Hacking BootMii as IOS and Preloader Question

[BlinkerBoy]

First of all I'd like to say thank you to the creators of this forum, they really help out!

I followed this guide and got an awesome homebrewed Wii and am able to use homebrewed applications and everything is fine so far:

GAF's Wii Homebrew Tutorial

I do have a question, however, regarding BootMii.

There are a few wads I want to install but in case of a brick I want to be able to restore my NAND (which I have saved thanks to BootMii) or uninstall the corrupted wad. Unfortunately, I have BootMii as an IOS since I have a newer Wii. Since I am not fortunate enough to be able to run BootMii as boot2 (which from my understanding, could fix practically any kind of brick), if I WERE to brick my Wii I would need to load BootMii as an IOS in order to restore my NAND or load up WAD Manager to uninstall the corrupted wad.

LU59 Wii
Using 4.1U
BootMii (IOS)
Installed IOS249
Installed Hermes IOS222/223

Questions:

1. So it seems like I need Preloader in order to access the Homebrew Channel in case of a brick, right?

2. Is it safe to install Preloader with a cIOS? Because I have IOS249 and Hermes, pretty sure both are cIOS. The reason I ask is because on WiiBrew's page for Preloader there is the following warning:

"THIS TOOL MODIFIES THE NORMAL BEHAVIOR OF THE WII SYSTEM AND THEREFORE CAN CAUSE UNEXPECTED PROBLEMS.

IT IS _HIGHLY_ RECOMMENDED TO INSTALL PRELOADER ONLY ON A WII WITH UNMODIFIED IOSs!!

YOU AGREE THAT YOU INSTALL THIS TOOL ON YOUR OWN RISK, THE AUTHOR CAN NOT BE HELD

RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES CAUSED BY EITHER USING OR INSTALLING THIS TOOL."


3. When I tried to restore my NAND with BootMii (IOS), it gave me the error message:

RestoreMii v0.6,Nand ID: ecdc1095
Checking boot2....
Bootmii not found, too dangerous to continue!
If your SD card is corrupt or restore is interrupted, you will be unable to boot or fix it.
Press A.B.X.Y OTHEREWISE PRESS ANY KEY TO EXIT.

I've read that BootMii as an IOS is useless, since restoring the NAND from IOS is risky and because you need Preloader to reach BootMii in the first place. But isn't that THE ONLY WAY I can restore my NAND?

4. Let's say the worst has happened, and I brick my Wii without preloader and only have BootMii and a NAND backup. Is there ANY way for me to restore my backup?


Thanks guys, you rock!

-Blinkerboy

 

[TheNewbPleaser]

just get preloader or priiloader

 

[matguitarist]

if you only want to install wiiware or channel not ios the risk of brick is low. Your only safe way is have preloader installed cause you have a boot2v4 version, in case of brick your only way to restore nand is buy a modchip and use bootmiidisk.

DON'T Play with system IOS keep away stub ios like ios60 v6400 if u use 4.1 menu it will brick your wii.
don't use any 4.1 updater wiiscu cause it will download this stub ios.

If u just use wad manager for installing game you'll be almost safe

 

[BlinkerBoy]

Can anyone else give me any insight as I am completely new to this, and perhaps answer my questions one by one? Sorry if I sound nitpicky...

thanks!

 

[longtom1]

1- yes
2- yes just install
3- yes
4- no

 

[TroyTheZombie]

no way to do so without preloader.

I also wouldn't worry about it bricking your wii. I've been using it for a long time, no issues.

I use it specifically because I do make wii channels and it protects great against banner bricks should I screw one up.

here, a tool to install/uninstall preloader

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185487&hl

if you only want to install wiiware or channel not ios the risk of brick is low. Your only safe way is have preloader installed cause you have a boot2v4 version, in case of brick your only way to restore nand is buy a modchip and use bootmiidisk.

DON'T Play with system IOS keep away stub ios like ios60 v6400 if u use 4.1 menu it will brick your wii.
don't use any 4.1 updater wiiscu cause it will download this stub ios.

If u just use wad manager for installing game you'll be almost safe

Not true. You won't be fine with wad manager, because, if it has a bad banner in the wad, it doesn't matter how yoy install it, you will get a banner brick.

also, it is VERY possible to update to 4.1 or 4.2, just not through nintendo.

I am running a 4.2 wii. I can run homebrew. I have preloader. I also can use usb loaders. etc etc. so before you go handing out advice, know what you are talking about first.

 

[matguitarist]

Sure you can have banner brick but with preloader u can recover from it ... from a brick from bad ios menu or reinstall system menu that will erase preloader u are in sh*t ... i never have banner brick , i use your channel Troy

 

[BlinkerBoy]

My biggest fear is that by installing Preloader (with 249 and Hermes 222/223 already on my Wii) I'm going to brick my system, which, if it happens, would mean that I'm screwed forever since I have BootMii as an IOS.

I'm nervous and scared, that's what the real thing is, lol.

 

[longtom1]

I had all the cIOS's installed(249, 250, 202, 222 and 223) when I installed preloader and then priiloader

 

[BlinkerBoy]

Wait, so would I need both PreLoader and Priiloader? Now im confused, what should I do?

Thanks for all the help btw guys.

-BlinkerBoy

 

[TRIGRHAPPY]

No, just use Priiloader.

Priiloader is just a newer version of Preloader. Preloader was discontinued, but as of now, Priiloader is based on the last version of preloader released.

I also have 4.2 and Bootmii as an IOS.....with the latest Priiloader.

If you don't have Priiloader (or Preloader) and you brick your Wii....you're pretty much screwed. It won't matter that you have a NAND backup or Bootmii as an IOS because you won't be able to get in to Bootmii to restore from the backup.

With Priiloader, you could simply turn it on, hold reset, which will boot Priiloader. Then you'd simply launch Bootmii from within Priiloader and restore from your NAND backup.

I hope that answers your question. Please bear in mind I am new here as well......but I'm sure what I've said here is accurate.

 

[TroyTheZombie]

Priiloader is still in a beta phase. meaning, an official release hasn't happened yet.

even the author said its a little buggy. you are better off with preloader .30 rev 4

 

[DKAngel]

there was an official priiloader rev15 released, the instller is alittle buggy, other than that it works much the same had no problems installing or diing what i need to do, looks the same as preloader

 

[TroyTheZombie]

hmm, I still would avoid recommending it to people until daco gets all the bugs worked out.

You or I may be able to fix our wii should it mess up. But most people here know very little, and are far better off using what has been thoroughly used and has very little risk to it.

 

[bazamuffin]

hmm, I still would avoid recommending it to people until daco gets all the bugs worked out.

You or I may be able to fix our wii should it mess up. But most people here know very little, and are far better off using what has been thoroughly used and has very little risk to it.

Amen to that!! There are an increasing number of threads on here about people complaining that Priiloader doesnt work correctly. In particular, not being able to boot to sysmenu, even with the 'return to' and 'autoboot' settings set to system menu. I would stick to Preloader as Troy suggested.

 

[BlinkerBoy]

Wow, thanks for all the help guys. Troy, you are the best!

One more question, which Preloader guide should I use? The one that is stickied seems to be for 4.0 and below, and I'm using 4.1.

-BlinkerBoy

 

[Crimson-X]

I have a question. I can't seem to install bootmii as boot2. It freezes every time that I try to install. I un-installed it once from my HBC using the loader in HBC. At first, it would hang at a black screen and the drive would flash indefinitely. Now that I un-installed it, thinking it was a bad install, it won't do anything. I have 4.2u. Any ideas on what I should do to fix this?

 

[Crimson-X]

nm, fixed it