Hacking "Partially" softmodded my Wii - can somebody pls help me understand what's going on?

[-Roquentin-]

Hi there - first time poster, so please be gentle with me. Picked up a secondhand Wii last year and its been a lot of fun. I'd love to tap into some of the more fun uses of the system (emulators etc) but am new to all of this (and very impressed and jealous of everyone's knowledge on here! #MuchRespect )

Here's my situation: I tried to softmod my Wii and was successful ... to a point. Something changed recently, and although it still works (i.e. not bricked) its only partially working. I can see some threads on here about "how to hack/softmod a Wii (from scratch)", or what you can do with a fully hacked Wii, but not a lot of info on ones that are halfway there (i.e. working from unusual starting points).

To get to the point, I'm trying to understand:

a) did I do something wrong (that I can recover from)?
b) is there a way to hack it properly from here?
c) how would I 'unhack' my Wii? And does it make any sense to do do?

Background info:

* I started with a Wii 4.2U (older white console with the gamecube slots)
* I hacked it with Return of the Jodi and installed Homebrew, neogamma, nintendont etc.
* for a while I was able to play/run gamecube games from an SD card (all, legally backed up copies, of course)
* I bought some new games and tried to play them, but when I inserted the discs, my Wii wouldn't play them, prompting me that a system update was necessary first (not all games, just some - eg Donkey Kong Country Returns & Guitar Hero 5)
* ... but I was able to play them if I used neogamma
* after a while, things changed, and now I cant play any discs through the normal loader (by clicking on the top left 'block' on the main screen) - because it is prompting me to do a system update.
* however, I can still play games via disc indirectly using neogamma, but am not able to play these backed up versions anymore.
* FYI - I have never updated the system, because I'm scared of bricking it.

Q: Right now, I'd prefer to have a fully hacked system, or a normal one that is not hacked at all. How do I get to either of these places, and which is recommended?

Info from other threads that seems related, but I cant use / understand: (I did look around before asking!)

1. this thread: http://gbatemp.net/threads/4-2-softomodded-wii-update-to-4-3.450295/ seems kind of related, but I really cant understand what they're talking about (I know that I don't have preloader/priloader installed though, so maybe my case is different?)

2. seems that http://gbatemp.net/threads/help-me-figure-out-a-wii.450258/ is on to something similar but, again, its going above my head (sorry for being such a noob). It does seem that I made the right call not doing a system update though.

Q: What information can I provide (about my Wii) that might be helpful before giving any advice? (e.g. version of homebrew, what I have installed etc)

Thanks in advance!

-R-

 

[incidentallyscribble]

Hi there - first time poster, so please be gentle with me. Picked up a secondhand Wii last year and its been a lot of fun. I'd love to tap into some of the more fun uses of the system (emulators etc) but am new to all of this (and very impressed and jealous of everyone's knowledge on here! #MuchRespect )

Here's my situation: I tried to softmod my Wii and was successful ... to a point. Something changed recently, and although it still works (i.e. not bricked) its only partially working. I can see some threads on here about "how to hack/softmod a Wii (from scratch)", or what you can do with a fully hacked Wii, but not a lot of info on ones that are halfway there (i.e. working from unusual starting points).

To get to the point, I'm trying to understand:

a) did I do something wrong (that I can recover from)?
b) is there a way to hack it properly from here?
c) how would I 'unhack' my Wii? And does it make any sense to do do?

Background info:

* I started with a Wii 4.2U (older white console with the gamecube slots)
* I hacked it with Return of the Jodi and installed Homebrew, neogamma, nintendont etc.
* for a while I was able to play/run gamecube games from an SD card (all, legally backed up copies, of course)
* I bought some new games and tried to play them, but when I inserted the discs, my Wii wouldn't play them, prompting me that a system update was necessary first (not all games, just some - eg Donkey Kong Country Returns & Guitar Hero 5)
* ... but I was able to play them if I used neogamma
* after a while, things changed, and now I cant play any discs through the normal loader (by clicking on the top left 'block' on the main screen) - because it is prompting me to do a system update.
* however, I can still play games via disc indirectly using neogamma, but am not able to play these backed up versions anymore.
* FYI - I have never updated the system, because I'm scared of bricking it.

Q: Right now, I'd prefer to have a fully hacked system, or a normal one that is not hacked at all. How do I get to either of these places, and which is recommended?

Info from other threads that seems related, but I cant use / understand: (I did look around before asking!)

1. this thread: http://gbatemp.net/threads/4-2-softomodded-wii-update-to-4-3.450295/ seems kind of related, but I really cant understand what they're talking about (I know that I don't have preloader/priloader installed though, so maybe my case is different?)

2. seems that http://gbatemp.net/threads/help-me-figure-out-a-wii.450258/ is on to something similar but, again, its going above my head (sorry for being such a noob). It does seem that I made the right call not doing a system update though.

Q: What information can I provide (about my Wii) that might be helpful before giving any advice? (e.g. version of homebrew, what I have installed etc)

Thanks in advance!

-R-

Hey! Saw your post on noob paradise, and good news! You did nothing wrong! The reason that the games are asking you to update is because you are not on the newest wii version, which is 4.3, and are you also playing wii games from a usb/sd card, or is it only gamecube? If it it only gamecube, I reccomend you update the wii in the settings (take out your sd card first!) and use return of the jodi to reinstall the homebrew channel, as the update uninstalls it. BUT If you use wii backups (from disks, usb, sd, etc.) Then reply and I can help you out with that! The reason people are talking about priiloader is because when you install it (which might brick your wii if you are not careful) you can choose to block disc updates without updating your wii.

 

[DaMan4169]

It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong (other than follow an old guide to mod with a new one for nintendont)
As long as you can boot it to HBC or the System menu it can be hacked properly
There is a process to return your Wii to the original Nintendo firmware, commonly refer to as revirginize, but it's not necessary.

You should Post a SysCheck first, just to be sure anyone giving advice knows where your Wii is currently before telling you something that could brick it.

The real questions are why did the guide you use (within the last year) not include updating the game IOSs or installing Priiloader and why does it have you using NeoGamma when USB loaders can also load discs and continue to be supported or had longer support than NeoGamma.
Please say you are at least using NeoGamma r9 beta 56 with cIOS249[56] d2x v8.

Chicken Little disclaimer:

Spoiler

It is possible that a guide that old/outdated could have had you install a 4.2 system menu that has a higher than should be version number. Nintendo updates only look at the version number not a checksum of the file. It believes what it's told and doesn't check what is there. This makes it possible that an official update could leave the modded System Menu alone, stub the IOS70 that 4.2 runs on (or the SM mod made it run on IOS60 but that gets stubbed also) and install IOS80 cuz its newer and used by SM 4.3. But, your modded SM has a higher version so 4.3 won't be installed and you no longer have a functional IOS for your modded SM, leaving you with a brick.
I know that is a lot of assuming the worst, but it did happen to some modders.
There was a time when Wii hacking did some pretty bad hacks. I did the CIOSCORP/Darkcorp mod knowing it pieced together lots of things and wasn't favored amongst the purest. Eventually when it stopped being updated I went back to original Nintendo game IOSs.

Now the only changes to official Nintendo code is to reinstall IOSs that got stubbed, most were once used by System Menus. They do use a newer version and make a couple of little changes to the rights and version number. You can tell from the version number where it came from but no more mixing and mashing of IOSs or SMs.
All the Homebrew code to play backups with a cIOS is based on the Nintendo code but it runs completely independent of official code and won't affect playing official discs.

To mod...

Spoiler

The best way to update your already modded Wii is to use Modmii. It runs on Windows, asks a few questions, downloads/builds all the files you need, and creates a guide based on what you need with video links for some parts.
Say "yes" to the is this your first time or you want to update question. It will ask you what SM you are on (4.2) and which one you'd like to be on, with it recommending you stay on 4.2. Once you've installed Priiloader staying on 4.2 doesn't matter. 4.3 was ONLY made in a feeble attempt to stop HBC and softmods in general it doesn't add any functionality but is fine to install if you choose.
Modmii uses IOS60v6471 (last working version) calls it v16471 and installs it as any IOS used by current and previous System Menus.
The Priiloader 236 mod used in Modmii is meant to run even if you do something to your SM IOS just another form of brick protection. It has tweaks to block updates from disc or online.

The only brick risk when following the Modmii guide exactly is if you were to lose power while installing the .wad files but the same power loss risk is present when doing an official update. Don't mod or update in a storm...

Modmii will install d2x v8 cIOSs by default, as long as you have the last version of Neogamma, you'd be able to play DK again...
I personally use USBLoader GX or CFG.

Just updating your cIOS249 and cIOS250 would allow you to play 99% of games using a loader (Neo, GX, CFG, or WiiFlow) and just the disc. The official channel would still have the update nag...

Or not to mod...

Spoiler

There really isn't a completely safe (without more info) no mod option. But if you were to (mostly) follow a 4.2 -> 4.2 Modmii update, skip the Priiloader install, then (and ONLY then) do the official Nintendo update, most of the mod would be gone. You'd have some extra SM IOSs, cIOSs 224 and 236, and Bootmii as IOS. Not good enough to get repaired by Nintendo but able to survive an official update and could be modded again in future...

 

[GreyWolf]

If you have IOS58 and IOS80 then the console was either updated to 4.3 then downgraded or something just threw a bunch of WADs in a folder to install. IOS80 = 4.3, IOS70 = 4.2, IOS60 = 4.1.