How can I Pimp my Wii?

[JuanMena]

Dad just told me he wants me to "hack his Wii to play games" which I already did like in 2018 or something... anyway... was thinking to use something like WiiFlow, which if I'm not mistaken, it's some sort of "plug and play" without needing to navigate through menus or emulators.

So, I've been trying to find a nice tutorial on how to install WiiFlow, but as many tempers has said "Never use Youtube Tootorials!" I've decided to play safe and ask these following questions:

1.- What do I need to install WiiFlow? Is an emuNAND necessary?
2.- What preventions do I have to take when installing WiiFlow in my dad's Wii in order to not brick it? (I already have a NAND backup in my Google Drive since 2018 I think)
3.- Can WiiFlow display RetroArch roms? I think when dad says "play games" he means things like, NES, SNES, ATARI2600, etc. So... I was thinking that maybe I could use WiiFlow as a "forwader" without having my dad to navigate through menus. Although, I might leave all roms in Root so they're accesible just by loading Retroarch, wich is a possibility if WiiFlow doesn't satisfy these "special needs".
4.- No... dad is not interested in Call of Duty, or Super Mario Galaxy or Zelda Skyward Sword. His interests in games might end at Gamecube... maybe couple Wii titles... but mostly old/retro games. So... any way to make the Wii display the games at boot in order to just pick one and play? That's be awesome considering dad is turning 64 this July 19th.


Thanks in advance.

PS: Basically make the Wii look pretty and easy to use so dad can play Finalburn Alpha roms with one click, then SNES with another click, maybe Gamecube with another click, etc.

 

[Ryccardo]

but as many tempers has said "Never use Youtube Tootorials!"

Right, use the official quickstart https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiflow-lite.422685/

1- No, although it can use one if you want to install wads to one and then use Wiiflow (Lite, the modern version) as a launcher for them

2+4- Nothing in particular, homebrew in general is not "installed" at all (just extracted to MBR+FAT16/32 SD or USB); Wiiflow strongly benefits from installing the two recommended channels but they're well tested so they won't cause a banner brick...
...though Priiloader is always a smart idea, both for brick recovery in general (if you don't have BootMii as boot2, between all the dependencies you'll need to even get to BootMii, you're better off using some other homebrew to fix the exact problem) and because you'll be able to set the console to autostart Wiiflow!

3- ew retrocrap! But yes, you can use Wiiflow to run roms in external emulators (if they support opening a file via arguments), you could manually set it up with a lot of effort... or get the Plugins Pack which has many preconfigured

 

[zebragreen]

Dad just told me he wants me to "hack his Wii to play games" which I already did like in 2018 or something... anyway... was thinking to use something like WiiFlow, which if I'm not mistaken, it's some sort of "plug and play" without needing to navigate through menus or emulators.

So, I've been trying to find a nice tutorial on how to install WiiFlow, but as many tempers has said "Never use Youtube Tootorials!" I've decided to play safe and ask these following questions:

1.- What do I need to install WiiFlow? Is an emuNAND necessary?
2.- What preventions do I have to take when installing WiiFlow in my dad's Wii in order to not brick it? (I already have a NAND backup in my Google Drive since 2018 I think)
3.- Can WiiFlow display RetroArch roms? I think when dad says "play games" he means things like, NES, SNES, ATARI2600, etc. So... I was thinking that maybe I could use WiiFlow as a "forwader" without having my dad to navigate through menus. Although, I might leave all roms in Root so they're accesible just by loading Retroarch, wich is a possibility if WiiFlow doesn't satisfy these "special needs".
4.- No... dad is not interested in Call of Duty, or Super Mario Galaxy or Zelda Skyward Sword. His interests in games might end at Gamecube... maybe couple Wii titles... but mostly old/retro games. So... any way to make the Wii display the games at boot in order to just pick one and play? That's be awesome considering dad is turning 64 this July 19th.


Thanks in advance.

PS: Basically make the Wii look pretty and easy to use so dad can play Finalburn Alpha roms with one click, then SNES with another click, maybe Gamecube with another click, etc.

1. Emunand is only necessary if you want WiiWare games. Probably not then, but if you do, make sure to use a "neek2o emunand". You can find a pre-made one.

2. Not many, just dont use a Wad Installer app to install Wads of the System Menu manually at random.

3. Yes. Use Wiiflow Lite. Then get the ABZ Masterpiece pack and only grab out the entire plugins folder. Then also grab the Source Menu folder, and inside is a text file called source_menu.ini which you can edit to make your own selection of buttons on Wiiflow corresponding to the emulators you use. Use the text file "Magic Numbers" to find the corresponding emulator to put into source_menu.ini, I highly recommend selecting the GX plugins, Snes9gx, GBAgx, etc. as they are the most user friendly with the best GUI.

4. You need Priiloader, then hold select at boot and choose "Install File" on "Wiiflow WFL" Then Wiiflow will boot automatically when you turn on the power button. Beyond that try my theme "Clean and Classy Wiiflow Lite Theme" somewhere on this forum, should make it easy for him and impossible to mess up.

 

[JuanMena]

I highly recommend selecting the GX plugins, Snes9gx, GBAgx, etc. as they are the most user friendly with the best GUI.

This means that, even by setting up WiiFlow (lite ir whatever) my father would still have to navigate through the emulator menus?

 

[SylverReZ]

Pimp My Wii is very old. Multi-Mod Manager has been far reliable for me and doesn't crash a lot when installing WADs in Wii Mod Lite.

 

[zebragreen]

This means that, even by setting up WiiFlow (lite ir whatever) my father would still have to navigate through the emulator menus?

No, on Wiiflow you click on the box of the game, and it immediately starts playing.

From there, to return back to looking at the other game boxes, you need to press Home to open the emulator menu. GX has a user friendly menu which looks identical to a real Wii menu, that's why I recommend GX.

 

[JuanMena]

No, on Wiiflow you click on the box of the game, and it immediately starts playing.

From there, to return back to looking at the other game boxes, you need to press Home to open the emulator menu. GX has a user friendly menu which looks identical to a real Wii menu, that's why I recommend GX.

Nice!

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

get the ABZ Masterpiece pack and only grab out the entire plugins folder

The ABZ masterpiece pack is terribly outdated and I wouldn't recommend using it now. Better install the Plugins Pack which is its spiritual successor

 

[zebragreen]

The ABZ masterpiece pack is terribly outdated and I wouldn't recommend using it now. Better install the Plugins Pack which is its spiritual successor

If I get the GX plugins from the plugins pack, rename the .dol files identically and replace the GX .dol files in the ABZ Masterpiece Pack, then those emulators cease to function.