Wii Bricks
If you are not careful enough, you can brick your Wii. Depending on the kind of brick, we need to use different methods to unbrick the Wii.
Common causes of Wii bricks:
Installing a channel (with wad manager) that has a bad banner size (aka banner brick)
Installing a faulty theme
Uninstalling (c)IOS or the system menu (aka Full brick)
...
Some bricks cannot be restored if you don't have preloader or bootmii as boot2 installed, so watch out!
Common Bricks
Banner brick
- Cause: malformed banner. System menu crashes when it tries to load it.
- Symptoms: Will not load system menu. Maintenance mode fails.
Required:
* Preloader/Bootmii as Boot2 (you should already have it before the brick)
Guide:
1. Boot into preloader or Bootmii
2. Launch the Homebrew Channel
3. Run the AnyTitle Deleter and uninstall the bad wad that causes the brick
Theme brick
- Cause: Installing bad theme (one that is not for your Region/Version).
- Symptoms: Will not load system menu. Maintenance mode fails.
Required:
* Wad manager (or YAWMM)
* Preloader/Bootmii as boot2
Guide:
1. Download your system menu version with NUSD (check pack->wad). Put the wad in the Wad folder on the SD card
2. Boot into preloader or Bootmii
3. Launch the Homebrew Channel
4. Run the wad manager, let it use IOS36 (or 249) if it asks and install the system menu Wad.
Full brick
- Cause: uninstalling (c)IOS or system menu, or theme/banner brick.
- Symptoms: Will not load system menu. Maintenance mode fails.
Required:
* Wad manager (or YAWMM)
* Preloader/Bootmii as boot2 (note: priiloader will only work if you set it to use another IOS than the removed one before the brick!)
Guide:
1. Run NUSD and check pack->wad. Now download the wads of all files you deleted.
2. Copy the wads of each folder to the wad folder on the SD card (empty the folder if it exists already)
3. Boot into preloader or Bootmii and launch the Homebrew Channel
4. Run the wad manager and install every wad.
Semi brick
- Cause: Usually a wrong region update.
- Symptoms: System menu works, but when going to the Settings, you get an error.
Required:
* Wad manager (or YAWMM)
Guide:
1. Download your system menu version with NUSD (check pack->wad). Put the wad in the Wad folder on the SD card
2. Launch the Homebrew Channel
3. Run the wad manager and install the system menu Wad
Error 003
- Cause: Korean region changed wii, updated to 4.2
- Symptoms: Black screen with "Error: 003, Unauthorized device Detected" at boot.
It only occurs when a Korean region changed Wii (a wii that was originally Korean) updates to 4.2. Once you get the error, there is no way (yet) to restore from it (since BootMii as boot2 gets overwritten as well!).
So since you can't restore from it, lets see how to prevent it.
Required
* [Method 1] Korean Wii softmodding requirements
* [Method 2] Wii.py and WAD editing/Python knowledge
* [Method 3] Priiloader, Wad manager (or YAWMM)
Method 1
Use this guide to softmod your Korean wii without region changing
Method 2
Patch the System Menu 4.2 TMD to use as IOS other than IOS70 (IOS60 for example)
Method 3
Install IOS 70 and System Menu 4.2 via WAD manager
Install Priiloader without restarting the console
Use Priiloader to boot the System Menu with IOS60 (for example)
Other Bricks
These are various "issues" that could be the cause of unwanted behavior in a Wii software environment.
Low-Level
* missing HMAC/ECC
* boot1 hash failure
* boot2 hash/signature failure
Simple software corruption
* Corrupt Title 1-2 (System Menu) hashes/signature
* Corrupt IOS for Title 1-2 (Lookup via 1-2 TMD) hashes/signature
* Stubbed IOS for Title 1-2 (Check contents, a stubbed IOS has one app of it's own and two shared ones.)
System Menu checks/failure
* Channel titles have "bad" banners (Title start with 10000, 10001, 10004)
# Content hash failure
# Faulty banners
* Settings not supported by System Menu
# Faulty iplsave.bin
# Faulty setting.txt/SYSCONF
# Faulty setting.txt AREA/System Menu Supported Region(s)
# Faulty SYSCONF IPL.LANG/System Menu supported Languages
Mail Brick
- Cause: Receiving a corrupt Wii message on the Wii Message Board
- Symptoms: Will not load system menu. Maintenance mode works.
These bricks are VERY rare, as the only way to get it is by receiving a corrupt message on your message board. Like that, it would seem like it bricked on itself.
Required
* System menu installed (with its IOS)
Guide
The only way to know if its a mail brick is to access Maintenance mode (see below). As this disables the message board, a mail bricked wii will boot now.
The first thing you want to do is to uninstall preloader if you have it (since it bricks the Wii if you format). You can do this by downloading your system menu wad with NUS Downloader and installing it or by installing Priiloader (which doesn't have this problem).
If you got rid of preloader, boot the wii into maintenance mode, go to the wii settings and format the wii (make backups of your save files first!)
Other Unbricking Methods
Maintenance Mode
Maintenance mode is a secret mode that is build-in to every Wii console. Noone knows the real use of it, but sometimes, it seems to be accessible on a bricked Wii. This is why we recommend trying it before trying another method.
Required:
* Wii with working Health screen
Guide:
1. Turn on the Wii and you will see the Health Screen. Now instead of pressing A, hold + and -, then press A. (keep holding till the screen changes!)
2. If you did it correctly (and your Wii isn't bricked enough to ruin it), you will see a message on the screen saying the Wii is in Maintenance Mode.
3. This mode allows you to do everything except using the Wii message board, so make use of that to backup saves or to run the HBC!
SaveMiiFrii
SaveMiiFrii is not a kind of brick, but a build-in unbricking system of the Wii. Only use this when you can't unbrick with any other method!
Required:
* Wii with System menu (so it won't work if you deleted the system menu)
* Official Gamecube Controller
* Modchip or cIOSCorp
* A DVD disc to burn files on
Guide:
1. The first step is also the hardest one. To be able to use SaveMiiFrii, you need to open up your gamecube controller and remove the protective sheet under the D-Pad. By doing this, you are able to press all 4 directions of the D-Pad at the same time.
2. Plug your GC controller in the 4th slot on the Wii. Now turn the wii on and Hold the 4 directions of the D-Pad down. If you did this correctly, you will be in th recovery menu.
3. Of course, we need something to boot. In most cases, you'll need to create an auto-booting version of wad manager or AnyTitleDeleter.
Whatever you did, undo it with one of these apps.
SDDM (SD -> Data Management)
SDDM is a method you can use to recover from BannerBricks
Required
* The ability to use SaveMiiFrii
* The ability to use Indiana Pwns (You need to have the game, and the save must be on the console)
* One of the following games:
Rabbids Go Home (You need less than 77 blocks free)
MySims Agent (You need less than 96 blocks free)
Mysims Kingdom (You need less than 200 blocks free)
Mysims racing (You need less than 3 blocks free)
Any other Mysims game
Guide
1. Use SaveMiiFrii to boot one of the aforementioned games. For this guide we'll use Rabbids Go Home.
2. Navigate to the Save Screen where you choose your save file.
3. Try to install the Rabbids Go Home channel.
4. Eject the game when it tells you that you don't have enough free space to install the channel.
5. Click go to Data Management.
6. Now transfer Indiana Pwns to your Wii.
7. Use Indiana Pwns to fix your Banner Brick Whatever you did, undo it with one of these apps.