Hacking The best of the DIY mods ?

[ejp]

I've pretty much talked myself into going down the OpenWii route as I like the idea of dvd updates but just wanted to check that this is the best option out of the DIY mods.

Are any of the alternates a better bet ?

 

[kai445]

OpenWii on Atmega is definately best right now.

 

[iamwhoiam]

^^ what he said

 

[Treikens]

Can OpenWii brick my Wii?(even after its properly installed) ... are there any chips that can't?

 

[iamwhoiam]

Any mod chip can brick your wii if you install it incorrectly. So long as you follow the instructions (some links here: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=516...dpost&p=661952)
you'll be fine

 

[rrburkha]

openwii on an atmega is by far the best. my estimate is that it will have all the same features as the wiikey (except for the whole reset button config that uses the extra wire) within the next month or two.

 

[iamwhoiam]

So to get the openwii config disc working, you still need a GC controller?

 

[RobertsD]

OpenWii on Atmega is definately best right now.

Agreed.

 

[Hooya]

I don't see why there is so much love for the OpenWii... In terms of features what does it offer that WiiFree and yaosm don't offer besides DVD upgrade? Anything?

They all have on the fly region patching, they all are "stealth", they all have various methods of speed fixing, and they all work!

building a programmer for the 8 pin PIC line that is used for these is dirt cheap, and it's not like the atmega is any easier to come across than the 12f629 or like chip...

I just don't get it.

I think yaosm is the best right now...

 

[iamwhoiam]

the fact you don't have to crack open the wii everytime an update comes out is a big selling point... anyways...

back to my question: do you still need a GC controller to access the open source chips config disks?

 

[Hooya]

yes, you need a gamecube controller, usually. At one point you could use the reset button on the Wii for one of the mods, but I heard they phased that out.

By the way, OpenWii just came out with this DVD upgrade feature, and that's all they included in this update, so nobody has used the feature yet anyway.

I just don't see, at this point in the game, what you would need to update anymore! You got a modchip? Does it play backups? Does it have what few configurable options we'll ever get for a drive chip? Does it support on the fly region patching?

Yes?

What is the purpose of updating?

Even the whole media compatibility thing by now has been worked out and the DIY codes all have good media detection. I haven't had a DRE on WiiFree or yaosm for two months... Why do people feel they need DVD upgrade?

 

[iamwhoiam]

I just don't see, at this point in the game, what you would need to update anymore! You got a modchip? Does it play backups? Does it have what few configurable options we'll ever get for a drive chip? Does it support on the fly region patching?

Someone posted this on the OpenWii forum, the reply was that... They already have beta releases (not public releases) to test it on, and they have confirmed it working... why else would they release this feature without testing it?

 

[Hooya]

I just don't see, at this point in the game, what you would need to update anymore! You got a modchip? Does it play backups? Does it have what few configurable options we'll ever get for a drive chip? Does it support on the fly region patching?

Someone posted this on the OpenWii forum, the reply was that... They already have beta releases (not public releases) to test it on, and they have confirmed it working... why else would they release this feature without testing it?

what? That made no sense.

If you're developing and debugging the code for a chip you're going to have some sort of external mod - absolutely anyone that has been should have such a mod by now.

If you are an end user and just want to run "backups" you shouldn't care that much anyway...

 

[kai445]

I've been relatively close to the OpenWii project for awhile now.

I can tell you all for certain that the DVD upgrade feature does work. Why would you need to upgrade? Unsupported features. So far the only thing that is unsupported and planned is GC AudioFix. Can AudioFix be added via an upgrade? Yes. Can other features be added too? Yes.

As far as stealth is concerned, OpenWii is compiled using drivecode, and injected into the drive itself. I cant say for certain how other chips are designed, but this is as stealth as I can see it getting.

Any other questions?

 

[iamwhoiam]

By the way, OpenWii just came out with this DVD upgrade feature, and that's all they included in this update, so nobody has used the feature yet anyway.

I just don't see, at this point in the game, what you would need to update anymore! You got a modchip? Does it play backups? Does it have what few configurable options we'll ever get for a drive chip? Does it support on the fly region patching?

Someone posted this on the OpenWii forum, the reply was that... They already have beta releases (not public releases) to test it on, and they have confirmed it working... why else would they release this feature without testing it?

what? That made no sense.

If you're developing and debugging the code for a chip you're going to have some sort of external mod - absolutely anyone that has been should have such a mod by now.

If you are an end user and just want to run "backups" you shouldn't care that much anyway...

What do you mean it makes no sense? Maybe you should re-read my statement. You asked how do they know if DVD upgrade works...

OpenWii is currently at 2.2, that is only their public release
They will have versions (reaching 2.3/2.4 for example) not released, beta code

So they can test the DVD upgrade feature by flashing their beta firmwares via DVD on top of 2.2 Confirming that DVD upgrade for 2.2 works. Do you think they would have released a feature without testing the DVD upgrade themselves with future dev code?

edit: I have realised that I have quoted the wrong part of your original post (changed now). LOL, hence the confusion. Even more confusing is that I interpreted that you think no one has tested the DVD upgrade feature yet. Maybe you didn't mean that. Anyways, I'll leave this post now and crawl into a hole.

 

[Hooya]

I never said they didn't know if the feature worked or not. I said that nobody (and granted, I mean the public, not the developers) has used it yet. So nobody that uses OpenWii has taken real advantage of the DVD upgrade feature yet. That's not a value judgment (I made that later), just a statement of fact. Your second to last sentence is correct.

 

[bell]

I've been relatively close to the OpenWii project for awhile now.

I can tell you all for certain that the DVD upgrade feature does work. Why would you need to upgrade? Unsupported features. So far the only thing that is unsupported and planned is GC AudioFix. Can AudioFix be added via an upgrade? Yes. Can other features be added too? Yes.

As far as stealth is concerned, OpenWii is compiled using drivecode, and injected into the drive itself. I cant say for certain how other chips are designed, but this is as stealth as I can see it getting.

Any other questions?

I haven't tried OpenWii to be honest, but I have looked at the code and I do not think audiofix is the only thing that is missing.

1. As far as I can tell, speedpatching is done on both GC and Wii backups which means that the DVD drive is using full rotation speed even for Gamecube backups and I really don't see the need for that.

2. I do not believe that the on-the-fly region patching in OpenWii works with Wii and GC originals.

A DVD upgrade is of course a good thing but it's not possible with the 8-pin PIC chips (apart fromt the eprom data area). It's not issue for me as I've got my PIC externally mounted.

As for stealth concerns I believe most, if not all, modchips has the same amount of "stealth". However there are things to consider. For example, unless I've misread the code for OpenWii 2.2, it actually allows anyone to recode the chip. This means that the big N could release a new upgrade that disabled the OpenWii by sending a bunch of carefully selected bytes over the DI-interface. It'll propably never happen and it would just be easier to just reconfigure the OpenWii to a different region as it only require you to send a single DI-command and the regionpatching would then stop any disc from running.

If you are close to the OpenWii project as you say you are, then please ask them to consider adding code that only allows updating if a specific dics is in the Wii. I've taken these precautions with yaosm so that it never allows any changes to the configuration unless the Wii is running with the yaosm configuration disc in the drive.

EDIT: It seems like the first OpenWii upgrade is out and it does indeed fix the problem GC and Wii original imports.

 

[shtonkalot]

Hey bell, nice to see you on the boards here.
I too have an external mount so I can fiddle with all the different chips. I use YAOSM as my 'main' chip though.

I've thought of the OpenWii being a good choice for others solely based on the DVD-Upgrade feature. I do installs for others and many turn down a cheap (or even free) open source mod in favour of an upgradeable WiiKey or Cyclowiz.
The news about the potential for messing up the OpenWii through code on games is unpleasant but I guess not too worrying ATM. I just hope that gets fixed up.

 

[bell]

The news about the potential for messing up the OpenWii through code on games is unpleasant but I guess not too worrying ATM. I just hope that gets fixed up.

So do I... WiiFree suffer from this aswell... Although it isn't reprogrammable, a simple DI-command to set it to the wrong region is all it takes. I've mentioned that several times in the development forums for WiiFree but it's still not fixed.