Hardware SD Card Slot not working because of problem with board itself. What do I do?

BenBlueBlur

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I have had my Nintendo Wii since it was purchased brand new as a Christmas gift for me 10 years ago.

Back then, I didn't even acknowledge the SD card slot, let alone what it was meant for. Only once back then did I ever try putting in an SD card from a camera and use the photos app with it. It worked!

It was kinda neat. I never did it again. At the time, I didn't know that it couldn't be larger than 2GB; I was a young child. I just stuck in an SD card, expecting results.

After many more years of use, I now own a Wii U, and I'd like to try transferring my save data over to that for kicks. Also, I wanted to try modding my Wii; maybe get Project M running or something.

I did my research, got a 2GB SD card, and stuck it in when the Wii U transfer application prompted me. It said, "The device inserted in the SD card slot cannot be used." I have no idea of what could've changed between back then and now.

I then proceeded to look up ways to fix the problem on the official Nintendo forums. I tried formatting it, reformatting it, even trying a different SD card entirely! Nothing worked. I tried these strategies multiple times over and in different ways. I formatted the SD card to FAT32 and simply cleaning out the slot itself. Those didn't work. The Wii still sensed the SD card every time, but no matter what I tried, it still said the same error message.

I finally decided that it was time to try giving it to a repair shop, since Nintendo doesn't do factory repairs on Wiis any more, and let them try to diagnose the problem. I made it VERY CLEAR to them that I wanted to retain my save data! That's the only reason I'm holding on to this console and not just using my Wii U to play Wii games (that and playing GameCube games).

After they get back to me, they finally tell me that there was nothing that they could do to fix it: it isn't a problem with the SD card reader, but with the board itself. In their words, "It's a problem with the board." I assume they meant the motherboard, I don't know too much about all the parts. In the first place, I wasn't ready to pay them to repair it yet anyways because I'm only a teenager who does not have $100 on hand at all times, but it was still very discouraging that the REPAIR PLACE said there was nothing they could do. It was a uBreakiFix, by the way.

So this is where I'm at right now. At this point, all I want is to be able to take all my save data (all my childhood) and back it up on my Wii U. I'm concerned at this point because I now realize that my Wii is kind of on its last legs; that's what I believe this means at least. I'm not even sure if the repair shop was 100% correct and there is nothing that can be done, or if they were being lazy and there are still some possibilities...

So, in short, is there ANY POSSIBLE WAY that I can get ALL my save data off my Wii, and onto an SD card so that I can put it on my Wii U, getting the same result I would get from using the Wii/Wii U transfer app, if there's "a problem with the board"?
 
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KleinesSinchen

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This is not an easy one, that’s for sure.

I did a few experiments and managed to copy my saves to a USB device without any SD-card in the Wii. But… Not only do I already have the Homebrew Channel installed, my Wii also has some custom IOS. I’m not an expert and can’t test this on an unmodified console (assuming yours is unmodified). If something goes wrong while installing things (if custom IOS are necessary), your Wii might transform into a paperweight.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-for-sd-less-wii-homebrewing.497626/

It should be possible to install the Homebrew Channel – if the above tutorial works (can’t test).

At first the Homebrew Channel does nothing without SD-card – but you can send an executable .dol file via network (use e.g. JWiiload on your computer, needs Java) to your Wii while the HB channel is up. It will start the .dol automatically.
This worked for me. It started ‘Save Game Manager GX’ and I could copy my saves to USB – though I did not try a restore on another Wii(U).
If some tool for dumping the NAND starts by uploading via network, and is able to write to USB instead of SD-card, you could copy the whole NAND and use PC tools like ShowMiiWads to extract your games.
However, this is not equal to the official transfer. The licenses on the Nintendo servers obviously can’t be moved like that. Perhaps the Nintendo support can still help you if you send in both consoles – I don’t know.

Please divide your text in paragraphs next time. It was really hard to read.
 
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KleinesSinchen

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Why do it easy if there is a complicated way?

You're right. It is possible to load apps from USB. It was to early in the morning when I thought about this.

So yes, simply place your 'apps' folder on your USB drive after installing the Homebrew Channel.
 

elBenyo

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So what comes to mind for me is what would happen to a mini Wii. They have no SD card slots. Without the SD card slot you have to solder on your own because the board has the points. So in the case of a normal Wii you can solder an SD card to the motherboard where the original pins were. You probably have a bent pin and bypassing Nintendo's SD adapter would fix that. In this case, like in the use case of a miniature wii, I would advise soldering an SD to MicroSD adapter to the board so you can slide a 2 GB microSD card in and out of that. That avoids ending up with an SD card you can't remove without desoldering. Now HBC it up and archive those saves. Wii's don't have last legs either. Nintendo designed them to be child-proof, I have never seen a single Wii burn up out of the 20 I've hacked.
 
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BenBlueBlur

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Why do it easy if there is a complicated way?

You're right. It is possible to load apps from USB. It was to early in the morning when I thought about this.

So yes, simply place your 'apps' folder on your USB drive after installing the Homebrew Channel.
I see. Thank you for your response!
I had a feeling that the only possible way to achieve anything at this point would be through homebrew. I actually had no idea that there was even a way to install homebrew with a USB drive!

On a related note, assuming that I get all my saves backed up onto a USB drive, I already have homebrew installed on the vWii on my Wii U, so maybe that'll make things simpler when trying to get them onto my Wii U?

I will look into following the tutorial you sent me once I get home.
Thank you. I'll report back with an update on the situation!

P.S.: Sorry it was all just one big paragraph! I'll try to divide my posts out from now on!
 

BenBlueBlur

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I see. Thank you for your response!
I had a feeling that the only possible way to achieve anything at this point would be through homebrew. I actually had no idea that there was even a way to install homebrew with a USB drive!

On a related note, assuming that I get all my saves backed up onto a USB drive, I already have homebrew installed on the vWii on my Wii U, so maybe that'll make things simpler when trying to get them onto my Wii U?

I will look into following the tutorial you sent me once I get home.
Thank you. I'll report back with an update on the situation!

P.S.: Sorry it was all just one big paragraph! I'll try to divide my posts out from now on!
Alright, so I tried the sd-less homebrew installation tutorial, and it worked! I got homebrew on my Wii now! And a flash drive works just like an sd card would, so that makes things easy.

I don't see why I never thought to look up something like this before, so thank you for helping me out by pointing me in the right direction!

Now that I have homebrew on here, I think I'm easily able to do the things that I wanted to do now, such as playing project m and backing up my save data, so thank you again for helping!

P.S. Sorry for responding over a week late. School and homework and stuff happened and I kind of forgot to ever respond to this.
 

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