. If you are experiencing this, try setting the archive bit for the data.bin file - in Windows this can be either be done from the file's properties dialog (right click on it in Windows Explorer and check the box) or from the command line using "attrib +a <path to data.bin>". More info at #wiihelp on Efnet.
Click copy and then yes. Now exit out of the menu.
Insert The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess game disc and run the game.
If you have the USA version of the game, load the "TwilightHack0" or "TwilightHack2" version of the game as appropriate (see above).
Otherwise, load the only "Twilight Hack" save game.
Once in the game, either walk backwards or talk to the man standing in front of you.

If you are using System Menu 3.4, you must immediately put the Twilight Hack to use. Turning off or running some other channel or game will have the System Menu delete the savegame again, and you'll have to start over. Also, 3.4 must also extract twilight-hack-v0.1-beta2.zip to sd:\ replace files when asked.

-Multi-Mod Manager will load
-Select Wad Manager -Press A
-Press 1, -Press A -Install all Wads
-IOS58 and IOS61 will install
-Press "any button"
-Press 2- load "App Manager"
-Select hackmii_installer_v0.8 -Press A
Hackmii Installer Loads


For versions 3.4 (Hack without game disk)

1. Get your Wii's mac address:The MAC address of the Wii can be found by:
From the Wii Channel menu, select "Wii Settings" (the round button on the bottom-left of the screen with "Wii" on it)
Select "Internet," then "Console Settings."
The MAC address of the Wii console is displayed on the first line.
2. Format your SD card. Fat32
Panasonic SDFormat preferred. Dont skip this step.
3. Download the HackMii installer
You can use the mac address to build a custom hackmii installer at LetterBomb http://please.hackmii.com/
MAKE SURE YOU SELECT YOUR REGION up top
If you get the captcha wrong, it will RESET your region. This happened to me. If you do, the installer, well, in my case hung the wii. Had to hard boot it.
4. Copy downloaded files to root directory of SD card.
I used windows xp.
5. Put card in wii and start it.
6. Hit the envelope in the lower right hand corner
If you dont see the red message with the bomb, hit the - or + buttons to choose a different date.
7. Click on the big red envelope with the bomb.
The hackmii installer launches. (note if it hangs, you might not have done step 2, or you might have chosen the incorrect region)

Part 2 :
Installing the Homebrew channel and BootMii

Read the Scam warning and press 1
It may take a minute or two for the "press 1" to appear- be patient
Install the HomeBrew Channel
Install Bootmii as Boot2(boot2 may not be available, IOS installs automatically)
Prepare the SD-card (By reformatting it)

Part 3 :
Make a Backup (Not Optional!)

Load HBC, press -HOME-, launch Bootmii
Make a nand backup
Press Power, Power, Power, Reset, Reset
Once the backup is complete, exit bootmii to HBC
Backup your Bootmii files to your PC
sd:\bootmii
sd:\nand.bin
sd:\key.bin


*DO NOT LOSE THESE FILES*

Now you have your Homebrew channel installed!





Step 2: Hacking your WIi

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Format the sd-card!!! (not optional)
Delete everything!


Download Modpack Files
Requires a standard SD card, 1-2g scandisk is best. SDHC cards will not work
Have 350 free blocks of nand space
Read the guide at least 3 times.
Remove all GC controllers, GC memory cards, USB devices.
Don't lose power- Very important
Password = NOT-A-PIRATE

Download the modpack for the region of your wii, or the region you wish your wii to be when your done. Be sure to download to right one.

USA-ModPack-NTSC-U.zip
EURO-ModPack-PAL-E.zip
JAP- ModPack-NTSC-J.zip
KOR- ModPack-NTSC-K.zip
Be sure to download the region you want your wii to be.
Extract your ModPack to sd:\

Download CIOS-PACK.zip
Extract to sd:\
Overwrite files if asked

After doing that then this should be the structure of your SD card :

(sd:\CIOS-PACK.md5
sd:\ModPack-****-*.md5
sd:\IOS Update.md5
sd:\startup.elf
sd:\boot.dol
sd:\hacks_hash.ini
sd:\mmmconfig.txt
sd:\USBLoaderCFG.dol
sd:\bootmii
sd:\apps
sd:\apps\ARCmod06_Offline\boot.dol
sd:\apps\HomeBrew Channel Loader\boot.dol
sd:\apps\MMM\boot.dol
sd:\apps\priiloader\boot.dol
sd:\wad\!!!IOS60-system-compatability-test.wad
sd:\wad\1OS236.wad
sd:\wad\Backup HBC - MAUI.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS9-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS11-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS16-v257.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS20-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS30-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS36-v3094-TEND.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS50-v4889-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS60-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS70-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS80-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS90-v6174-TED.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS202[60]-v65535.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS222[38]-v65535.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS223[37-38]-v65535.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS224[57]-v65535.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS247[37]-v21d2x6.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS248[56]-v21d2x6.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS249[38]-v21d2x6.wad
sd:\wad\cIOS250[57]-v21d2x6.wad
sd:\wad\Neogamma CHANNEL r8 Auto Mod-NEOG.wad
sd:\wad\RVL-cMIOS-v65535(v10)_WiiGator_WiiPower_v0.2.wad
sd:\wad\USBLoaderCFG - UCXF - IOS58 v9.wad
sd:\wad\System Menu 4.1*\EULA-NUS-*-v2.wad
sd:\wad\System Menu 4.1*\Region Select-NUS-*-v2.wad
sd:\wad\System Menu 4.1*\System Menu-NUS-4.1*-v544##.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS12-64-v526.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS13-64-v1032.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS14-64-v1032.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS15-64-v1032.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS17-64-v1032.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS21-64-v1039.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS22-64-v1294.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS28-64-v1807.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS31-64-v3608.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS33-64-v3608.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS34-64-v3608.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS35-64-v3608.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS37-64-v5663.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS38-64-v4124.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS41-64-v3607.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS43-64-v3607.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS45-64-v3607.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS46-64-v3607.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS48-64-v4124.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS53-64-v5663.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS55-64-v5663.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS56-64-v5662.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS57-64-v5919.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS58-64-v6176.wad
sd:\wad\IOS-Update\IOS61-64-v5662.wad
sd:\wad\channels\Shopping Channel-NUS-v20.wad
sd:\wad\channels\other wii channel wads your updating)


Verify Checksums -very important

On your PC, navigate to your sd card
Run sd:\md5summer.exe (this is run on your computer, not the wii)
Click "Verify Sums", Select "ModPack.md5"
All check sums should verify without error (very important)
Click "Verify Sums" again, Verify CIOS-PACK.md5, IOS Update.md5, and any others you have
All Checksums should verify without issue. Errors = Bad News, so try again



After that is done, now comes that most important step in this whole process :

Installing the Wads :
If a wad fails to install, try to install that wad again. If the wad still fails, press B to go back to the main menu, select reload ios, reload ios236, then try to install the wad that is giving you trouble again.

Start HBC, press [HOME], Launch Bootmii
Multi-Mod Manager Starts (via cboot2)
Never Uninstall IOS, or SM you will brick your wii

Select "WAD Manager" - Press A
Press (1) to "Install all Wads" - Press A
25 wads should install without error
"Press any button to continue"
Be sure all 25 wads install, very important

*Mac users may get an error of 25 wads installing and 25 wads failing. There are only 25 wads in the modpack. This issue is caused by the Mac creating extra files and is not an issue.*

Do not proceed with error, 25 wads must install
Never Uninstall IOS, or SM you will brick your wii

Select the folder "System Menu 4.1" -press A
Press (1) to "Install all Wads" - Press A
3 wads should install without error
"Press any button to continue"
Be sure all 3 wads install, very important

This installs a version patched SM, which I recommend. If this bothers you, don't do it.
WARNING: This is a version patched System Menu, running on a version patched cios60. NEVER replace cios60-v54321 with ios60-6174. Doing so will brick your wii if you update from Nintendo. Never update from Nintendo, don't MUCK up cios60-v54321. You have been warned.
Press B to go back a folder





Step 3: The Final Step...

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Here are the Apps I have installed and thought they were useful, if you want to install them then just do this
http://a8087489.dyo.gs/

Boot your wii to the system menu. You will see the following channels installed.
CFG-USBloader- This is a forwarder, it load the usbloader from your sd card or HD.
Backup Dics Channel- This is an autobooting mod of Neogamma loader, it will autoboot discs. Press any button while loading to access the menu. It is a channel and does not use sd/hd
Backup HBC- You will see a channel with black water, labeled backup HBC. When you load it, HBC 1.03 is loaded. This is installed as a backup means to run homebrew should you ever need it. You should not use it, unless you need to. Don't uninstall this wad, title "MAUI". Keep it on your wii or save it onto your sd card. You can move it to the far far right of the channel menu or back it up to your pc. You never know, someday you may need it.
If you like you can move channels by holding B, then pressing A and dragging them where you wish. You can do this with the disc channel if you enabled the priiloader hack.

If any of the downloads do not work, then download this for all the downloads in one! http://www.mediafire.com/?03gqp1u8ugdsa

Step 4: Playing Backups and games on Hacked Wii!

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If your Wii was bought before 2010, then you can use DVD roms to play backups on your Wii

But if you have a newer Wii, then you can play backups on USBs because the new Wiis CD reader is different and will not read normal DVD disks...

I found that this is better for playing games via USB, than USB Loader :

WiiFlow : Download it here : http://e7c9ac51.linkbucks.com/
To install wii flow, just go to HBC and then go to WAD manager, and go to install wads, then install the WiiFlow WAD!
You can lookup google for how to make a WiiFlow forwarder to make it appear right in your WIi menu, without having to go to HBC...

Once you have WiiFlow installed, then you can download Wii backup games from different websites, and then burn them onto your USB sticks, and plug them in and enjoy! http://www.playbackups.com/downloading-and-writing-perfectly-legal-backup-copies-of-your-original-games.html (The UK law, which states that you can have only 1 backup copy of every game you own...), you can also play homebrew games, and use homebrew apps...(1 I specially like is Resistor Calculator!) You can play N64, SNES and SEGA roms with downloading emulators and then buying those games for about 5$ each (Or even less) and its 100% legal!

Some websites like this http://myhomebreware.com/ ask you to pay for money to hack your wii and they will provide deatailed info, but you can do it for free!

Use this program http://be8c0c71.linkbucks.com/ to convert your USB to a Wii USB type, and install the games on the USB! But remember, once you have converted the USB, it will show that your USB is unrecognizable by the PC, it is only recognizable with the program...you can always format it to be used as a normal USB again!

Usually Wii games are 4.2 GB, and most 4GB USBs are 3.7GB, So how I overcame this problem is with using WIi Scrubber http://www.wii4everybody.com/2008/10/newest-wii-scrubber-download.html
What the WiiScrubber does is it basically removes the "JUNK" that manufacturers fill in to make the game reach the standard space of 4.2 GB... some games like Wii sports are only 720MB!

You can add the game you downloaded into the scrubber, and then scrub it and place the scrubbed ISO on you desktop, or somewhere else, then you can use the Wii USB program to add the scrubbed ISO!

Step 5: Material/Info Aquired from

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I collectivelly got a lot of info about hacking the Wii from "WiiHacks.com"
I copied some of the instructions from that website because they were straight forward and easy to understand...

The main reason why I made this instructable is because when I read the website and tried hacking my Wii 4.3, it was really hard because all the info was on different places and not arranged, and some info was missing, and there were no images, and the info was in very complicated english... so I thought I would make this ible to help others not to suffer the way I did while hacking my wii!

Hope you liked it,
Enjoy playing Backup games on your Hacked/Softmodded WIi!



(Sorry that I don't have many images, because my camera cannot take good pictures of the TV, so there are only a few, but hope they help!)



1-40 of 59Next »
olozano says: Feb 7, 2013. 1:04 PM
Excellent post!
Thanks for the link, for more info you can visit my blog on wii4everybody Good day!
cybergod says: Jan 24, 2013. 2:31 AM
NEW LINKS EVERYONE

http://eupgrade.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/softmod-any-wii-firmware/
waterlubber says: Apr 24, 2012. 2:23 PM
Linky is baddy!
:('
vishalapr (author) in reply to waterlubberApr 24, 2012. 9:38 PM
well...I guess...
waterlubber says: Apr 21, 2012. 2:16 PM
I followed the steps and I either got error 004: Corrupted file or nothing showed up at all! On the letter thingy do you cut red/blue wire (whats the difference) and which of the 4.3U, 4.3E, 4.3J, or 4.3K is american? HELP MEEEEE!!!
P.S the youtube videos are blocked by family saftey so please don't use them
vishalapr (author) in reply to waterlubberApr 22, 2012. 9:42 AM
4.3U is US so you should use that version.

Cut the red wire not the blue wire as the blue wire would result in the wrong download....

Hopefully this will solve all your troubles :)
waterlubber in reply to vishalaprApr 24, 2012. 2:05 PM
OK. I followed the instructions and instead of getting Error 004: Corrupt File, I got a bunch of empty channel thingys and nothing happened. Is nintendo evil?
waterlubber in reply to vishalaprApr 24, 2012. 1:57 PM
Why do they have the red/blue wire thing? The site isn't very descriptive, something even I could whip up in a few seconds. What does the blue wire download, anyway? Thank You!
vishalapr (author) in reply to waterlubberApr 24, 2012. 9:38 PM
don't know...I found the red/blue thing annoying as well...
vishalapr (author) in reply to waterlubberApr 22, 2012. 9:42 AM
4.3U is US so you should use that version.

Cut the red wire not the blue wire as the blue wire would result in the wrong download....

Hopefully this will solve all your troubles :)
zeshk says: Feb 20, 2012. 11:26 AM
hi there any chance u can give us new links? thanks
vishalapr (author) in reply to zeshkFeb 20, 2012. 11:09 PM
I am still searching but there are no new links available yet... :(
Will post themas soon as I find them...sorry...
kelv1969 says: Feb 1, 2012. 3:02 AM
the links don't work anymore
vishalapr (author) in reply to kelv1969Feb 14, 2012. 10:08 PM
I am sorry about that :( , The links have been deleted due to policy issues or somethng like that....I will post new links as soon as I find them :)
kelv1969 says: Feb 1, 2012. 2:30 AM
I've backed up nand etc. while it was working three bad blocks showed up. Is this a problem? Should I back up nand again until no bad blocks are there?
TSC says: Jan 8, 2012. 6:00 PM
This link Launch Hackmii Installer :
For versions 2.0 - 3.4 (Twilight Hack)
Download http://a1e04241.dyo.gs/ I click on it then it goes to the website and they say it was removed or somthing like that! So What now?

vishalapr (author) in reply to TSCJan 13, 2012. 11:45 PM
Use this website for downloads which are not available...

http://hackmii.com/category/wii/
TSC in reply to vishalaprJan 14, 2012. 6:15 PM
Ok thanks!
grondinm says: Dec 27, 2011. 4:46 PM
Wii noob here. just got one for the kids. Considering doing this. If i use the guide without gamedisk does the sd card i use have to remain in the Wii?
vishalapr (author) in reply to grondinmDec 27, 2011. 10:11 PM
Its both yes and a no...as for the homebrew apps and ggames, they can be run only with the SD card in...but for wil games, you do not need an SD card...but first install wiiflow via the SD and the play with USB or backup disks of the games you own :)
jcsantos says: Dec 18, 2011. 9:28 PM
sorry about noob question but Ijust recently got a wii , does softmodding allows me to play downloaded games from the net?
vishalapr (author) in reply to jcsantosDec 18, 2011. 10:16 PM
Yes! But you are given this ible to only play backups and hbc games, and its legal...but if u want to play downloaded wii games, this hack will allow u to do that but it is illegal....so do it at yr own risk...
evgeni43 says: Dec 17, 2011. 11:35 AM
how can i change an sdhc card?
vishalapr (author) in reply to evgeni43Dec 18, 2011. 10:15 PM
change an sdhc into an sd card? I don't think that is possible...
vshields says: Nov 26, 2011. 10:44 PM
For letterbomb which one is it red wire or blue? I am so lost I tryed to do it with extract from sd. card and it said files corrupted! Can someone help me plz~!
and how do I write the root? Sd:\windows 7
gwatts1 in reply to vshieldsNov 30, 2011. 5:48 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnQU34wCIoM

i followed this tutorial and it was very easy .....noob easy.
never got bricked or anything
vishalapr (author) in reply to gwatts1Dec 18, 2011. 10:13 PM
well done!
vishalapr (author) in reply to vshieldsNov 29, 2011. 10:13 PM
Its the red wire...

ANd if you donwload from the red wire then the files will nt be corrupted.
Then just copy all the contents in the letterbomb folder and put it on your empty SD, by root I mean that when you open your SD from MyComputer
The_Warlock says: Oct 21, 2011. 5:43 AM
Ciool!
joshumax says: Oct 17, 2011. 4:46 PM
It's a perfectly fine instructable but I don't need an instructable for A MANUAL ALREADY CREATED! Just go to www.wiibrew.org.
vishalapr (author) in reply to joshumaxOct 17, 2011. 10:19 PM
When I was hacking my wii the guide did not exist....and now I see that there is a guide for 4.3 as well...because when I was trying to hack my wii there was no guide for 4.3, so I had to do some research etc....but now there is...
mike!!! says: Oct 3, 2011. 12:06 AM
WOW! amazing
(haven't done it yet because i'm uncomfortable with this.)
Will it crash the wii?
vishalapr (author) in reply to mike!!!Oct 3, 2011. 6:53 AM
"Softmoding can brick your wii, this is very highly unlikely. Accept this fact or stop now."

As I said above.... 26 of my friends tried this and no one had a problem, and I tried it on both my wiis and there was no problem. So I think its quite safe, but as it says above, there is a chance like 0.001% of you bricking your wii< so I'hd do it b'coz I was soooo happy after unlocking it because once you have unlocked it , you can do almost everything! I always wanted to play Pokemon 64 and with the N64 emulator I was able to play it! So I missed a lot before hacking...And doing this does not void your warrenty or anything, because you are not installing any new hardware "Hardmodding it" If you did this within your warrent and it bricked then there would be no problem at all, but its really really highly unlikely, so I'd say do it!

And by brick : I mean crash, coz a bricked wii is just a paperweight...
mike!!! in reply to vishalaprOct 6, 2011. 11:04 PM
Thankyou for calming me down about it.
But where is a good n64 ROMS Site because I want to play N64 on a Wii.
vishalapr (author) in reply to mike!!!Oct 7, 2011. 10:36 AM
Once you have unlocked/hacked/softmodded your wii then you can get them here...

Just follow this youtube video which tells you everything!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hriUxWBXwm4

And then you can play N64 games on Wii like I play Pokemon64 on my Wii!
mike!!! in reply to vishalaprOct 12, 2011. 6:55 PM
i'm getting the super mario 64 rom as we speak!
vishalapr (author) in reply to mike!!!Oct 12, 2011. 9:47 PM
So are you going to softmod your wii? Or are you done softmodding it already?
mike!!! in reply to vishalaprOct 14, 2011. 11:35 PM
it's all done
vishalapr (author) in reply to mike!!!Oct 15, 2011. 11:13 AM
Awesome! Could u post a pic or two of the HBC or N64 games being played or something?
Thanks!
ironsmiter says: Oct 1, 2011. 11:27 AM
Nice instructions on a few ways to mod your wii(if you can't hackit, you don't own it!)

There is a problem though
"Here are 2 good website to download games for the Wii"

This is called piracy, and severely frowned upon here.
Please modify your 'ible, to remove the suggested illegal activity, so you don't get hit with the moderator stick.
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