Hacking Best Integrated Circuit modchip?

[wiithepeople]

I'm looking to buy a Wlip and apparently, the Wlip has an Integrated Circuit holder. Therefore, if I buy an IC modchip, it will be a 100% solder-less solution to modding my Wii (d2b w/ cut legs)

So what is the best IC modchip? The only things I care about are my region's wii game compatibility and price. Of course, my region's wii game compatibility comes first, but if a modchip just doesn't work for a few games that I don't care about, I'll go for price. Unfortunately, the wiikey is apparently not an IC modchip

but any help is much appreciated!

EDIT: Also if anyone knows of any well-functioning clones for good IC modchips that cost much less, please tell!

EDIT2:
Thanks James B. for notifying me that wlip.es now works in english version!
Here is the wlip developers' list of IC wii modchips:
-Wiinja
-Wiimod
-Wiiskas
-OpenWii
-WiiFree
These are my possible choices, please tell me which is best for my needs. Thanks!

 

[James B.]

wiinja deluxe can run every single Wii import game on an NTSC, but so far they have no word on the forum about an update to fix this SMG thing. If that comes out, get the Wiinja, but if it doesn't, find one of those open source chips. I'm getting this thing too, I did a little research

.

 

[wiithepeople]

Thanks James! Your sure wiinja deluxe are IC right? I might just get it...

Also if anyone can come up with a complete list of IC wii modchips it would be very, very much appreciated!

 

[Heran Bago]

Wait for the whole SMG thing to die down. Hell, we'll probably have a similar problem with brawl. Now is a good time to wait in the world of Wii modding.

e: Plus you can count the great original games on one hand.

 

[James B.]

Well, the Wlip doesn't come out till around Xmas, and they have a list @ www.wlip.es (english and spanish options there now). If you go the FAQ, and scroll down a bit, there'll be a list, seperated by IC / Non IC.

Heh, I tried to install a wiikey with my dad, but it was way small, and we couldn't get those 4 tiny ones soldered in. Soo, the board has a small spot of brown resin covering it, thank god that isn't conductive or it'd be shorted, and thats why I'm waiting for a Wlip too

.

 

[wiithepeople]

Well, the Wlip doesn't come out till around Xmas, and they have a list @ www.wlip.es (english and spanish options there now). If you go the FAQ, and scroll down a bit, there'll be a list, seperated by IC / Non IC.

Heh, I tried to install a wiikey with my dad, but it was way small, and we couldn't get those 4 tiny ones soldered in. Soo, the board has a small spot of brown resin covering it, thank god that isn't conductive or it'd be shorted, and thats why I'm waiting for a Wlip too

.

Cool thanks for telling me the english version of wlip.es works now!
Yeah I see the list of IC modchips:
-Wiinja
-Wiimod
-Wiiskas
-OpenWii
-WiiFree

 

[Hooya]

YAOSM is the best of the open source mods in the minds of many people, and has had the best track record in terms of updates and community/developer support. It unfortunately gets passed over in these lists in favor of the inferior and not as current WiiFree. People are currently very active over in WiiNewz figuring out what to do with the code to get SMG working using the YAOSM code. Check it out. Runs on the same hardware as WiiFree and is therefore compatible with Wlip. If you find a place that's selling a chip with WiiFree they can also sell you a chip programmed with YAOSM.

 

[wiithepeople]

Eurasia seems to have a really cheap $6 Yaosm, anyone can verify this product?

Also @Hooya, so YAOSM is an IC chip?

 

[James B.]

Well, don't get YAOSM if you aren't prepared to unclip, reprogram, reclip every time a new update comes out. At least it isn't soldering, but meh, no DVD update isn't cool :[.

 

[Hooya]

YAOSM is on the PIC12F629, or PIC12F683, which are the standard chips for WiiFree and Winja (683 is the deluxe model). If you order from Eurasia, request that they send you the chip with the 1.8 firmware, not the 1.7 firmware listed on their site. Otherwise it's fine and a fair price (the chip costs them about $2.50 and then consider they're programming it for you, I charged my customers $5 to recoup costs of building the programmer, etc.)

@James B.
None of the chips he's considering have DVD upgrade feature as it's not possible to do with the hardware they are on. OpenWii is upgradeable by way of DVD, but only using hardware that isn't compatible with the Wlip, not that they've come out with an update since the DVD upgrade feature was introduced, so so far nobody has actually used the OpenWii upgrade feature anyway. It's not like they're coming out with new firmwares every week or something for YAOSM anyway, even if it is more frequent than any other chip.

You can buy a relatively inexpensive programmer from eBay (just make sure it supports 12F629) that will work on your desktop computer if it has a 9-pin serial port. Then you can update the code when a new code is released, or just learn to solder and build your own!

 

[James B.]

YAOSM is on the PIC12F629, or PIC12F683, which are the standard chips for WiiFree and Winja (683 is the deluxe model). If you order from Eurasia, request that they send you the chip with the 1.8 firmware, not the 1.7 firmware listed on their site. Otherwise it's fine and a fair price (the chip costs them about $2.50 and then consider they're programming it for you, I charged my customers $5 to recoup costs of building the programmer, etc.)

@James B.
None of the chips he's considering have DVD upgrade feature as it's not possible to do with the hardware they are on. OpenWii is upgradeable by way of DVD, but only using hardware that isn't compatible with the Wlip, not that they've come out with an update since the DVD upgrade feature was introduced, so so far nobody has actually used the OpenWii upgrade feature anyway. It's not like they're coming out with new firmwares every week or something for YAOSM anyway, even if it is more frequent than any other chip.

You can buy a relatively inexpensive programmer from eBay (just make sure it supports 12F629) that will work on your desktop computer if it has a 9-pin serial port. Then you can update the code when a new code is released, or just learn to solder and build your own!

Seriously? I thought that Wiinja was programable by DVD, they have ISO's on their site..


In fact, it is

. And Wiinja is supported by the Wlip

.

 

[wiithepeople]

I really don't care about updating as long as it can play the games I want (which btw aren't too many) with no issues

EDIT: also is Eurasia a reputable site? Anyone know? Thanks.

 

[Clushje]

I really don't care about updating as long as it can play the games I want (which btw aren't too many) with no issues

And what if it doesn't a couple of months from now? Or even right now, with SMG? Trust me, you really do want to care about updating.

 

[wiithepeople]

I suppose so. But look back on my post. I said that I don't really care about updating "as long as I can play the games I want." ...But I see your point. If Super Smash Bros. Brawl didn't work, I'd be really pissed!

EDIT:
Also I know this is off topic but I didn't want to make another post just for this. Here's my question:

Can wii backups be burned from original games as well as downloaded? If they can be burned from original games, no LG drive is needed, right?

 

[Hooya]

OK, to clarify a few things:

1. Wiinja Deluxe
The hardware that Wiinja deluxe is on can only partially be updated by DVD. The majority of the code is written in a section of the chip that you cannot update without a dedicated programmer or similar environment not provided by the Wii install. The EEPROM section of the chip is what is able to be changed by DVD. This section contains less code, but they have been able to do some things new with this section, such as speed patching. The capabilities of this are very limited, especially if supporting SMG for instance requires a substantial re-write of the code. If this is the case, a DVD upgrade (or any upgrade at all) would not be possible, since the part of the chip that contains the majority of the code that I'm talking about is locked and fused in place, so even with a programmer, you can't change that part of the chip on a Wiinja Deluxe.

2. Updateable chips
There is no totally upgradeable chips that work in a completely solder free environment. You can use Wlip with Cyclowiz, but you'll need to do some soldering to get it on the Wlip, and also to get the extra points needed to upgrade the chip since they use a sort of cheap hack to get the chip to update while installed in the Wii. WiiKey is upgradeable, but again, you'll need to solder it to the Wilip, and who knows what's going to happen with that chip considering that the original coder of the WiiKey is no longer working for that company. Best solution in my opinion is to go with re-programmable chip (like the one you can buy from Eurasia with YAOSM flashed on it) and buy a programmer from Ebay that you can use on your computer. Install the chip externally, then you just take the chip off the socket, and use the programmer to upgrade the chip. In the long run it's probably the most flexible solution, and not much more than getting a genuine WiiKey.

Before SMG I would have said it doesn't matter if you can upgrade the chip at all, but it appears that it is wise to keep that as a feature to have in mind. Hopefully what I'm said in this thread is helpful for you. I always recommend reading through threads in the Modchips section of WiiNewz for more detailed information on a wider variety of chips than is typically discussed on GBATemp.

 

[wiithepeople]

Thanks for the great info! But what if you buy a WiiFree EasyConnect? On the wiifree easyconnect website, it says those are used for easy updates. Thanks again for your help!