Wii Hacking FAQ

Welcome to the Wii Overall FAQ. I am going to attempt to List answers and links to the most relevant and informative threads here.

Backup Loaders

This section will attempt to answer common questions for each of the loaders.

Wiigator

Official Blog http://blogs.gbatemp.net/WiiGator Latest Releases From wiigator will always be found here. Compatibility Threads: Gamma Non Compatability Thread. http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=115819

Softchip

A project started by requim. Due to the open source nature of this program, the revisions are to numerous to cover in a faq. The official thread for this loader can be found http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=113659 Compiled binaries can be found http://www.gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=115159 Official Website: http://www.softchip-mod.com/ Google Code Site: http://code.google.com/p/wii-softchip/

Waninkoko

A leaked loader released by a beta tester. Abandoned by the creator, Waninkoko, who later teamed up with wiigator, and continues to write and improve the CIOS used by the current loaders.

IOS's and System Menu

System Menus

These programs patch or replace the nintendo menu, adding features not available from nintendo.

CSM

A Project in the works from Forsaken. A combination dashboard and system menu. Official thread here. Has Not been released yet. Intended to ultimatly replace starfall dashboard to help with bricking until bootmii is released.

StarFall

Mainly used for the ability to load the original twilight princess in the event of a banner brick. Also Boasts the following features: Replace healthwarning with backmenu Skip disc update check Region free GC games with video mode patch Region free Wii games Region free channels No mainmenu BGM Start rescue-menu when Y is held on 1st GC controller Remove rescue-menu diagnostic disc check Wiibrew Wiki Page http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Starfall

IOS's

The IOS is the routines and calls that the games and system menu use to run. different versions add support and fix bugs. a descripton of each can be found below

Cheating in Games

What are SD Codes and how do i use/get them

Codes can be obtained at http://wiird.l0nk.org/forum/index.php Codes will only work with games from the region they were designed for. Wii region doesn't matter just disc region. Converting from pal to ntsc or vice versa will not make the codes work. The CodeManager program comes packaged with ocarina. It can be found at: http://wiird.l0nk.org/wp/archives/21 Extract the PC folder to your computer and run the codemgr.exe file. SD codes must be placed onto the sd card in the codes folder. (X:\codes\XXXXX.gct)

How do I make my own cheats

To make you own cheats you must buy a USB Gecko, and use its associated software. Info Here

Cheats not working under GeckOS

Go into the options menu and ensure that use ocarina is set to ON. Hooktype may need to be set to VI.

Cheats not working under Wiigator Loader

Same as GeckOS, but Hooktype MUST be set to VI.

Ocarina

Ocarina had become obsolete and is only needed for the codemanager program that comes with it. It can be found at http://wiird.l0nk.org/wp/archives/21 Both GeckOS and Wiigator's Backup Launcher Support Ocarina codes now.

Softmodding

Depending on your current system version this can be a simple process or an involved one.

Burning Information

What is the best burn Speed to use for backing up games?

There is no universal answer for this. You need to test each speed that your burner and media support, and then verify your burn against the original image. Whichever speed has the fewest errors is the best speed for your drive with that media. Media Types Very greatly, even from batch to batch from the same manufacturer. So always remember to verify your disks and adjust to the best speed for that batch of media (always start with what worked best on the last batch)

I Heard that burning at X speed will shorten my laser life

Your burning speed does not affect the wii laser in any way. If anything is going to "kill" the laser it would be adjusting it to work outside of specs in order to read discs it isnt meant to. The wii drive is a DVD drive. Nintendo left the dvd command in because they were originally going to have a dvd player, but went with the "wii format" to avoid paying royalties. When a disc is read its read speed is detirmined by the firmware, hardware capabilities and media integrity. A bad burn (lots of errors) will cause the wii laser to do more work re-reading sections of disk, which does lead to more wear and tear over time.