Wii:Introduction to Wii Softmodding

Softmodding a Wii can be daunting at first, but you will soon realize it is one of the easiest consoles to install homebrew on thanks to its SD Card slot. When you softmod your Wii, you will install The Homebrew Channel, your gateway to all your homebrew apps. These guides are provided without warranty and free of charge. We do not take any responsibility for anything that results of you following these guides. There is a very small risk you can brick your console while performing these steps. Do this at your own accord.

Requirements

• An SD card OR the Internet Channel installed on your Wii
  • The card must be formatted to FAT32.
  • The SD Card is recommended to have at least 1 GB of space.
    • This is only required if you're going to take a backup from your Wii's NAND, which is highly recommended.
• A computer to transfer all the installer files to the card.

Note: If, for whatever reason, you don't have access to an SD card, you will still be able to install the homebrew channel. However, you won't be able to install any homebrew apps without an SD card.

(Method 1) SD Card Method (LetterBomb)

The exploit that you will be using is named "Letterbomb".

1. First, you will need to get the Wii's MAC address and version.
   • The MAC address can be found under Settings > Internet > Console Information.
   • The Wii's version can be found on the top right corner in the settings menu.
   • Note: If your Wii's version is NOT 4.3, first update your console, then continue softmodding.
2. Navigate to the Letterbomb website and input your Wii's MAC address and version. Ensure "Bundle the HackMii Installer for me" is checked, then click "Cut the blue/red wire". No matter which one you choose, you will be prompted to download the exploit.
3. Extract the zip file to the root of the SD card, safely eject the SD card, and plug it into your Wii.
4. From the main menu of the Wii, select the mail icon (Wii Message Board) in the bottom right corner.
5. You should see a red envelope with a bomb in it. If you do not, scroll to the previous day (or whatever day you downloaded the Letterbomb files) to find it.
6. Press the A button on the letter and the exploit will start.
7. Wait approximately 30-60 seconds and the option "Press (1) to continue" will appear. Press the 1 button to enter the HackMii installer.
8. Press D-Pad Up three times to highlight "Install the Homebrew Channel" and press A and then "Yes, continue". You should also install Bootmii as it provides brick protection on older Wiis (<2008) and the ability to take a NAND backup.

Success! Your console is now softmodded. You can now start installing homebrew apps to your SD Card or a USB storage device. However, many require custom IOSes.

(Method 2) Cardless Method (FlashHax)

If you don't have access to an SD Card, you can still softmod your Wii through the FlashHax method.

Note: Your console needs the Internet Channel installed and an internet connection.

1. First, you will need to get the Wii's MAC address and version.
   • The MAC address can be found under Settings > Internet > Console Information.
   • The Wii's version can be found on the top right corner in the settings menu.
   • Note: If your Wii's version is NOT 4.3, first update your console, then continue softmodding.
2. From your Wii, launch the Internet Channel and navigate to flashhax.com on your console.
3. You will be greeted with 3 buttons with a letter each. This letter corresponds to the console's region, which is the letter on the version number (e.g. 4.3U would be the letter "U"). Select the button corresponding to your console's region and it will take you to a page asking you to bookmark the page.
4. Select the star icon (Favorites) at the bottom of the screen, followed by the Plus icon (Add Favorite).
5. Press the Home button and close the Internet Channel.
6. Relaunch the Internet Channel, choose Favorites, then FlashHax. When the progress bar finishes, it should boot into a black screen with text.
   • If it hangs at 99% for more than 5 seconds, hold the power button on the console to turn it off and attempt this step again until it works. It may take 5 or more tries.
7. From the black screen, wait approximately 30-60 seconds and the option "Press (1) to continue" will appear. Press the 1 button to enter the HackMii installer.
8. Press D-Pad Up three times to highlight "Install the Homebrew Channel" and press A and then "Yes, continue". You should also install Bootmii as it provides brick protection on older Wiis (<2008) and the ability to take a NAND backup.

Success! Your console is now softmodded, but you won't be able to add any homebrew apps without an SD Card or USB storage device.

(Method 3) EULA Method (str2hax)

Credit to Fullmetal5 for developing the exploit

If you don't have an SD card, or the internet channel installed, you can use an exploit in the End User License Agreement screen to launch an exploit.

Ensure your Wii is updated to version 4.3 before continuing.

1. You need an active internet connection in order for this to work
   • If you do not have access to an internet connection, you can host the payload locally (Check the str2hax repository for more info)
2. Access the settings menu and go to Internet > Connection settings
3. Select the connection that you wish to use, make sure it has access to the internet
4. Select the Change settings option and scroll until you get "Auto-Obtain DNS"
5. Select No, then select Advanced Settings
6. Change the Primary DNS to 97.74.103.14 and the Secondary DNS to 173.201.71.14.
7. Select Confirm then save and run the mandatory connection test
8. If, and when prompted, DO NOT UPDATE THE WII. Depending on your wii, this could brick, and this type of brick requires hardware modification to fix.
9. Go back to the internet panel and select "User Agreements"
10. Select Yes to the question about Wii Shop/WiiConnect24
11. You will then see a screen telling you to review the user agreements for the Wii. Select Next.
12. If there is a pony on screen telling you to wait, you have done everything correctly. DO NOT PRESS ANYTHING. The exploit takes about 1-2 minutes, if it takes longer than a few then the exploit probably failed, reboot your Wii and retry.
13. Once loaded into the Hackmii installer, proceed to install the Homebrew channel and Bootmii. The Homebrew Channel allows the loading of homebrew, Bootmii is an essential program that allows backing up the Wii's NAND and if the Wii was made before 2008, offers brick protection.
    • You can check if Bootmii will provide brick protection during the installation process, if you can install Bootmii as Boot2, then your Wii can have Bootmii injected into the boot process which offers brick protection. If "Install Bootmii as IOS" is the only option allowed, then unfortunately your Wii is too new to allow for the Boot2 injection method. You should install Priiloader regardless as it offers patches and some layer of brick protection.

If your Wii now has the homebrew channel in the system menu, congrats! You will need an SD Card or USB storage device though to install homebrew.

(Method 4) Bluetooth Method (BlueBomb)

Able to be used on the Wii Mini, BlueBomb takes advantage of the bluetooth libraries to load the Hackmii Installer

Requirements:

1. A Linux Distro, Windows will not work nor will Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
   • A Raspberry Pi, or if you are running this off a traditional PC, a linux Live Environment will work, we here recommend Linux Mint as it is stable and easy to get set up.
2. A Bluetooth adapter, internal or external
   • Make sure the adapter is supported by your linux distro.
3. A USB flash drive formatted as FAT32
   • This can not be the same drive as your linux distro

Steps to perform the exploit:

1. Download the Hackmii installer from the Bootmii Website
   • this method can be used to fix certain brick's, but we will not discuss that here.
2. Extract it and place the boot.elf file on the root of your flash drive (the one connecting to your Wii)
3. Plug the flash drive into your Wii console, for Wii Mini's, the USB port on the back. For normal Wii's, the bottom port or the port to the right.
4. Turn on your Wii and go into the system settings, on the top right, you will see your system menu version number, take note of the entire thing (for an up-to-date US Wii, this should be 4.3U)
5. Boot your Linux distro, ensure you have an internet connection and that your bluetooth adapter is working.
6. Open the terminal, on most complete distro's, this is just called "Terminal"
7. Run these commands in this order:
   • wget https://wii.guide/assets/files/bluebomb-helper.sh
   • chmod +x bluebomb-helper.sh
   • ./bluebomb-helper.sh
8. The script will download any necessary files, and ask for information about your console.
   • For Wii Mini's, you will be asked to provide your console region, this is the last letter in the version number you wrote down earlier (U for USA, E for Europe, J for Japan, K for Korea).
   • For normal Wii's, you will be asked for your entire version number.
9. Turn on your console and do not turn on or connect any Wiimotes.
10. Press the sync button repeatedly until the terminal shows 'got connection handle'. This could take numerous attempts.
    • The Wii should be close to the computer, 3 feet for example
11. The console should now load the Hackmii installer. Proceed to install the Homebrew channel and Bootmii. The Homebrew Channel allows the loading of homebrew, Bootmii is an essential program that allows backing up the Wii's NAND and if the Wii was made before 2008, offers brick protection.
    • Wii Mini users SHOULD NOT install Bootmii as this will require soldering an SD Card slot. Instead, they should install Priiloader.
    • You can check if Bootmii will provide brick protection during the installation process, if you can install Bootmii as Boot2, then your Wii can have Bootmii injected into the boot process which offers brick protection. If "Install Bootmii as IOS" is the only option allowed, then unfortunately your Wii is too new to allow for the Boot2 injection method. You should install Priiloader regardless as it offers patches and some layer of brick protection. Wii Mini's do not support injecting Bootmii as Boot2

Your Wii should now have the homebrew channel installed, if you did this on the Wii Mini, you can put homebrew on your flash drive as the Wii Mini does not have an SD card slot. The normal Wii's still can use SD cards to load homebrew. With a softmodded Wii Mini, internet functionality can be restored!

Where to go from here

Now that you have the homebrew channel and Bootmii installed, regardless of whether it's installed in Boot2 or IOS, you should use it to take a NAND backup. Like, right now. If it's installed as Boot2, reboot your Wii and you should automatically boot into Bootmii, for IOS users, go into the homebrew channel, hit the home button and select "Launch Bootmii". Now, Wiimotes do not work in Bootmii and probably never will. You can use the Wii's front buttons to navigate the menu's or a Gamecube controller. You'll also need about 512MB of free space on your SD Card. Press POWER on your wii, or the Right DPAD to navigate options and RESET or A to select them.

If Bootmii is not booting (Black Screen) and the disc drive light is blinking, you're missing the Bootmii files on your SD Card. Download this and extract it to the root of your SD Card. Wii Mini users shouldn't worry about this as they should not have installed Bootmii.

To take a NAND Backup:

1. Select the options button (The icon with the gears)
2. Select the BackupMii button (The icon with the green arrow AKA the first one on the left.)
   • A NAND Backup will begin, you can watch it go by and it'll be done in a few minutes.
   • Bad Blocks are normal and can be ignored.
   • When it is complete, it will begin verifying the backup, we here at Consolemods.org do not recommend skipping it, but if you want to, hit the EJECT button.
3. When it is complete, hit any button to exit to the Bootmii screen.
4. To exit Bootmii, hit the back arrow button and then select either the Wii menu button or the homebrew channel button.

Your NAND Backup should be on the root of your SD Card. You should copy it to a safe location, such as your computer, and even the cloud. This backup will be extremely useful in the event your Wii is bricked.

Now that a NAND backup is complete, you can now install homebrew. The most important one we consider essential is Priiloader, as it offers brick protection, especially for Bootmii/IOS users and offers patches to the system menu such as Region-Free games.

• You should also install cIOS in the event you wish to boot games off a USB loader.
• You can also install the Open Shop channel which will let you install homebrew on your Wii directly from the internet without needing a computer.
• For retro gamers, there are numerous emulators out there for some of the best classic consoles.
• You can also install Riiconnect24 and Wiimmfi to re-enable the Wii's online services after Nintendo closed it down.

References

WiiBrew for information on the Wii

Wii Guide for up-to-date information on exploits

FullMetal5 for developing the BlueBomb and str2hax exploits

fail0verflow (formally known as Team Twiizers) for all of their work throughout the years on the Wii