Hacking Bluebomb: An exploit for the Wii + Wii Mini

[asper]

Nevermind, got my Wii Mini finally hacked.

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@asper
There could be something that interrups the Bluetooth signals. Did you make sure to get all things out from the Computer USB ports that can interrupt the Bluetooth Signal? Even USB Receivers for Bluetooth mouses? If that's the case the only thing you can do is to be patient. Sometimes you have to hit more times the Sync Button before it works.

Thank you for your reply. I used a live ubuntu distro with the same problem. Can you tell me how "frequent" the button press should be ? In the guide i read it is written "quickly"...

EDIT:
I solved changing 3 things (all at the same time):
- shut off all bt devices of the house
- changed usb port
- used Asus usb-bt21 dongle

The pressing "frequency" was 1-2 per second

 

[DarkKnight_TJ]

Anyone knows why gamecube controllers works inside wiiflow but in game stops working? (Soldered a gamecube controller port to the motherboard), original and non original do the same

 

[banjo2]

Anyone knows why gamecube controllers works inside wiiflow but in game stops working? (Soldered a gamecube controller port to the motherboard), original and non original do the same

I don't even have a Wii Mini, but maybe Native Control is off?

 

[DarkKnight_TJ]

@banjo2 nope, already tried with nintendont turning on/off native control but does nothing

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Anyone knows why gamecube controllers works inside wiiflow but in game stops working? (Soldered a gamecube controller port to the motherboard), original and non original do the same

Does the GC controller work in Wii software supporting it? Smash Bros Brawl or Mario Kart Wii perhaps?

Also try Smash Bros Melee with Nintendont.

I don't even have a Wii Mini, but maybe Native Control is off?

With native control off Nintendont supports so many controllers – including the original GC controller ports.

What does not work without native controls is special hardware like Game Boy Advance Link Cable or things other than Memory Card in the EXI ports (SD-Gecko, Datel Advance Game Port). Not sure about the bongo controller or the microphone (don't have them).



===Edit:===

Spoiler: comment

As I understand the situation: Thanks to this wonderful new exploit the user can have full control over the Wii Mini software. Missing hardware parts like the GC controller ports #1 and #4 could be added/soldered in as well as the SD-card slot (would require re-enabling in the IOS). I don’t quite remember if the points for the second USB exist on the mainboard as well.
Given the fact, that the RVL-001 is sooo cheap at the moment this is – in my opinion – more of a theoretical concept / for the sake of completeness. And… a Wii Mini with all these additional parts would most likely look awful (where to put all this??).

The biggest problem that prevents the Wii Mini from being as good/as versatile as the older models is the missing second USB port. Because everything else is also missing (SD, WiFi, GC controller ports) more than one USB would solve most problems. In this case: Using the GC-controller adapter (official or third party like Mayflash) for GC games while Nintendont reads games from USB.
This is a severe handicap unless USB hubs can be supported in the future.

 

[banjo2]

With native control off Nintendont supports so many controllers – including the original GC controller ports.

What does not work without native controls is special hardware like Game Boy Advance Link Cable or things other than Memory Card in the EXI ports (SD-Gecko, Datel Advance Game Port). Not sure about the bongo controller or the microphone (don't have them).

Oh, hm. From what I remember, it needed to be off. maybe I'm on an older version, or just wrong.

 

[DarkKnight_TJ]

Does the GC controller work in Wii software supporting it? Smash Bros Brawl or Mario Kart Wii perhaps?
Also try Smash Bros Melee with Nintendont.

no, gamecube are not working inside those games either, also tried soldering all 4 ports to motherboard but is the same, none of them works in game

 

[FreakDeckard]

Thank you very much! I've been able to hack my Wii mini pal directly from a barebone raspberry pi 3b+... With a lot of "sync" clicking

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I assume this can be done with a Raspberry Pi 3/4 too?

Yes it works like a charm

 

[nitr8]

This is probably a stupid question but .... can this work on the regular Wii?
I'd love to test it for curiosity's sake.

edit: "Normal Wii System Menu support will be added in a bit." -- guess I should try reading OP first next time

4.4 on Just Dance 2020 disc.
Count on it.

This exploit works on the Wii, the Wii Mini and also the NDEV (Wii devkit with installed System Menu). I also tested this on the Mini and NDEV with both having a banner brick. I have been able to fix those with "Any Title Deleter" in the end.

On the Health & Safety screen -> Bluebomb -> Any Title Deleter boot.elf -> Delete the damaged Channel -> PROFIT!

 

[Cryoraptor]

What's the point in hacking the Wii Mini when the original Wiis are cheaper and more widely available?

 

[KleinesSinchen]

What's the point in hacking the Wii Mini when the original Wiis are cheaper and more widely available?

Of course the RVL-001 Wii model is far better than the limited models, especially the Mini (RVL-201). Having an exploit for the Wii Mini is good anyway:

• Completeness. Wii Mini was not hackable before Bluebomb.
• If someone already owns a Wii Mini but not a "full" Wii they can now make the most out of it.
  • Making the most of any existing hardware is good.
• Backing up saves to USB – the Wii Mini has no SD slot (and some saves do not transfer to SD without homebrew software on any Wii). Complete defective Wii Mini as well as only failed disc drive previously meant loss of all save data.

 

[Cryoraptor]

Of course the RVL-001 Wii model is far better than the limited models, especially the Mini (RVL-201). Having an exploit for the Wii Mini is good anyway:

• Completeness. Wii Mini was not hackable before Bluebomb.
• If someone already owns a Wii Mini but not a "full" Wii they can now make the most out of it.
  • Making the most of any existing hardware is good.
• Backing up saves to USB – the Wii Mini has no SD slot (and some saves do not transfer to SD without homebrew software on any Wii). Complete defective Wii Mini as well as only failed disc drive previously meant loss of all save data.

Fair enough. What was the reason for Nintendo making the new versions of the Wii at the end of it's lifespan? Was it just an an attempt at a quick cash grab? I don't see the point in removing backwards compatibility and networking functions...

 

[neohacker]

can someone post a step by step tutorial ? i usually do my hackings using a YT tutorial but those are pretty much straight forward and i can rewind if i am confused before attempting a step or watch to see if its working as it should.

for this hack i've found like 3 that do it in a different way or have left out something as it doesn't seem to be the same all the way through. and one person posted a YT sort of tutorial but their camera is all over the place and isn't a steady shot... and is annoying.

if someone who has done it successfully and can do a step by step that would be awesome and appreciated.

 

[torrent_get]

@neohacker

https://forum.wii-homebrew.com/index.php/Thread/59342-Installing-Homebrew-on-the-Wii-Mini/

 

[FancyNintendoGamer567]

@neohacker Imagine only using outdated YouTube tutorials for modding, that's sad af.

 

[Vrelic]

I took a Wii Mini fresh out of the box, went to put homebrew channel on it with bluebomb, without the video hooked up and didn't realize until later that the Wii Mini was still on its initial setup screen. Apparently the Wii doesn't even need to be completely set up to use bluebomb, pretty much anywhere in the System Menu will bluebomb work.

I have a question though, since the Wii Mini has a top loading disc drive and can physically accept a Gamecube disc with ease, is it possible to restore GC disc support? I tried dumping a GC disc with USB Loader GX, it didn't work. I also tried CleanRip and it couldn't auto detect the GC discs I tried, it just offers alternatives like attempt as AR disc and eventually it fails to rip the disc.

 

[XFlak]

Good Q. If it's possible I think you'd need MIOS or a CMIOS installed, I'm not sure if the wii mini would just accept the same versions that are installed on normal wii's

 

[ChibiMofo]

Fair enough. What was the reason for Nintendo making the new versions of the Wii at the end of it's lifespan? Was it just an an attempt at a quick cash grab? I don't see the point in removing backwards compatibility and networking functions...

You remember Sony removing PS2 compatibility fairly early on in the PS3's life-cycle, right? It's also not that uncommon to sell a budget version of a successful console. The Wii was already an inexpensive console to begin with. There was only so much that could be removed from it to lower the cost further. What other components could they have removed to reduce costs?

I was astonished anyone bought a Wii Mini, and very, very few did. But kudos to Nintendo for finding a way to sell a $99 Wii complete with Wiimote and nunchuck. At least it played the 1400 Wii games just fine. (I've owned and used a Wii since 2007 and played my first GameCube game (Burnout 2) just this week. GC compatibility may have been built into my Wii, but I went 12 years without actually using it.)

The primary reason for having GameCube compatibility in the first place was simply to make the upgrade to Wii a no-brainer for GameCube owners. By the time the Wii Mini came out, there were nearly 100 million Wii's out there and it could safely be assumed that no one in the market for a cheap Wii cared about GC compatibility. And if they did, they had plenty of options.

By the way, what is a "quick cash grab?" It sounds like an insult. Nintendo released a feature reduced Wii and charged less for it. Does that make them evil or something?

 

[Vila_]

This is an exploit that allows you to hack your Wii and Wii Mini with just a Linux computer and a Bluetooth adapter.
Instructions and downloads are available here: https://github.com/Fullmetal5/bluebomb
There will be a writeup once I get more time but in the meantime you can use this to hack your Wii Mini.
Normal Wii System Menu support will be added in a bit. You can also add support for whatever app/game you want to use if you read the "How do I create an app-specific stage0?" instructions on the Github repo.

Bump...

 

[Chaoticus]

Has anyone else with Debian Buster having issues trying to use the pre-made binaries and/or trying to compile it? I keep getting that syntax error with the pre-made and can't seem to get around it. If I try to compile I'm met with not having the powerpc-eabi-gcc compilers and such (and i tried to go on that witch hunt to try and install those and got stonewall'd) any ideas or thoughts? I got a Wii mini begging to join his other two hacked brothers xD