i recently got a wii and want to backup my original games and play copies of them instead, the system menu is 3.4e. i have installed the homebrew channel, but for the life of me i cannot get my head around some things (mainly this 'cios' thing) despite having read dozens of pages and guides and searching the forums - perhaps as i'm not entirely what i should be searching for!
would some kind soul please take pity and educate me regarding these questions?
1) according to various posts from 2009 i get the impression i *have* to downgrade from from 3.4e to 3.2 to play backups? is that right, and why?
2) i've read that wiigator backup loader (at least) does not work without the presence of 'cios'? do cioses get installed to the wii or stay on the sd card?
3) do new games require new cioses, meaning the modded wii needs constant updating? how would i know if a game needs a certain cios which i don't have?
4) is there a frequently updated 'combined' cios installer that will cover the majority of old cioses and new ones as they come out?
5) i've read that versions newer than 3.2 can automatically download system updates from nintendo via wii connect 24 - how do you disable wii connect 24 and *disc* updates?
6) is installing the homebrewchannel and backup loader to wii itself (via wad manager?) safe and easy to uninstall?
lastly, should the full procedure go thusly:
bannerbomb exploit to install homebrewchannel > downgrade to 3.2 > install backup loader and cios > put in burned wii game.
many thanks to all who help me, posting for clarification really was a last resort for me! lol.
1) according to various posts from 2009 i get the impression i *have* to downgrade from from 3.4e to 3.2 to play backups? is that right, and why?
No
You don't have to downgrade from 3.4 to 3.2 to play backups.
I'd imagine people were saying this because it is easier on 3.2 than on 3.4
Also I think the Twilight Hack was broken for a week (November 2008) between when 3.4 was first released and when an updated version of the Twilight Hack was release by Team Twiizers. If you had 3.4 then, you wouldn't have been able to install the Homebrew Channel.
You can play backups on 4.0
2) i've read that wiigator backup loader (at least) does not work without the presence of 'cios'? do cioses get installed to the wii or stay on the sd card?
Yes
You do need a CIOS for the backup loader to work
CIOS gets installed on the Wii (not the SD card) but it isn't anything to worry about.
You might hear about a lot of CIOSes but there really aren't that many (13, or 14 if you count 13b)
The CIOSes that you hear about here are the work of Waninkoko.
http://www.teknoconsolas.es/blogs/waninkoko A cIOS is a custom IOS. That is, Waninkoko took an orginal Nintendo IOS and modified it. They all install to IOS249
CIOS38 rev 13 is a custom IOS based on the orginal IOS38
CIOS36 rev 10 is a cutsom IOS based on the orginal IOS36
There are 13 revisions. 1-3 based on 37, 4-11 based on 36, and the recently released 12-13 on 38 (although 11 is a little different)
3) do new games require new cioses, meaning the modded wii needs constant updating? how would i know if a game needs a certain cios which i don't have?
What you are thinking about are IOSes (as opposed to cIOS). Certain newer games do need specific IOSes. If you update to 4.0 then you will have all the IOSes that you need to play any game that is released. Some people have to go through installing these separately because they don't want to upgrade to 4.0
The Wii has 256 IOS slots. Official ones used by Nintendo go up to 61. After that (202, 222, 249, 254 etc) are slots where custom IOSes (cIOS) are installed.
You can check them out here: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/IOS_History 38, 53, and 55 specifically are the ones that people who are on 3.2 usually need to install to play the latest games. However if you update your system menu the update would come with these IOSes.
4) is there a frequently updated 'combined' cios installer that will cover the majority of old cioses and new ones as they come out?
Only one cIOS is installed at a time to the IOS249 slot.
If you install another one it will overwrite the old one.
http://www.teknoconsolas.es/blogs/waninkoko Is where you can get them from. There are many sources for them but that is Waninkoko's (the one who makes them) site
5) i've read that versions newer than 3.2 can automatically download system updates from nintendo via wii connect 24 - how do you disable wii connect 24 and *disc* updates?
There was suspicion of this starting in 3.4 when the policy was changed. You can see it at the end of the page here: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/System_Menu_3.4 Old Policy
"To ensure that your Wii Console is operating properly and efficiently, we may download updates, patches, upgrades and similar software to your Wii Console. In addition, we may disable unauthorized or illegal software that has been placed on your Wii Console without notifying you where necessary, in order to comply with applicable laws, assist law enforcement, protect us and our customers, and prevent the use and distribution of software obtained through improper channels."
New Policy
"We may without notifying you, download updates, patches, upgrades and similar software to your Wii Console and may disable unauthorized or illegal software placed on your Wii Console to ensure that your Wii Console is operating properly and efficiently, comply with applicable laws, assist law enforcement, protect us and our customers, or prevent the use and distribution of software obtained through improper channels."
This doesn't seem to be the case. The updates have been checked and no automatic updating feature has been found. Also no one was automatically updated from 3.4 to 4.0.
You can disable WiiConnect24 in the system settings menu. When WiiConnect24 is off, your Wii's power light will be red instead of orange when you turn it off.
6) is installing the homebrewchannel and backup loader to wii itself (via wad manager?) safe and easy to uninstall?
lastly, should the full procedure go thusly:
bannerbomb exploit to install homebrewchannel > downgrade to 3.2 > install backup loader and cios > put in burned wii game.
many thanks to all who help me, posting for clarification really was a last resort for me! lol.
You won't be using Wad Manager to install the Homebrew Channel or the Backup Loader.
And yes it is safe and easy to uninstall.
As for that procedure, it would take more than just the Homebrew Channel to downgrade to 3.2
The backup loader will be on your SD card. cIOS is what will be installed.
