Hacking Newbie questions

[wiiknee]

Hello all this is a bit overwhelming but I want to try:
I have the instructions and necessary files and am looking to softmod? my wii 4.3
1: I own alot of games already for the wii. Will these still be able to work in the future?
2: After I do this, how does one aquire new games? I'm not looking for specifics if not allowed, more a general question, Are they something I download? Or do I beg borrow trade and make copies of discs? Basically, I really have no idea what the goal is of modifying the wii. I used to have a PS1 that had a chip in it. The end result was I could use a cd burner and copy games and use the burned cds on it.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[mauifrog]

When you are done you will still be able to play your games, online of off. If you wii have a dvd drive that can read dvd media you can play backup copies of your games from burned dvds. You can also copy your backup games from your wii to a hd, or from your pc iso backups to your hd.

 

[wiiknee]

Thanks for the quick reply. It doesn't have a DVD drive, but I have an extra external HD I can use.
How do I backup my discs to make them into the digital files that I can use on the external HD?

 

[XFlak]

check out one of the stickied guides, you can find one of them in my signature called "ModMii"

if u softmod your wii, your original discs will still work just fine

with it, you can backup your discs to a harddrive, the purpose of which is to preserve the condition of your original discs... but I just love having all my games in the palm of my hand. And emulators kicks ass, so u can play roms/games from older gaming consoles on the wii! I even got my N64 controller working on the new Goldeneye Wii game (not that great, but nostalgic none the less).

If u want to be a pirate, thats a different story, if u want to steal games off websites sharing it... well, there's nothing I can really do to stop u, but it really IS stealing, and u shouldn't do it.



PS.
i could've sworn there was another "wiiknee" on this website before... randomness....

edit: use ModMii's Wizard to mod your wii, then use ModMii's Usb-loader Setup feature to help u set up your hard drive to play wii games

 

[wiiknee]

Perfect!
It's funny you mention the palm of your hand. The whole reason for this endeavor is we are trying to go all digital. We are getting rid of our cds,DVDs (which is taking forever), and games to try to simplify. (a desktop TV box has a hardrive hooked up to it with our movies so far. One click and we are watching any of our movies instantly). This is exciting. I'll keep you guys updated on the progress (need to go buy Indy or Smash Bros tomorrow).
The name came off the top of my head (I honestly figured someone else wouldve used it already here). My wife sitting here behind me actually groaned when I made it the username. That's how I knew it was a winner.
Thanks again so far for the help (and patience)

 

[mauifrog]

If your wii does not have a dvd drive you will have issues. Even when loading from usb your wii will give you errors when the dvd drive is screwed up.

 

[CannonFoddr]

Just one other thing to point out something that was mentioned earlier...

If you wii have a dvd drive that can read dvd media you can play backup copies of your games from burned dvdsQUOTEIt doesn't have a DVD drive,

FYI - the Wii DOES have a DVD drive in it

If you're lucky - earlier Wii systems had a DVD drive installed which once it was softmodded, allowed the DVD drive to be able to read (& play) normal shop brought Movie DVD's (& backup DVD's)

Newer Wii systems (typically the Black & Red versions but also newer white versions) still have a DVD drive in them however they have been modified (I think it's something to do with a controller chip or something) that PREVENTS the drive from being capable of reading Movie & backup DVD's - so even if you do softmod the Wii - it can't play back those types of DVD's (so your best bet is a USB HDD)

Since you say you've got a 4.3 & I guess you haven't done any official Nintendo updates - I would take a guess yours is one of the newer Wii's with this modified DVD drive

there's a site that you could enter your serial number of the Wii & it'll give you a 'estimated guess' to what type of drive it has - it no guarantee but it may give you an idea if yours is capable of Movie playback or not

 

[wiiknee]

Somebody said "10 minutes to mod". No way. But, it was much easier than I thought it would be. Once I got out of the reading directions mindset I normally have and literally read no further than the step I was on in the directions it actually started working. Plus just learning about the wii itself in the process made the 2 hour process almost...fun.
Thanks so far for all of the help.

 

[SS4]

OK, so the red and black Wii wont allow user to run DVD so an external HDD is required, but are they too new for the soft mod to work. I mean are there any Wii newer than 4.3? If so i guess we can easily downgrade them to 4.3 so it works.

Also, how does a soft mod affect ur Online capability when playing normal game or using the online store? Are there any loss of functionality/features from downgrading to 4.3 and/or soft modding? Or what about DSi connectivity for games that supports it?

And can we run dual bios (official + soft modded one) like some PsP are able to as well?

Sry for that but since there is a newb thread id figure id post my own question

Im looking into this coz my GF wants a Black Wii for xmas.
I'm reading through some guides atm but i might get some anwser faster and maybe clearer this way

Thx for the anwser in advance ^^

 

[XFlak]

brand new white wii's are the same as brand new black/red wii's. They will not have firmware greater than 4.3, and they can all be softmodded.

The only difference between new wii's and old wii's is their hardware, all the software is the same. So if I have a launch wii that has been updated to 4.3, I will still be able to play backup discs, but brand new wii's on 4.3 cannot.

In all reality, the ability to play backup dvd's is overrated. USB-Loaders are infinitely better... so unless u can't afford a hard drive or intend to use the Wii as a dvd-player, u won't miss this ability at all.

If u mod your wii, u will still be able to go online and still connect your DSi to it. But if u use cheats online u will be banned.

Anyways, I recommend u check out my softmodding program called ModMii when u are ready to mod your Wii. It will make the process very easy and safe

 

[w!!]

Not trying to be an ass or anything, but there's already a noob paradise thread for questions like this... I suggest this thread be closed and questions moved there.

http://gbatemp.net/t131884-noob-paradise-ask-away

Also, many of the above questions can be answered in the stickies and guides (and the noob paradise thread)... as well as by doing a little searching - mind you I agree the search engine is on this site is awful, but google helps too

To expedite the closing of this thread, I'll try to answer some of SS4's lingering questions:

I mean are there any Wii newer than 4.3? If so i guess we can easily downgrade them to 4.3 so it works.

4.3 is the current system menu. Exploits are available for it - Downgrading is not required. For the newer wiis, a HDD is required.

Also, how does a soft mod affect ur Online capability when playing normal game or using the online store? Are there any loss of functionality/features from downgrading to 4.3 and/or soft modding? Or what about DSi connectivity for games that supports it?

It depends on the game. Most games work fine, others require specific settings (alt. dol) or CIOS bases to operate fully, others do not work.

QUOTE

And can we run dual bios (official + soft modded one) like some PsP are able to as well?

No... You must at a minimum softmod the wii to have HBC and some other apps installed to get close to this. You can then use NAND emulation to do something similar to what you are suggesting (running different versions of the wii "bios"), even though it's not exactly what you mean.

You can search on any of the terms above to find out more on how to do them. There are a bunch of threads and guides available.

 

[SS4]

Thx for the quick reply, im reading it atm, i just wanted a little bit clarifications which u provided so ill think about buying a good external HDD when i get the Wii or maybe just an enclosure so i can put my desktop 2 TB in it

And like u said, who cares about the DVD playback, my computer or playstation can do that fine lol.

 

[SS4]

Hey, one last question, about the external HDD, how much does the speed of the HDD itself or the USB connection matter to ensure good loading time and smooth gameplay?

Like would a USb docking station with a 2 TB caviar green make for a good gaming library.

This will be my last question lol. Anything more if anything after that i guess ill just use PM

 

[XFlak]

HDD speed doesn't matter as it will be limited by USB2 speeds anyways. Be sure to check out the Compatibility List first before purchasing anything
http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/USB...patibility_List