Hacking IOS Quesions

[AdmiralSpeedy]

Forgive me if this has been covered somewhere, but I have spent the last three evenings looking for a definitive answer to my questions and nothing seems to really answer them.

I'd also like to say that I am by no means new to the Wii or softmodding. I softmodded my original Wii years ago and my sister now has it. I've recently purchased a Wii U and softmodded the vWii. I did a NAND backup, backed up my keys with Xyzzy and made clean WAD files with YABDM before doing anything with d2x.

Now for my questions. I've never understood the IOS slot system. I know 249 is the most commonly used slot and that's fine, but guide also recommend installing d2x in 250 and some also suggest 251 as well. Why? How can you use these different slots? Don't game loaders just use 249 and if they automatically pick, why does 250 do something different from 249?

As well, I know it's not necessary because of how HBC works now, but people used to recommend installing cIOS 236 to use as a backup if you need to recover. What does that mean? How do you "use" an IOS to recover? Nobody ever goes into detail.

I have one final question. I've read a couple guides suggesting using slots 248 and 247 rather than 249 and 250 (which means using CFG Loader because you can change the cIOS to use), because using 249 and 250 will cause disc games with the 4.3 update on them to ask you to update even if you're on 4.3. I know this happened with my old Wii with Donkey Kong Country Returns and I believe I just used Priiloader to disable that. Obviously Priiloader doesn't work with the vWii but from my tests these updates don't pop up on the vWii. I installed d2x in 249 and 250 and Donkey Kong Country Returns works fine still. Does this issue not exist on the vWii? I assume it doesn't because the disc updates contain normal Wii software, so they probably disabled this (since the vWii is always on 4.3 anyways).

 

[portugeek]

How can you use these different slots? Don't game loaders just use 249 and if they automatically pick, why does 250 do something different from 249?

A: Yes, Homebrew apps will automatically pick a predetermined slot, but even so, most will allow you change which slot you want to have loaded.

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The biggest misconception about IOS slots is that they are definite. The reason for this misconception is because people often refer to which slot they use, as if the information stored within the slot is specific and set in stone.

The truth is, simply referring to an IOS slot number doesn't really mean anything until we know what's installed inside them. Slots on a Wii are like "Cubby Holes" that have been individually numbered from 1-254. The numbers are a reference to location. When we start up a game, or homebrew app, we expect it to perform a specific way. But before it can do what it's expected to do, it needs parameters. These parameters are what's installed in these IOS slots. And the slot number is how the app knows exactly where to look.

Here's how I like to think of it. Lets say the Wii is my House. Inside my house I have a bunch of Cubby Holes that are numbered from 1-254. And inside some of these cubby holes I've placed specific tools. Maybe in one cubby I have a pipe wrench, a plumbing snake, and some washers and fittings. While in another cubby I might have a hammer, some nails, and a power drill.

Then one afternoon, I decide I want to do some plumbing related things in my "house"/(Wii). So I go to my "Rolodex"/(Homebrew Channel) and call up "Awesome Plumber 3000"/(homebrew_app). He knocks on the door, and to my surprise, he's a ROBOT!!! (yeah, this story just got super cool) - Well this super cool robot knows everything there is to know about plumbing. But there's one problem. He doesn't have any tools of his own. So I tell him, "Hey, Robot. I have some plumbing tools you can use. I stored them in cubby hole 249. So he looks in 249 and finds my tools. With the correct tools in hand, he can now go on to perform some awesome plumbing things.

On the other hand, what if I had "stored" (or installed) my hammer, nails, and power drill in 249 instead?... That wouldn't stop Awesome Plumbing Robot. He would still do his job regardless. And, he'd do it with the same enthusiasm as before. Chances are that this time he would fail. And if he didn't completely fail, he'd definitely be causing his share of problems.

Keep in mind, I could've told him to look in any cubby hole I wanted. But the main reason the community defaults to 249 is to try and make things easier. Now think of "d2x" as being a modified tool set that doesn't just have plumbing tools, but rather a large variety of all-purpose multi-tools, that can all be stored in one cubby. I'm sure you can imagine how much easier it is to just tell every app that comes over, "Yeah I have some tools you can use, just look in 249."

The reason we install d2x into different slots is because different versions of d2x have slightly modified tool sets. Meaning, some versions may be a little better at performing specific operations than another. Maybe one version has a better, more effecient "Power Drill." Having these multiple versions installed allows for flexibility.

There's more I could touch on, but this covers the main gist. If you have any other questions just ask.

 

[mike333]

As well, I know it's not necessary because of how HBC works now, but people used to recommend installing cIOS 236 to use as a backup if you need to recover. What does that mean? How do you "use" an IOS to recover? Nobody ever goes into detail.

Recover from potential Nintendo update which may fix all vulnerabilities in IOSes.
Last official update was like in 2010 so this is not an issue anymore.
It might help when You pick option "mess with all my IOSes" in BrickMyWii application.
Recovery means IOS reloading to version/slot which gains You more access.