Hacking Black Screen on Wii Menu Startup

[DaBolt]

I homebrewed my buddy's Wii almost nine months ago or so and he told me there were issues on startup recently so I've taken it back to see what the issue is. The Wii will not show the system menu on startup in any way. I installed priiloader and it will boot, as well as the homebrew channel. Using USB Loader GX, GameCube games work, but Wii games upon selection load the homebrew channel. Weirdly, no wiimote I have can connect to the console. I attempted to reinstall the system menu via IOS 80 on YAWM, but the system menu will still not show. I am afraid the Bluetooth chip is messed up somehow but I was wondering if there are other methods I could attempt to fix this without dismantling it. I'm not exactly the most savvy when it comes to the intricacies of potential bricking but I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

 

[jeannotte]

Hello,

Could you post a syscheck report here, please?

Syscheck ==>
https://gbatemp.net/threads/posting-a-system-check.300279/

 

[DaBolt]

Of course, here's the syscheck:


SysCheck ME v2.5.0 by blackb0x, JoostinOnline, Double_A, R2-D2199 and Nano
...runs on IOS58 (rev 6176).

Region: NTSC-U
System Menu 4.3U (v513)
Priiloader installed
Drive date: 07.14.2008
Homebrew Channel 1.1.2 running on IOS58

Hollywood v0x21
Console ID: 90001924
Console Type: Wii
Shop Channel Country: United States (49)
Boot2 v4
Found 86 titles.
Found 49 IOS on this console. 15 of them are stubs.

IOS3 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS4 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS9 (rev 1034): No Patches
IOS10 (rev 768): Stub
IOS11 (rev 256): Stub
IOS12 (rev 526): No Patches
IOS13 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS14 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS15 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS16 (rev 512): Stub
IOS17 (rev 1032): No Patches
IOS20 (rev 256): Stub
IOS21 (rev 1039): No Patches
IOS22 (rev 1294): No Patches
IOS28 (rev 1807): No Patches
IOS30 (rev 2816): Stub
IOS31 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS33 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS34 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS35 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS36 (rev 3608): No Patches
IOS37 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS38 (rev 4124): No Patches
IOS40 (rev 3072): Stub
IOS41 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS43 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS45 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS46 (rev 3607): No Patches
IOS48 (rev 4124): No Patches
IOS50 (rev 5120): Stub
IOS51 (rev 4864): Stub
IOS52 (rev 5888): Stub
IOS53 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS55 (rev 5663): No Patches
IOS56 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS57 (rev 5919): No Patches
IOS58 (rev 6176): USB 2.0
IOS60 (rev 6400): Stub
IOS61 (rev 5662): No Patches
IOS62 (rev 6430): No Patches
IOS70 (rev 6912): Stub
IOS80 (rev 6944): No Patches
IOS222 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS223 (rev 65280): Stub
IOS248[38] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, ES Identify, NAND Access
IOS249[56] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS250[57] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access
IOS251[58] (rev 65535, Info: d2x-v11beta1): Trucha Bug, NAND Access, USB 2.0
IOS254 (rev 65281): BootMii
BC v6
MIOS v10
Report generated on 10/26/2025.

 

[jeannotte]

Install the latest version of CIOS (d2x-v11-beta3) by following this guide ==>
https://wii.hacks.guide/cios?tab=cios-for-wii/family-edition

Where are your SD or USB games stored, and in what format (FAT32)?

Do you have the latest version of GX? ==>
https://github.com/wiidev/usbloadergx/releases/tag/v4.0-r1283

 

[DaBolt]

My cIOS is installed and up to date as of now, as well as USBLoaderGX.

The wii uses an SD card formatted into FAT32, 16 gb in size. The Wii game files are stored in a "wbfs" folder, and the gamecube games are in a "games" folder.

The main issue is that I cannot access the system menu at all. On startup, through priiloader, through Homebrew, nothing. I even installed the Wii menu as a wad file to see if that would help, and it did not.

I also uninstalled a WAD for a forwarder to USBLoaderGX to see if that could be the problem, but it also did not help. For the entire time I had the console previously, everything worked smoothly. I could play any Wii or Gamecube game that I put onto the SD card, as well as any homebrew app. My buddy said he didn't touch the console until two weeks ago when he couldn't get anything to pop up on his TV. It's very strange and I do not know how something like this happens.

 

[XFlak]

Double check your priiloader settings/hacks. There's a blackscreen system menu hack, which if enabled, would explain at least part of your issue

 

[Cryoraptor]

As you're still able to launch software, it's not a Bluetooth module issue, as the system would just fail to boot. Module bricks largely mimic low-level bricks.

From the sounds of it (and as you've already identified), the symptoms match some sort of corrupted IOS, so I would ask your friend again if he's absolutely sure he hasn't fucked with anything. The system menu not loading alongside Wii games specifically, but Gamecube games and HBC loading fine, makes me heavily lean towards a messed up IOS somewhere. I don't see how any kind of hardware failure or another kind of brick could specifically cause those symptoms. Are you sure he hasn't been prompted to install a cIOS or legitimate IOS revision at some point, and went ahead with it, not knowing what he was doing?

Unfortunately my expertise dates to around 2015, so I'm unable to go into any further technical detail than that, but in your situation I would absolutely make sure that a simple explanation can't be found before anything else, given the symptoms.

 

[XFlak]

Worse comes to worst you can always try to return it to stock using ohneschwanzenegger as described here https://wii.hacks.guide/wii-factory-reset.html

Then afterwards resoftmod. If it's software related in any shape or form this should address it. Before trying that though I'd first try updating d2x cios (and usbloader gx if applicable) to their latest versions and see if that makes a difference.

 

[DaBolt]

The only hacks enabled in priiloader are blocking disc and online updates as well as removing deflicker, so I know I can rule out any other system hacks.

Here are some other notes:

d2x cios is completely up to date, as well as USBLoaderGX.

I'm using a GameCube controller to access everything that I currently can on the wii.

The wiimotes still will not connect to the console in any way.

I'm fairly certain my friend never touched the thing outside of when we would all play on it as he's not the biggest Wii guy, but allowed me to install homebrew on his console considering he didn't use it and didn't care, although I'd feel bad if his console didn't work anymore, even if it was just fine and completely working as intended when I gave it to him fully softmodded.

I installed homebrew on another console shortly after (doing essentially all the same steps) and it's completely working and I still use it from time to time.


I appreciate all the help you guys have given me! If I must, I'll factory reset it and hope it fixes whatever issue it has.

 

[DaBolt]

Based on everything you’ve described — and after reading the whole thread — the behavior points much more toward software corruption than any hardware failure like Bluetooth.


Because:

• You can boot Priiloader and HBC
• GameCube titles work (they don’t rely on the system menu IOS)
• Wii games bounce back to HBC (classic sign of a broken or mismatched IOS)
• System Menu refuses to load even after reinstalling it

The Wii Remote issue doesn’t disprove this — Wiimotes won’t sync if the System Menu and its IOS aren’t loading properly, because the Bluetooth module is initialized differently depending on where you boot.


At this point, trying to hunt individual IOS problems may be a waste of time. Since nothing obvious is wrong in the sysCheck and Priiloader hacks are clean, the most reliable fix is:


Do a full software rebuild using ohneschwanzenegger (factory-reset method) exactly as XFlak suggested.


This will:

• Regenerate all IOS
• Reinstall a clean System Menu
• Remove any corrupted WADs, stubs, or overwritten IOS80 issues
• Keep the console unbricked since Priiloader and HBC already work

After that, re-softmod the console normally.


Given your symptoms, this has the highest chance of restoring the Wii Menu and Wii Remote sync.


If it still fails after a full ohneschwanzenegger rebuild, then you can start considering hardware, but I doubt you’ll need to.

Hello, I did end up doing a ohneschwanzenegger reset, and it unfortunately did not yield any positive results. The console will not launch into a Wii menu on power boot, still a black screen. The wiimotes still will not connect to the console as well. The console said "I HAZ SUCCESS!" on bootmii when doing that portion but there are no signs of life on the console really. I really want to give life to this console once again, so I'm willing to get a new Bluetooth chip and see if I can do something about it. If not, then I'm out of luck, considering everything was wiped and the console has no way of responding. I'll update this thread once I get a Bluetooth module off of eBay and see how the potential fixing process goes. Thanks for the response!