Ok by tracking the serial number on my Wii I have found out that my Drive Chip is most probably a DB2 without drive pins cut, this makes sense cause the Wii is fairly old... My Wii is European...
After a Disastrous Modding experience on my PS2 years back I am cautious to get my soldering Iron out again and start tormenting my Wii, If I am right the Wii-Clip can now be purchased with the chip already soldered to it therefore just requiring the wii-clip to be clicked into place and the points covered as descriped in their installation Faq.
One question I have is I notice that the region free is in a separate are of the board, does this mean that using only the Wii-Clip will not make my Wii Region fee and does that men that back-ups that are not European won't play? Also and I am sure you get this question a lot, using a Wii-Clip for a DB2 what chip would you recommend I get attached to it? Some say Wasabi is the best cause it's new but others say that flashing the drive with a DVD is not a good option, Argon is the best in others opinions cause it does not flash using a DVD.
The whole Flashing thing is beyond me to be honest with you, I am not sure what it will accomplish, is there a chance these Mod Chips will not work in the future and they are preparing for this or is there another reason? Have any of the Mod Chips ever released for the Wii not able to play back-ups now.
To be honest with you I just want to burn back-ups and play them, no more and no less with the least risk to my Wii...
OK - wiiclip is that new, that there is not much in the way of ppl with experience or knowledge of others who have it. If it works at it's supposed to then great. You of course know that the wiiclip needs to have the chip soldered in and if you are going for a pre-soldered one the ARGON is going to be better than the wasabi. Region free will not be a problem - you will be able to play NTSC games as well (not all cos some just won't work).
The "flashing thing" with the programmer on the ARGON ensures future-proof compatability. You can buy the ARGON bundled with the programmer and you should investigate that possibility that as well - see if you can get the ARGON wii-clipped with the programmer cos if you buy separately it is more expensive.
Regarding playing backups and risks etc.... It's an ideal world where ppl can customise something which the manufacturers advise against and just crack on like it's all straight forward. You have to try and understand as much as possible but if you want to play NTSC disks then there is risk. To avoid this - always update online preferably or at the very least from PAL disks - NEVER from NTSC and your wii will be fine. Brick-blocking NTSC disks is one way to stop that as well.
Ok... Thanks for the reply, I hear about this Wlip as well, seems to be simular to the Wclip but it seems you can only buy it from one reseller at the moment which is a little off-putting and I also read some interesting information like (What if it disconnects by accident and fried the whole Wii)...
If I was gonna avoid all the gadgets I guess I would go with the 5 wire Wasabi install, It seems that the D2B boards have been abandonned a bit now though, do the new chips work with only with the new boards or all of them, the only reason i mention it is because the Wasabi seem to make a point of saying that there chip works with all of the boards...
As for updating with gamediscs (Does it give you the option to not update?) if it does then I can just refuse all the time and like you said update from the PAL using the Wi-Fi connection I have...
Will these chips play back-ups indefinitely? does the oldest chip made still play back-ups after firmware updates from Nintendo?
ARGON will work with all boards - same wires, better updating, better than wasabi.
Older chips? Some are dead and buried.... I have a wiikey in mine - It still does a good job where other chips have fallen away but it's getting tight. Wiikey can't run SSBB retail though it will run a backup of it. That said, many on wiikey are struggling to get it to work - Mine is ok. Future support for wiikey is looking doubtful and if it becomes an issue and I'm unable to run the latest games in the future I will be putting in the Infectus 2 - which is basically the same as the Argon but has more options and comes with the programmer. If it wasn't going to be Infectus then it would defo be Argon. If I was going to put a wii-clipped chip in it would be Argon. Fitting either of these chips directly i.e. without clip, will be just as easy as wasabi - 5 wires (plus one optional).
Playing backups indefinitely - depends on the media, how good the chip is and how picky it is over media. Any change to Wii updates, chip updates can affect this and on older chips many have had problems. The newer chips should have better compatability and be more stable but if you want guarantees then that is never going to happen because there are so many different burners for a start and no-one can say.
Updating - you can always stop an update but generally you will have no probs if you stay currently updated online. Some games have a necessary dedicated update though - SMG, SSBB etc. and as long as the firmware is updated you take that update. But if you stay up to date and read about releases and issues before you try any game then you will save yourself any problems. Also many backup games come with the firmware update stripped these days though you need to be sure still.
What your say sounds great, ARAGON it is then (no point buying one right now if a new one is released in a few days), I'm only worried about these updates...
So I connect the 5 wires and optional 6th and then... Do I need to solder the programmer to the chip or does it just click in? I read that the programmer has a USB, how does that work? Do I download updates from my pc then plug a usb cable into the programmer for download? does the programmer sit externally outside of the wii for easy access?
Thanks for all your help, you can't image how hard it is reading threads about this stuff for a week and not finding the anwsers you are looking for...
tbh - you'd be better off looking around the official site, including the forums and trying to understand how everything works, seeing what issues there are etc. That way you can be prepared when you get to the point of installation. For example, everyday ppl come in here and say they bricked their Wii and they did what others have already detailed here when they would have had no problem had they stayed up to date. Some stuff isn't easy to follow but personally I find persistence pays.
The controller is ribbon connected and I don't know exactly how it's housed etc - I don't think there is any soldering but larrylje - another member here who is pretty much an expert on the Argon will be able to answer any other queries. My knowledge is limited I'm afraid.
I'd only be going backwards and forwards to the site to tell you what I can see there which I think you would be better off doing yourself. You can always ask questions on their forum as well.
Sure I understand, I have been there before with Bricking my PS2 years back so will certainly be causious, just trying to be a sponge at the momment and take it all in, you have helped me a lot, from what I can see on the site been browsing this afternoon this Injectus 2 comes with a Mod Chip...
It looks like 2 parts in the picture and since I can see the noticable a b c d etc on the larger board on the right I am guessing thats the actual ModChip, if they come as a package thats great news for me as a new mod chip purchaser, I think it uses a Ribbon from the picture and I am guessing it would be easy to secure that externally on the outside of the console...
Seems the Injectus 2 is not quite released yet though, I saw a few places selling it but I am guessing it is a pre-order scheme...
Before I even contemplate doing an install I will certainlt be posting on theier forum...
UPDATE: ARGON/INFECTUS2 does not currently support D2B Wii Boards although there is a new Firmware coming out that does in the next couple of weeks and it will also Support the Wasabi firmware
Wasabi is the best chip for the D2B at this momment by far, as it is the only current chip that supports D2B and is updatable, the only problem is that information on installations of these chips is non existent and the Install diagram although appears initially usefull is very confusing, Example where is the Flash and how do you solder it to point J, If you have a PAL console do you need to bride 2 points on the Wasabi chip? depending on the type of Board do you need to bridege points (D & E for example)on the chip, plus support for the Wasabi chip is non existent currently (you can e-mail the support e-mail but don't hold your breath)...
You would have thought they would have put a token DVD update on theri site also just to show that it works...
