Hacking Bootmii as IOS an Restoreing NAND backups

[Lothlorian]

I have been reading these forums since April of this year (That is when I bought my Wii). I do not post all that much because I get all of my information from reading.

I do have a question now though. I have searched but have come up with conflicting answers. My Wii will not install Bootmii as Boot2 and I can only Install it as IOS. I have gamecube controllers so I can play around with the bootmii options. I would like to backup my NAND with Bootmii as IOS. From what I read in the forums here is that yes you can do this with no trouble. The confusion arises when people ask about restoring the NAND.

1) Some people say "NO you can't restore NAND if Bootmii is installed as IOS but you can back it up" Worthless to anyone. Why would you backup NAND if there is no way to restore it?

2) Some people say "YES you can backup your NAND with Bootmii as IOS and you can RESTORE it as long as you have Pre-loader installed and can Boot to HBC to run Bootmii in order to use Restore Function. This option seems feasible. The only way you could get bricked is if you loose System menu for some reason and preloader gets removed in the process.

3) Some people say "YES you can backup your NAND with Bootmi as IOS and you can RESTORE it as much as you want. You Dont need preloader to use it. But if you can't boot the wii up to the system menu you are bricked because there is no way to get into HBC to run Bootmii.


Even though Bootmii as IOS is not 100% brick protection can it still be used to get your wii to an earlier time like Windows System Restore in XP

hehe

Thanks in advance for any answers in this thread.

 

[Blue-K]

As far as I got it (which is probably wrong), BootMii as IOS is pretty useless, since IF you can boot it, there would be also another way to fix it. It's for shure easier to just run the Backup, instead of "You need X and XY, go to Z and install X, then install Y, etc...". But that's it.

The best thing I've heard from was a Disc, which Autoboots BootMii (IOS-Version). Should be around somewhere here. But you need for this a ModChip/cIOSCORP and the Rescue Menu. If you don't have one of these parts, you're screwed.

EDIT: Disc is here http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=157757

 

[Lothlorian]

I understand that Bootmii as IOS is not brick protection. Your answer appears to be answer #1 NO you can't RESTORE NAND if bootmii is installed as IOS only.

Lets just say I had a Wii with System menu 3.2 on it hacked with Bootmii as IOS, HBC, and Preloader. I backup my NAND with Bootmii as IOS. Now i decide to install 4.1 with Waninkoko's 4.1 updater. Everything is running fine on 4.1 and things run normaly. What if for some reason I wish to go back to system menu 3.2. My Wii on 4.1 is not bricked and I can access Bootmii as IOS. At this point would I be able to restore my NAND backup to bring the Wii back to 3.2?

Yes I know there are other ways to get back to 3.2 without a NAND backup as long as your not a LU64 wii. Mine is Lu37 so I'm safe but I want to know if Bootmii as IOS is useful for NAND backups on a Wii that is not bricked.

 

[tj_cool]

Boot HBC and run Bootmii IOS. Then you can restore the backup.

If you get bricked, use preloader to run HBC, etc

 

[olliepop2000]

Good question and good answer! It seems obvious now if you can get to Bootmii as IOS you must have a working homebrew channel which means you would be using ATD/WAD Manager etc to fix it instead. I have wondered about this myself.

 

[Deviyl]

If you have BootMii alone as an IOS and you brick your system menu, there is no way to get to HBC to load BootMii. In this scenario your NAND backup would be useless.

If you have BootMii installed as an IOS AND PreLoader installed, you can always boot to PreLoader, then launch HBC, then get to BootMii. In this scenario you can restore your NAND fine.

Moral of the story: If you have to install BootMii as IOS PreLoader is Required. Or you will never be able to get to BootMii in the event of a brick.

 

[Blue-K]

Good question and good answer! It seems obvious now if you can get to Bootmii as IOS you must have a working homebrew channel which means you would be using ATD/WAD Manager etc to fix it instead. I have wondered about this myself.

Or the Disc I posted above...

@Lothlorian: Shure, for other things it's great, like switching between regions or versions. But as Backup-Solution, it's not that good.

EDIT: 1000 Posts

 

[redia]

correct me if I am wrong.
but you can backup your nand using bootmii as IOS and Boot2..
but you CAN'T restore from IOS.... only from Boot2.
I think I read somewhere that it is done by design...

R

 

[Lothlorian]

If you have BootMii alone as an IOS and you brick your system menu, there is no way to get to HBC to load BootMii. In this scenario your NAND backup would be useless.

If you have BootMii installed as an IOS AND PreLoader installed, you can always boot to PreLoader, then launch HBC, then get to BootMii. In this scenario you can restore your NAND fine.

Moral of the story: If you have to install BootMii as IOS PreLoader is Required. Or you will never be able to get to BootMii in the event of a brick.

Thank you. Option #2 is what I thought was the correct answer and you seem to have confirmed this for me. I hear quite a bit of things in these forums about Bootmii as IOS being Useless, why bother, wait for Custom Apps to be written , Etc... Quite a few of the new guides and posts tell us all to BACKUP NAND if you have bootmii installed as Boot2. Quite a bit of talk about "I'm safe cause i have hackable boot2". ALL new Wii's purchased today (and since middle of 2008 from what i understand) do not have a vulnerable boot1. Most people say the New Wii's will NEVER be able to install bootmii as boot2. This is just how things are and I accept that.

It seems to me that bootmii as IOS can be a very useful tool to bring your wii back to an earlier time. Over time upgrading a Wii will bring non truncha signed IOS's especially if you accidentally update through Ninty. So if your not bricked and want to roll back the clock on your Wii it is possible to RESTORE the backup. If you have Preloader installed you can easily fix bricks with a RESTORE without having to worry about Guides and making sure you follow things step buy step with several utilitys. You wont even have to worry about what WAD bricked you as long as you can still get to Pre-loader and run HBC to Bootmii to RESTORE function.

 

[Lothlorian]

Double post... to many people use this site

hehe

 

[redia]

sorry folks,

I confirm my previous post.
just go to bootmii forum.
bootmii as IOS currently DOES NOT support restoring the nand !!!

do not hit the messenger

R

 

[Lothlorian]

well that would be option #1 and no good.. darn


You see why i get conflicting information on this topic.

Thanks for the response

 

[redia]

if you want exact information (or at least hoped features) on bootmii go to wiibrew forum and planned feature..
they are hosting the official bootmii forum...

Cheers,
R

 

[olliepop2000]

sorry folks,

I confirm my previous post.
just go to bootmii forum.
bootmii as IOS currently DOES NOT support restoring the nand !!!

do not hit the messenger

R

does anyone know if it refuses to do it or will it try and restore but with either definately disasterous/possibly working results

 

[redia]

sorry folks,

I confirm my previous post.
just go to bootmii forum.
bootmii as IOS currently DOES NOT support restoring the nand !!!

do not hit the messenger

R

does anyone know if it refuses to do it or will it try and restore but with either definately disasterous/possibly working results

it will tell you something like
"RestoreMii v0.6,NAND ID:addc1095
checking boot2...
BootMii not found,too dangerous to continue........"
and exit when you press any button

R

 

[ade]

This video seems to say otherwise. I think you need a gamecube controller in order to hold down A+B+X+Y at the same time to start the recovery (notice it takes him a couple of times to get that button press perfectly done!) after you've been told that it's too dangerous to do if bootmii is not at boot2??

What I'm not sure of is if you when you restore to a previous system menu if you need to reinstall preloader of it it keeps the settings from the preloader that was there. Obviously you would have to change your hacks.ini back to the older one on your SD.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JApk6-jDvvw

 

[redia]

This video seems to say otherwise. I think you need a gamecube controller in order to hold down A+B+X+Y at the same time to start the recovery (notice it takes him a couple of times to get that button press perfectly done!) after you've been told that it's too dangerous to do if bootmii is not at boot2??

What I'm not sure of is if you when you restore to a previous system menu if you need to reinstall preloader of it it keeps the settings from the preloader that was there. Obviously you would have to change your hacks.ini back to the older one on your SD.

mmm
interesting. I did not find anything related to that on the bootmii forums.
i will test that.
thanks for the hint.

once extra hint, IF it works.. make sure you are not connected to the net (no wiiconnect)
because when you have wiiconnect the nand is modified "at random", so the restore could be affected while it seemed to have worked correctly.
(see realwnp thread for more information about that)

Cheers,
R

 

[Jeomite]

You can Restore NAND via BootMii IOS if you have a Gamecube Controller.
It gives you a warning message prior, but you can still restore it.

 

[Retrievil]

Of course you can restore the NAND if you have Bootmii as an IOS.

If you couldn't there would be zero point of them ever developing it to run as an IOS.

Sure, if you still can run the HBC through Preloader you could probably fix most bricks manually, but why bother when you could just restore a known working NAND dump.

I always back up my NAND before I install any ios.

 

[user0002]

Of course you can restore the NAND if you have Bootmii as an IOS.

If you couldn't there would be zero point of them ever developing it to run as an IOS.

Sure, if you still can run the HBC through Preloader you could probably fix most bricks manually, but why bother when you could just restore a known working NAND dump.

I always back up my NAND before I install any ios.

So bootmii as IOS is just as useful for NAND restore as boot2 IF one has preloader and can access the HBC? People say boot2 is a lot more secure and I understand that since with bootmii as boot2 the NAND restore can be accessed without preloader and the HBC.

But I want to know if the RESTORE PROCESS ITSELF, that is when you have bootmii installed as IOS and when WHEN YOU CAN access bootmii through the HBC, is just as sure to work as the restore process with bootmii as boot2, despite the warning message that the bootmii says?

I just want to make sure that there are people who have successfully restored NAND with bootmii installed as IOS because I can only install it as IOS and I'm a noob at softmodding.

2xEDITed: That youtube video link seems to have been removed the uploader.