Hacking Serial numbers best avoided when buying a s/h Wii?

[jaybee]

Hi,

I am looking to purchase a s/h Wii from a second hand shop but due to all this info on the net about the newer Wii's not being able to be modded fully and so on, it is proving something of a mine field.

I have been informed that Wii's with LU64 are best avoided if you are thinking of modding. I have come into experience with LEH Wii's which modded okay and allowed me to install bootMii as boot2 no problem. Does anyone know of any other serial number prefixes that are also best avoided? Basically I need to get one that allows boot2 mod and allows backups to run from disc as well as USB. Will I be okay if I get a Wii with LEH on it? I am talking about just PAL Wii's here. Thanks in advance!

 

[Thomas83Lin]

I guess this is the best place for you to look, though i dont know how accurate you can go by the serial numbers

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=205180

edit: by the way all wiis can be modded for USB backup support, Installing bootmii on boot2 allows for greater brick protection which is recommend, but not mandatory if you get a wii that doesn't allow it

 

[jaybee]

Thanks a lot! That's a great help! I just hope the people in the shop don't get too funny as to why I want to see the serial.

I suppose I could just make up some story of how I got a wii off ebay and it wasn't pal, was a korean one in disguise with the region changed and it did the online update and bricked itself etc.

I'm sure they would buy it? What do you reckon?

 

[Thomas83Lin]

I duuno i took a chance on ebay, buying two with broken dvd drives, both allowed bootmii on boot2.

but yea i'm sure they would buy it

 

[subrosian]

Bring an SD card with you with the hackmii installer on it. Tell them that you are looking for a specific wii and you want to try it out before you buy it. If they refuse then you can tell them that they don't get your money. I've done that. How can they refuse?

Only problem is that you would have to have 2 SD cards depending on what version of the system menu is installed. Bannerbomb for 4.1 and lower and Bannerbomb for 4.2 are completely different. I actually have 2 512mb SD cards for this reason.

QUOTE(BlackAce83 @ Feb 14 2010, 02:04 PM) I guess this is the best place for you to look, though i dont know how accurate you can go by the serial numbers

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=205180

It has proven quite effective for me. I have bought 3 wiis since the guide was created (bought wiis that were below the highest number compatible point in that series) and all were bootmii boot2 compatible.

 

[xzxero]

i highly doubt 4.2 will be installed

 

[FenrirWolf]

Have them install 4.2 on it, then.

 

[subrosian]

Chances are that it will have some version of 4.x on it. So bring and SD card with bannerbomb v2 and it will work for 4.0-4.2

Problem solved.

And if the wii has 3.2 or less on it then you're totally golden. But hell, bring 2 SD cards anyways. This is the only way to find out for sure if it has a vulnerable boot1

Wow, I never knew that as the official website never said it. I did confirm it is true when looking at WiiBrew

"NOTE: BannerBomb v2 is reported that it works on 4.0 and 4.1."

Thanks for the info. It will save me a bunch of time as most of the Wiis I work on have at least 4.0 on them.

QUOTE(FenrirWolf @ Feb 14 2010, 08:57 PM) Have them install 4.2 on it, then.

 

[0M39A]

I wouldnt mind a rough idea what serial number australian wii's (LAHxxxxxx) started coming out with boot2v4, as where i work there are dozens and dozens of wii's in the store room, some that im sure have been there for a long time, due to the dust on them. heaps of them have the old box that doesnt show the silicone grip that they come with now on the side where it lists the contents, if that means anything.

 

[damysteryman]

I'm not sure about the boot2v4 cutoff, but I can tell you the Australian D3-2 drive cutoff serial (any serial above this one will have a D3-2 drive):

AFAIK it's:
LAH1162xxxxx

Not sure about boot2v4 though.
I think it's along the lines of:
LAH112xxxxxx
or
LAH113xxxxxx

 

[0M39A]

I'm not sure about the boot2v4 cutoff, but I can tell you the Australian D3-2 drive cutoff serial (any serial above this one will have a D3-2 drive):

AFAIK it's:
LAH1162xxxxx

Not sure about boot2v4 though.
I think it's along the lines of:
LAH112xxxxxx
or
LAH113xxxxxx

all I really know is that my launch aussie wii is LAH100xxxxxx

might get a few out when im at work next and check a few serials

 

[jaybee]

Just thought I would let you peeps all know that by using the list I managed to get an earlier series PAL Wii! LEH-1793!

I just fed them the b/s in the shop about wanting an earlier model as the newer ones were twitchy and prone to developing faults over time! It appears they bought it no problem. They had 5 Wii's in there with LEH-26, LEH-20, LEH-22, then came a LEH-17! Yay so I grabbed that one and it modded no problem! I have just softmodded it at 3.1E and made a flash backup and now im going to update it to 4.2E using the unofficial wads and then make another nand backup so I basically have 3.1E or 4.2E accessible by just flashing the nand with bootMii! Great! Thanks for your help! That guide helped me a lot! Thanks peeps!

 

[jaybee]

Really, there was no need to bullshit them at all. They know why you want an older one. They are not stupid. It kinda makes someone look like an idiot when they lie for no real reason.

Yeah I see your point but I was just trying to be on the safe side as modding is not strictly legal in my country. I doubt I looked an idiot because I had the printout of the serial numbers and I was comparing the serials I was shown with the paper. None of the Wiis I were shown showed up exactly on the sheet but I played it safe going for the earlier model. I dont think the woman had a clue why I was asking to see the serial numbers. In any case she kept her hand firmly on the consoles in case I tried to run off or something lol

Anyways they let me see the numbers without any hesitation when I said I had every intention on buying but wanted to see the serials first. It wasnt that much of a hustle anyway, I walked away with the goods and they got the money. It's as you said they are not going to risk losing out on a sale so they will try to cooperate in any way they can if it means a sale

 

[tj_cool]

Well now that you got a wii with a vulnerable boot1, DO A NAND BACKUP FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!!

And if not, Do a NAND backup as well

 

[jaybee]

Well now that you got a wii with a vulnerable boot1, DO A NAND BACKUP FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!!

And if not, Do a NAND backup as well

OH NOES! I had a perfectly working Wii and I didnt like the look of System menu 4.2 so I copied my nand.bin to a pc and hex edited it with Ansii text porn such as (o )( o) & 8=====D and also (__|__) in the hope that it work make it better, so I flashed it back to the wii using BootMii and instead of tits and ass appearing on the boot up screen a big index finger appears and a jappy man laughs and it says your Wii is fucked in big red letters??? Do you think my wii is bricked??? Hmmm you know what? If I did this about a 1000 times more would I have enough Wii bricks to build a knocking shop? Buwhahahahahaha!!!!!

 

[Bumpman]

Well now that you got a wii with a vulnerable boot1, DO A NAND BACKUP FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!!

And if not, Do a NAND backup as well

OH NOES! I had a perfectly working Wii and I didnt like the look of System menu 4.2 so I copied my nand.bin to a pc and hex edited it with Ansii text porn such as (o )( o) & 8=====D and also (__|__) in the hope that it work make it better, so I flashed it back to the wii using BootMii and instead of tits and ass appearing on the boot up screen a big index finger appears and a jappy man laughs and it says your Wii is fucked in big red letters??? Do you think my wii is bricked??? Hmmm you know what? If I did this about a 1000 times more would I have enough Wii bricks to build a knocking shop? Buwhahahahahaha!!!!!

LOL