SofaKingA

I am thinking about getting a Wii because my friend showed me how awesome they could be with a mod chip. I read online that there were no plug n' play mod chips (like in my old playstation) out there so I am going to have to solder it but I have very little experience with soldering iron. Is it hard to do? Anybody with experience or suggestions on which to buy and how to do it?

Nisses

If you don't have experience with a soldering iron, don't do it. Simple as that.

Simple soldering is hard enough, let alone detailed work like on a wii.

And if you screw up, you're out a relatively expensive toy.

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MSD

If you have no soldering experience, you're going to burn yourself, melt the mod chip and at least heat up something in the Wii to the point that it fails.

I'm pretty good at soldering (all I've been doing for the past week is making cables for our new auditorium,) but I don't like working on circuit boards and I toasted the second to last board I worked on.

JStrider

I've installed Afterburners in a couple game boy advances

and two modchips in ps2s... one of the ps2s wouldnt work after turning it back on... I blame my friend... I thought he was getting careless and rushed after the 2nd or 3rd hour...

and I've assisted with a good number of other modchippings...

do some practicing on an old circuit board. or maybe an older cheaper system if after doing that you feel comfortable with it go for it on the wii.
some things I've learned..
-just be patient and go slow, one joint at a time
-quadruple check every solder point to make sure it is the right one before you even touch it with the solder gun.
-get a "helping hands" magnifying glass and alligator clip, must have the magnifying glass, alligator clip is helpful, a real friend is more helpful
-if you get the wire to solder onto the right joint, LEAVE IT dont try to "strengthen" the joint... it'll just get messed up


If you decide your not comfortable doing it yourself... Find a friend thats an Electrical Engineering major in college. my EE buddies are way better at it then I am... altho they seem to get into a rush sometimes.

or buy a premoded one... just look online or maybe even in the local classifieds if your in a big city

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-=JStrider=-

~Clatto Verata Nicto

ironman

I bought a Wii the day it came out, and installed a wiikey. I had absolutley no soldering experience at the time and managed to don't ruin anything, anyway, it's something I don't recommend, it's better to take it to somebody that has the experience and the ability. With the wiikey I had to solder 5 wires to the board because the Wii was a first batch one, but new wiis need modchips that have like 20 wires.
The only advantage that a modchip will give you is to play game copies, nothing more, if you're after Virtual Console games, there's no need for a modchip, instead you need a copy (original of course) of Twilight Princess and a program that you can easily find via Google, and do not update your Wii to 3.3 as it removes the vulnerability that allows the hack to work, after you've made the hack, you can safely update to 3.3

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ironman

Wow, it double posted.

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If I agreed with you we´d both be wrong

SofaKingA

What program would I use to get virtual console games?

What is a virtual game on a console? I do that all the time for PC but the hard drive for a Wii is small, how many virtual games could it possibly hold?

What does updating my Wii do? Since I'm a PC gamer I had no idea consoles could be "updated."

I admit I have a lot to learn about console gaming.

ironman

Wii uses "channels" to show its different applications, one of those channels is the Virtual Console where you can buy and play retro games from nes, snes, sega, etc... Hackers found a way that allows one to run unsigned code in the Wii using an original copy of the game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and some code in an SD card, that way, you can play retro games without paying for them using your own ROMs and you get to run some other homebrew apps. Can't post a link to the program for obvious reasons, but you can Google it or go to a site like maxconsole.net where you will find more info about it.
Good Luck
The updates refer to the firmware that the Wii is running, it is updated every once in a while by Nintendo providing new features and fixing problems like the vulnerability that lets you run your own ROMs. So, when you get your Wii, do nt update it immediately, as if you do so, you will loose your chance to take advantage of the exploit, at least 'till is hacked once again.

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If I agreed with you we´d both be wrong