Bricking and Unbricking FAQ
Here is post to answer questions constantly asked by people.
========================Bricks====================
Q:What is a brick?
A:To brick a Wii is to damage the console beyond repair - as in 'A bricked Wii has all the electronic functionality of a brick'. To put it simply, fully bricked Wii consoles do absolutely nothing. The term is often used in situations where modifying a system's firmware (without necessarily making any alterations to the machine's hardware) has caused it to become inoperable.
Q: I've heard people talking about semi, banner and full bricks, What's the difference?
A: Semi bricks - Usually caused by installing an update from an out of region game. This is when a small error has occurred in the wii's system menu. If your wii is semi bricked you will not be able to access the Wii Settings.
Banner bricks - This is caused when one installs a wad that is corrupted or has an incorrect banner size. It may also be caused by installing Preloader on the wrong system menu. You will know your wii is banner bricked because when you boot your wii and it freezes after the health screen and/or say the system files are corrupted.
Full Bricks - These bricks are usually caused when the System's IOS is corrupted or uninstalled. The wii will either give an opera error or just a black screen at boot.
Q: I can power up my wii with my wiimote but the wiimote does not stay synced, am I bricked?
A: No, you probably have a bluetooth module problem and will have to replace the module.
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========================Unbricking================
Q: My Wii is semi bricked so what should I do?
A: Semi bricks can be repaired by installing an update inside your region or even by using starfall/startPatch in some cases if your system menu is supported.
Q: My wii gets the System Files are corrupted message (bannerbricked) after i've installed a wad, what should I do?
A: If you have preloader, you can boot into the preloader menu by holding reset while you are booting your wii, then load homebrew channel and using wad manager, uninstall the bad wad or/and re-install the system menu. Here's a detailed tutorial
Q: My wii is banner bricked but I don't have Preloader installed, what can i do?
A: If you have a NAND Backup and bootmii install as boot2, you can load boot2 and restore with your NAND Backup. If you don't and have cIOSCorp installed or an autobooting Modchip you can use the Autobooting Wad Manager ISO or Universal Unbrick Disc v2 by using SaveMiiFrii. Here is the tutorial on this
Q: I've installed Preloader/Priiloader on an unsupported system menu and now have a bannerbrick, what can I do?
A: If you can boot into preloader and load homebrew channel use cIOS Downgrader to install a new system menu but if you have a newer wii like the LU64/65, use Waninkoko's Firmware Updater v4.1.
Q: My Wii gives me a black screen at boot (full brick), what can I do?
A: If you have a NAND Backup and bootmii installed as boot2, you can restore your wii. If you don't there is a high chance you wouldn't be able to do anything.
Q: I had bootmii installed as boot2 but no NAND Backup, Is there anything I can do?
A: Re-install your System Menu and IOS by using Wad Manager and cBoot2, just follow this tutorial
Q: I've tried evey available option and still nothing works, what now?
A: Your only option is probably to send it back to nintendo, who will most likely charge you for the repairs and shipping.
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=====================Preventing Bricks===================
Q: How can I prevent my wii from being bricked or atleast if I were to brick repair my wii?
Answers:
-If you were to install updates, only install updates within your region but if you have a softmodded wii, its recommended you don't update at all.
-Do not uninstall or delete the system IOS, mIOS or System Menu.
-Do not turn off your wii during updates or risky homebrew installs such as cIOS Downgrader
-Install Priiloader on your wii if your System Menu if supported if not I Recommend upgrading or downgrading to the right system menu, Priiloader works on Wii's which have the 3.2 or 4.X System Menu. If you plan on installing the patched IOS60 after you install preloader it can give you a bannerbrick, to fix this just re-install system menu.
-Install bootmii as boot2 if you can. Install bootmii using the hackmii installer.
- Only install wads from a trusted source.
- Do not uninstall or delete the system IOS or mess around with the System Menu
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==============Other Questions===============
Q: What is the best brick protection available?
A: The best brick protection is bootmii installed as boot2.
Q: I can only install bootmii as an IOS what gives?
A: BootMii can only be installed as boot2 on wiis which have a vulnerable boot1 which means only wiis made before sometime mid 2008
Q: So I can't install Bootmii as boot2, so is there anything else that can protect me from full bricks?
A: No
Q: I've installed Preloader/Priiloader on an unsupported System Menu and now i'm bannerbricked and can access Preloader but I don't have an internet connection so I cannot install a System Menu what can i do?
A: Install the correct IOS and system menu version for your wii using wad manager. You can download the wad for your IOS and System Menu using NUSDownloader, here is a tutorial on NUSD.
Q: I'm still not sure what system menu version and IOS number/version I need. Where can I find out?
A: Use this list
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I will continue to add more as they come into mind. If you have any suggestions, questions or comments just say. If this was posted in the wrong area, I would like a mod to move this if they don't mind.
