Homebrew What are the dangers of installing a .wad from different IOSs?

[John256145]

The most common IOSs to install WADs are 248 and 249. But are there any that are really dangerous to touch? What happens if I install a .wad under IOS 3 or IOS 10? Are there any IOSs that result in an imminent brick?

 

[GreyWolf]

IOSes don't always contain the same thing. It could be an application, shared resource or firmware revision in it. The IOS is just a container. If you replace the contents with something else then anything that expects the old contents is going to crash at the least.

Any slot over 200 and below 254 is safe to use. Technically any number above 80 should be safe but it's best not to tempt fate.

MIOS and BC are actually in slots > 256.

 

[tswntk]

You need Trucha bug patched ios to install wads:
1. an old revision of official ios36 that have the bug (later revisions have the bug fixed) or
2. a cios (installed in slot 200~253) designed for that purpose or
3. ios58 (with modern wad managers that patch stock ios58 on the fly)

and if those don't work, the installation simply fails, seldom causing any adverse effect.
What is dangerous are the wads themselves. If it is a bad wad from unknown source, it can brick your Wii.

 

[John256145]

IOSes don't always contain the same thing. It could be an application, shared resource or firmware revision in it. The IOS is just a container. If you replace the contents with something else then anything that expects the old contents is going to crash at the least.

Any slot over 200 and below 254 is safe to use. Technically any number above 80 should be safe but it's best not to tempt fate.

MIOS and BC are actually in slots > 256.

You need Trucha bug patched ios to install wads:
1. an old revision of official ios36 that have the bug (later revisions have the bug fixed) or
2. a cios (installed in slot 200~253) designed for that purpose or
3. ios58 (with modern wad managers that patch stock ios58 on the fly)

and if those don't work, the installation simply fails, seldom causing any adverse effect.
What is dangerous are the wads themselves. If it is a bad wad from unknown source, it can brick your Wii.

Thanks, that clears up a lot!

 

[fatherjack]

Don't forget your system menu IOS....... wrong thing installed there could cause a brick.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The most common IOSs to install WADs are 248 and 249. But are there any that are really dangerous to touch? What happens if I install a .wad under IOS 3 or IOS 10? Are there any IOSs that result in an imminent brick?

Generally as long as you don't touch any existing IOS it's safe.
But in reality, you can mess up pretty much every IOS and still have a system that boots fine, just the games that need those specific IOSes won't work. As long as you have a working IOS58 and system menu IOS (or BootMii as boot2) you can fix whatever's broken. If IOS58 is messed up, homebrew won't work and it will be hard to fix the problem.

 

[tswntk]

to clarify further:

almost everything (apps, games etc) requires an ios to run. To install a wad with wad managers requires an ios to run too and that is what I have listed.

A wad is like an installation package that contains info like banner, execution codes and where it should be installed.
If it is coded to be installed to the system menu, it will most likely appears as a channel (a bad banner here will cause a banner brick).
If it is coded to replace an ios or even replace the system menu itself, you can imaging what a mess it could create if the wad is bad or simply an incorrect version (e.g. wrong region) and that is what fatherjack and The Real Jdbye are referring to.