And they said it couldn't be done. Almost seven years after its release, @Fullmetal5 (the same developer behind str2hax and flashhax) has finally managed to find an exploit compatible with Nintendo's so-called "unhackable" Wii Mini and crack it wide open! Instead of using internet browsers or loading code from the SD card slot, both of which are (in)famously absent from the Mini, this new approach takes advantage of a vulnerability found in Broadcom's Bluetooth driver to gain arbitrary code execution and run a payload from the included USB port. This finally lets homebrew enthusiasts have fun with the console, and may also open the door to online play as well with the help of hacks and a LAN adapter!

While the exploit is making good progress, having already reached 90% completion for the Bluetooth stager and also being consistent enough to be called usable, there's still a lot of work to be done before a public release is available. There's also the possibility of HackMii Installer being incompatible with the Mini's version of IOS, in which case further new exploits will need to be found in order to make it work. You can get an idea about the state of the project in the roadmap below, which was written and shared by the dev itself:

Just to give a small roadmap: (So that people can get an idea as to what needs to be done now)

1. Write a bluetooth stager to upload payloads (%50 complete) (Note: this was stated to have reached 90% in later posts)
2. Write something to load larger payloads from usb.
3. See if the HackMii Installer's exploits work against the versions of IOS that are there (If they are similar to the Wii U's then it may already have exploits but it's possible they are different)
4. If the HackMii Installer's exploits don't work then I will need to write my own. (Shouldn't be too bad, IOS is known to be buggy. Also I'll probably do this step anyway for the fun of it.)

The exploit doesn't have an official name yet, but it's currently being referred to as "bluehax". Right now it's being tested on some specific games, however, there's a real possibility it will work out of the box with the Wii's System Menu alone due to its nature, thus removing the need of a dedicated game. It only takes a computer with a Bluetooth interface to make it work: there's no definitive usage guide just yet, but it should be as easy as running a program on your PC, hitting the SYNC button on the console, et voila - you're good to go! There is a small catch, however: development is targeting just Linux and no Windows version is planned. If you can get behind that, you'll soon be able to enjoy that sweet, sweet homebrew on the tiniest Wii Nintendo has ever made!

Source 1 (Twitter)
Source 2 (Discord server)

 

[shanefromoz]

Where can you buy the Wii mini from?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

You don't even tell anybody about DeadlyFoez's hard work?

Transplanting a hacked NAND and such, while definitely interesting and a feat of it's own, doesn't really count as actually exploiting the console itself. I see no reason why he should be mentioned in this article in the first place as this is a full exploit that requires no hard modding or "tricks".

On topic, that's neat. Shame the Wii Mini is (IMO) useless compared to just buying a used Wii, but this will be nice for those 10 people that have them lol.

 

[Zhongtiao1]

Finally, I can hack those 50+ Wii Mini's I have laying around
*cough cough*

Want to share one? I wouldn't mind taking one

 

[ScarletDreamz]

Great job on this!

 

[banjo2]

Amazing! Good work, Fullmetal5!

 

[ItsKaitlyn03]

Did Foez even achieve anything in the end? All I know is that he tried to do stuff and that he harassed and abused members of our staff. He isn't exactly somebody I think highly of at the best of times.

Foez worked hard on trying to hack the Wii Mini, even though he didn't achieve anything in the end, I think he deserves some credit for his efforts (even if they were not much).

The reason for him "harassing" the staff is because Chary basically lied to him.

 

[Scarlet]

Foez worked hard on trying to hack the Wii Mini, even though he didn't achieve anything in the end, I think he deserves some credit for his efforts (even if they were not much).

The reason for him "harassing" the staff is because Chary basically lied to him.

View attachment 179190

I don't know most of the specifics here but the whole "she changed her last read to N/A" is a lie in itself. Chary's privacy settings have been set to always display N/A for read date for at least since I joined mag staff. The fact of it is, Chary is a busy person. She misses messages, even ones between friends. It's no excuse for harassment and abuse, end of.

 

[ItsKaitlyn03]

I don't know most of the specifics here but the whole "she changed her last read to N/A" is a lie in itself. Chary's privacy settings have been set to always display N/A for read date for at least since I joined mag staff. The fact of it is, Chary is a busy person. She misses messages, even ones between friends. It's no excuse for harassment and abuse, end of.

Then why did she keep ignoring messages until the very last message he sent where she immediately responded?

 

[momin]

Scene Award for this guy please!!

 

[fvig2001]

Too bad there's only one usb port, which limits what you can do with this.

 

[Ryccardo]

Where can you buy the Wii mini from?

hmmm, pretty much everywhere you can find used consoles?

Too bad there's only one usb port, which limits what you can do with this.

Strictly speaking it does, but not that much for the average audience (you know what that means)

 

[Chary]

Then why did she keep ignoring messages until the very last message he sent where she immediately responded?

Okay. I totally expected Foez to open his yap because he went full psycho. But this is just lol-worthy.

Dude contacted me asking if he could have a front page post about his Wii mini adventures. I said it sounded interesting and he could send me a little summary of what he did so I could understand what the topic was. E3 came up mere days later, so I was already had my hands full and was on a plane to LA. Ended up not doing the post because I needed to cover E3, and was far too busy to read any PMs. I have no idea what he’s on about with the N/A thing. I never changed any settings lol. Could just be the inanity talking.

I took a week off to relax after E3, and he ended up contacting me with a frothing furious message about how I’d ruined his only chance of talking to his kids by not talking about the Wii Mini. ??? I owned up to saying I messed up by not posting it, but he already went full psychopath. No way was I going to go back and cover it after he’d gone nutso with screaming and name calling. Then a few random months later he sends like, 4 full drunken wacko ramblings about how much he wishes I would die in another hurricane. Yeah no. That kind of unstable psychotic reaction is disgusting behavior. Cutesy Wii mini soddering tricks or no.

 

[cyn]

of course the same day i watch a video about the wii mini, an exploit is made big news.
what a weird coincidence.

for the people that own a wii mini, if there even are any, this is great.

 

[ps3king1336]

I wonder if the wii mini can be hacked "sometime later" to allow both GameCube discs and backups?

 

[Maq47]

Neat! And... Please give it a decent name... Anything without the "Hax" It's sooooooo overused...

How about 'BthPwn'?

 

[Owenge]

Damn, bravo

 

[Nerdtendo]

Okay. I totally expected Foez to open his yap because he went full psycho. But this is just lol-worthy.

Dude contacted me asking if he could have a front page post about his Wii mini adventures. I said it sounded interesting and he could send me a little summary of what he did so I could understand what the topic was. E3 came up mere days later, so I was already had my hands full and was on a plane to LA. Ended up not doing the post because I needed to cover E3, and was far too busy to read any PMs. I have no idea what he’s on about with the N/A thing. I never changed any settings lol. Could just be the inanity talking.

I took a week off to relax after E3, and he ended up contacting me with a frothing furious message about how I’d ruined his only chance of talking to his kids by not talking about the Wii Mini. ??? I owned up to saying I messed up by not posting it, but he already went full psychopath. No way was I going to go back and cover it after he’d gone nutso with screaming and name calling. Then a few random months later he sends like, 4 full drunken wacko ramblings about how much he wishes I would die in another hurricane. Yeah no. That kind of unstable psychotic reaction is disgusting behavior. Cutesy Wii mini soddering tricks or no.
View attachment 179192

And this is why receipts are important

 

[fadx]

Okay. I totally expected Foez to open his yap because he went full psycho. But this is just lol-worthy.

Dude contacted me asking if he could have a front page post about his Wii mini adventures. I said it sounded interesting and he could send me a little summary of what he did so I could understand what the topic was. E3 came up mere days later, so I was already had my hands full and was on a plane to LA. Ended up not doing the post because I needed to cover E3, and was far too busy to read any PMs. I have no idea what he’s on about with the N/A thing. I never changed any settings lol. Could just be the inanity talking.

I took a week off to relax after E3, and he ended up contacting me with a frothing furious message about how I’d ruined his only chance of talking to his kids by not talking about the Wii Mini. ??? I owned up to saying I messed up by not posting it, but he already went full psychopath. No way was I going to go back and cover it after he’d gone nutso with screaming and name calling. Then a few random months later he sends like, 4 full drunken wacko ramblings about how much he wishes I would die in another hurricane. Yeah no. That kind of unstable psychotic reaction is disgusting behavior. Cutesy Wii mini soddering tricks or no.
View attachment 179192

Wow what a sad person, I hope some day he can realize that his actions are not appropriate and that it's not okay to take your frustration out on people like that.

Anyways on topic, this is great news. I wonder if this bluetooth exploit is relevant for any other devices, can't wait to see what comes.

 

[Kioku]

Weird... Some folks here were so adamant that nothing could be done.

I don't own one, but it's nice to know that something is possible.

 

[x65943]

Just me or the Wii mini looks suspiciously like a big mac box