Hacking Simple, No-BS, No-Downgrading Method to 3.4 Wii Hacking

[WindDrake]

In my epic quest to wrangle this thing known as Wii Homebrew Hacking, I've come across a half-billion guides on how to do it, but a good chunk of them want you to downgrade to 3.2 or the like. Well, I don't like the risk. Don't get me wrong, I work on SMT Electronics for a living, and I'm not afraid to go inside the box to fix something. Thing is, I'm lazy. I don't want to if I brick it! So, I wrote this guide to help out other users who can't seem to peice all the puzzle-bits together, and are afraid of downgrading.

Disclaimer: This guide comes with no warranties! The author cannot be held responsible for ANY damage caused by the (mis)use of this software! Also, this guide does not condone piracy! Backup Channel is to be used to play LEGAL Backups and Out-Of-Region Games!

DO NOT ASK ME FOR IOS FILES. IT IS AGAINST GBATEMP RULES TO DISTRIBUTE IOS FILES. On the other hand, the legal stuff (cIOS Uninstaller etc)? Go ahead, I can probably point you in the right direction.

Edit: Actually, here's a link. I packed up this guide and all the LEGAL files (NO IOS FILES!!), ready to be dragged+dropped onto your SD Card.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=74LUXQCT

Thanks to djtaz for the Backup Channel WAD, Waninkoko for the WAD Manager + IOS Uninstallers, Team Twiizers for Twilight Hack and Homebrew Channel, and Nintendo for this fine console!

Things needed for this Hack:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii Version)
A 2GB Or less NON-SDHC SD Card Formatted to FAT32
Some way to read/write and SD Card on your PC

The Following Files on your SD Card - Arranged as Follows!:

Root Folder:
boot.dol - Homebrew Channel Installer (for Twilight Hack Usage)

PRIVATE Folder:
Twilight Hack v0.1Beta2

WAD Folder:
Wiish-noforce-BKUP.wad - WiiGator 0.3 Gamma Backup Launcher w/ 002 Fix Channel (Backup Channel)
IOS16.wad - Nintendo IOS16
cIOS249-IOS36-rev07.wad - Waninkoko's cIO36rev7 Hacked IOS

APPS Folder (This is where HBC Apps go!):
WAD Manager 1.3
WAD Manager 1.3 for IOS16
cIOS Uninstaller 1.0 - For Removing cIOS249's from the console - By Waninkoko
cIOS Uninstaller 1.1 - For Removing cIOS249's from the console - By Waninkoko

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A CUSTOM IOS249 OF SOME SORT INSTALLED, SEE THE NOTE AT THE END OF THIS HOWTO BEFORE CONTINUING!

Step 1:
Play Twilight Princess to the First Save Point. Save your game. Exit the game. Then Copy your Twilight Princess Savegame to your SD Card.

Step 2:
Remove SD Card from Wii. Put SD Card into PC. You can do it!

Step 3:
Unpack all of the files above onto your SD Card per the way they need to be arranged. Conversely, unpack the .RAR provided above to your SD Card, overwriting your Twilight Princess save along the way. Remember, you still need IOS16.WAD and cIOS249-IOS36-rev7.WAD in the WAD Directory to continue! DO NOT ASK ME FOR THESE!

Step 4:
Take your SD Card out of your PC and put it back in your Wii. Delete your exsisting savegame on your Wii (NOT THE SD CARD). Switch to the SD view, locate the right version of the hack for your region, and copy it over to your Wii. The Saves have custom icons per region (US/EU/JPN).

GAME NOTE FOR US USERS:
Since there are two released versions of Twilight Princess for the USA region, these users must first check the version of their game disc. Take your Zelda disc, flip it over so that the data side is facing you, and look for a small line of text next to the inner edge of the disc, between the raised circle of plastic and the data area. If the text reads "RVL-RZDE-0A-0", you have a v0 game and you should select the TwilightHack0 savegame. If the text reads "RVL-RZDE-0A-2", you have a v2 game and you should select the TwiilghtHack2 savegame. If you do not select the correct version of the save, the game will freeze and the hack will not work.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are using System Menu 3.4, you can only use the Twilight Hack the first time right after copying. Rebooting the Wii will cause the save to be deleted.

Step 5:
Press the HOME Key on your Wiimote and go back to the main menu. Launch Twilight Princess. Load your appropriate savegame. When loaded, walk backwards. The game will crash, and the Homebrew Channel Installer will appear. Follow the prompts until HBC is installed and the console reboots. Once rebooted, HBC will now appear as a channel, hooray!

Step 6:
Launch Homebrew Channel (now called HBC from here on out). Once in, launch WAD Manager 1.3.

Step 7:
Once in WAD Manager 1.3, press (A) to accept the terms and (A) again to pick the SD Card as a source of files. Select IOS16.WAD with your DPAD and press (+) to install it. Press (A) to confirm, and the WAD will install. Once installed (verified with the "Installation Complete!" message), press (A) to return to the selection menu, then the HOME key to restart the Wii.

Step 8:
Launch Homebrew Channel again, then WAD Manager 1.3 for IOS16. Once in, repeat the (A), (A) process to Accept the Terms and Pick the SD Card for Files. Using your DPAD, select cIOS249-IOS36-rev07.WAD and press (+) to install it. Press (A) to accept the terms again, and it'll install. Once complete, press (A) to go back to the menu, and then HOME to restart the Wii.

Step 9:
Launch Homebrew Channel AGAIN, then WAD Manager 1.3. Once in, go through the usual motions and install Wiiish-noforce-BKUP.wad. Once complete, Backup Channel will appear as a channel on your Wii. Use the HOME key to restart when finished.

You're now all set to do whatever you want with your Wii. Homebrew Channel can be used to launch emulators, Backup Channel plays backed-up and out-of-region games, and the WAD Manager can be used to install WAD's of any sort (Emulators, etc). Enjoy!

NOTE FOR USERS WITH A CUSTOM IOS249 ALREADY INSTALLED: If you have a cIOS249 of some sort already installed, use cIOSUninstaller1.0 or 1.1 (try both, 1.1 works 95% of the time on 3.4 Consoles) to remove it before you do all of this, and you can skip to step 8 afterwards, because you obviously have Homebrew Channel installed already.

 

[IOwnAndPwnU]

kinda n00bish but here I go:

1st post

w00t!

Congrats on signing up at gbatemp.net

Did you make a guide like this somewhere else cause this is your first post.

 

[WindDrake]

Nosir. I originally wrote this guide for some buddies I was helping out on IRC.

Long time lurker, however.

 

[IOwnAndPwnU]

Maybe you could add like emulators and other apps, and how to set-up? And screen shots couldn't hurt either.

 

[kallstar]

You might also want to add that if you get a banner brick with this 'simple' method, you're screwed. Thats when you'll wish you would have gone threw the few extra steps of downgrading to 3.2 and installing at LEAST preloader. The newer hacks exist for a very good reason. Don't be lazy. (Just my opinion, no offense)

 

[Ga1l0w]

Why does the softmii 1.0 only come with 1 wad file? (ios16 I assume) compared to this method?

 

[WindDrake]

You might also want to add that if you get a banner brick with this 'simple' method, you're screwed. Thats when you'll wish you would have gone threw the few extra steps of downgrading to 3.2 and installing at LEAST preloader. The newer hacks exist for a very good reason. Don't be lazy. (Just my opinion, no offense)

Very true! Considering though that I'm using djtaz's tried-and-tested Backup Channel .wad, I'm not all that worried about Banner Bricking my console. You definitely make a good counter-arguement to not-downgrading, but that's not the idea here! The idea is to not downgrade.

Plus, as a counter to the idea of Downgrading, you can fullbrick your console with a downgrade. Scary. :| Tl;dr: Shit happens!

I'm guessing SoftMii uses one of the cIOS Installers rather then a prepacked .wad (as they are illegal to distribute!). Never played with it, only taking a guess.

 

[digitydogs]

whats with all the redundant repeat guides here lately?

 

[kimikal27]

whats with all the redundant repeat guides here lately?

nothing else to do i guess...

 

[digitydogs]

with all the info i released about system menu hacks, and the unencrypted ash files i left in for playing with there is plenty for people to do. And you'd think wiigators GC launcher would be getting more attention than it is

 

[AsosaYoung]

The ideal is not to downgrade? Then tell that to the coders/hackers out there that are creating the most important tools for the Wii around 3.2. Until they create a way of truly brick proofing your Wii around the higher FW versions. I advise you to downgrade to 3.2.

 

[kimikal27]

with all the info i released about system menu hacks, and the unencrypted ash files i left in for playing with there is plenty for people to do. And you'd think wiigators GC launcher would be getting more attention than it is

sorry?
gc launcher?
softmod?

 

[digitydogs]

yeah go check wiigators blog. hes releasing a chip free GC loader next week

 

[kimikal27]

man,
i'm not gay, but i could kiss right now
by the way, check your pm in 2 min

 

[musicman61554]

I dont think he is being lazy, I couldnt downgrade because I do not have WIFI. Dont you have to have wifi to downgrade your wii. If you dont, my bad

 

[Shinigami Kiba]

no offense man, but one look at the topic title I said to myself "no starfall, no fucking thanks" I'm quite a noob at this whole wii hacking thing myself, but I know I wouldn't want my system running with no Starfall installed.