Wii mini semi-brick

themadhaxor

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Hi folks!

I have recently been attempting to hack a Wii mini with an SDRST, wifi and miniRGBii mods respectively.

Whilst everything went mostly okay with the hardware side [i.e hardware mods were completed with minor complications - wax paper was used to stop SDRST QSB from shorting - and the original kit supplied C139 was lost and had to be replaced with an equivalent value (but physically bigger) component].

...the software side...mistakes were made :(

First off an image of the hardware [thin copper wires are coated and will not cause shorts]:

IMG_032773.JPG


All mods have been fully checked for:

1) No shorts across components or between pins
2) Components have continuity from and to the traces they are supposed to go to
3) Obviously that the Wii mini still operates normally [no shorts and it still boots fine/plays games]

Problem is that in my excitement, I made a big oops...

I decided to go ahead and do the final step of the mod, which was flashing the .wad files to restore the full Wii OS functionality - without a NAND backup!

This was not specifically intentional, as I was unaware that once you have the SDRST mod installed and functional - the reset button works independently of any Wii OS support.
[had I known this, then I would have tried to install BootMii for a NAND backup, and would likely not be in this mess]

Also it is only mentioned in passing for the Wii mini mod guide for bluebomb. [official wii guide site]

And the .wad installation instructions on webHDX's github are only for those steps - to restore full Wii OS functionality
[likely assumes you might have a NAND backup already]

Anyhow - here's the good/bad news...

What did/did not flash to nand

EULA-NUS-v3.wad
IOS4-64-v65280.wad
IOS9-64-v1034.wad
IOS10-64-v768.wad
IOS11-64-v256.wad
IOS12-64-v526.wad
IOS13-64-v1032.wad
IOS14-64-v1032.wad
IOS15-64-v1032.wad
IOS16-64-v512.wad
IOS17-64-v1032.wad
IOS20-64-v256.wad
IOS21-64-v1039.wad
IOS22-64-v1294.wad
IOS28-64-v1807.wad
IOS30-64-v2816.wad
IOS31-64-v3608.wad
IOS33-64-v3608.wad
IOS34-64-v3608.wad
IOS35-64-v3608.wad
IOS36-64-v3608.wad
IOS37-64-v5663.wad
IOS38-64-v4124.wad
IOS40-64-v3072.wad
IOS41-64-v3607.wad
IOS43-64-v3607.wad
IOS45-64-v3607.wad
IOS46-64-v3607.wad
IOS48-64-v4124.wad
IOS50-64-v5120.wad
IOS51-64-v4864.wad
IOS52-64-v5888.wad
IOS53-64-v5663.wad
IOS55-64-v5663.wad
IOS56-64-v5662.wad
IOS57-64-v5919.wad
IOS58-64-v6176.wad
IOS59-64-v9249.wad
IOS60-64-v6400.wad
IOS61-64-v5662.wad
IOS62-64-v6430.wad
IOS70-64-v6912.wad
IOS80-64-v6944.wad [everything up to here flashed successfully]
IOS222-64-v65280.wad [corrupt, did not complete]
IOS223-64-v65280.wad [everything below here not flashed]
IOS249-64-v65280.wad
IOS250-64-v65280.wad
IOS254-64-v65280.wad
RVL-WiiSystemmenu-v514.wad

What I DO have [using an Anker USB 3.0 card reader and 32GB Sandisk Micro SDHC UHS1]

#The Wii console still loads and plays games perfectly.

#Access to standard and motion plus integrated wiimotes

#Bluebomb still works and I can successfully load .elf files [but with some annoying results]

HackMii installer [either 1.0 or 1.2] will load but gets stuck at the anti-scam screen

[waninkoko] Wad.manager.v1.7.Mod.elf - loads, but then crashes if you try and interact with ios 222 or select USB or SD

#Prii-loader installed and functional [with varying results] - tested various .dol files

HackMii installer [either 1.0 or 1.2] will load but gets stuck at the anti-scam screen

cios222_rev4_installer [appears to work, but eventually hangs]
cios222_rev5_installer [appears to work, but haven't used it to install anything - also not sure how to setup the needed ios/0000000100000026v3867 folder]
d2x_cios_installer (wii mini beta) [will load but hangs at the "press any button to continue" screen]
cIOSX_rev20b_Installer [appears to work, but haven't used it to install anything]
Dop-IOS MOD [appears to work, but freezes if you try to load from USB or SD]
ios58-installer [appears to work, but no wifi access anyway - unable to use as a result]
ios 236 installer [appears to work, but haven't used it to install anything]
Multi Mod Manager [hangs on loading - uses ios 58 v6176]
priiloader installer [works fully, but already installed anyhow]
Trucha Bug Restorer [appears to work, but haven't used it to install anything]
[waninkoko] Wad manager v1.7 [loads fine, but freezes if you try to load from USB or SD]
Wii Mini ethernet enable [works - but does not appear to do anything // not sure how I can use this with my old Wii LAN adapter]
WiiModLite [black screen] - many other WAD managers also do this

What I DON'T have :cry:

Bootmii installed as ios
A full NAND backup
Working HBC - as it will load, but then cannot find any USB/SD and wiimotes cannot connect - it just sits with a flashing wifi icon...

What I would like to achieve

Either:
1) finish flashing the remining .wads - then use other exploits to reinstall HBC
2) find another version of Hackmii installer that does not freeze on the anti-scam screen
3) An .elf file of WiiModLite would be useful to try, as .wad managers seem to load more reliably via bluebomb [i.e. no black screen]

It's unfortunate that I cannot use other exploits, as I have had the Hackmii installer freeze on other [original] Wii consoles - and have found str2hax to be more reliable.

That's all I have tried for now - and I'm stuck unless I can try one of the above 3 to get HBC re-installed or the system OS fully functional.

If any of you can help I would appreciate it greatly B-)
 
Last edited by themadhaxor,

themadhaxor

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Managed to find fix94's OHBC .wad [haven't managed to install it yet though]
Can't seem to locate Devnol's HBC or his yawmm mod fork...???
Did manage to find Wiini-SD-patcher [would have been great if it worked, as it installs the full Wii OS .wad] - sadly it hangs initializing USB like the rest
I think I did try Some YAMM Mod via .elf with bluebomb a while back during testing .elf files...
[will have to re-test, as I can't remember what happened...but I think it may have frozen like the other managers when trying to access USB]
Finally - some success...Dump mii nand has produced a full nand dump.
(this proves that internal SD write access at least works)
[nand tools on PC like nandbincheck and nandextract are being run on an old WinXP machine I have]
I used nandbincheck to create a dump file of the nand contents below:
** nandBinCheck : Wii nand info tool **
from giantpune
svn r: 104
built: Jun 5 2011 21:29:38
checking boot1 & 2...
Boot1 D (fixed)
found 2 copies of boot2
"blocks 1 & 2: Used for booting; Content Sha1 matches TMD; TMD officially signed
; Ticket officially signed; Version 4"
"blocks 7 & 6: Backup copy; Content Sha1 matches TMD; TMD officially signed; Tic
ket officially signed; Version 4"
checking uid.sys...
checking content.map...
checking "/shared1/00000000.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000001.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000002.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000003.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000004.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000005.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000006.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000007.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000008.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000009.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000000a.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000000b.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000000c.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000000d.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000000e.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000000f.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000010.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000011.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000012.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000013.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000014.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000015.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000016.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000017.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000018.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000019.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000001a.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000001b.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000001c.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000001d.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000001e.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000001f.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000020.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000021.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000022.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000023.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000024.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000025.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000026.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000027.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000028.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000029.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000002a.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000002b.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000002c.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000002d.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000002e.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000002f.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000030.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000031.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000032.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000033.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000034.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000035.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000036.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000037.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000038.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000039.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000003a.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000003b.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000003c.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000003d.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000003e.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000003f.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000040.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000041.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000042.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000043.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000044.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000045.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000046.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000047.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000048.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000049.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000004a.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000004b.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000004c.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000004d.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000004e.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000004f.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000050.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000051.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000052.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000053.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000054.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000055.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000056.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000057.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000058.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000059.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000005a.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000005b.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000005c.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000005d.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000005e.app" ...
checking "/shared1/0000005f.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000060.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000061.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000062.app" ...
checking "/shared1/00000063.app" ...
found 54 titles installed

Checking 00000001-00000009 ...
name: "firmware.64.1209201732 N3073@IRD-NARUS"
version: 105.11 26891 hex: 690b

Checking 00000001-0000000c ...
name: "firmware.64.1007271641 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 2.14 526 hex: 20e

Checking 00000001-0000000d ...
name: "firmware.64.1007271642 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 4.8 1032 hex: 408

Checking 00000001-0000000e ...
name: "firmware.64.1007271643 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 4.8 1032 hex: 408

Checking 00000001-0000000f ...
name: "firmware.64.1007271646 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 4.8 1032 hex: 408

Checking 00000001-00000011 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007271644 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 4.8 1032 hex: 408

Checking 00000001-00000015 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007270747 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 4.15 1039 hex: 40f

Checking 00000001-00000016 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007271648 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 5.14 1294 hex: 50e

Checking 00000001-0000001c ...
name: "firmware.64.1007270750 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 7.15 1807 hex: 70f

Checking 00000001-0000001f ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260641 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.24 3608 hex: e18

Checking 00000001-00000021 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260643 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.24 3608 hex: e18

Checking 00000001-00000022 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260644 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.24 3608 hex: e18

Checking 00000001-00000023 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260645 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.24 3608 hex: e18

Checking 00000001-00000024 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260647 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.24 3608 hex: e18

Checking 00000001-00000025 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260648 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 22.31 5663 hex: 161f

Checking 00000001-00000026 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260651 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 16.28 4124 hex: 101c

Checking 00000001-00000029 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260653 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.23 3607 hex: e17

Checking 00000001-0000002b ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260654 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.23 3607 hex: e17

Checking 00000001-0000002d ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260656 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.23 3607 hex: e17

Checking 00000001-0000002e ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260657 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 14.23 3607 hex: e17

Checking 00000001-00000030 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260659 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 16.28 4124 hex: 101c

Checking 00000001-00000035 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260701 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 22.31 5663 hex: 161f

Checking 00000001-00000037 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260704 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 22.31 5663 hex: 161f

Checking 00000001-00000038 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260716 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 22.30 5662 hex: 161e

Checking 00000001-00000039 ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260706 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 23.31 5919 hex: 171f

Checking 00000001-0000003a ...
name: "firmware.64.1007260709 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 24.32 6176 hex: 1820

Checking 00000001-0000003b ...
name: "firmware.64.1402101033 admin@FWPUBLISH"
version: 36.33 9249 hex: 2421

Checking 00000001-0000003d ...
name: "firmware.64.1209200829 N3073@IRD-NARUS"
version: 123.31 31519 hex: 7b1f

Checking 00000001-0000003e ...
name: "firmware.64.1209200830 N3073@IRD-NARUS"
version: 122.32 31264 hex: 7a20

Checking 00000001-00000050 ...
name: "firmware.64.1209200831 N3073@IRD-NARUS"
version: 128.33 32801 hex: 8021
found 30 bootable IOS

Checking 00000001-00000002 ...
Decrypted signature hash: b897ea9c48c31c000208ad04459203e829070f41
SHA1 hash: 8911a460e1eb4212b97079754999430eb7b5c527
tmd RSA signature isn't even close ( 4 )
name: "systemmenu.rvl.1210100706 N2730@IRD-KOBE"
version: 18.2 4610 hex: 1202
access : 3
requires IOS 80
incorrect uid/gid for data folder-- expected: "00001000"/"0001" got:
"00001000"/"0000"
incorrect uid/gid for "content/ticket"
incorrect uid/gid for "content/10000008.app"
incorrect uid/gid for "content/title_or.tmd"
incorrect uid/gid for "content/title.tmd"
incorrect uid/gid for "content/00000008.app"

Checking 00000001-00000003 ...
name: "firmware.64.0808070746 yasuh-to@TONKAT"
version: 255.0 65280 hex: ff00

Checking 00000001-00000004 ...
name: "firmware.64.0808070753 yasuh-to@TONKAT"
version: 255.0 65280 hex: ff00

Checking 00000001-0000000a ...
name: "firmware.64.0808061128 yasuh-to@TONKAT"
version: 3.0 768 hex: 300

Checking 00000001-0000000b ...
name: "firmware.64.0808061135 yasuh-to@TONKAT"
version: 1.0 256 hex: 100

Checking 00000001-00000010 ...
name: "firmware.64.0902240254 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 2.0 512 hex: 200

Checking 00000001-00000014 ...
name: "firmware.64.0808061144 yasuh-to@TONKAT"
version: 1.0 256 hex: 100

Checking 00000001-0000001e ...
name: "firmware.64.0808070639 yasuh-to@TONKAT"
version: 11.0 2816 hex: b00

Checking 00000001-00000028 ...
name: "firmware.64.0901220808 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 12.0 3072 hex: c00

Checking 00000001-00000032 ...
name: "firmware.64.0902060629 @SAITOT"
version: 20.0 5120 hex: 1400

Checking 00000001-00000033 ...
name: "firmware.64.0902060630 @SAITOT"
version: 19.0 4864 hex: 1300

Checking 00000001-00000034 ...
name: "firmware.64.0906040845 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 23.0 5888 hex: 1700

Checking 00000001-0000003c ...
name: "firmware.64.0908031011 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 25.0 6400 hex: 1900

Checking 00000001-000000de ...
name: "firmware.64.0908031020 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 255.0 65280 hex: ff00

Checking 00000001-000000df ...
name: "firmware.64.0908031020 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 255.0 65280 hex: ff00

Checking 00000001-000000f9 ...
name: "firmware.64.0908031021 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 255.0 65280 hex: ff00

Checking 00000001-000000fa ...
name: "firmware.64.0908031021 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 255.0 65280 hex: ff00

Checking 00000001-000000fe ...
name: "firmware.64.1005070100 tokunaga_yasuhi"
version: 255.0 65280 hex: ff00

Checking 00000001-00000100 ...
name: "bc.0908240243 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 0.6 6 hex: 6

Checking 00000001-00000101 ...
name: "mios.0908240253 kenshu@MAENORYU"
version: 0.10 10 hex: a

Checking 00010001-4c554c5a (LULZ) ...
ticket fakesigned
tmd fakesigned
name: "Homebrew Channel"
version: 1.2 258 hex: 102
access : 3
requires IOS 58

Checking 00010002-48414341 (HACA) ...
name: "Mii Channel"
version: 0.6 6 hex: 6
requires IOS 31

Checking 00010002-48435950 (HCYP) ...
name: "Wii Menu Manual"
version: 0.0 0 hex: 0
requires IOS 56

Checking 00010008-48414b50 (HAKP) ...
name: "eulav.1004091857 irduser@EULABUI"
version: 0.3 3 hex: 3
requires IOS 56
Checking for 003 error ...
The system menu doesn't appear to perform the Korean-key check
System menu IOS supports the Korean-key check
The korean key is not present in this wii
Checking setting.txt stuff...
system menu resource matches setting.txt AREA setting.

00000000 41524541 3d455552 0d0a4d4f 44454c3d AREA=EUR..MODEL=
00000010 52564c2d 32303128 45555229 0d0a4456 RVL-201(EUR)..DV
00000020 443d300d 0a4d5043 483d3078 37464645 D=0..MPCH=0x7FFE
00000030 0d0a434f 44453d48 45460d0a 5345524e ..CODE=HEF..SERN
00000040 4f3d3230 31393833 3833360d 0a564944 O=201983836..VID
00000050 454f3d50 414c0d0a 47414d45 3d45550d EO=PAL..GAME=EU.
00000060 0a000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
00000070 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
00000080 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
00000090 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
000000a0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
000000b0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
000000c0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
000000d0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
000000e0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
000000f0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................
AREA=EUR
MODEL=RVL-201(EUR)
DVD=0
MPCH=0x7FFE
CODE=HEF
SERNO=201983836
VIDEO=PAL
GAME=EU

Comparing uid.sys against the filesystem...
00010000-30303030 (0000) was installed at the factory and is now missing

6 titles were installed before any user intervention
Can't find ticket for 00010004-524d4350 (RMCP)
00010004-524d4350 (RMCP) has been deleted
checking for lost clusters...
total used clusters 215c of 0x8000
found 0 lost clusters
UNK ( 0xffff ) 0 ()
free 5a64
verifying ecc...
2 out of 616192 pages had incorrect ecc.
they were spread through 2 clusters in 2 blocks:
(2, 6)
0 of those clusters are non-special (they belong to the fs)
verifying hmac...
verifying hmac for 429 files
0 files had bad HMAC data
checking HMAC for superclusters...
0 superClusters had bad HMAC data

...more updates once I have time, as it's late in the U.K. now and I'm off to bed...
 

themadhaxor

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Thank you again for the assistance folks @XFlak and @blackb0x - I don't have as much time this week as I'm working till rather late in my day job...but I have a holiday on Friday [because I totally didn't book the day off for my physical copy of Metroid Prime remastered to arrive...of COURSE not - haha].
Will let you folks know the results of my testing once I've done some more fiddling around. And at least with a NAND dump I have some sort of backup plan now B-)
 
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themadhaxor

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At last! PROGRESS B-)

Okay, whilst I'm not quite finished...here's what I did to fix HBC and gain a few extra things in the process.

1) First, use Dump Mii NAND to get a valid nand.bin and keys.bin [even if your HBC is temporarily broken]
2) Take the .elf file version of devnol's wiini-sd-patcher and put it on your SD card root as boot.elf, along with the below files:
IOS36-64-3608.wad
IOS58-64-6176.wad
IOS80-64-6944.wad
SystemMenu4.3E-v514.wad
Open_HBC_1.1.5_LULZ.wad
3) Execute the blue bomb exploit from your chosen computer platform [mine was an Raspberry Pi 3B+]
4) Proceed with the wiini-sd-patcher and select yes to all options // let the installer complete
[this also fully enables SD support in homebrew]
5) Make sure you have Wii MOD Lite in your SD/apps folder
6) Load HBC from the Wii menu, it will be upside down/back to front
7) Use Wii MOD Lite to install devnol's:
Open_HBC_1.1.5_LULZ.wad
8) Run Fullmetal5's Wii Mini Ethernet Enable app
9) Now erase the nand.bin and keys.bin from your SD card and use Dump Mii NAND to create a fresh backup

Result for my Wii Mini is as follows:

Positives
Fully working HBC SD card access and wired Ethernet [for homebrew only]
Vast majority of homebrews work normally now
New nand.bin and keys.bin with these fixes

Negatives
Still can't install BootMii as IOS [not sure if it's possible on the mini, just gets a -1 error when trying to mount SD card]
Still no full Wii OS [despite having flashed the WAD in the above step - menu options remain like Wii Mini, without Wifi, SD and no 480P/component support]

Obviously, I would still like to get the full Wii OS working - but will be having a good read of the official https://wii.guide/

Once again - really late in the U.K. so off to bed for me B-)
 
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themadhaxor

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Welp, I have good news and not so good...I did want this to be an "everything works great" post...but you can shout at my stupid self later...

I had finished flashing the remaining wads, then the full Wii system wad and finally re-installed HBC and priiloader.

Booted up the wii and even got component video working.

At this point I [thankfully] made a full NAND backup with almost everything working.

It contained:
Fully functional Wii menu with wired ethernet via Wii lan adapter [minus wifi]
Full SD card and component video support
Fully working HBC
Fully working priiloader

Then I decided in my hubris to try and get wifi working, since I was currently running a no-wifi patched version of the Wii OS.

I decided to re-flash ALL the wad files from my previous list, then the wii OS wad, then HBC and finally priiloader.
Everything went perfectly, until I tried priiloader and got an error about ios36 not being the patched version.
...then it dropped me back to HBC which wasn't reading the internal SD slot again.
What I SHOULD have done here is to eject the internal SD and put it into the USB port via my card reader.
Instead, I power cycled the Wii mini to a black screen - oh dear.

So I now have two possible scenarios:

1) Something got borked with the software and the NAND is bricked [no priiloader this time, I checked]
2) Something on the wifi MOD is not quite right and the Wii cannot find the wifi board, thus cannot finish booting
[I'll re-check all my soldering in the morning when I have time...]

I do own an Infectus 2/Injectus kit as below, but am extremely hesitant to mess with this...
[last time I tried to use it to dump a PS3 NAND one of the wires was loose and that console is now a brick used for parts only]

IMG_032785.JPG


I would rather send the console off to someone experienced to de-solder and reflash the NAND with my working dump, then re-solder it back on afterwards.

Although ideal - I also hear that most TSOP48 Prototyping sockets are pretty junky and a massive pain in the ### to solder.

...dang, and I was just about ready to try Casper2Bootmii.bat to get BootMi working.

I had thought of maybe shipping it off to @Ben_Fong as I see his F.B. posts all the time and the guy REALLY knows his stuff.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated B-)
 

themadhaxor

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Decided to put the project on hiatus for a while until some new tools arrive.

Going to make sure I practice-up with my new kit before I come back to tackling the Wii mini.

Have ordered the following stuff to sort out this project properly - I'm not giving up YET!
[it's just a setback, since I have a NAND backup]

1) Replacement correct physical size cap for C139

2) 750W Hot Air Rework station with accessories

3) USB Flash Programmer with accessories

4) TSOP 48 Adapter for USB programmer

5) TSOP 48 prototyping SMD socket

I have some old mainboards lying around that I can practice on before tackling the Wii Mini NAND.

...stay tuned folks - I shall return B-)
 
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themadhaxor

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I'm back baybeh! :yaywii:

Just some quick images of the de-soldering, nand flashing and soldering of the socket - also final proof image.
[also reflowed some of the passives for the wifi mod - specifically RA20, and C139 is the correct size now]

Thanks again to XFlak, Blackb0x and to r1vver for believing in my skills 8-)

...it's late now in the UK, so I'm off to bed.

IMG_032837.JPG

IMG_032838.JPG

IMG_032842.JPG

IMG_032843.JPG

IMG_032844.JPG

IMG_032845.JPG

IMG_032846.JPG


Okay, it's no longer stupid-o-clock in the morning and I'm proceeding to test homebrews...

I'm happy to report that Casper works just fine to launch Bootmii :)

Edited: After realizing that I had basically patched 90% of the Wii-mini ios with the original Wii files I figured my next step would be RiiConnect24.

I also figured "what the heck anyway" as I have a basically un-brickable Wii-mini now [as long as I have at lease one nand backup, and it's very unlikely all 3 backups will be deleted]

So I went ahead and setup RiiConnect24...and what do you know, I now have wifi enabled and functional as well B-)

...and is this is for my wii-mini...maybe [or maybe not] :ninja:
 
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themadhaxor

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Okay folks, this is likely to be the last post about the Wii mini - this project is pretty much near-perfect now, and I only have one more software issue [more on that shortly]

First off I did some tidying of the mod to avoid EMI interference and also added a ferrite core to the fan cable [also a cause of interference]

You can see [looking closely] that I moved one of the RGB wires from the encoder chip so that it does not cross the other two, and managed to slide some proper insulation tape under the SDRST QSB.

I also had to slightly melt one of the hinges, as the ferrite core was a bit too big [I would recommend one about half the length and slightly narrower diameter, but this was what I had on hand]

IMG_032945.JPG


IMG_032948.JPG


IMG_032947.JPG


I also added a piece of an old expired store card to help support the wifi board... and replaced the thermal pads [not pictured]

IMG_032944.JPG


IMG_032946.JPG


Last of all. speaking of the wifi board, it works great...but only on the Wii dashboard and native Wii apps - as soon as you go into homebrew, you can only use wired connection??? [first some images related to wifi]

IMG_032963.JPG
Img_032964.jpg


As you can see, wifi works in the Wii Dashboard and native apps, but once you launch homebrew.. [first image is wifi, 2nd is wired]

IMG_032966.JPG

IMG_032965.JPG

I already have RiiConnect24 installed and setup correctly also - so any ideas to help get wifi working in Homebrew would be really appreciated.

Finally, here is my syscheck report - I basically am running a fully modded 4.3E standard Wii firmware, just the wifi doesn't work in Homebrew???

IMG_032968.JPG

IMG_032969.JPG

IMG_032970.JPG

IMG_032971.JPG

IMG_032972.JPG
 

SylverReZ

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Welp, I have good news and not so good...I did want this to be an "everything works great" post...but you can shout at my stupid self later...

I had finished flashing the remaining wads, then the full Wii system wad and finally re-installed HBC and priiloader.

Booted up the wii and even got component video working.

At this point I [thankfully] made a full NAND backup with almost everything working.

It contained:
Fully functional Wii menu with wired ethernet via Wii lan adapter [minus wifi]
Full SD card and component video support
Fully working HBC
Fully working priiloader

Then I decided in my hubris to try and get wifi working, since I was currently running a no-wifi patched version of the Wii OS.

I decided to re-flash ALL the wad files from my previous list, then the wii OS wad, then HBC and finally priiloader.
Everything went perfectly, until I tried priiloader and got an error about ios36 not being the patched version.
...then it dropped me back to HBC which wasn't reading the internal SD slot again.
What I SHOULD have done here is to eject the internal SD and put it into the USB port via my card reader.
Instead, I power cycled the Wii mini to a black screen - oh dear.

So I now have two possible scenarios:

1) Something got borked with the software and the NAND is bricked [no priiloader this time, I checked]
2) Something on the wifi MOD is not quite right and the Wii cannot find the wifi board, thus cannot finish booting
[I'll re-check all my soldering in the morning when I have time...]

I do own an Infectus 2/Injectus kit as below, but am extremely hesitant to mess with this...
[last time I tried to use it to dump a PS3 NAND one of the wires was loose and that console is now a brick used for parts only]

View attachment 356920

I would rather send the console off to someone experienced to de-solder and reflash the NAND with my working dump, then re-solder it back on afterwards.

Although ideal - I also hear that most TSOP48 Prototyping sockets are pretty junky and a massive pain in the ### to solder.

...dang, and I was just about ready to try Casper2Bootmii.bat to get BootMi working.

I had thought of maybe shipping it off to @Ben_Fong as I see his F.B. posts all the time and the guy REALLY knows his stuff.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated B-)
Nice, where did you get yours from. Shop01media?
 

themadhaxor

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Hello @SylverReZ :)

Ah yes - I forgot to note where all of the stuff used in this mod came from.

The Wii mini itself was from an eBay auction and came with the following for £83.85 [unboxed]
Wii Mini with composite lead, PSU and Sensor bar
Original red Motion Plus Wiimote and nunchuck
Additional white motion plus wiimote and nunchuck
2x plastic steering wheel addons
2x copes of New Super Mario Bros - boxed, but poor condition [one disc was scratched all to heck, so the 2nd was likely a replacement...manuals and boxes were a bit raggy]
1x copy of Mario cart Wii [unboxed pack-in version]

Mods used are as follows:

Mini RGBii from here [restores component video] - also has a link to the "Pimp-My-Mini" guide which is useful.
Mini RGBii Github page [Devnol's tindy store link is also on here if you just want to buy the mod directly]

SDRST [SD card and reset button mod] from here
SDRST Github page [also has webhdx's tindy store link]

Wii Mini wifi mod
Wii Mini wifi mod [also from webhdx's store]

All of the below can be found on Aliexpress from various sellers [just be sure to check feedback]

1) 750W Hot Air Rework station with accessories

2) USB Flash Programmer with accessories

3) TSOP 48 Adapter for USB programmer

4) TSOP 48 prototyping SMD socket

You will also likely need some ChipQuik low melt solder or equivalent [helps with removing the NAND so you only need low heat] ChipQuik SMD Removal kit

[any replacement SMD parts if you happen to lose any of the teeny capacitors/resistors included in the mod kits]

Any Homebrew apps can be found either linked from the appropriate Github pages above or reading through the tread and utilizing Google-fu to good effect B-)

Finally, here is the original Youtube video that inspired me to run down this rabbit hole {I would recommend NOT following this video and instead, use the Pimp-My-Mini guide...as the video was what got me into semi-brick territory in the first place]

Macho Nacho - Wii Mini homebrew video

Best Advice I can give to avoid a brick is to NOT flash all of the .wad files all at the same time after doing the hardware mods. Just print a screen grab of the wad folder and cross them off one at a time when flashing the Wii mini NAND [too many files at once can cause memory issues with wii mod lite, and it will hang while flashing]

Obviously it goes without saying that the first two things to do after getting the Blue Bomb exploit to load is to install Priiloader and make a NAND backup.

...and the rest it up to you - happy modding :yaywii:
 
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SylverReZ

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Hello @SylverReZ :)

Ah yes - I forgot to note where all of the stuff used in this mod came from.

The Wii mini itself was from an eBay auction and came with the following for £83.85 [unboxed]
Wii Mini with composite lead, PSU and Sensor bar
Original red Motion Plus Wiimote and nunchuck
Additional white motion plus wiimote and nunchuck
2x plastic steering wheel addons
2x copes of New Super Mario Bros - boxed, but poor condition [one disc was scratched all to heck, so the 2nd was likely a replacement...manuals and boxes were a bit raggy]
1x copy of Mario cart Wii [unboxed pack-in version]

Mods used are as follows:

Mini RGBii from here [restores component video] - also has a link to the "Pimp-My-Mini" guide which is useful.
Mini RGBii Github page [Devnol's tindy store link is also on here if you just want to buy the mod directly]

SDRST [SD card and reset button mod] from here
SDRST Github page [also has webhdx's tindy store link]

Wii Mini wifi mod
Wii Mini wifi mod [also from webhdx's store]

All of the below can be found on Aliexpress from various sellers [just be sure to check feedback]

1) 750W Hot Air Rework station with accessories

2) USB Flash Programmer with accessories

3) TSOP 48 Adapter for USB programmer

4) TSOP 48 prototyping SMD socket

[any replacement SMD parts if you happen to lose any of the teeny capacitors/resistors included in the mod kits]

Any Homebrew apps can be found either linked from the appropriate Github pages above or reading through the tread and utilizing Google-fu to good effect B-)

Finally, here is the original Youtube video that inspired me to run down this rabbit hole {I would recommend NOT following this video and instead, use the Pimp-My-Mini guide...as the video was what got me into semi-brick territory in the first place]

Macho Nacho - Wii Mini homebrew video

Best Advice I can give to avoid a brick is to NOT flash all of the .wad files all at the same time after doing the hardware mods. Just print a screen grab of the wad folder and cross them off one at a time when flashing the Wii mini NAND [too many files at once can cause memory issues with wii mod lite, and it will hang while flashing]

Obviously it goes without saying that the first two things to do after getting the Blue Bomb exploit to load is to install Priiloader and make a NAND backup.

...and the rest it up to you - happy modding :yaywii:
I asked for where you got your Injectus and Infectus 2 from. But thanks for the links.
 

SylverReZ

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Ah Sorry - I bought those ages ago when they were new...I don't think they are available anymore :(
I found some on Shop01Media, I've heard people say that they're good and that their items have arrived just fine.
 

themadhaxor

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Heh, beat me to it - was just going to say I had a quick Google-fu session and found the same.
It's a very versatile modchip - but not the easiest to use...
Whatever you are modding - all the best of luck with your future mods :yaywii:
 
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SylverReZ

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Heh, beat me to it - was just going to say I had a quick Google-fu session and found the same.
It's a very versatile modchip - but not the easiest to use...
Whatever you are modding - all the best of luck with your future mods :yaywii:
Thanks mate. By the way, you should definitely check out my mods. I've got some pics up on the Temp.
 

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