Hacking Brick Prevention- Things you should never do

[mauifrog]

Please: Do Install-
Bootmii, Priiloader, and Indiana Pwns.- These will help you recover from bricks.
Make a nand backup, and keep a copy of your nand and keys in a safe place.
Trucha patch your system ios
Remove stubbed ios versions
_____________________________________________________________



Below is a list of things you can do, if you wish to brick your wii.

Please do not do these things.

Never....ever, ever:


Never uninstall your system menu
Your wii will not work very well without a system menu.


Never uninstall your system menu ios
Ios30, Ios50, Ios60, Ios70, Ios80, Ios90


Never uninstall any ios less the 200.
Ios files under 200 are important to the wii, it is very important you will brick. Never ever uninstall.


Remove Stubbed System IOS files
Stubbed ios files are installed by Nintendo durring system update. If a wii is ever downgraded with these stubbed ios in place the wii will brick.
IOS30-v2816, IOS50-v5120, IOS60-v6400, IOS70-v6912, these are stubbes
You can remove them by installing:
cIOS30-v6174.zip, cIOS50-v4889.zip, cIOS60-v6174.zip, cIOS70-v6174.zip
Example: Down from 4.0 to 3.2, then up to 3.4 = brick with IOS50-v5120 installed
Example: Down from 4.2 to 3.2, then up to 4.1 = brick with IOS60-v6400 installed
Example: Down from 4.3 to 4.1, then up to 4.2 = brick with IOS70-v6912 installed

Never Update online
Updating online will remove all softmods, bootmii included, and could brick your wii.
Don't do this unless you're instructed to do so by a forum mod.


Never update from disk
Updating from disk can brick or semi-brick your wii. It is almost never necessary, even when the disk says otherwise.
Don't do this unless you're instructed to do so by a forum mod.

Never downgrade system menu of newer wii models
System menu versions less then 3.4 do not support newer wii hardware. Downgrading a newer wii will result in a brick.
Example- Downgrading a newer wii to 3.2 could brick it.


Never downgrade ios files of newer wii models
Newer wii models will not function with many downgraded ios files. Downgrading your ios files to enable trucha bug could cause many black screens or worse, brick your wii.
Example- Downgrading Ios36 to Ios36-v1042 will cause most Homebrew to load to black screens on a newer wii.
Use TBR, or Dop-Ios-Mod to enable trucha bug instead

Never install wads of unknown origin.
Bad wads can bannerbrick your wii, or worse, brick your wii. There have been some malicious wads in circulation, that when installed can brick your wii. Only download and install from a reputable source, one with good feedback. Always read the comments.


Never install System menu themes
Without bootmii install as boot2. System menu themes have a bad habit of bricking wii systems. Usually because they are not compatible with your current system menu, and other issues. Installing them will remove your preloader, so if you don't have bootmii installed as boot2, there is very little you can do to recover. Having a theme is not worth the risks. Don't do it, or be prepared to pay the price.

Never install cIOSCORP
Unless you know what cIOSCORP is, what it does, and fully understand the risks involved in its installation, do not install it. cIOSCORP is a very complex system modification, which offers legitimate features, but its installation can be very problematic. If you don't know what it is, don't install it. Don't install it to fix black screen issues with games.

Never format your wii
Formatting your wii will not remove all of your softmods, and it could brick your wii.

Never update a region changed Korean wii.
If you have a region changed Korean wii, updating will result in a brick.
You will receive error 003, which is currently unfix-able. Korean wii models have a LKM######### serial number. If you have one of these, do not update your wii. Also region changed Korean wii users should install cIOS70-v6174.zip, which may prevent "error 003" should you update by mistake. Don't update. SM 4.3 is out, install cIOS80-v6174.zip and cios90-v6174.zip to prevent any issue. Remember, never update. These cIOS are patched versions of ios60 found in cIOSCORP/DARKCORP. Never install ios70/80 on a Korean wii, you need the patched cios.

Never format a semi-bricked wii
If your wii is semi-bricked from an out of region disk update and you are unable to enter the system settings, never format.
Formatting a semi-bricked wii, with Nintendo's Recovery disk or other method will result in a bigger brick.


Never listen to youtube
Youtube guides are a nice idea, but they FAIL all to often. Stay on wiihacks, read the guides found here. Many guides become out dated, and could brick your wii. Be sure to ask questions if you do not understand something.


Never rush
Most bricks happen from careless actions. Slow down, read the forums, and be sure to ask questions.


I will add to this list as they come to mind. If you can think of other way to brick your wii, post them here.

 

[djtaz]

This is good but the updating online is all fixable at present and generally wont brick the wii - in fact some of the guides recommend you update first (which will be fun when 4.3 and 4.4 are released)

Good Job on this - someone had to say it.

 

[giantpune]

it wouldnt be a bad idea to add not to follow any guide from a torrent. by the very nature of torrents, they can never be updated with new information. and if using a guide posted anywhere online, check the date it was last edited. even if the data in the guide was good information at the time it was written, it could be a guide on bricking a wii at the time you follow it.

 

[mauifrog]

Added a torrent warning below youtube.

Also the online update warning has a fallback, if instructed to do so by mod. But the warning is valid as following the 4.2 update I am sure we will not want people to update to 4.3 without good reason.

 

[tj_cool]

Good Job on this - someone had to say it.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=168489
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=178862#WTD

both had been stickied

btw, I find "Never downgrade, and then upgrade without removing the stubbed ios." a bit unclear.
Isn't there something dangerous about the other way around?
If you update, it installs stubs -> Downgrading = brick

Maybe you should specify that after a downgrade, you may not update to any version that's lower than before the downgrade

 

[Det1re]

Never listen to youtube Only use trusted YouTube guides
Youtube guides are a nice idea, but they FAIL all to often. Find a guide here, stick with one guide, don't jump from one guide to the next. Many guides become out dated, and could brick your wii. Be sure to ask questions if you do not understand something — you can also ask if a (YT) guide still applies. Make sure your guide is current and up to date, things change, what was good six months ago may not be good not. However there are also YT guides that get update frequently. Also beware of guide distributed via bittorrent, as they can not be updated and will likely be outdated.

Now it should fit..

 

[mauifrog]

@tj_cool downgrading to a lowing SM could leave stubbed SM ios in between, making you vulnerable to a brick from a disk update. So if you downgrade to 3.2, that could leave a stub ios 50 and possibly 60 and a disk update would result in a brick.

@Det1re
I have not yet seen any youtube guide with enough merit to be excluded from this recommendation. Most are crude copies, that go unedited, of the wonderful guides we find on these forums. Sorry, but I have seen to may "I follow this youtube guide, and now black screen" to change that recommendation.

 

[tj_cool]

@tj_cool downgrading to a lowing SM could leave stubbed SM ios in between, making you vulnerable to a brick from a disk update. So if you downgrade to 3.2, that could leave a stub ios 50 and possibly 60 and a disk update would result in a brick.

But if you Downgrade from say 4.1 to 3.2, you first have to remove the IOS30 stub (danger 1)
I've never known of that leaving a Stub IOS60/70
And if you decide to update, and you choose 4.2, you have no problems

@Det1re
I have not yet seen any youtube guide with enough merit to be excluded from this recommendation. Most are crude copies, that go unedited, of the wonderful guides we find on these forums. Sorry, but I have seen to may "I follow this youtube guide, and now black screen" to change that recommendation.

He probably means his own vids

 

[Det1re]

@Det1re
I have not yet seen any youtube guide with enough merit to be excluded from this recommendation. Most are crude copies, that go unedited, of the wonderful guides we find on these forums. Sorry, but I have seen to may "I follow this youtube guide, and now black screen" to change that recommendation.

I was mostly refering to my TBR guide. :x
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltrd3oq8hPc

 

[mauifrog]

Videos are great, but really only when incorporated into a full text guide. So a guide on a forum, with inserted vids is excellent. What sucks is youtube vids, that say "fix any bricked wii" just install ios 30 and SM 3.2, then any new wii is bricked. I am sure there are many good vids, but for the sake of generalization, youtube is no good.

 

[Bumpman]

Please: Do Install-
Bootmii, Priiloader, and Indiana Pwns.- These will help you recover from bricks.
Make a nand backup, and keep a copy of your nand and keys in a safe place.
Trucha patch your system ios
Remove stubbed ios versions

Why indiana pwns in particular? You could also use smash stack.

 

[mauifrog]

@tj_cool
Added some clarification to the downgrade warning.

Posts merged

@fivex
Sorry, but Smash Stack is useless at the moment for fixing bricks. TP hack is out, as we know, that leaves Indiana Pwns. With it you can fix many banner type bricks without any ios patches.

 

[elmariachi]

nice job

 

[mauifrog]

@Det1re
I have not yet seen any youtube guide with enough merit to be excluded from this recommendation. Most are crude copies, that go unedited, of the wonderful guides we find on these forums. Sorry, but I have seen to may "I follow this youtube guide, and now black screen" to change that recommendation.

I was mostly refering to my TBR guide. :x
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltrd3oq8hPc

I changed the wording a bit to be a little more friendly to your video.

 

[giantpune]

its perfectly safe to unplug during an update. you just have to time it right. if you are on 3.2 and you want to update to 4.1, you follow the simple formula...


i full 100% update is 1.0 (4.2 - 3.2)
you want 4.1, so you only do a 0.9 update
so you unplug the wii at 90% of the official update and you will be at 4.1. its science.

 

[diddy81]

Never install System menu themes
Without bootmii installed as boot2. System menu themes have a bad habit of bricking wii systems. Usually because they are not compatible with your current system menu, and other issues. Installing them will remove your preloader, so if you don't have bootmii installed as boot2, there is very little you can do to recover. Having a theme is not worth the risks. Don't do it, or be prepared to pay the price.

sorry but this is totally wrong installing themes will not remove your preloader if installing them with mymenuify

the only way it could do that is to put the theme in a system menu wad and install it with wad manager

the main problem is people handing out ready made app files and people not reading enough to understand that installing a firmware version thats not on there wii is a bad idea which is the reason why the wii theme team only release mym files


i cant have boot2 on my wii so i only have preloader and since im part of the wii theme team i have made and installed many theme plus bricked many times when making new hacks

 

[diddy81]

yes i understand your point but the problem im seeing is noobs will take points like this and think its not possable to be safe when installing themes when it is

 

[Dan_Aykroyd]

its perfectly safe to unplug during an update. you just have to time it right. if you are on 3.2 and you want to update to 4.1, you follow the simple formula...


i full 100% update is 1.0 (4.2 - 3.2)
you want 4.1, so you only do a 0.9 update
so you unplug the wii at 90% of the official update and you will be at 4.1. its science.

HeY!!!! i did JUST that and now wiiisss brickedd!!!!



Hehe... nice post pune, it really made me smile

 

[Sabin_Figaro]

Never try to change your system menu theme.... It's stupid and ugly