Topic: Bring on the wii homebrew and hacks!

[BranDonk Kong]

Replacement Wii DVD-ROM
Tri-wing screwdriver
$37 + shipping for both, it's a relatively painless job to change the drive. Watch a video on YouTube and it should take 10-15 minutes. There is always the other option though.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I might do that. Would make it easier than a workaround, and I still have to convert an old HDD, if I still have an extra laying around.

[BranDonk Kong]

If you can replace a laptop LCD, you can do this. A fun hack (admittedly I haven't done it) is once you have all your games on the HDD, mount it inside the Wii. You can get rid of the DVD-ROM, but still need the board from the drive, and you can hard wire the HDD to the USB ports on the motherboard. Again, I haven't done it...but I might, because my DVD-ROM no longer works, but I might just replace it instead since then my kids can watch DVD movies on it too (don't forget to install that mod!).

[Mop it up]

Replacement Wii DVD-ROM

Any idea if this part is manufactured by Nintendo, or is this a third-party product?

[BranDonk Kong]

Drive is manufactured by Panasonic (might be LG), I believe, but it's OEM. There's no such thing as a third party Wii optical drive (or for any console*).


*Not including replacement PCBs for 360 drives and drive emulators but those don't count anyway.

[Mop it up]

Ah, good to know. Any idea if that replacement drive can play GCN discs? The description doesn't say.

I don't need one right now, but I might at some point. My first system had drive issues, so it's good to know my options.

[BranDonk Kong]

Yes it can.

[BlackNMild2k1]

So I finally picked up project USB loader again, got my HDD in a USB case with power supply and everything. Formatted to WFSB, and find out that the USB loader on the Wii doesn't even work....
It just kicks me back to the Wii Menu.

Do i need to erase the USB Channel and try again, or is there possibly some other incompatibility going on?

[BranDonk Kong]

Maybe...I've deleted everything and started over a couple of times. Could be your drive though.

[BlackNMild2k1]

There is nothing in the drive yet, but the USB Channel should still read the drive as being there correct?

I'll just redo that portion of it tomorrow.

[Mop it up]

Hopefully we'll see some homebrew that allows online games to be played online, if it's possible.

[BranDonk Kong]

Well, it should show that there's a drive and still load the USB Loader GX (I assume), just without any games.

Mop it Up I have no idea what you're trying to say.

[BlackNMild2k1]

She is referring to WiFi Connect shutting down. hoping for a homebrew replacement for the service I think.

[BranDonk Kong]

Oh I see. Probably not going to happen. This kind of stuff typically only works with LAN games, which I imagine on the Wii are few and far between (but on the DS that's another story)...but then again the Wii has been hacked to Hell and back, so it may be possible to emulate the Nintendo WiFI Connection.

[Mop it up]

I guess I was vague, but yeah, I meant what BlackNMild2k1 said, after the Wi-Fi is turned off on May 20th.

If this pushed people to figure out how to get DS local wireless games running online, that'd be nice too.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Ok, I'm guessing that I have an incompatible HDD or something, as I reinstalled the USB Loader GX and now it says "Waiting on your slow USB drive" like it's supposed to, but in one slot it just counts down, in the next slot it kinda lags and freezes and then resets after 30+ seconds.

HDD works and has been formatted to WFBS on the computer, not sure what else it could be.
any ideas?

[UncleBob]

I guess I was vague, but yeah, I meant what BlackNMild2k1 said, after the Wi-Fi is turned off on May 20th.

If this pushed people to figure out how to get DS local wireless games running online, that'd be nice too.

I thought people did... but it required both players to have a specific type of wireless router and such...

[BranDonk Kong]

It's still probably your HDD. It can only be read from one slot, so the one that makes it freeze and crash is the right one (not being detected at all in the other one). I've only used 2 or 3 different ones with some generic USB adapter.

[Mop it up]

I thought people did... but it required both players to have a specific type of wireless router and such...

The last time I checked, I didn't find anything at all. If you know of something, I'd like to see it.