Wii cIOS base Compatibility List

Some Wii games will work with many different IOS bases, usually base 56 or 57, but some games might require bases which are not installed by default in any guides, such as base 36 or 53, etc.

This compatibility list provides the required base for games which work only with one specific IOS base. If they work correctly with any base, or with both the "common setup" (both 56 & 57), there is no need to list the game here. This list is for games which work only with ONE base (56 OR 57), or another base than these two common ones.

IOS Slots

The Wii has 256 slots. 0 to 199 are reserved for official Nintendo IOS. 200 to 255 are free to use for your needs. But please, if you really need more slots, only use slots from 240 to 253!

Softmod guides usually instruct users to install various cIOSs with different bases into different slots like 249, 250, 251, etc. Slot 249 is the default used by most if not all homebrew requiring a cIOS.

You can only use one IOS at a time, so the only reason we ever cared to install different cIOSs to alternate slots was to be able to quickly switch between them when for some reason your primary 249 didn't work with a particular game or homebrew. cIOSs have evolved to a point where 1 cIOS is compatible 99% of the time, that cIOS is called d2x with base 57 (which for the Wii is the equivalent of d2x v10 beta 52. NOT beta 53!)

Previously it was recommended to use base 56 as the default installed to slot 249, even though base 57 offered better compatibility than base 56, as it was believed to offer slightly faster loading speeds, which eventually was never proven to be true. So until recently (2018-2019) this is what was usually recommended to install to slots 249 and 250:

slot 249: base 56
slot 250: base 57

As lot of new gamers struggled to fix "Call of Duty" because they didn't know to just use a different cIOS slot that uses base 57 by selecting slot 250 it in their loader's game options, and considering most games working with 56 also work with 57 (we're really comparing 97%-98% compatibility with 99%!!), many softmod guides recently (2018-2020) changed the default base in slot 249 to 57 so the recommendation changed to this:

slot 249: base 57
slot 250: base 56

It's entirely possible that you only have 1 cIOS installed to slot 249. That's totally fine. You don't need multiple cIOS to play 99% of games.

By default, all USBLoaders are set to use ONLY the cIOS located in slot 249.

In that slot, you probably already have either a cIOS based on IOS 56 or based on IOS 57.

If you don't know what your setup is, you can run syscheck app, and look at your report on the common lines 222-224 and 245-251.

Here are some examples of commonly recommended cIOSs as they would appear in a Syscheck report:

IOS202[60] (rev 65535, Info: hermesrodries-v6): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS222[38] (rev 4, Info: hermes-v4): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS223[38+37] (rev 4, Info: hermes-v4): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS224[57] (rev 65535, Info: hermesrodries-v6): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS236[36] (rev 65535, Info: rev 3351): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access

IOS248[38] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v10beta52): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS249[57] (rev 21008, Info: d2x-v8final): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS250[56] (rev 21008, Info: d2x-v8final): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

IOS251[58] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v10beta52): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0

- The first number (249, 250, etc.) is the slot number.

- The number in the bracket ([56], [57], etc.) is the IOS base, this is what you need for the game compatibility.

- The text is the cIOS version. On Wii, v8 final is preferred (again this is the same as d2x-v10beta52. On vWii, d2x v10 r52 is preferred (do not install d2x v10-Alternate r53!), on Wii-mini d2xL is in beta stage so be sure to follow new releases and update it regularly.

Using a specific slot

If you need to use a specific cIOS base, you have to understand how the Wii, vWii and Wii-mini are working.

The console loads and uses ONE and only one IOS at a time.

Installing a new IOS is not enough to fix your compatibility problem! You need to set your USB Loader settings to actually USE the IOS slot you want to load for the game which requires it.

USBLoaders let you change that settings either globally (for all your games), or individually (for one specific game only).

You should set your loader to use by default the IOS slot which is based on either IOS56 or IOS57, and only set a specific slot individually for problematic games

If your IOS slot 249 contains "base57" and your slot 250 contains "base56" that's good!
If your IOS slot 249 contains "base56" and your slot 250 contains "base57" that's good too!

You don't need to reinstall or swap slots 249 and 250 to get the desired base IOS in the default slot 249. Access your USBLoader settings to change the default IOS slot to use globally or individually based on the game compatibility list below.

Adding a new cIOS

Before adding a new cIOS to your console, you should check if you don't already have that cIOS version/base installed in one of your existing slots! Run syscheck (see above) if you don't know your setup.

Do not install ALL random cIOS version and base just to cover your needs "just in case one day you need them". Only install new cIOS if you really need it, because your console's internal memory is limited and it's useless to install many IOS at the same time, remember that only ONE is loaded in memory.

If you need a new cIOS, you can replace and overwrite existing slot you don't need anymore. If your slot248 already contains an old version of cIOS, or a cIOS with a base you don't need anymore, just choose that slot number for your new install. It'll replace it and will prevent having useless IOS on your console. If you don't usually need or use your slot 250 or 251, replace them with the needed base ! don't install new IOS in the empty slot 248 if you can replace the unused slot 250. keep your console clean and uncluttered.

cIOS installers

There are a lot of different cIOS installation guides. you can choose the one you want from here:

Or if you know what you are doing, you can find complete packs for both Wii and vWii.

For wii-mini, this is here.

Bonus

If you want to understand what IOS and cIOS are, please look at this guide.

d2x cIOS Compatibility list

Confirmed

Title	IOS base	Comments/references
Animal Crossing city folk	IOS base 38, 56, 57	*IOS base 56 & 57 do not support a keyboard, base 38 is required if you want to use the keyboard. Hermes cIOSs may also support keyboards (unconfirmed).
Band hero	IOS base 56, 57	report
Call of Duty - Black Ops	IOS base 57	Doesn't work with IOS base 56. report and many others reports.
Guitar hero	IOS base 56, 57	report
Guitar hero 5	IOS base 56, 57	report 1 report 2
Guitar hero Metallica	IOS base 56, 57	report
Guitar hero smash hits	IOS base 56, 57	report
Guitar hero van hallen	IOS base 56, 57	report
Guitar hero warriors of rock	IOS base 56, 57	IOS base57 just display black screen. report
Guitar hero world tour	IOS base 56, 57	report
Spongebob's Boating Bash	IOS base 38, 53, 58, [hermes base 57, 38, 38+37]	Working on vWii & Wii with IOS base58. Working on Wii with d2x IOS base38, base53, and base58; also working on the Wii with hermes cIOSs. Many of these cIOSs are often already installed to slots 251 and 222-224, so no need to install another cIOS with base53.
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure	IOS base 56	The NFC portal accessory works only with base 56. Plug the HDD in port 0, the portal in USB Port 1! Do not use hub with HDD.
We Sing	IOS base 56	The Mic doesn't work with base 57. USBLoaderGX r1272 freezes if mic is plugged in port1 before launching the game. report
We Sing 2 (Vol.2 or Encore ?)	IOS base 56, IOS base 58	The Mic doesn't work with base 57. USBLoaderGX r1272 freezes if mic is plugged in port1 before launching the game. report
We sing 80's	IOS base 56	The Mic doesn't work with base 57. report
We sing Pop, Rock , Uk hits	IOS base 57	The Mic doesn't work with base 56. report
We Sing Robbie Williams	IOS base 56	The Mic doesn't work with base 57. USBLoaderGX r1272 freezes if mic is plugged in port1 before launching the game. report
Worms Battle Island	IOS base 56, IOS base [38+37]	report

Unconfirmed

Title	IOS base	Comments/references
Sing it/just dance/etc.	IOS base 57	Most musical games don't work with base56 (not counting guitar hero games which usually work with both). Please, make proper tests for each version (just dance 2019,2020,etc.) and add each game properly in the confirmed list.

Conflicting or misleading reports

Title	IOS base	Comments/references
Rockband 3	IOS base 37, IOS base56	Setup : HDD in port 0 and USB HUB for Drum+Mics in port 1 report 1 report 2 Tested with the "ion drum kit" and mic with base 37 report 1 Mic doesn't work with base 57, it requires either base 37 report 1 or 56 report 2. REQUEST: Please confirm if "ion drum kit" really requires base 37 and doesn't work with base 56. no need to force user to install base37 if 56 is working and already installed by most guides.
Rockband lego	IOS base 37, IOS base56/57	See Rockband 3 comments.