After two days of searching and trying everything I've broken down to posting. I denno if anyone can tell me anything that hasn't already been said..
My Wii is from Japan. It has a modchip in it, I am assuming its wiikey (I dont have a screwdriver small enough to open it up and take a look) but when I install the 1.9g wiikey firmware and even use the config 1.3 dvd it doesn't give any errors so I assume wiikey is what I got.
When I goto the Wii System Options Menu I get the opera browser screen. I only discovered that this had happened recently, although it was probably a year ago now that it would have been made that way. One day while I was out my roomate's friend connected it to the net and added some channels and who knows what else.
Anyways I've downloaded both Mario Galaxy and WiiFit (both ntsc-j) and tried loading those. I get the prompt for the update and it starts, but the bar goes to maybe 5-10% then it stops saying it was updated and then restarts. But of course it didn't update because it never finished. And going back to playing the disc prompts me to update again.
I also tried the 'wii-system-menu-update-JAP-v288-repad' iso made by Bushing. This loaded to about 20% before doing the same thing. I noticed though that this file turned out to be 1.05gigs instead of the 1.35gb that is called for. Would this make a difference?
Are there any other options left? I cannot connect it to the internet because I can't access the configuration menu, so I can't do an update that way. I thought about using an SD card or to manually load in firmware that way but I can't find any information on that. I did find the cios downgrader 1.1 tool posted on here, but according to the readme the Wii needs to be internet accessible for some reason, so I didn't bother with it.
Any other workable solutions would be appreciated. Thank you!
Just thought I'd post an update with the solution to my problem for any of those who are in the same situation.
First you need to be able to run homebew, either through the homebrewchanneliso (didnt work for me) or using the twilight princess hack (google either of these)
Then what I did was use this program called Trucha and took the .wad files off of bushing's update discs. They were in the /root/_sys/ directory: IOS30-64-v1040.wad and SystemMenu-v288.wad .
Next using a homebew called WadManager I loaded it up on the sd card and then using the twilight princess hack accessed the wadmanager, and then installed the wad files through this. (IOS30 first then systemmenu)
On reboot of the wii the system had been updated and my semi brick was fixed.
Any of the programs mentioned should be freely available online. Use google :P Good luck.
*** ANY OF THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN HERE ARE PERFORMED AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING NEGATIVE THAT OUTCOMES FROM THE INFORMATION/INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL ACTIONS TAKEN AS WELL AS YOUR OWN COMPETENCY IN UTILIZING THE RESOURCES PROPERLY AT THE RISK OF THEIR FAILURE ***
rdz,
Hardware You Will Need: - Wii with a modchipOR A working copy of Twilight Princess
- SD Card
A Note on Burning Wii ISOs: - Use imgburn [ http://www.imgburn.com/ ]
- Only burn at 2x or 4x - NO HIGHER!
- Use DVD-Rs - made by Verbatim, Fuji, or Taiyo Yuden --> Memorex *does not* work well. TDK *might work*
This is where you can get 'The Homebrew Channel' which will allow you to run the homebrew applications needed to solve your issue. I would recommend downloading/burning the ISO file first (the_homebrew_channel-beta_8-iso-JAP.tar.gz)
This ISO actually did not work for me until after I fixed my semi-brick, but maybe you will have better luck. If The Homebrew Channel does not install/run for you, then we will have to forget about using it and use the Twilight Princess hack instead. This can also be found on the page I've linked you to. (twilight-hack-v0.1-beta1.zip)
You will need to have a modchip (wiikey recommended) installed in order to run this ISO. If you don't you can either: install The Homebrew Channel using the Twilight Princess Hack, OR forget The Homebrew Channel and use only the Twilight Princess Hack to unbrick your Wii.
For instructions on howto run homebrews using The Homebrew Channel or with the Twilight Princess hack, READ the 'README.txt' file included with their program.
After you have either The Homebrew Channel installed and working, or an understanding on how to operate the Twilight Princess Hack, you are ready to proceed.
Now, go to the Trucha folder and double click the nihon.reg file and click yes to add it to the registry. Then open the main .exe file.
From the Trucha menubar, goto 'Select Keyset' -> Custom 01
Next, goto 'Image' -> Open ISO , and select the wii-system-menu-update-JAP-v288.iso you've extracted. It should notify you the image has been opened successfully.
Next, browse the image's contents: DISC/PARTITION/ROOT/_sys/
There will be two files, IOS30-64-v1040.wad and SystemMenu-v288.wad - please select each of these, Right-Click -> Extract to File , and save it to your computer.
Now, goto the WADManager's folder and carefully READ the README.txt so that you understand how to use it correctly. If you cannot understand how to then you probably shouldnt be following any of these instructions to begin with!
Next, put the WADManager utility onto the SD card in whichever directory is appropriate for the method you are using to run Homebrews. Also copy the .wad you extracted into the appropriate directory. If you have no idea as to which directory is appropriate in either case, then go back and READ the information in the README files provided.
Now, this next part is important. Load up the WADManager homebrew on your Wii. If done correctly you will see your .wad files.
This is very important so pay attention. MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL RUN/INSTALL THE WAD FILES IN THIS ORDER: FIRST IOS30-64-v1040.wad FIRST SECOND SystemMenu-v288.wad SECOND
After, reboot your Wii as normal and your semi-brick should be fixed. If its not, then that's all I got, sorry ^^
thank you for taking the time to explain how to fix my japanese semi bricked wii.
i'm running into errors when i extract the files (the_homebrew_channel-beta_8-iso-JAP.tar.gz) and the http://wii.amagaio.com/wii-system-menu-update-JAP-v288.rar file the error says 'the archive is either in unknown format or damaged' what am i doing wrong?
i have the same problem in a way but i tryed to use the downgrader and now my wii is in all black and white any cluse on how to fix this i have it so it's not semi bricked anymore useing that downgrader but it didnt fix the black and white problome
