Hacking Best Way to Mod Any Wii: ModMii for Windows: Official Support Thread

[XFlak]

So with DeadlyFoez deleting his modmii guide videos are broken. This is already fixed in the beta release. Still chugging away at the update slowly slowly, definitely by the end of this month @ the latest unless I get hit by a bus or something it should be ready

Edit:
Thanks to @urmum_69 and @alexander1970 and @Larsenv and foxlet and clutz and JoostinOnline for their recent help!

 

[Kirbeast]

I don't know if you work on ModMii anymore but if you do can you update the Priiloader that ModMii uses to the latest version? Found here https://github.com/DacoTaco/priiloader/releases/tag/0.9

 

[XFlak]

Already done in the latest ModMii beta, hoping to release an official update soon.

If you (or anyone) want to test the beta send me a PM.

Edit:

So with DeadlyFoez deleting his modmii guide videos are broken. This is already fixed in the beta release. Still chugging away at the update slowly slowly, definitely by the end of this month @ the latest unless I get hit by a bus or something it should be ready

Edit:
Thanks to @urmum_69 and @alexander1970 and @Larsenv and foxlet and clutz and JoostinOnline for their recent help!

So clearly I didn't finish by the end of January at the latest, lol. I ended up adding some new features that weren't supposed to be a part of this update, and now I need a bit more time to polish off the custom guides, website, etc. If I had to guess I'd say 1 to 4 more weeks (probably around 2). Sorry for the delays, lockdown life with 4 young kids... it's tiresome to say the least

 

[XFlak]

Just a reminder to anyone having issues with ModMii, there are two known bugs in the latest official release. I should probably just quickly put out a quick bug-fix update... but right now I'm focused on the the next big update coming soon to a (home) theater near you!

Here are the 2 bugs and workarounds for them quoted from the first post of this thread, these won't be necessary for very long!!

ModMii for Windows
by XFlak
​

SNIP...

NOTE: Effective late October 2020, the following minor BUG exists in ModMii preventing UNRAR from being downloaded, which is required for ModMii to install (S)NEEK, until an update in released (hopefully soon-ish), please follow the directions in my post quoted below as a workaround

the download link I was using (not my own) is no longer working for some reason, if you add UnRAR.exe to your temp folder it should work for you

edit:
thanks for reporting this, I will address this in the next ModMii update

edit2:
Until I push an update, to fix this, open ModMii.bat in notepad or notepad++, and edit replace all the following:

https://ayera.dl.sourceforge.net/project/menuui/UnRAR.exe

with this:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/menuui/files/UnRAR.exe

Jan 2021 Edit:
One more workaround until an update is released very very soon

Fat 32 gui formatter download is broken in modmii, but this is fixed in the latest beta which should hopefuy be released soon. In the meantime you can get this from here: http://ridgecrop.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

 

[biggzsizzle]

...Are you changing that d2x base thing around in this next release? 249 [57] and 250 [56] ?

 

[XFlak]

already done, this is from the 6.4.9 changelog

*Changed recommended cIOS249 to base 57 from 56, and cIOS250 to base 56 from 57. Syscheck updater will consider both configurations as up to date.

I will be making some other changes to modmii's recommended cIOSs (i.e. the wii.guide guys and I are coordinating so we are aligned, so I will be recommending base 38 installed to slot 251 in the next update), but 249 will keep using 57 and 250 will keep using 56 (and the reverse will still be considered OK by ModMii)

Also, ModMii will be changing the default d2x version from v8-final to v10-beta52

edit: plus a veritable shit-ton of other changes to other things (pardon my French, lol). My rough (and maybe somewhat redundant) changelog\to-do list is over 50 lines long. I eventually have to clean that up too

 

[biggzsizzle]

already done, this is from the 6.4.9 changelog


I will be making some other changes to modmii's recommended cIOSs (i.e. the wii.guide guys and I are coordinating so we are aligned, so I will be recommending base 38 installed to slot 251 in the next update), but 249 will keep using 57 and 250 will keep using 56 (and the reverse will still be considered OK by ModMii)

Also, ModMii will be changing the default d2x version from v8-final to v10-beta52

edit: plus a veritable shit-ton of other changes to other things (pardon my French, lol). My rough (and maybe somewhat redundant) changelog\to-do list is over 50 lines long. I eventually have to clean that up too

LOVE, LOVE,LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!

 

[johw]

@90Ninety it is not exclusive, you can use USB Loaders and Emunand. I myself am using USB Loader GX and got almost perfect compatibility for all Wii titles and GameCube games. WiiWare and VC took me longer, but I have managed to run all I have tried, in one way or another. Some of them run through 'Full' emunand emulation, some I needed to use 'Neek' mode, but always from USBLoaderGx.

First question, do you have a dumped nand somewhere in your SD card? (normally it is under 'sd:/nands/pl_xx' [xx= eu, us or jp]). If not, emunand will not work. You can either dump your own nand to a file, or create an emunand using ModMii (option install NEEK+create nand). If you need more detailed instructions on how to do it, answer this post or pm me.

Now, how to get Neek mode up and running? Starting from your current installation, I would do this:

1) Create a 'sd:/wbfs' folder.
2) Try to start Neek2o using the channel.

If it does not work,

3) Remove the file '/sneek/di.bin', or move it somewhere else.
4) Try again to start Neek2o using the channel.

If it still does not work,

5) Delete the folder 'sd:/sneek'.
6) In ModMii, select the options UNeek + DI instead.
7) Copy the files from ModMii (copy_to_sd and copy_to_usb) to the sd/usb.
8) Copy the emunand from the SD card to the usb drive (if you had it in 'sd:/nands/pl_eu' move it to 'usb:/nands/pl_eu')
9) Try to start Neek2o using the channel

This last option is what worked for me. For what I have seen, UNEEK is much easier to get up and running than SNEEK.

Once you get the emunand to work, rest is as easy as to configure the wiiware/VC titles depending on its compatibility.

It is important to note, most of the wiiware/VC titles will black screen if they are from other regions, even after patching them via Freethewads, ShowMiiWads or using Priiloader Region Free all, therefore it is a good idea to have a second Emunand for those games from different regions (or three, if you also want to access JP titles).

I can explain how I am using two emunands from USBLoaderGX to start all WiiWare / VC titles without issues and without need to change the path if someone is interested, but I will leave that for another post.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



USBLoaderGX has an integrated WAD manager, so you do can install VC and Wiiware via USBLoaderGx (Settings -> Features -> Emunand wad manager).

No you don't require Neek. USBLoaderGx has an embedded nand emulator, and it works well but has limited compatibility, therefore it is advisable to have Neek installed as well.

USBLoaderGx can also run WW/VC titles in 'Neek' mode, by just changing one setting for those titles not compatible with the embedded emunand.

external hard drive 500gb fat32
I have this same problem
the wii crashes on the black screen with ios bootmii reloaing

neek2o_NK2O_1
nSwitch
https://a.imagem.app/AkKqfr.jpg
https://a.imagem.app/AkKj22.jpg

 

[XFlak]

Check these things:
-Make sure u have bootmii ios installed
-try just uneek or sneek without di to get those working first
-if using the original neek and not neek2o, and using +di, make sure u have a game extracted and saved to your device as well
-if nswitch or similar aren't working, make sure your bootmiineek folder on the SD card is getting renamed to bootmii, if not, double check the SD card lock switch is disabled (if applicable). If it's still not working, manually rename the folder to bootmii and launch "bootmii" from the hbc or priiloader or boot2, etc
-make sure HDD is plugged into port 0, the one nearest the edge of the wii
-you can try using your own dumped/extracted nand as an emunand if for some reason u are having problems with modmii's. Gx allows u to boot into uneek without an SD card btw, so that's pretty cool too

I'll be including more neek tips in the next modmii update, but no real new functionality aside from some minor tweaks

 

[johw]

Check these things:
-Make sure u have bootmii ios installed
-try just uneek or sneek without di to get those working first
-if using the original neek and not neek2o, and using +di, make sure u have a game extracted and saved to your device as well
-if nswitch or similar aren't working, make sure your bootmiineek folder on the SD card is getting renamed to bootmii, if not, double check the SD card lock switch is disabled (if applicable). If it's still not working, manually rename the folder to bootmii and launch "bootmii" from the hbc or priiloader or boot2, etc
-make sure HDD is plugged into port 0, the one nearest the edge of the wii
-you can try using your own dumped/extracted nand as an emunand if for some reason u are having problems with modmii's. Gx allows u to boot into uneek without an SD card btw, so that's pretty cool too

I'll be including more neek tips in the next modmii update, but no real new functionality aside from some minor tweaks

I do not know what is happening the external hd does not work.
tested it with a sandisk 8gb thumb drive and it worked

 

[XFlak]

Could be an incompatible drive? Does the drive work for regular USB loading? You can double check how it's formatted that there is only 1 MBR FAT32 partition on the HDD.

But at the end of the day if the files modmii built for you are working on one drive but not this one, we know that's not the issue

 

[johw]

Could be an incompatible drive? Does the drive work for regular USB loading? You can double check how it's formatted that there is only 1 MBR FAT32 partition on the HDD.

But at the end of the day if the files modmii built for you are working on one drive but not this one, we know that's not the issue

confirmed
MBR FAT32 partition on the HDD
@XFlak
tested with 3 HD FAT32 MBR and does not work
I tested 2 thumb drives and they work very well
is my system missing any cIOS?

 

[WiiHx4d]

Hi, @XFlak ...
I borked a Red 4.3U Wii by homebrewing but forgetting to block disc based updates and one from WIi Sports got applied.
I tried fixing w ModMii 6.5.1 to only partial success; WiiFlowLite 5.4.8 works again, but the disc channel and USBLoaderGX 3.0 1272
both don't , failing with the "Can't read disc..." error and a sad beep upon title launch, even though the disc channel shows the title
and loads the wrist strap warning just fine.

My steps were, following the Modmii instructions for first time homebrew as suggested by the wizard w 3 exceptions:
1. Other instructions say IOS36/236 not needed anymore (and the guide I followed for the original modding also didn't touch it)
so I skipped that one.
2. This thread and others say use d2x v10 beta 52 rather than v8 final so I used that version instead
3. When applying the wads for the different IOS packs, some didn't take ( and I couldn't capture which did & didn't but the attached syscheck should help w that).

One more piece of info; after following these steps and only getting WiiFlow to work, I restored my nand backup, made right after
installing homebrew & BootMii, and that didn't fix it either; the disc channel is still borked, and I haven't bothered to repeat the rest of the steps yet after seeing that result.

So 3 questions if that's ok:
1. Can modmii fix this? Reading through some other cases of borked systems that were fixed (but I didn't really all 463 pages of this thread yet) says that reloading 249/250 should sort it, but that only worked for WiiFlow.

2. If it can, what am I missing?

3. If it can't, is there a procedure that will?
I have the files to install 4.1U but reading so far seems like that would lead to a more severe brick w a Red Wii.


Thanks, syscheck attached from before the nand restore.
Hope this post isn't too long; wanted to provide all relevant details.

 

[XFlak]

Can you share a syscheck of what your Wii looked like before using ModMii (or after restoring your nand backup, same thing). Btw, if your syscheck contains a URL at the very bottom, you can use this to share it more easily if you like.

Also, are you trying to load backup discs from the disc channel? This is something that not all Wii's are capable of doing, but if your wii is old enough, it should be capable (even though usb-loading is way better). If your Wii used to be able to play backup discs, then you should still be able to do so (unless you have experienced some kind of hardware failure).

If you're trying to load backup discs from the disc channel, there are two methods, 1 is less invasive that I will describe first. Basically just follow your modmii guide as per usual, but make sure you enable the system menu hack "Force Disc Games to run under IOS249". This should allow capable Wii's to play backup discs from the disc channel without having to overwrite ALL your IOSs with patched versions like the more invasive option; DarkCorp (aka cIOS Corp). The one caveat is that all your disc games will run on IOS249; this should work for most titles, but there may be some that require a different IOS and may not work. Darkcorp will run games using the game's default IOS slot, which differ from game to game, and Darkcorp patches each of them (i.e. slot 36 has a patched IOS36, slot 37 has a patched IOS37, etc.) so compatibility may be slightly better than just using IOS249 since we're not using a one-size fits all cIOS (but again, the vast majority of games run fine with the recommended 249; which typically uses IOS57 or 56 as a base).

Darkcorp is generally not recommended by anyone, as it patches pretty much all your IOSs, which can be problematic for some things, like getting the hackmii installer to run, and it's just not necessary since we have the priiloader method to accomplish the same thing (and since backup discs don't work on new Wii's anyway, and usb-loaders are superior). This method is not encouraged or supported by ModMii. In fact, unless you disable it in the options, ModMii will update your active IOSs in order to overwrite corp'd cIOSs with stock ones.

Following one of these 2 methods should allow older Wii's that are capable to play backup discs from the disc channel. Side note; you only need 249 and neogamma or a usb-loader to play backup discs not from the disc channel, the 2 methods I described are specifically for the disc channel to play backup discs.

Based on your syscheck, there's no reason why USB-Loader GX shouldn't be working, but here are some thing to try. First, make sure you are running the latest version of the loader, get it from here (this is the version that will be used by ModMii in it's next update). Also, try default GX settings, make sure it's loaded using IOS249 (iirc there's a version or a setting to have it run under IOS58)

A few other notes on your situation, see my bolded comments below.

Hi, @XFlak ...
My steps were, following the Modmii instructions for first time homebrew as suggested by the wizard w 3 exceptions:
Generally speaking, you should not deviate and mix and match guides. Skipping 36 and 236 and using d2x v10 beta 52 instead of v8 final is harmless, but other deviations could result in problems.

1. Other instructions say IOS36/236 not needed anymore (and the guide I followed for the original modding also didn't touch it)
so I skipped that one.

Your IOS36 is patched, for reasons described above I would install the clean IOS36 that ModMii provides (unless you decided to go against the recommendation and you are going to install darkcorp) - if you want to leave your IOS36 untouched, there's a ModMii option for that (or you can just skip installing it as you did). In your situation you can indeed skip installing IOS236 (fyi the ModMii beta does not include 236 in it's guides anymore), but when using your WAD manager you must make sure a cIOS is loaded otherwise you may get errors. ModMii 6.5.1 and under is set up to autoload MMM with cIOS236, but if you don't have it installed, you will have to load a different unstubbed cIOS like 249 or 250. That being said, based on your syscheck I cannot determine what wasn't installed, it seems the majority were installed (except 36 that you skipped intentionally).

2. This thread and others say use d2x v10 beta 52 rather than v8 final so I used that version instead
v8-final is basically the same as d2x v10 beta 52, what you've done is fine. ModMii will be changing to this version in the next update mainly to avoid this kind of confusion. Also, ModMii and wii.guide recommend base 57 installed to 249, 56 to 250, and 38 to 251. That being said, what you have (56, 57, 58 installed to 249, 250, 251) is generally fine as well. More info if you are interested on this here.

3. When applying the wads for the different IOS packs, some didn't take ( and I couldn't capture which did & didn't but the attached syscheck should help w that).
See my response to #1 above


I have the files to install 4.1U but reading so far seems like that would lead to a more severe brick w a Red Wii.

To be clear, your current situation is not a brick. You do not need to change to 4.1, 4.3 is fine. But if you wanted to be on 4.1 or 4.2 for whatever reason, you can safely change using ModMii. I cannot say if the files you have are safe.

edit: iirc all (or most?) non-white Wii's are not able to load backup discs or install bootmii as boot2

Edit2: if u want, since your wii already has the hbc, next time instead of using the main Modmii wizard u can use its syscheck updater wizard by dragging and dropping your current syscheck onto modmii.exe or modmiiskin.exe (or a shortcut to either) and it will make recommendations based on your unique syscheck report

 

[WiiHx4d]

I couldn't get my original reply to post, so I'm trying a shorter, simpler one:
First, thanks for all your help, I'm reading, absorbing, and learning as fast as I can.

I can't include links yet, so both the requested post-restore syscheck and the
guide created from dropping the pre-restore, first ModMii modified syscheck on modmii are attached.

I figured out that the drive is def fine; wrote why I didn't think it was in longer post that wouldn't submit,
but then had the brainstorm to try a non-nintendo original disc, and those work fine.

I have the backups on HDD, the failure seems to be in running ( not-reading since it shows title and even goes to wrist strap screen when opened) Nintendo original discs. The weird bit is that UGX refuses to load ANY title the same way that disc channel won't load nintendo originals. UGX was running w default settings.

Going to restore IOS36 ( was trying to skip installing 236, not avoid installing 36, but couldn't seem to separate the two steps...)
first, then try the linked version of UGX even though I thought I had the latest version already, and report back after.

Yes, this wii isn't really bricked, but it does have less functionality than it did when my cousin handed it to me at the moment.
I was thinking of going back to 4.1 using a guide I can't link to, because it claims to build a completely clean 4.1U nand from scratch,
which I was hoping would solve the problem, but I don't otherwise want to downgrade.

I just want to fix UGX, both for playing the backups, and for more importantly, knowing that the rest of the stack of originals can
be backed up using UGX w no issue before she gives the Wii back to her 5yr old to play educational games on.

Last, ModMii is AWESOME

Back soon w results.

 

[XFlak]

Strange that your original syscheck didn't have a patched ios36, but the one after using modmii does, which doesn't make sense (unless you are accidentally leaving something out) because modmii wouldn't instruct you to install a patched ios36. You must have used mmm or some other tool to installed a patched ios36, or you got the wad from somewhere and installed it that way. Anyway, you don't need a patched Ios36.

That guide you linked to must've been run against the syscheck after using modmii, because it's only suggesting 236, 249 and 250 (which wouldn't be recommended in the next update, it would have said everything in that syscheck is up to date). If u use modmii's syscheck updater on the pre-modmii syscheck it will suggest installing priiloader and a lot of other IOSs and CIOSs. But on the bright side, u just gave me this really good idea to add to the next modmii update (Idea: embed original syscheck in a spoiler when generating syscheck updater guide so there's no question as to what the guide was based on... I can't believe I didn't think of this before, seems so obvious in retrospect)

Oh, and there are workarounds for posting links, like typing something like modmii(dot)github(dot)io. Not a big deal if u prefer to attach files it's all the same, just wanted to mention it.

Keep an eye on this post as I may add more with edits

Edit: rereading I see you actually said u dropped the syscheck pre-restore (I. E. After using modmii, before restoring the nand backup). So my apologies for correcting u on this when it was me that misread. But there isn't much point to this guide, you would want to drag your current syscheck (after restoring you nand backup), as then modmii would help take u from where u r now to where u want to be (which is basically where u were before restoring your nand). Once you're back here we can maybe try to troubleshoot things. I don't think using ohneschwanzenegger to install a fresh nand will solve your issue (you referred to this earlier, just not by name), but if we rule out other things first there's not much harm in trying especially if you have bootmii installed as boot2.

Edit: just to clarify, after using modmii, before restoring your nand backup, Wiiflow lite was working on all the scenarios that UGX and the disc channel failed?

If you are having issues with playing original discs from the disc channel, that might be an indication of some kind of hardware failure or damaged discs (given that both syschecks had all the stock IOSs installed necessary to play original discs).

What's strange is how UGX isn't loading backups off a HDD but Wiiflow lite is... maybe gx does some kind of check of the disc drive that Wiiflow doesn't and it's causing it to hang the same way your disc channel does? I really don't know. You would want to talk to Cyan or blackb0x about how gx works, and fledge86 about Wiiflow lite.

I know that if the disc drive hardware fails (or just a part of it, I can't remember, I'm not a big hardware guy, someone else please clarify what I'm thinking of) then basically nothing works. So if this does turn out to be early signs of hardware failure, consider yourself fortunate that Wiiflow lite still at least works for now.

Yet another edit: sometimes modern loaders have issues creating good backups, or so I'm told. Keep this in mind if u rip a game and it fails, try a different loader or "cleanrip" to make backups, then switch to your preferred loader for playback

 

[WiiHx4d]

Yes, the guide was done against the syscheck after running modmii.
I actually tried spelling out the URLs but it still didn't like something about the post so I decided to make it muuuuch simpler.

Updates:
1. Went back and followed "Fresh Homebrew" wizard based guide w no omissions or changes save starting from the homebrew step since I already have the launcher loaded.

2. I had a notepad ready to catch what IOS didn't get installed first time,
and all IOS were installed w no issue this time.

3. That didn't fix the installed version of UGX, or the disc channel. Same behavior as before with both the UGX on the fat partition on the HDD, and the version loaded on sdcard by ModMii

BUT the linked updated version ( which I was going to try anyway because I wanted the fixed usage display for NTFS partitions ) works.

I was waiting to try it so I could reduce the number of variables at play.

New, current syscheck attached.

I don't know if it is a coincidence, but in current state ( DNS 8.8.8.8/.8.8.4.4 as left after running installers), I've not been able to get HomeBrew Browser 0.39e to load completely, stopping in random places each time ( sometimes in downloading initial steps, sometimes in trying to load payload..) and I've tried about 6 separate runs. The wii is literally right next to the router too.

Side Comment: MMM seems to have more overall functions, but WiiMod Lite seems to provide more info about the state of IOS present on the system.

edit: Watching this whole thread and the previous post.
edit: Your reply came in while I was posting my reply

Yes, UGX was failing on any randomly loaded backup, and WFL was working on the same and other random backups.

I feel better now that UGX is working again too, but have another wii on the way. Will make sure disc updates blocked on the new one, and give that one to my cousin.

It's weird how it is only failing for Nintendo discs now. My gut tells me this is still related to the update (is there another undocumented location that Nintendo can update but we can't restore? when I ran the NAND
restore BootMii said it was erasing more blocks than it was rewriting....)
, but since the other issues are sorted, it's more of a curiosity and not a pressing issue now.

Will def followup w UGX & WFL maintainers...

Other task: Backing up all the Miis so they can get moved to a new console.

 

[Codemastershock]

I have the backups on HDD, the failure seems to be in running ( not-reading since it shows title and even goes to wrist strap screen when opened) Nintendo original discs.

What disc specifically are you trying to run? It is quite common with games that have Motion Plus support to not load properly if the console is not "marked as if you saw the Motion Plus Guide". To fix this you have to try another game on the disc channel then click on the Instructions and watch all videos, in my case, Wii Sports Resort at first always tried to update if I didnt blocked updates and with them blocked it would crash, after loading Skyward Sword and doing this, is started to work on every game with Motion Plus support. If you dont have any, you have to force an alternate dol, watch all videos, go back to the loader settings, remove the alternate dol values then it will work.

 

[WiiHx4d]

What disc specifically are you trying to run? It is quite common with games that have Motion Plus support to not load properly if the console is not "marked as if you saw the Motion Plus Guide". To fix this you have to try another game on the disc channel then click on the Instructions and watch all videos, in my case, Wii Sports Resort at first always tried to update if I didnt blocked updates and with them blocked it would crash, after loading Skyward Sword and doing this, is started to work on every game with Motion Plus support. If you dont have any, you have to force an alternate dol, watch all videos then it will work.

Thanks. The disc is WiiSports. I think I did do this previously, but will follow the steps and see where they get me.
I may be back w some clarifying questions.

 

[Codemastershock]

I think if it is the Wii Sports + Resort collection it definitely can cause this because Resort requires Motion Plus