[SpookyZalost]

alright here's the next tutorial.

that's right, we're going to hack the nintendo wii, (no not the wii U, the original wii).





so for those of you who got through the first one this one is quite a bit easier, for the wii you will first need the following.

• An SD card (2gb or bigger is ideal).
  
• a computer that can read an SD card.
  
• Internet Access.
  

no opening up of the console this time 



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Alright so step one is to prepare your SD card, use Fat 16, the wii tends to read/write fat 16 faster than fat 32 and has fewer errors too.

Make sure the SD card is blank and formatted before proceeding.

now you want to find out what Software/firmware your wii is running.

To find out what version of the operating system you have, go to Wii Options, click on "Wii Settings" and check the number on the upper right corner of that screen. That's your OS version. If you have 4.2 or lower you will use something called Bannerbomb. If you have 4.3, you will use Letterbomb.

also remember to set your wii to not update, nintendo is notorious for sending out updates to turn that freshly hacked console into a paperweight, there is a safe method for upgrading/updating the OS.


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now let's start with older wii's that use Version 4.2 or lower, for them you need a software mod called bannerbomb.

for that you will also need.

• Bannerbomb channel data on your SD Card
  
• Some homebrew to load (Recommended, the HackMii Installer)
  
• A system menu between 4.0 and 4.2. (System Menu 4.3 prevents Bannerbomb from executing.) 
  

Also please note that the bannerbomb software is older and the website is not HTTPS so if you get a security exception ignore it, trust me it's safe.

Bannerbomb v1, for System Menu 4.1 and below.

Bannerbomb v2 for System Menu 4.2. NOTE! For this version you MUST use the SD Card menu and NOT the standard Data Management menu!

now to actually install the software mod

1. If your SD card has a private directory with saved channels, rename it temporarily, e.g. to "privateold". Having other saved channels on the same card will screw it up. (You can skip this step if you don't have any channels on the SD card. Saves are fine.)
   
2. Copy the Bannerbomb "private" folder to the root of your SD card.
   
3. Take your Wii executable, name it "boot.dol" or "boot.elf" if it isn't already, and save it in the root directory of your SD card.
   
4. Put your SD card in your Wii and turn it on.
   • For Bannerbomb v1: Go into Wii Options --> Data Management --> Channels --> SD Card.
     
   • For Bannerbomb v2: Go to the SD Card Menu on the main System Menu screen
     
5. A message should appear asking to "load boot.dol/.elf". If it freezes or does not appear, download the next .zip file from the Bannerbomb website and start over.
   
6. The homebrew on your SD card will load. Enjoy!
   
7. (Optional) Fill out Comex's survey on the Bannerbomb website.
   

now in case things go horribly horribly wrong.

Troubleshooting

Please note that Bannerbomb does not work for everyone at this time.
If your Wii freezes while trying to use Bannerbomb, follow these diagnostics:

• Repeat the procedure with the same version once or twice. It can be fickle.
  
• Make sure you're not trying to use the SD Menu on System Menu 4.0 (the little blue SD card button in the lower left).
  
• Check that you pressed the Channels button in Data Management.
  
• Make sure that Bannerbomb is the only channel on the SD card.
  
• Try a different version of Bannerbomb. Most people should be able to use the recommended version of BannerBomb given, but some might need another version.
  
• Eject the SD card, go into the channels menu, then on SD where it says no SD card is inserted, then insert the card (works for Toshiba 256MB cards and Menu 4.0E at least)
  

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now if your wii is ver 4.3 or newer you want to use something called letter bomb, the installation is similar to banner bomb however it goes a bit like this.

First Download LetterBomb (The HackMii Installer is included with LetterBomb; leave the box checked that says "Bundle the HackMii Installer for me!")

now in addition to the SD card you will also need.

• Your Wii's MAC Address 
  
• LetterBomb message data on your SD Card.
  
• Some homebrew to load (In this case, the HackMii Installer)
  
• System Menu 4.3
  
• You must have at least one message on your Wii before trying to run the exploit. If you don't then simply create a memo on the Wii Message Board.
  

it's essential you have a message on your wii as that's how the exploit bypasses the security nintendo puts on the wii's OS.

now for the fun part.

1. Find your Wii's WiFi MAC Address. Go to Wii Options --> Wii Settings --> (Go to page 2) --> Internet --> Console Information. This is needed because the Wii will only accept messages addressed to its specific MAC address.
   
2. Enter the MAC address on the LetterBomb site and select the correct region of your Wii. Enter the captcha and click either of the buttons.
   
3. If your SD card has a "private" folder, rename it temporarily, e.g. to "privateold".
   
4. Copy the LetterBomb "private" folder to the root of your SD card.
   
5. Take the HackMii Installer "boot.elf" and copy it to the root directory of your SD card. (Root means not in any folders, just on the SD card.)
   
6. Put your SD card in your Wii and turn it on.
   
7. Go to the Wii Message Board and wait a little bit for the messages to load. LetterBomb should be wherever "today" is but depending on your time zone it can be on "yesterday" or "two days ago".
   
8. Click the letter and the homebrew on your SD card will load. Enjoy!
   

Remember to put the HackMii installer on the root directory of your SD card so that letterbomb will load it allowing you to patch your wii with hacked software.
if you did all that then the wii should now be running custom firmware.

Some Wii's have MAC addresses that don't match with Nintendo's list of MAC addresses (for example 00:1A:E4:xx:xx:xx or 0e:0c:7f:xx:xx:xx will not work). The workaround for these Wii's is to use Wilbrand rather than Letterbomb.

from here it's all pretty much the same, run the hackmii installer and install whatever homebrew apps, emulators, or backup software you want.

just like the Xbox software mod you can do anything with this that you can use an old computer for, including install linux, in fact if it's setup you can even SSH into your wii-linux distro, but I'll go into setting up linux on the wii another time.

once again, I do not condone the act of software piracy, what you do with your hacked console is your business.

thanks for reading, if you have any questions or want to know more about console modding please reply in the thread below or message me here on Makestation

Zalost - Out.