I've been reading lots of the guides recently and decided to go for the softmod install on my 4.1e system. This was successful and I installed HBC 1.0.3, Neogamma R6 before installing Bootmii (as suggested by Larry).
My problem came when I tried to install preloader 0.29 using the 4.1e hack.ini
I was a bit confused by some of the posts on here which seemed to suggest that no other files needed installing apart from the preloader, so I went for it.
Everything went okay but when it finished it didn't reboot, so I had to restart by using the power button.
It went stright into the preloader and I was able to complete the recommended "Skip disc update check" hack and change the autoboot settings. However, when I tried to switch to the system menu, it just went to a blank screen. The only way to get from here was to again use the power button.
This time I selected Homebrew and it went there okay, but when I tried to come out again to the system menu, same result.
After trying various things to resolve it, a couple of hours later I decided to use Bootmii to reinstall the backup I did (thank god)
Can anyone tell me if I missed something whilst installing preloader, did I need to downgrade to 3.2 or load IOS60Patched.wad ?
I'm reluctant to try again in case I stuff it again.
Just found mentioned on another site that there is a hack in preloader called "Blackscreen at Wii system menu Startup!" and I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the problem. I did have trouble getting to the "save settings" line because the hacks list was longer that the screen and I may have selected ths in error.
If I did then it's down to me, but what I would be interested to know would be how you get out of the blackscreen from this hack, as I must have pressed every button on the wiimote and console trying to get the screen back !
If this was the problem then I may try to install again and make sure I keep my glasses on this time.....
The hacks list for 4.1 is longer than previous versions; however, you can scroll down to the end with your wiimote if you need/want to check all of the settings.
As for your console going to the black screen, go to system settings instead of the hacks menu. Ensure that the first option is "boot to system menu". The second option should be "boot to preloader". Then save the change if necessary.
That way, the system menu will come up before preloader first so you wont' get to preloader or a black screen every time you reset/reboot, unless you're holding down the reset button.
Also, if you have any of the last 3 options in preloader hacks menu enabled for 4.1, then you will get the black screen anyways. Those 3 basically are security meaures (if you can call it that) forcing you to have to boot to preloader before you can access homebrew or the system menu. It's kind of a security feature in case you don't want your kids or someone being able to use the wii without your permission. Kind of dumb though since you can just remove the sd card to bypass it anyway. Just make sure those last 3 aren't selected.
Thanks for the response.
I'm sure I had it set to boot to the system menu but think it always went to preloader instead.
I may have set one of the last 3 hacks by mistake. Would these also turn off the wiimote ?
If they are security features then how would you get past them?
As said before, I'm a bit worried about trying to install preloader again unless someone can tell me if I need to install any of the other items or downgrade to 3.2 first....
Originally posted by bah00uk: Thanks for the response.
I'm sure I had it set to boot to the system menu but think it always went to preloader instead.
I may have set one of the last 3 hacks by mistake. Would these also turn off the wiimote ?
If they are security features then how would you get past them?
As said before, I'm a bit worried about trying to install preloader again unless someone can tell me if I need to install any of the other items or downgrade to 3.2 first....
Technically the wiimote would/should never sync with the wii if one of those last 3 options in preloader .29 for firmware 4.1 have been enabled. Those last 3 options don't let the wii load the system menu and that's where the wiimote synchs up. It would probably only synch after you boot to preloader, but honestly, I'm not 100% sure about that.
Preloader can be used like a security feature if one of those last 3 options were enabled because 1) it may very well keep the remote from synching up and 2) people who don't know about preloader wouldn't know to hold the reset button to get to the menu so that you could then boot to the system menu. This could be useful if you have kids and don't want them playing the Wii without supervision or something as they would need your assistance to start it up.
Preloader is safe. You can always disable any hacks that you enable and you can reinstall preloader whenever you want. Just make sure to have the correct version of the hacks.ini in the root of the sd card or you'll get an error. You really should be on 4.1 now as it has so many upgraded features like SDHC support up to 32GB and the ability to play games directly off the SD card. There's nothing you can't do with a 4.1 soft modded system. The scariest part about it was not being able to install the homebrew channel if you had not already softmodded prior to upgrading. But now that there is bannerbomb, there are no worries.
You should be able to edit out any hacks you don't want from the hacks.ini file.
So open up the hacks.ini file with notepad or wordpad and delete the hacks at the end so you know for sure they can not be enabled.
Delete...
[Error cannot load channel (not sure if this one works...)]
version=450
offset=0x8137D7E0
value=0x38000001
offset=0x8137F5B0
value=0x38600001
[Blackscreen at Wii system menu Startup!]
version=450
offset=0x8137A924
value=0x60000000
[DSI Error code at Wii system menu Startup! (not sure if this one works...)]
version=450
offset=0x8137A8A8,0x8137A8AC,0x8137A8B0,0x8137A8B4, etc. etc. etc. (I didn't finish the rest because it screwed up the thread alignment).
