Thread: New 3.1-4.1 Softmod for ANY Wii

This guide will fully modify your Wii to safely play backup games, it works on all wiis up to 4.1 regardless of serial number/region etc this includes boot2 v4 Wiis aka 'LU64-65' models, If you bought your Wii this year and it came with 3.4+ on it then it will be a boot2 v4.

If you are on 4.2 then do this excellent guide by shadowsonic to modify your Wii.

There is a new DVD drive chipset that will not play DVDR, if your Wii came with sys menu 4.0 on it then it could be one, the chipset is known as a D3-2 and the only way of telling if you have one is to open her up, but as this will invalidate your warranty you are better off trying to load DVDRs and if you just keep getting errors then it is a good indication that you have one. The USB loader will still work though so just follow the guide as normal.

When completed you will have everything you need to play backups and the SD card does not have to be left in, you can delete everything off it if you wish. **the latest neogamma R8 can patch newer games to work and for this feature you need to leave the sd card in as the patches/config are stored on it**

Make sure you do the steps in the right order or you could run into problems, and read the guide through a couple of times before trying it. Read ALL OF IT! Most problems arise from people not reading the instructions properly or not using a compatible SD card, a plain 2gb one is best. If you are buying a new one try and get a Sandisk.

All you need is an SD card formatted to FAT32, an internet connection on your Wii and these files: DOWNLOAD

Before you start make sure Wiiconnect 24 is off as it can stop bannerbomb working, you may turn it back on once you have completed the guide.

If you get errors during any of the steps format your card with this tool.

TAKE OUT ALL GAMECUBE MEMORY CARDS/CONTROLLERS


1. INSTALL BOOTMII AND THE HOMEBREW CHANNEL

a). Put all the files from ‘copy to sd card.rar’ onto the root of the SD Card. It should look like this when done.

b). Insert the SD card into Wii.

c). Go to Wii Options, then go to Data Management > Channels > SD Card, then you will get a message saying "Load boot.elf?" , select 'Yes' and the Hackmii installer will run.

d). Install Bootmii as boot2 if you can, if not then install it as an IOS then go back and install the Homebrew Channel.



The Homebrew channel will ask you to update - say NO!


2. BACK UP YOUR NAND (OPTIONAL)

Making a NAND backup with Bootmii is highly recommended, it will recover your Wii from 99.9% of bricks.
Use the same SD card you used to install Bootmii and make sure there is at least 530mb free on it.
Bootmii is very fussy about what SD cards it uses, so avoid generic ones and try and use a Sandisk or similar.


a) Put the SD card into the Wii, if you installed Bootmii as boot2 then it will load, if it is installed as an IOS go to the Homebrew Channel, press 'home' on your wiimote and select 'Launch Bootmii'.

b) Use the power/reset/eject buttons to navigate the Bootmii menu and select the icon with the gears on it. If those buttons don't work then you will have to use a Gamecube controller.

c) Now select the icon with a green arrow pointing from the chip to the SD card and follow the on screen instructions.

D) In about 10 mins you will have a NAND backup, it is normal to have up to 80 bad blocks so don't worry if you get some.

e) Put the SD card into PC and copy the NAND backup somewhere safe, you can now delete it from your card. If you installed Bootmii as boot2 then also copy the Bootmii folder to your PC and either delete or rename it, otherwise it will load every time you switch your Wii on.



If ever you get bricked then copy the bootmii folder and NAND backup onto your card, do steps a) & b) again, using Priiloader to get to HBC if necessary, then select the icon with the arrow going from the SD card to the chip. It is not recommended to restore your NAND if you have Bootmii installed as an IOS.


3. GET A CIOS

a) Go to Homebrew channel and run Trucha Bug Restorer, load IOS36, press 1, read the warnings then select 'downgrade IOS15', select to load IOS from SD card then let it do its job, keep an eye on what it is doing and make sure you select 'load from sd card' when it asks & don't get any errors.

b) Run Trucha Bug Restorer again, this time select to load IOS15 on first screen using dpad left/right, then select the IOS36 menu & install patched (select 'yes' on all 3 patches) IOS36 to slot 36, again using IOS from SD card.

c) Run Trucha Bug Restorer again, load IOS36 and this time select restore IOS15.

d) Run cIOS38 r17 installer, select IOS36 as the one it should use and then select wad install.

If your Homebrew Channel flips upside down then continue with the guide and when completed reinstall the homebrew channel.




4. UPDATE YOUR SYSTEM MENU VERSION

Warning - If you don't install the patched IOS60 first you will brick!

This step is optional unless you are on 3.1, 3.3 or 3.4 in which case you must update, if you are on 3.2 or 4.0 you can update if you want and it is recommended that you do, if you are on 4.1 there is no need obviously! If you are on 3.1 you will have to update to 4.0 first, make sure you install the patched IOS60 first though still. Before you update to 4.1 make sure you have at least 250 blocks free or you will brick, install IOS60-patched first with Wad Manager using IOS249, then run Firmware Updater 4.1. If you are on 3.3 or 3.4 then you must update now - DO NOT install priiloader until you have updated as it will cause untold problems!.


5. THE FINAL STEP

Priiloader is also an optional install, if you don't want it just skip b & c, but you must do step d, system menu hacks can be taken care of by Starfall (3.2) or startpatch (4/4.1), if you want them click my sig and have a look through my mediafire. There are no system hacks for 3.3/3.4.

a) If you are on system menu 4/4.1 use Wad Manager with default settings (IOS249 & SD card) to install IOS60-patched.wad - make sure you do this before you install Priiloader. If you installed it in step 4 then skip this part. Never uninstall IOS60! You will brick!!

b). Open the Homebrew Channel and load Priiloader, press + to install. After install, your Wii should reboot and load the Priiloader menu. If it doesn't, turn your wii off and on again whilst holding down reset and it will load the Priiloader menu.

c) Select 'system menu hacks' in the Priiloader menu, and enable the hacks that you want - 'skip disc update check' and the region free ones are all you need. Select 'save settings' and wait for confirmation message to display 'settings saved'. Press B to go back, and enter Settings. Set 'Autoboot: System Menu' using D-Pad, then select save settings. Press B to return to main Priiloader menu.

d) In the Priiloader menu select Homebrew Channel (if you didn't install Priiloader then just open HBC as normal), run Wad Manager 1.4, use default settings (IOS249 & SD card) and install these wads from the 'wad' folder:

IOS38-64-v3867
IOS50-64-v4889
IOS53-64-v5406
IOS55-64-v5406
Neogamma Channel - R8

Then restart your Wii.



All done! You will now have the safety/hacks of Priiloader & Bootmii, NeoGamma R8 backup loader that has 99% compatibility, cIOS249 r17, IOS38, 53 & 55 for newer games and IOS50 to help prevent disc update bricks. If you ever need to access Priiloader's settings hold down 'reset' when switching your Wii on.
If you get the 'system files corrupted' screen don't panic, just reinstall preloader and if that doesn't fix it reinstall your current system menu with Wad Manager.

UPDATES

If you want to update your cIOS in the future or if you want to install a different one just run the installer and select ios249 as the one it should use, it will overwrite the old one so no need to uninstall. -Download cIOS38r17 installer-
If you want to update Neogamma go to wii options > data management > channels and delete the old one first, then just install the new one with wad manager. -Download Neogamma R8 Channel-

If you want more hacks for Preloader have a look at them here, and copy/paste them to your hacks.ini file. Make sure there is one blank line at the bottom.

OPTIONAL

Install the new 4.3 shop channel with Wad Manager from HERE.

Install USB Loader GX & WBFS Manager 3 - Download

Install cIOS56 to play Guitar Hero 5/Beatles from the disc channel - Download

Install the new cIOScorp 3.6 for DVDR loading through Disc Channel, complete with uninstaller - (works on all wiis) - Download - make sure you read the readme!

Install the Internet Channel - NTSC-U, PAL or NTSC-J

Use your Wii as a media player with MPlayer CE & DVDX

Get some emulators for all your old favourites (better than vc except for N64)


DVD-R

You need to use either Verbatim DVD-R or Ritek G05 DVD-R for your games, most other discs won't work. Have a look at our disc section for more info.

GAMES

You're going to need some games now I recommend trying usenet, you will find every game ever released, be able to download at full speed and as long as you use SSL no-one will know what you're downloading, check my guide on it if you're interested.
If its not for you then you're going to have to use torrents, check my guide on them if you are new to the concept.


Credit to: Team Twizzers, Comex, Waninkoko, Wiigator, Wiipower, Crediar, da_letter_a & damysteryman.
Special thanks to KyZiX for the videos.