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Some Wii modchip help

Nully

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Having entirely missed out on the Wii modchip scene due to being fine with softmods back in the day, I am completely clueless about it. I am trying to do some research, but seemingly every link or website I click doesn't exist anymore and archive.org isn't helping. I recently came into a ton of Wiis (white, black, red, blue etc) and am trying to give them a reason to exist. I had read about "WiiFree" (and the alternatives like Wiinja and YAOSIM) but am failing to find the install points on any of these boards. From what I've been able to gather so far, I think I've narrowed it done to anything but the GC2-D2C chip can use the PIC modchips but these require the 30+/- wire chips (that I can't find a source anywhere for as all links appear to be dead). I have found one so far in a red console ( I can't find a source for these online and the install looks like hell. I even saw a blog saying you need to use a dremel to grind the drive chip.. are the drives swappable?).

Looking for a quick rundown on the Wii modding FAQs I suppose if anyone remembers. I don't like softmods/dealing with software so that's not an alternative. :confused:

What I've gathered so far:
Code:
PIC based - DMS, D2A and D2B
Anything else - requires 30 wire chip, possible grinding to expose leads, possibly the drive chip is covered in epoxy (removed by heating with hot air)

So essentially, anything that isn't DMS, D2A and D2B isn't worth the effort at this point?

Searching serial on database https://www.wiidrives.com

Hours later and some deep digging through Archive.org, I think it comes down to essentially nothing but launch models are able to use the PIC solutions and everything after is going to be hell to install (this doesn't even take into account they aren't for sale anywhere that I normally find things) for these worthless consoles thanks to Nintendo's solutions to stop them from epoxy to cutting off leads and possibly more.
 
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Nully

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While I eventually cracked the case, no one had anything at all to say about the ins and outs of Wii modifications? I guess more people than me slept on it due to HBC being so easy to accomplish.
 

cta

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Softmodding is just way too easy for most people to want to deal with a hardware solution. And the only thing a drivechip enables you to do that a softmod doesn't is to run games off recordable media. Why you'd want to do that when you can have those on a tiny, silent USB drive, I dunno...

But then again lost knowledge, even if obsolete, is never a good thing, so more power to you.
 
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Nully

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You would be surprised how many people don’t want to deal with, learn about it, configure or touch any sort of software (The disc channel in this instance is almost too much for some) when dealing with modded systems. Yes I am aware of GBAtemp wiki which is where the majority of my original post was sourced from. I was asking for information not obvious that went down during the Wii’s lifespan and what we’ve concluded thus far. Which appears to be for the most part the software abilities have made hardware modifications obsolete for most users. If anyone has a surplus of these old chips for cheap let me know. Not much else to say at this point but thanks for the contribution.
 
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Nully

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I am generally opposed to using anything but discs as well and I still have binders I use. I think it’s too easy to give up and change to another game when you have them all on an SD card, I’ve tried this with several systems such as PSIO and GDEMU etc, I have since sold those off and returned to my CD-R binders. ADHD takes over when you have the entire library for me and others :cool:
 

Trimesh

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Hours later and some deep digging through Archive.org, I think it comes down to essentially nothing but launch models are able to use the PIC solutions and everything after is going to be hell to install (this doesn't even take into account they aren't for sale anywhere that I normally find things) for these worthless consoles thanks to Nintendo's solutions to stop them from epoxy to cutting off leads and possibly more.

That's a fairly accurate assessment. The earliest ones were easy to modify and got progressively harder. If you really want a hardware modded Wii, the best thing to do is find a very early Japanese unit.
 
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Nully

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That's a fairly accurate assessment. The earliest ones were easy to modify and got progressively harder. If you really want a hardware modded Wii, the best thing to do is find a very early Japanese unit.
Thanks for the tip, I'll keep an eye out. I checked about 25 mostly white Wiis so far and haven't found a single one that is able to utilize WiiFree yet. I didn't think it would be this hard having mostly whites, I knew the black and onward had issues as far as DVDs back then.
 

Trimesh

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If you take the battery out, there is a number marked on the board that's the same as the dash number of the main PCB - the "01" units are way more likely to have the old drive. The colored ones are typically -30 or later and will almost certainly have one of unhackable drives in them.
 

Nully

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If you take the battery out, there is a number marked on the board that's the same as the dash number of the main PCB - the "01" units are way more likely to have the old drive. The colored ones are typically -30 or later and will almost certainly have one of unhackable drives in them.
Is this not the same level of verification as using https://www.wiidrives.com/identify?serial=LU3356 etc? At least where it says 75-100% chance anyway. I opened a few 25-50% chance and it was confirmed to be as expected.

Meh, I can't find any parts anywhere online anyway so this is a lost cause. Thanks for clearing things up.
 
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Ergot

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Plus the actual profit to be made from selling the modified Wii consoles is negligible.
 
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Nully

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The initial spur of the moment idea was remembering reading about WiiFree and it’s counterparts being touted as a $0.50 solution to giving a second life to and providing a reason to save several totes of Wii’s from being tossed in a landfill which as research has shown wasn’t true. An unfortunate circumstance, but the market has decided they are paperweights for sure. No big deal though.
 

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