Release group SYNDiCATE has made available Nintendo Wii Backup Disc v1.31 today. According to the included NFO file: "This is the originally correctly signed version of Nintendo's Backup disc, which was left in a console after repairs." Unpacked, the image's size weighs in at 600 MB (629,145,600 bytes) and the release name is Wii_Backup_Disc_v1.31_USA_READNFO_WII-SYNDiCATE.
Download: Wii Backup Disc v1.31 / Wii Backup Disc v1.31 [Mirror] / Wii Backup Disc v1.31 [Mirror]
To quote from WiiBrew (linked above): The "Wii Backup Disc" is a service disc apparently used inside Official Nintendo Repair shops to transfer personal data like savegames and console settings between Wiis as part of a repair.
It's not entirely clear what it does; something it does *not* do -- even though it appears it mi... More »
Victories are inevitable in the technology war between platform holder and hacker/pirate. No matter how clever the former are the latter will always catch up.
This has always been so. Once a system is cracked the floodgates open as the word spreads on the interweb.
Now the Nintendo Wii is cracked, supposedly so it can become an open platform for homebrew. But what it means is that the pirates will exploit the same loophole so they can steal people’s work instead of paying for it. So the Wii will become even less worthwhile for third party publishers.
“The Twilight Hack is currently the only safe, public way to run homebrew on an unmodded Wii. The Twilight Hack is achieved by playing a hacked game save for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which executes a homebrew elf file, boot.elf, on an external SD card. Examples of such homebrew elf files can be found on the Homebrew apps page.”
This is a sad event for every game profe... More »
Today ciper of GBATemp (linked above) has shared Wii Backup Launcher v0.2, an unofficial binary build of WiiGator's recently released source code with changes.
Download: Nintendo Wii Backup Launcher v0.2 / Nintendo Wii Backup Launcher SRC
From the ReadMe:
Purpose: Launch Wii DVD backups. This is a source code only release. You need to compile it using devkitpro (PPC + ARM).
Author: WiiGator
Compiling Order:
Run "make" to compile:
1. extractpartition
2. dip_module
3. copy dip_module/bin/dip_module.elf to cios_installer/data/dip_module.elf
4. cios_installer
5. backuplauncher
Create DVD: To create DVDs you need extractpartition. Don't call this patching. It only decrypts the DVD. Patching is done within backuplauncher.
1. Ru... More »
Bushing wrote an open letter to Nintendo on his site (linked above) stating: As part of our efforts to understand how the Wii works, we believe we have found a security issue that could allow pirated Wii games to be played on an unmodified Wii console.
I would like to speak to an engineer about this — please have one contact me at bushing (at) gmail.com.
P.S. Sorry for posting this publicly — I tried emailing you three times and never received a response. I am trying to follow the model set forth in http://www.wiretrip.net/rfp/policy.html, so your timely response would be appreciated.
In related news, according to an interview with Marcan posted on the Spanish site ElOtroLado, a Custom Firmware for the Wii is currently in the works.
Bushing also recently commented on IOS ... More »
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It was inevitable... Reports are coming in that the latest Wii firmware update from Nintendo deletes and prevents edited save game files from being loaded via SD Card.
Essentially, this means that the homebrew enabling Twilight Hack, which comes in the form of a modified save file for non-modified Wii consoles, will no longer function if system menu 3.3 is installed.
According to folks who have already updated, the custom made Homebrew Channel is still accessible if you have it installed prior to upgrading to the new firmware, which is somewhat of a relief.
Avid user of Wii homebrew? Save yourself and stay clear of this update, for the time being at least.
Nintendo’s latest entrant into the console war has no doubt been the company’s most successful entry since the original Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80s. The Wii has managed to continually sell out in stores since its release in November of 2006. In just a meager year and half, its already managed to outsell its predecessor, the Gamecube.
It shattered the PS2’s record of selling 10 million consoles in the US by a near 4 months. It currently holds the most market share out of the next gen systems. Nintendo, without a doubt, must be extremely proud of Miyamoto’s latest brain child.
That being said, there is something seriously wrong with the Nintendo Wii. No, its not that it doesn’t have the graphical capabilities of the 360/PS3. Nor is it the lackluster online service Nintendo provides either. It isn’t the paltry amount of hard drive space, sometimes unresponsive accelerometers of the nunchuck, or even the chuckle-inspiring name of the conso... More »
Marcan writes: While Nintendo did reply to bushing’s open letter, he has not succeeded in establishing a conversation with an engineer about the issue. Furthermore, we have learned that they received and read at least two of the original three e-mails that were sent prior to the open letter, and decided not to reply (in fact, one of their replies was to one of the original e-mails, but only after the open letter was posted). Therefore, we can only conclude that they are not very interested in the issue.
As many of you may already know or have deduced, the bug in our open letter referred to a way of reading DVD-Rs (and Video DVDs) without the use of a modchip. Several people have investigated the bug independently, and they’ve gotten pretty close. However, we did discover an easier way of enabling this mode from homebrew, which, among other things, does not require any changes to IOS at all. This method is also relatively difficult to transform into some sort of ... More »
According to reports, people are unable to play retail copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl on modded consoles.
However, some have downloaded and burned a copy of the game on a black dual-layer DVD and found that this works fine. There is speculation that this is an attempt by Nintendo to fight piracy.
To quote: Nintendo has reported that some Nintendo Wii consoles will not read the dual-layer Super Smash Bros. Brawl due to the system having dust and dirt on the laser.
What they have yet to announce though is that they are also fighting piracy with the release of the game on the Wii, as it will not play if a mod-chip is installed.
Many who own modded Nintendo Wii consoles were not happy at all on Sunday when they brought home their retail copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and popped them into their Wii systems.
They were presented with a disk read error message, stating that the system could not read the disk.
... More »
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