Hacking Help on bricked Wii (Error: 003)

[ShivaDagger]

Hmm sorry, I didn't quite catch those. Let me try to understand. So your trying to say that there's a good chance my Wii has cIOSCORP, meaning softmod and not chipped. So what I have to do next is get a mod chip like Wasabi DX and autoboot some files like savemii to resurrect the system? And is there any good way to determine whether mine is chipped or softmodded? I can give you as much details as you need, provided I know it =/

 

[ocdetective]

Given that you bought it last year when soft modding was readily available I would say it is most likely that wiis puchased in our region would have cioscorp installed rather than a chip (cheaper of course!).
If it had been older (like my own - which was bought in KL near launch date) then it would have been chipped as at that time soft modding was not an option. You could always just call the seller and ask assuming he is local!

 

[ShivaDagger]

Thing is I bought it at KL too =/ I asked my sister and she said it was around September when we bought it. Sorry so say now my Wii has cIOSCORP installed, what's the next step that I should take?

I'd be going out now, if possible, mauifrog leave any information you need here, I'll try to get back asap. Thanks for all the help.

 

[ocdetective]

BTW if you cant fix it yourself next time you are in KL go to Bernard's Gamer Solutions he will fix it for RM160 (by formatting your nand)

 

[mauifrog]

It is impossible for me to tell if you have a chip, or cIOSCORP. Only way to know for sure is to open it up and see if there is a chip in it. If you do think you have cIOSCORP and wish to try the method, it is linked here-
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=207572&st=15
Give it a read and see if you catch the idea.

 

[WiiCrazy]

BTW if you cant fix it yourself next time you are in KL go to Bernard's Gamer Solutions he will fix it for RM160 (by formatting your nand)

Formatting the nand is pointless without bootmii. And unless this person is a licensed nintendo repair center then there is nothing that he can do that isn't already apparent in this forum.

DeadlyFoez, information hasn't been leaked yet but I too hear similar fix scenarios lately... I assume they are patching the nand directly or maybe just replacing the motherboard, dunno how much that RM160 stands for in dollars.

ps: maybe the fix is just the chipping of the wii and playing the games through autoboot using recovery menu... dunno
ps2 : one such ad - http://tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=5704942

 

[damysteryman]

Here's a little test to see if you have cIOSCORP (older version) or already have a chip, without having to open your Wii.

Do you how to access recovery mode already?
If not, do you have a GameCube controller lying around?
If not, get a 3rd-party one, and a screwdriver to open it up, so you can use it as a "savemiifrii"
(proper 1st-party controllers need a tri-wing screwdriver to be opened up, so 3rd-party GC controllers are easier to open up).

Then, after getting a GC controller and opening it up, plug it into GC controller port #4 on the Wii.
Then, hold down all 4 d-pad buttons at exactly the same time (this is why you need to open the controller). While holding these buttons down, switch on the Wii somehow (with your foot or tongue or something

). You should now be in recovery mode.

In recovery mode, you will see nothing but some text saying "4.2(USA)".

Well, all you have to do is...

...put a burned game in (if the "stuck" one isn't a burned one), wait a few seconds, then tell us if the text disappears.

Does it disappear?
Or does it stay there?

Your answer will tell me if your Wii already has a chip or not.
To be quite blunt, this answer will tell us if we can fix it or not.

 

[WiiCrazy]

That would have to be a board replacement or an official nintendo repair center. There's no other way around it. Someone would have had to find the jtag (if there even is one), and if TT hasn't found it yet then I doubt someone else would have too. We should call the guy and find out what he does to fix them.

Like ninty always check signatures when installing but not when running, couldn't there be a way to patch IOS 70 on the nand?

How about comparing two nand dumps which only differ with a 4 byte patch? Or you could do a test where you just tweak a healthy wii's nand image a bit (IOS 70 patch) and see if it boots when you restore this image onto the said wii?

 

[damysteryman]

I believe that could be possible, but the OP would need their Wii's keys to do that, which I doubt they have...

I'll just wait to see if the OP performs my "test" or not.

 

[mauifrog]

If they had their keys they could just flash the whole nand. I think the location of ios70 on the nand is random.

 

[pretender13]

using a drivekey trying to fix a 003 wii that was updated to 4.2,
although i can see the version text within the recovery.
but when i attempt to auto boot a game like mario kart or castlevania judgement, all i get is a black screen after it starts to load the disc.

any other way of fixing these ?
getting these 003 error wii's all the time,
seems pacific mall is selling kor wii's in usa shells with invalid serials, and not telling people that they cannot update to 4.2.

 

[techboy]

any other way of fixing these ?
getting these 003 error wii's all the time,
seems pacific mall is selling kor wii's in usa shells with invalid serials, and not telling people that they cannot update to 4.2

KOR wiis are cheaper than USA wiis. I wonder if Nintendo would be interested in hearing about them.

 

[mauifrog]

using a drivekey trying to fix a 003 wii that was updated to 4.2,
although i can see the version text within the recovery.
but when i attempt to auto boot a game like mario kart or castlevania judgement, all i get is a black screen after it starts to load the disc.

any other way of fixing these ?
getting these 003 error wii's all the time,
seems pacific mall is selling kor wii's in usa shells with invalid serials, and not telling people that they cannot update to 4.2.

You need to have the chip configured to autoboot. And the games must be in your region.

 

[ocdetective]

BTW if you cant fix it yourself next time you are in KL go to Bernard's Gamer Solutions he will fix it for RM160 (by formatting your nand)

Formatting the nand is pointless without bootmii. And unless this person is a licensed nintendo repair center then there is nothing that he can do that isn't already apparent in this forum.

DeadlyFoez, information hasn't been leaked yet but I too hear similar fix scenarios lately... I assume they are patching the nand directly or maybe just replacing the motherboard, dunno how much that RM160 stands for in dollars.

ps: maybe the fix is just the chipping of the wii and playing the games through autoboot using recovery menu... dunno
ps2 : one such ad - http://tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=5704942

That would have to be a board replacement or an official nintendo repair center. There's no other way around it. Someone would have had to find the jtag (if there even is one), and if TT hasn't found it yet then I doubt someone else would have too. We should call the guy and find out what he does to fix them.

Official nintendo repair centres dont exist in this neck of the woods! Anyway I have sent him a PM on one of the local forums here to find out how exactly he fixes them (have explained the lack of Bootmii in the PM).
BTW RM160 is roughly 45 to 50USD

 

[ShivaDagger]

Thanks everyone for all the help, I'll try and understand those posted. Sorry I wasn't home the entire day yesterday.

@damysteryman: I'm going to get a GC controller later and see how it goes. Hmm you don't mind, can I add you up on msn? That'll make things a whole lot simpler.

@mauifrog: Right after I checked whether I have a chip or cIOS, I post here and at the same time, read up the guide you posted. Sorry but can I add you up on msn too? That'll greatly help me alot.

Anyone has any further updates/information, please do post it up here, thanks alot! =)

 

[damysteryman]

OK then. I'll pm you now.

 

[pretender13]

using a drivekey trying to fix a 003 wii that was updated to 4.2,
although i can see the version text within the recovery.
but when i attempt to auto boot a game like mario kart or castlevania judgement, all i get is a black screen after it starts to load the disc.

any other way of fixing these ?
getting these 003 error wii's all the time,
seems pacific mall is selling kor wii's in usa shells with invalid serials, and not telling people that they cannot update to 4.2.

You need to have the chip configured to autoboot. And the games must be in your region.

I do have the chip configured to autoboot and the games are in usa region.
in the recovery menu it says 4.2u
but when the game boots the 4.2u disappears and just a black screen.
but i can see the 003 error message ok when booting the wii.

 

[mauifrog]

using a drivekey trying to fix a 003 wii that was updated to 4.2,
although i can see the version text within the recovery.
but when i attempt to auto boot a game like mario kart or castlevania judgement, all i get is a black screen after it starts to load the disc.

any other way of fixing these ?
getting these 003 error wii's all the time,
seems pacific mall is selling kor wii's in usa shells with invalid serials, and not telling people that they cannot update to 4.2.

You need to have the chip configured to autoboot. And the games must be in your region.

I do have the chip configured to autoboot and the games are in usa region.
in the recovery menu it says 4.2u
but when the game boots the 4.2u disappears and just a black screen.
but i can see the 003 error message ok when booting the wii.

Both of those games should not give you issue, but it could just be your bad day. I would suggest to wait a bit at the black screen, no longer than 5min, but sometimes the disks load very slow from the recovery menu. And be sure to burn them good and proper, and possibly try another iso- perhaps yours is no good. Also, try other games- if they boot try to apply the same methods, if you do have cioscorp they should work on many ios and games for the 003 wii.

 

[ShivaDagger]

@damysteryman/mauifrog: Sorry for the real late reply. I just tried out with a gc controller. The text '4.2(USA)' doesn't disappear away. Even after coming back from a bath, it's still there. So is it chipped or softmodded?
Plus I went to check out the local stores. One of the shop was very confident in fixing 003. He's charging me SGD $100, around 85USD. But when I asked how he'd do it, he said he'll send to an agent.
Another shop claimed that there's a 50-50 chance where they will solder out the 'chip', no idea which chip, probably the motherboard's, and they will try flashing it with some mobile phone device. They claimed that they have fixed in some cases. They are charging me SGD $80. While others advised me to change the entire motherboard which I refuse.

 

[mauifrog]

@damysteryman/mauifrog: Sorry for the real late reply. I just tried out with a gc controller. The text '4.2(USA)' doesn't disappear away. Even after coming back from a bath, it's still there. So is it chipped or softmodded?
Plus I went to check out the local stores. One of the shop was very confident in fixing 003. He's charging me SGD $100, around 85USD. But when I asked how he'd do it, he said he'll send to an agent.
Another shop claimed that there's a 50-50 chance where they will solder out the 'chip', no idea which chip, probably the motherboard's, and they will try flashing it with some mobile phone device. They claimed that they have fixed in some cases. They are charging me SGD $80. While others advised me to change the entire motherboard which I refuse.

If you put a backup ntsc-u game and the text does not disappear, I believe that means you do not have a chip. So if you do not have a chip, and you where able to load backups from the disk channel- you may have cIOSCORP installed.

I think those prices are way to high to fix a broken wii, compared to a new or used wii. We have used wii at game stop for $149, with all the std. accessories.

With a chip, you can play most games, for about $40. And you may even be able to fix the thing, or maybe not- it depends.

At this time, I think any shop fixing these must be replacing the mainboard, or have access to an unknown official Recovery Disk.