Wii Firmware Update(s) Discussion Thread

[MACandCHEEZWIZ1]

I sort of thought it would be interesting to discuss the firmware updates the Wii receives every few months. At the time of writing, the Wii is at version 4.2 for most, if not all places. The newest update was added about a week ago. This update deleted many homebrew applications, along with updating some internal software. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Nintendo should spend more time working on new applications and improving aspects of older software (such as the update to My Pokémon Ranch, or a better Internet Channel), or do you think it's justifiable for them to spend so much time working against the homebrew community? You can also talk about future updates (predictions, release dates, etc.), previous updates (your opinion, pros, cons, anything), basically anything about future and past Wii firmware and apps.

PS - I do not support, nor go against the homebrew community, although I have been tempted *wink*.

PPS - When my math teacher wants my class to move their desks farther away from each other for a test, he shouts "MEGATRON, ASSEMBLE!". Is that off-topic, or what?

Edited October 6, 2009 by MACandCHEEZWIZ1
Correcting "Don't not" to "Do not".

[Poryhack]

According to people who know what they're talking about, the 4.2 update makes modifications to a rather fragile bit of code that can and has made several peoples' Wiis into nice white bricks. And it's not limited to only people who have messed with their system either.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Nintendo should spend more time working on new applications and improving aspects of older software (such as the update to My Pokémon Ranch, or a better Internet Channel), or do you think it's justifiable for them to spend so much time working against the homebrew community?

Is there even any point in discussing what we think Nintendo should do? I don't think so. Of course people are gonna say they want more development and less control over homebrew, it's friggin obvious. But the only way YOU have any semblance of control over the big N is with your money; that's the only justification they're gonna give a crap about. So don't b*tch on here, just don't buy the newest game/console.

On a side note, to say that the decision to update/not to update Ranch was Nintendo's is like saying that Germany stopped making slug-bugs. Just because Volkswagen is a German company does not mean Germany has any control over it. I catch myself doing the same thing you are quite often, but we should realize that if Nintendo plays any role at all in the development of (pokemon) games, it is minute. Probably nothing more than giving it the thumbs up to be produced as a "first party" game. The "Volkswagen" here is Ambrella.

[MACandCHEEZWIZ1]

So that means that the update has also been bricking some normal Wiis as well? That sucks. Also, I'm not trying to complain, just start up a discussion on what people think of and predict about what will happen with Wii updates. I have to start using emoticons more, as sometimes what you say sounds different than what you type (I'm actually using the Internet Channel on the Wii right now) .

UNNECESSARY OFF-TOPIC EXPLANATION: I'm not very hardware oriented, I suck with technical terms and how to use them, but I'm trying to learn about programming, and I've heard Pokémon games are pretty good practice. I just don't know where to start. I'm trying learn about addresses (my Tech teacher actually doesn't know how to do it :-( ) I enjoy it, even if I'm confused about half the things being said. You're actually quite impressive yourself, Pory. At 17, you know a huge amount of information, so I kinda look up to you on here . By the way, are you just starting your Grade 12 year, or did you already graduate and are turning 18 this year? Also, when did you decide/start learning about programming?

END UNNECESSARY OFF-TOPIC EXPLANATION

TL;DR- This is pretty much just a discussion thread. Also, I did not know that companies licensed by Nintendo are actually ONLY licensed, instead of being a smaller division.

[Poryhack]

So that means that the update has also been bricking some normal Wiis as well? That sucks.

That's right.

I'm not very hardware oriented, I suck with technical terms and how to use them, but I'm trying to learn about programming, and I've heard Pokémon games are pretty good practice. I just don't know where to start. I'm trying learn about addresses (my Tech teacher actually doesn't know how to do it :-( ) I enjoy it, even if I'm confused about half the things being said. You're actually quite impressive yourself, Pory. At 17, you know a huge amount of information, so I kinda look up to you on here . By the way, are you just starting your Grade 12 year, or did you already graduate and are turning 18 this year? Also, when did you decide/start learning about programming?

I'm flattered, but there are some people here that are much more worthy of your respect than myself. SCV, Chase, loadingNOW, Sabresite, and increasingly Codemonkey and Jiggy-Ninja just to name a few. All of them have done more than I have; to be quite honest I have only glanced off the surface of programming.

I'm starting my senior year, haven't graduated yet. PCD safe was my first true bit of programming, about a year ago I did the PHP version and this June I made an offline C# version. I actually just picked up a Python book today and I'm hoping I'll have the discipline to stick with it and get a better feel for it than my shallow knowledge of PHP and C#.

[xorhash]

First off, Nintendo isn't really aiming at homebrew, from what I think. Instead, they're targeting piracy. And with the possiblity to run homebrew, there's the possibility to do piracy.

Just my two cents.

[loadingNOW]

while this update is made of fail for the reasons mentioned above i think it's understandable that nintendo is trying to fix their piracy problem. compared to sony (modchips since psx, psp desaster) and ms (they basicly hired the most experienced security team ever) they don't have much experience on the matter because until the wii and the ds piracy on their systems was always negligible.

i doubt that they can do anything about it at this time besides releasing a new console they don't seem to agree (yet?)

[YuzuruHitokiri]

That's right.

I'm flattered, but there are some people here that are much more worthy of your respect than myself. SCV, Chase, loadingNOW, Sabresite, and increasingly Codemonkey and Jiggy-Ninja just to name a few. All of them have done more than I have; to be quite honest I have only glanced off the surface of programming.

I'm starting my senior year, haven't graduated yet. PCD safe was my first true bit of programming, about a year ago I did the PHP version and this June I made an offline C# version. I actually just picked up a Python book today and I'm hoping I'll have the discipline to stick with it and get a better feel for it than my shallow knowledge of PHP and C#.

I know this is off topic, but what's so great about C#, I've read about it somewhat and all I see is that is Microsoft's stab at a Java-like language which instead of being able to run on all computers like Sun intended, it's Windows exclusive...

(Should I know C++ if I intend to go into the software field?)

First off, Nintendo isn't really aiming at homebrew, from what I think. Instead, they're targeting piracy. And with the possiblity to run homebrew, there's the possibility to do piracy.

Just my two cents.

Unfortunately, that's an almost win-less situation; those who truly want something will find a way... If Nintendo tries to deny access, the pirates will only want to do it more... Take the PS3 for example. Sony allowed Linux and other OS's to be installed and there is a lack of homebrew AND piracy... Nintendo on the other hand has been putting hurdle after hurdle up in their systems and they have THE MOST homebrew and priated games of any of the big 3...

while this update is made of fail for the reasons mentioned above i think it's understandable that nintendo is trying to fix their piracy problem. compared to sony (modchips since psx, psp desaster) and ms (they basicly hired the most experienced security team ever) they don't have much experience on the matter because until the wii and the ds piracy on their systems was always negligible.

i doubt that they can do anything about it at this time besides releasing a new console they don't seem to agree (yet?)

Yeah, I agree...

If you look around a bit (not sure if I say where violates forum rules) you can find the IOS in a file that is easily installed... I believe that stops the homebrew check in it... If not, there MAY or may not be a way around that... *looks around suspiciously*...

[loadingNOW]

a) nothing is great about c# but at the time i wrote PokeDsPic i thought it might be an option (with mono running it on linux and all) but no it's not. but the fact that pokedspic is c# also means that there is some example code using hacking related functions available. same with python which is more popular here than commonly in the windows world (but thats a good language).

you don't need to know c++ to go into the software field. i mean you will learn what you need there. However that does not mean you should do nothing. If you are interested learn it.

b) the example with the ps3 is inaccurate to say the least. There is almost no homebrew for 360 either not because no one cares but because the system is very secure (yes i know it's hacked at least the old versions), besides the DVD Rom which is very insecure. the ps3 is also very secure and has a BD Rom drive at a time where writable blu ray discs are expensive. that helps

also more sales = more likely we see a hack. see: gamecube. on the other hand the wii is the console with most sales and the worst security

[YuzuruHitokiri]

a) nothing is great about c# but at the time i wrote PokeDsPic i thought it might be an option (with mono running it on linux and all) but no it's not. but the fact that pokedspic is c# also means that there is some example code using hacking related functions available. same with python which is more popular here than commonly in the windows world (but thats a good language).

you don't need to know c++ to go into the software field. i mean you will learn what you need there. However that does not mean you should do nothing. If you are interested learn it.

b) the example with the ps3 is inaccurate to say the least. There is almost no homebrew for 360 either not because no one cares but because the system is very secure (yes i know it's hacked at least the old versions), besides the DVD Rom which is very insecure. the ps3 is also very secure and has a BD Rom drive at a time where writable blu ray discs are expensive. that helps

also more sales = more likely we see a hack. see: gamecube. on the other hand the wii is the console with most sales and the worst security

A) I knew that C++ wasn't the standard anymore @the time of my post, I'm learning it because there is A LOT out there about it and so it is simple for me to get up and running with it... I'm also asking about C# because I found a book in my school library on XNA and I've been pondering... *pauses, gets lost in thought... forgets it all...:redface:*

B) I disagree, as little as I know about the 360, there are some stealth modchips I've heard about that have fooled the XBL for the time being... Isn't it possible to make apps for the 360 through XNA? Just a theory...

C) The BD drive also accepts CD's and DVD's...

[MACandCHEEZWIZ1]

Is anyone else having problems with their Internet Channel since updating? Every time I go on YouTube now, 90% of the videos don't load. It never seemed to do this before, and I've heard of others with this problem. Possibly one of the side-effects Poryhack was speaking about? If it is, maybe Nintendo will release 4.2aU soon to fix it. It might even be a side-effect of the recent Internet Channel update. Anyone have confirmation of this happening in other regions?

PS - YouTube seems to get farther and farther away from the Wii. For a while now (long before the update), I haven't been able to comment on videos, only on channels. Also, some videos were buggy and paused/skipped randomly (I first noticed when I searched for "Everybody's Working for the Weekend" and got a choppy video. More videos became choppy for me after that. I haven't tried watching them since the update.) I think those were just caused by updates to YouTube.

PPS - My router's connection keeps going on and off every few seconds, but I think it's unrelated to any updates, even though it started right after.

[YuzuruHitokiri]

That might be due to the new internet channel's flash plugin, they updated it to some version I've never heard of, which they say is equivalent to Flash 9, which I doubt...

[MACandCHEEZWIZ1]

This is sort of off-topic for an Off-Topic thread (didn't want to start too many threads), but my modem is acting up. Every 30 seconds or so, my Wii will just cut to "Cannot find Network Connection" to "You have a working Internet Connection." It gives these messages within 5 seconds of each other, taking me away from any page I was viewing. It's starting to annoy me a lot, as the Wii is all that I use for my Internet. My brother goes on the computer from the second he gets home from school to when he goes to bed. He won't let me use the computer (let's just say he's the kind of kid that you wouldn't feel bad about punching in the face), so I can't check my computer (it doesn't keep exiting pages when the Internet's like this). Anyway, I use an RCA modem, model DHG535. The "Link" LED keeps flashing randomly. If it even goes out for a second, my router senses it and reboots itself. I checked all of my cables, and they're fine. I tried unplugging them, then plugging them back in, but it still didn't work. I've had the modem and router since the Summer of 2008, and this hasn't happened before. I use a Belkin N Wireless Router.

*If your wondering how I'm writing this, I just click "OK" on my Wii text input screen before it resets, and when I go back, what I've written is still there.

[YuzuruHitokiri]

This is sort of off-topic for an Off-Topic thread (didn't want to start too many threads), but my modem is acting up. Every 30 seconds or so, my Wii will just cut to "Cannot find Network Connection" to "You have a working Internet Connection." It gives these messages within 5 seconds of each other, taking me away from any page I was viewing.(1) It's starting to annoy me a lot, as the Wii is all that I use for my Internet.(2) My brother goes on the computer from the second he gets home from school to when he goes to bed. He won't let me use the computer (let's just say he's the kind of kid that you wouldn't feel bad about punching in the face), so I can't check my computer (it doesn't keep exiting pages when the Internet's like this).(3) Anyway, I use an RCA modem, model DHG535. The "Link" LED keeps flashing randomly. If it even goes out for a second, my router senses it and reboots itself. I checked all of my cables, and they're fine. I tried unplugging them, then plugging them back in, but it still didn't work. I've had the modem and router since the Summer of 2008, and this hasn't happened before.(4) I use a Belkin N Wireless Router.

*If your wondering how I'm writing this, I just click "OK" on my Wii text input screen before it resets, and when I go back, what I've written is still there.

1. That is probably caused by your router dropping all connections when it resets.

2. I feel your pain, dude. I've been using my neighbor's unsecured connection because it was way better than the dial-up that I have and it only came at select, random times at varied connection strengths. (Thank god I've finally convinced my dad to get a better connection! It's only 3Mb/s but still, I can finally kiss dial-up good bye!!)

3. Does he get home before you? Is he older or younger?

4. Maybe your IP is on the fritz...

[MACandCHEEZWIZ1]

My brother is EXACTLY 2 years younger than me (same day). I could go on forever complaining about him, but I'll get back to what I was talking about. He gets home later, but rarely gets homework, unlike me. The rules in my house say homework is my first priority, and I'm a pretty slow worker. Luck just happened to shine down on me yesterday; my brother was sick and got off the computer. I checked my IP, which wasn't doing anything funny (thanks for the suggestion, though). I originally thought my modem was messed, but I learned that my router had a bug. Apart from being a year behind in updates, it also had a very common problem. Without my brother having a freak out, I unplugged my router and modem for FIVE MINUTES. I turned off my hunk o' junk computer, plugged everything back in, turned it back on, and just to be safe, did a factory reset. Everything's updated, too. The only weird thing is that sometimes a page times out when loading a page on the Nintendo Channel or Wii Shop Channel (I heard it was due to high traffic).

Anyway, I received the Wii Shop Channel update late last night. It let's you download 1 free NES game by December 31st, 2009. It only works though if you had purchased the Internet Channel for 500 Wii Points. I got it when it was free, but I bought it for my cousins as a gift. They get a free NES game, but I don't . The same thing happened when I saved up 990 points on Club Nintendo, got to Platinum, but I didn't redeem my gift in time (exclusive version of Doc Louis' Punch-Out or a Mario hat; couldn't decide which to choose).

[Arandomproduction1]

According to people who know what they're talking about, the 4.2 update makes modifications to a rather fragile bit of code that can and has made several peoples' Wiis into nice white bricks. And it's not limited to only people who have messed with their system either.

Is there even any point in discussing what we think Nintendo should do? I don't think so. Of course people are gonna say they want more development and less control over homebrew, it's friggin obvious. But the only way YOU have any semblance of control over the big N is with your money; that's the only justification they're gonna give a crap about. So don't b*tch on here, just don't buy the newest game/console.

On a side note, to say that the decision to update/not to update Ranch was Nintendo's is like saying that Germany stopped making slug-bugs. Just because Volkswagen is a German company does not mean Germany has any control over it. I catch myself doing the same thing you are quite often, but we should realize that if Nintendo plays any role at all in the development of (pokemon) games, it is minute. Probably nothing more than giving it the thumbs up to be produced as a "first party" game. The "Volkswagen" here is Ambrella.

That actually happened to me, my wii was bricked due to 4.2 (Yes I had Homebrew, but why would I tell Nintendo?), all I did was call up nintendo, tell them that the firmware fucked it up sent it to them, and they actually fixed it for free, but they formatted it, but kept all my history on the Wii Shop channel, so I got pretty lucky.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Arandomproduction1

[YuzuruHitokiri]

That actually happened to me, my wii was bricked due to 4.2 (Yes I had Homebrew, but why would I tell Nintendo?), all I did was call up nintendo, tell them that the firmware fucked it up sent it to them, and they actually fixed it for free, but they formatted it, but kept all my history on the Wii Shop channel, so I got pretty lucky.

That's why I installed BootMii and backed-up my NAND; I can brick my wii (not intentionally) and restore it back to life (No, I'm not God) with all my settings, channels, and homebrew!...

[Kaarosu]

I too have my NAND backed up but I had no problems with my homebrew and 4.2 (aside from the homebrew channel being upside down lol) but that was easily fixed, kind of weird that even Wiis with no homebrew would get bricked, probably the newer ones I'm guessing?

[Arandomproduction1]

That's why I installed BootMii and backed-up my NAND; I can brick my wii (not intentionally) and restore it back to life (No, I'm not God) with all my settings, channels, and homebrew!...

I had Bootmii installed, its just I didn't have the files able to use it since I deleted it, and I didn't really wanna ask someone for a .dol or something.

[YuzuruHitokiri]

I picked up a 1GB SD card and installed bootmii/DVDX/Homebrew channel from that, backed up my NAND, and set that card aside...

If you were looking for the files they have an installer that installs all the above...

[MACandCHEEZWIZ1]

For 40 minutes after I got home today, I stared at the mail. There was a small package/bag thing with my brother's name on it. When he got home, I told him and he opened it. Inside, was a small frame carrying plastic calender cards. My brother had won the Gold prize on Club Nintendo. He had redeemed it right away due to there being only one choice, while I couldn't decide. What's worse, it has a sweet looking HeartGold SoulSilver card for August (It says September 9th below for the Japanese release date, even though it was in 2009). I'm really kicking myself...