Softmod Wii Quick, Fast, and In A Hurry

Another post from Dimitri. (DISCLAIMER: I do not condone or encourage any of the activities or actions described in this third-party blog post):

Things you'll need:
Nintendo Wii 
WiFi and Internet connection for aforementioned Wii
A 4GB SD card and an external USB drive with at least 16GB

.          -OR- 

A 16GB SD card

Format SD cards and/or USB drives in any one of the following formats:

*FAT

*FAT32

*NTFS

Avoid exFAT, WBFS, ext1, ext2, ext3, CDFS, or any other formats not listed.

I went from not owning a Nintendo Wii to having one fully modded playing free games (homebrew and Wii) in about fours hours time, but it only took that long because of all the trial and error. Tony's says my last post on his blog was pretty since for some of his classmates, friends and family always asked these questions on the Internet without really getting any good information. So, here's what to do.

THEORY

So, first, some theory behind what's going on. (You can skip this part if you just want it to work, but don't care how or why it works) First, we need to be able to launch applications that were developed by people other than the official developers; so called "homebrew" software. Then you'll be able to install and run all kinds of third party software. As far as I know, the most streamlined method of this is to update your Wii to the latest version through the Wii menu, and then using the letterbomb technique. Use your home WiFi to update your Wii through the official method (i.e. through the Wii menu) and while this is happening, access your home router's interface to determine the MAC address of your Wii, as you'll need that information for the letterbomb. 

Once you have downloaded the letterbomb file, place it on your SD card

 I recommend you also download the Homebrew Browser (INSTALL: http://www.codemii.com/download/), and place it on your SD card. It utilizes repositories in order to allow the user to select from a wide range of demos, games, emulators, and utilities. 

For some homebrew applications, such as programs that will allow you to backup Wii games, and play already backed up Wii games, require the additional step of adding a custom IOS (the "firmware" that the Wii runs on). To do that, you'll need a cIOS Installer. My favorite is d2x cIOS Installer. 

Finally, you'll need a loader to load backed up Wii games, or to make backups of Wii games. My favorite is Configurable USB Loader. It supports SD cards and USB drives, does not rely on that terrible-to-navigate WBFS file system, and will allow you to play games that require an update without screwing up your ability to play backups later on. 

ENOUGH TALK! ACTION!

Here's the step-by-step guide that I made, but the homebrew scene is constantly changing, so if you come across this post much later than it was made, use that Google website all your friends are talking about.

1. Turn on your Wii and update it to the latest firmware via your home WiFi
2. Get into your router and find your Wii's MAC address.
3. Go to http://please.hackmii.com/, select your firmware version, enter your MAC, and cut either wire
4. Extract the zip to your SD card according to README instructions.
5. Download the Homebrew Browser (INSTALL: http://www.codemii.com/download/) and extract the zip to your SD card according to README instructions.
6. Download d2x cIOS Installer and extract the zip to your SD card according to README instructions.
7. Download Configurable USB Loader and extract the zip to your SD card according to README instructions. 
8. Make a folder in the root of your SD card called wbfs
9. Place the SD card into your Wii
10. Go to your messages, and go back a day or two until you find the nasty looking red envelope with the bomb sticking out of it. 
11. Open that and follow the onscreen instructions.

You can now browse, install, and run homebrew applications, such as Super Nintendo Emulators. Download and install via the Homebrew Browser. Run via the homebrew channel. If that's all you wanted to do, you're done!
The next step is risky, so I recommend you Google "Wii NAND backup" and backup your NAND so that if you wreck your Wii, you can recover it. I didn't, but I like to live dangerously ;-)

12. From the Homebrew Channel (HBC) launch dx2 cIOS Installer
13. Select the newest version, install to cIOS 249, use base 56
14. Once that's done, from the HBC, launch Cfg Usb Loader
15. To backup a game, insert the disc into the Wii, and from Cfg USB Loader, click the little sprocket from the upper left hand corner and click install. Once it's installed, download covers. Repeat for each game that you want to install.
16. Backed up games that you installed will appear here. Backed up games that you placed into the wbfs folder on your SD card or USB drive will also show up here (you may need to download more covers)
17. To play a Wii game from a disc THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE AN UPDATE, just do it how you normally 
would.
18. To play a Wii game from a disc THAT DOES REQUIRE AN UPDATE, insert the disc into the Wii, use the HBC to launch Cfg USB Loader. Click the sprocket in the upper left corner. Click BOOT DISC.

If there are any terms you don't understand, Google them. Leave comments or questions here for Tony and he or I will answer them for you.

Thanks!

DmVee (Dmitri V.)

And thank you, D!

»Tony