How-To: Mod your Wii

Hi, my name is Miki Ljuljdurovic. I'm the little brother of the guy who made this website, and I've decided to help by writing articles for him. I you haven't guesses, the first article will be about modding your Wii. This guide will be mainly on modding Wii's, but a lot of the features on the Wii mod chips are the same on other systems. I recommend this guide for someone who does not know much about mod-chips or what a mod chip does, but it can still be helpful to others.

First off, I'm going to explain what a mod chip does. Well, a mod chip has many functions, but the main one would probably be the ability to play backups of your games. backup's are a non-legitimate copy of a game. For example, if a game of your breaks,and you have a backup along with a modded system, you don't have to go out and buy a new game, you can just play the one you burned onto a DVD off your computer. Now, of course you're thinking " couldn't I just burn a game without buying it first". Technically, you could, and there would be nothing to stop you, but it is stealing.

The next thing a mod chip can do is enable the use of homebrew, which is things like emulators and home-made games. This is very useful because if you wanted to, you could play Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, NES, and more all on your Wii. It also gives people a chance to use their game development skills to practice. All and all, those are the two main features of mod chips, now lets get to how to part.

How to Install

To install the mod chip on a Wii, your going to need a regular Phillips screwdriver with a star head (+) and a triwing screwdriver , which is like the last one but with only three edges, kind of like a (Y), but if you're skilled enough, you can use a flathead (-) for the triwings instead of buying one. The next thing you'll need is a solder iron, and if you're not good at soldering, I'd suggest finding someone you know to do it, or paying an expert. The last thing you're going to need is the actual mod-chip. I used the Cyclowiz, and i have no problems with it, but many people say that the Wii key is better, so you might want to get that one. When you order it, just search on Google for the mod chip you want and order it. The average price is probably 40-50 dollars. If you have newer wii, you are going to have to buy a D2C key. Its compatible with the newer chipset D2C. "WARNING" make sure you have a D2c, and not a D2C2 when you order your chip. If you have a D2c2, you need a D2 pro modchip. To tell the difference between the D2c and the D2c2, look at the following picture. Click here.

To open the Wii, you have to remove the little pads that act a little bit like legs for the system. Here is a link to a guide for taking apart for the chiip modchip, but you don't have to use that actual mod chip. Go here.

Once you have The Wii open to the part where the modchip should be installed, you will notice a black chip with a few letters on it. I modded my Wii back when it was only DMS, D2A,and D2B. You should make sure that your Wii is compatible with the chip set you have before buying one. There are 5 chipsets now, DMS, D2A, D2B, D2C, and D2C2. With D2C and D2C2, you need to use a the D2C key (D2C only) Or D2Pro (Currently compatable with all named in article). I'd reccomend you get the D2Pro. Once you have the chip and the open Wii with everything ready to install it, you have to follow the solder points on the Wii very carefully. To find out the solder points, you have to go on the website for your specific mod chip, I'm sorry i cant help u guys there. What i can tell you is that you need to know if your chip has cut legs (it most likely does, unless it's a wii bought between launch and 6 months after). If you do have cut legs, you can tell from this picture cut legs. What this means is that Nintendo tried to stop us from modding our wiis. Don't worry though, just look at this guide on cut-wiis and you will understand. Modding cut legs guide (pdf).

Well, now you should have it done! yay! Now you can play all the homebrew and backups you want, which is a great thing. To start you off on some homebrew, your going to want to use the Twilight hack. twilight hack . Once you have it on your wii, you can use it to install virtual console games, emulators, or even the homebrew channel, which is fantastic. To install things with the twilight hack, simply put the boot.elf in the root of your memory card, and any follow any other instructions the file gives you. I suggest using GBA temp for all your wii homebrew needs. GBA temp.

Well, i hope you enjoyed my article, and i hope it helped you out. If you have any more in depth questions just Contact Me. My next article........... My next article will be on either modding the DS to run backups, or the PSP. Contact Me If you have a specific request.