Requirements

- BootMii (either installed as boot2 or as IOS)
- SD(HC) card (at least 1GB, 2GB recommended)
- USB keyboard

Preparing the SD card

You have to create 2 partitions. One little FAT16/32 for BootMii, HBC and the kernel and one big ext3 for the filesystem ("userland"). You can do this for example with gParted in Ubuntu. If you don`t have Ubuntu installed, use the latest LiveCD. For this tutorial it is important to set the descriptions of the partitions.

- Backup your current BootMii folder
- 1. partition: At least 32 MB, FAT16/32, "kernel" as description
- 2. partition: Remaining free space, EXT3, "filesystem" as description
- Copy your BootMii folder to the first partition

Installing the kernel

The mike kernel must be booted via BootMii! If you boot it with the homebrew channel, wifi and other things won`t work.

There are two ways to boot the kernel:

1.)
The first one (and also the recommended one) is to copy the kernel to the first partition of your sd card, for example to the BootMii folder. To boot the kernel you can use the sd card explorer in BootMii and select the kernel. It could happen that it doesn`t work and return to the BootMii main menu. If this happens try to update to the newest BootMii version (beta4). If it also doesn`t work with beta4 then you have to use the second way.

2.)
With the second way you will have to replace the executable of the BootMii GUI with the kernel. This should always work, but the disadvantage is that the kernel will boot immediately after launching BootMii. So you won`t see the GUI of BootMii. If you need the BootMii GUI you may use a second sd card for Linux only.

- Rename the file "ppcboot.elf" in the BootMii folder to "ppcboot.elf.backup"
- Download the latest mike kernel (mikep5) with your appropriate TV mode:

- 480i PAL: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gc-linux/...480i(PAL60).elf
- 576i PAL: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gc-linux/...i.576i(PAL).elf
- 480p PAL: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gc-linux/...i.480p(PAL).elf
- 480i NTSC: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gc-linux/....480i(NTSC).elf
- 480p NTSC: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gc-linux/....480p(NTSC).elf

- Rename the kernel to ppcboot.elf and copy it to your BootMii folder
- If you have BootMii beta1 or beta2 you need to download the latest armboot.bin to prevent an error with the mike kernel: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gc-linux/mikep1-armboot.bin. Rename it to "armboot.bin" and replace it with the one in your new BootMii folder. If you are running BootMii beta3 or later you might skip this step, because it should already include a newer version of armboot.bin

Installing the filesystem

- Download XWhiite 0.2 to your Desktop: http://hbcapps.com/debian-etch-4.0+whiite-...ite-0.2.tar.bz2
- Open a terminal and login as root (sudo su)
- Change the directory to your Desktop:

cd /home/yourusername/Desktop

- Extract the filesystem to your sd card:

tar -C /media/filesystem/ -xjvf debian-etch-4.0+whiite-0.1+xwhiite-0.2.tar.bz2

- Backup your xorg.conf:

cd /media/filesystem/etc/X11/
cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.backup

- Open your xorg.conf and set your TV mode (pal or ntsc):

gedit /media/filesystem/etc/X11/xorg.conf

- Find the Subsection "Display" in the section "Screen"
- Replace "pal_50" with "ntsc_60" if you have a NTSC TV
- If you have the problem with the "small line" try to remove the lines with "HorizSync", "VertRefresh", "Modeline "pal_50"" and "Modeline "ntsc_60"" in the section "Monitor" and the whole subsection "Display"

- Now you can try to boot your Wii with Linux.

Getting WiFi to work

- Download the necessary debian packages and put them to /media/filesystem/home/wii/:

- nano: http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/...ch1_powerpc.deb
- wpasupplicant: http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/...5-2_powerpc.deb
- wireless-tools: http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/...f.1_powerpc.deb
- udev: http://security.debian.org/debian-security...ch1_powerpc.deb
- libiw28: http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/...f.1_powerpc.deb
- libvolume: http://security.debian.org/debian-security...ch1_powerpc.deb
- wifi firmware: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gc-linux/f...tar.gz/download

- Boot your Wii Linux
- Open a terminal and login as root (pwd is "whiite")
- Install the packages:

cd /home/wii/
dpkg -i *.deb

- Extract the wifi firmware:

cd /
tar -xzvf /home/wii/openfwwf-5.2-bin.tar.gz

- Edit the wifi settings:

nano /etc/network/interfaces

- For WPA 1/2 add this:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-ssid YOUR_SSID_GOES_HERE
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-psk YOUR_SECRET_GOES_HERE
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-pairwise TKIP CCMP
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-group TKIP CCMP
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-proto WPA RSN
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-ap-scan 1
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwpa-scan-ssid 1

- For WEP (ASCII string key) add this:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwireless-essid YOUR_SSID_GOES_HERE
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwireless-key YOUR_ASCII_SECRET_GOES_HERE

- For WEP (binary key) add this:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwireless-essid YOUR_SSID_GOES_HERE
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂwireless-key s:0123-4567-89

- Test your wifi connection:

ifup wlan0
ping www.google.com

- If you get responses: CONGRATULATIONS! Now your Wii will automatically connect your wifi on every boot

And what now?

- Now you can update your system (as root!):

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

- You can also install a "normal" desktop environment like XFCE4. It`s more comfortable to use, but will use more RAM and will run slower. But it`s quite usable.

apt-get install xfce4

- Install whatever you want! Have fun!

Problems and their solutions

Problem: No sound
Solution: CODEusermod -G audio


by elmurato
revision 5


PS: If something isn`t clear feel free to ask so that I can improve this tutorial. Thanks!

Sources

http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/WL:whiite-linux
http://www.tehskeen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9777
http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/MINI:KernelPreviewThree
http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/WL:Wifi_Configuration

 

[litobro]

My wifi keyboard and mouse set didn't work, grabbed a cheap $15 keyboard and that worked fine. Generic mouse works. Problem is, for gnash, libgnash0 is missing from the sources... Anybody got a direct link?

 

[fishears]

My wifi keyboard and mouse set didn't work, grabbed a cheap $15 keyboard and that worked fine. Generic mouse works. Problem is, for gnash, libgnash0 is missing from the sources... Anybody got a direct link?

libgnash0 has been removed from etch backports - I think it had unresolvable conflicts - don't know why they left gnash there as it won't work without libgnash0....
You could give this copy a try (it's from the Feisty PPC repo). It'll probably kick up some more deps but they might be on the Feisty repo as well.

 

[fishears]

any one know if wireless keyboards work?

The logitech Wii Keyboard works like a charm.

 

[litobro]

My wifi keyboard and mouse set didn't work, grabbed a cheap $15 keyboard and that worked fine. Generic mouse works. Problem is, for gnash, libgnash0 is missing from the sources... Anybody got a direct link?

libgnash0 has been removed from etch backports - I think it had unresolvable conflicts - don't know why they left gnash there as it won't work without libgnash0....
You could give this copy a try (it's from the Feisty PPC repo). It'll probably kick up some more deps but they might be on the Feisty repo as well.

I'll give it a shot, sigh, dependencies here, dependencies there. This may be a lot more hassle than it's worth

 

[amf66]

I've installed xwhiite, and it boots but I can't figure out how to login as root. In all the shells (bash and sh) it doesn't recognize "sudo" as a command. Am I not in the right terminal, and if so how do I access the terminal?

 

[ozguy]

just type the 'su' command and it will ask for the root password.

 

[leinad]

Wohay, this rox

Now I can use tuxload to load from rapidshare all over the day on my WII with no need to keep running my PC xD
Later I will try to get a WBFS manager working, lol.

 

[amf66]

I've gotten wifi to work in xwhiite, but whenever I try to install or change anything I get errors saying things about a read only filesystem or read only lock file. For example, when I type apt-get install xfce4 in the terminal as a superuser this is what I get:

W: Not using locking for read only lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

When I try to run dpkg --configure -a I get this error:

dpkg: unable to access dpkg status area: Read-only file system

Does anyone know how to fix this?

 

[vatomalo]

Hi, i have the logitech elite keyboard, well it works for dosboxwii etc
but its not working on xwhiite 0,2 someone got any ideas on how to fix this?

ive used the zboard keyboard i had laying and it works(overexpensive and useless, but now it serves a purpose

)

But is there anyway for me to change the resolution, i wanted to use it for vncviewer but the screen is way to small,
and the vnc window way too big

 

[elmurato]

Updated to rev4

- Changed kernel links from mikep3 to mikep4
- 2 ways of booting the kernel
- Added "Problems and their solutions"
- Some minor changes

 

[elmurato]

@ amf66
Did you check the write-protection-switch on your sd card?

@ vatomalo
The Wii cannot show more than 480p (640x480).

 

[Satur0s]

can anyone make a file system image of this?

 

[elmurato]

can anyone make a file system image of this?

I could do one but my upload speed is very low and it would take ages... Sorry.

 

[amf66]

@ amf66
Did you check the write-protection-switch on your sd card?

@ vatomalo
The Wii cannot show more than 480p (640x480).

Yes I did. I'll mess around with it some more and see if I can get it to work.

@Satur0s
I'll try to make an image of the file system with xfce4 installed soon.

Edit: I tried to make a tar.gz of the filesystem on my SD card, but I keep getting access denied errors in Ubuntu. It seems that xwhiite has made itself the sole owner of all the files! Does anyone know how to change permissions inside of xwhiite?

 

[elmurato]

The easiest way to create/restore an image of a partition is "partimage".

sudo apt-get install partimage

 

[WiiThoko]

I managed to get this working, I also installed the xfce thingy and I can browse the web fine. I'm completely new to linux though, and I was wondering how do I install the latest versions of flash and java?

 

[leanbeef]

Hi guys. Firstly a great tut, plus all these questions helped me get through it pretty easily.
However im having a single major problem:

On my tv i only see a small horizontal strip of the background (just over mouse size as an estimate). The rest of the screen is black, however the bar in the middle seems to me to be the actual top of the screen since my mouse cannot go any higher.

Im running at pal_50 ((because i cant be bothered getting pal60 working)), and im using the preconfigured xorg.conf for pal50 aswell as the MikeP3 576I kernel (P4 didnt work.. i dont really care about upstream.)

I know this has been asked before, but im quite daft with resolutions and any changes i make the the xorg config (monitor section only) ends up executing a shutdown after its booted (and i still get no visual feed

).

So any replies would be greatly appreciated, especially if anyone knows how i can fix it or post their working xorg config for 576I (or 480i)
I was looking forward to getting wifi working... But this has got me completely stumped

 

[leanbeef]

I'm completely new to linux though, and I was wondering how do I install the latest versions of flash and java?

Flash i dont beleive directly supports PPC. Im not so sure bout java tho. Try getting a 3rd party player for PPC, perhaps you should consult google.

 

[DIXES]

How to solve TV Overscan problem ? Any solution ? Thanks a lot !!!
(My LCD TV is NTSC and Wii's video mode is 480p.)
Sorry for my English.

 

[minxkitty8]

Im really stuck... so i have wii linux all up and running, i got everything installed, (i renamed all the files 1-7 to make it eisier to type in)
Then i edited the file and used the code on ur last sourse for a wireless network without a security code. So i did that and then i typed in ping www.google.com and it sayd could not find host www.google.com. Ive tryed everything!!! It just wont connect. I also have a dlink securespot router i dont know if that matters or not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.