How to Hack a 4.3 Nintendo Wii
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Been to the store lately?
Wii's are now selling for lower than they ever have! You can get a brand spankin new Nintendo Wii for only $169.99 MSRP! The new bundles even come with Mario Kart Wii, A Racing Wheel, and built in Motion-Plus!
Guess what else it comes with? Preloaded Firmware 4.3
If you go out and purchase a New Wii and you want it hacked to play free games, watch movies, boot up homebrew, etc., you CANNOT use any other guide than this one. That means you cannot use my 4.2 guide, or ANY OTHER guide you might find on the internet that states it is to be used for 4.2 or below. You will brick your Wii, so be careful. If you have just purchased a brand new wii and you want to unlock its true potential, follow this guide.
ONCE YOU BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE, YOU MUST FOLLOW THROUGH WITH IT UNTIL THE END to eliminate any risks in bricking your system. If you follow theses steps carefully, you will be successful in hacking your Wii and will be even happier that you have one.
Overview
By hacking your Wii, you will be able to:
- Play Retail Games from an external hard-drive, no more discs!
- Watch movies from an external hard-drive or SD Card or over FTP
- Gain access to any Channels you want, including Virtual Console Games, by simply installing WAD's using a WAD Manager
- Play Homebrew games like Super Mario War or a port of Quake!
- Browse and download hundreds of Homebrew apps like Brawl+
- Install Emulators to your Wii, allowing you to play ALL of your favorite classic games!
Alrighty then, shall we get started?
Set-Up
Okay, assuming you have a Nintendo Wii with firmware 4.3U or 4.3E, you will also need the following:
- A blank SD Card, preferably 2 GB in size at the minimum.
- A copy of Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (this is used for the exploit)
- Your Wii must be connected to the internet via your wireless network
- Download the Homebrew Installer here.
- Download this package here, but do not mix it with the contents of the Homebew Installer, keep them separate!
Alright, let's start hacking!
Phase 1
First, we are going to install the homebrew channel and install bootmii as IOS. You will need to follow these steps precisely and in order:
- Make sure your SD Card is formatted and completely blank!
- Extract the contents of the 4.3 Wii hackmii installer.zip to your SD Card and insert it into the Wii
- Boot up Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
- Start up a new game and get far enough for the game to make a save file on your Wii and then exit the game.
- Reboot the Wii and check your Wii's internal Save Data, if there is a save file for Indiana Jones, you are good to go! Check the Save Data on your SD Card, there should be 3 save files named IndianaPwns. Copy over the one that is appropriate for your region ( e.g. USA for me ) If that doesn't work, simply delete the save file on your Wii and try to copy the SD Card's save file again.
- Once the IndianaPwns save data is installed to the Wii itself, start up Lego Indiana Jones once more. This time, click "load" and load up the first save file.
- When the game begins, you will need to head to the gallery room. If you can't find it, the pictures on the right are there to help you.
- Once you are in the Gallery Room, talk to the guy on the pedestal holding the bazooka. Scroll through the options and click the icon that has two lego people in it. Shabamm! Your screen should turn black and begin loading the boot.elf on your SD Card.
- Install the Homebrew Channel
- Install BootMii as IOS
- Click exit and shut off the Wii.
- Remove the SD Card and plug it back into your computer
Phase 2
Okay, this is the fun part, but also where most of the danger lies, so be extremely cautious and follow these steps in order!
- Format your SD Card and make sure it is completely empty. Extract the contents of 4.3 Wii Second.zip to your SD Card. Make sure your SD Card's contents match the picture on the right -->
- Insert the SD Card into your Wii and boot it up. On your main screen, you should see a channel called Homebrew Channel; launch it. Once this channel is loaded up, click the HOME button and then click "Launch BootMii"
- Click the option that says "Remove stubbed IOSs"
- Click the topmost option, once that is done, return to the main screen
- Click the option called "WAD Manager"
- Press 1 to install all the wads, make sure ALL are installed SUCCESSFULLY, return to the main screen
- Click the option called "Manage System Menu"
- Make sure that Version is set to 4.1U, and click "A" to confirm. If it asks, download from network.
- Exit, and restart the Wii. Boot up the Homebrew Channel again, except this time, launch PriiLoader
- Press the "+" button to install PriiLoader. Once it is done, your Wii may glitch up; this is normal. Turn off the Wii.
- While holding the reset button, press the power button on your Wii. You will be presented with the PriiLoader screen
- Click the option that says "System Menu Hacks"; configure your hacks the way I have mine in the picture on the right -->
- Save your changes and shutdown the Wii.
Your Wii is hacked!! Now all you have to do is download apps and set up your usb loader for playing Wii Games!
Playing Wii games stored on an external HD
Playing Wii Games from an external HD is probably the primary reason that most people want to hack their Wii's, and it is easier than you think! Just remember, downloading Wii games from the internet is illegal! Make sure you own the original copy before playing backups. To get started, you need an external hard drive or a flash drive. I personally use the hard drive on the right for my Wii game collection and I recommend you get it if you do not already own one. You can alternatively pick up the flash drive if you want something less bulky.
To set up an external HD or flash drive and load it up with Wii games, refer to my tutorial here!
Media on your Wii!
To play movies or listen to music on your Wii, you'll need a homebrew app. There are lots of different types available, but I recommend WiiMC. It gets frequent updates and packs a bunch of features:
- Plays movies/music stored on your SD Card, External HD, or flash drive
- Network connectivity for streaming internet radio and internet TV
- Various adjustable settings
- Developer Support
If your SD Card still contains the contents needed from phase 2 above, then you already have WiiMC, but you can only access it via the homebrew channel. If you would like to install it as a channel and have access to it from your System Menu, follow these steps:
- Boot up the Wii, Run the Homebrew Channel and run the IOS 202 installer
- Run the WiiMC channel Installer (has the same icon), install it
- Return to the Wii system menu and voila!
Homebrew Content
Now that your Wii is hacked, you can enjoy a plethora of homebrew apps! There are emulators, game enhancers, independent developer games, media players, and much more! Download the homebrew browser, it's a very convenient app that acts as a portal to downloading pretty much any other homebrew, meaning it will be the only app you have to download via your computer. Once this app is installed, you can download everything else straight from your Wii using the homebrew browser!
Installing Channels
Using the WAD Manager, you can install pretty much anything you'd normally buy from the Wii Shop Channel. To install a WAD:
- All you have to do is find a WAD that you want to install. Don't ask me where *google is your friend*
- Once you have found a WAD you want, make sure you place it in the "WAD" folder on your SD Card.
- Run the WAD Manager, and install it!
After Following this Tutorial, were you able to hack your Wii successfully?
See results without votingQuestions?
Comment this page below or email me at:
arikardo77@gmail.com
CommentsLoading...
Great guide, I'm just about to start using it but wanted to clarify something first.
Kind of a silly question but still important enough to ask. When you say Preloaded Firmware 4.3 is that meaning any 4.3 firmware or this hack is only for newer Wii's with the 4.3 already on it and not the one that updated to 4.3
Marlie
Hello again,
I have been trying to load boot.elf to SD card , but when the screen goes black it says "No code found to load, hanging." Also says no SD card found. I was able to get the save file and then the SD card showed the 3 files and I selected USA and it said it already existed in the Wii save file. So as mentioned in the guide I deleted the save file from the Wii and tried to copy the IndianaPwns and it worked no problem.
I verify that the IndianaPwns was on the Wii itself and it is, I restarted the game and selected load, load save 1 and went to the Art room and saw the guy with the Bazooka and selected the 2 logo icon. (When you say talk to the guy holding the bazooka, is there something special we need to do? Or just pull up to him and then select the two logo icon?)
I have tried it twice now and same result. Before I start should my SD card have one folder with the 3 files in it, or should it be 3 files. The reason I ask is that qwhen you extract directly to the SD card it gives you one folder with the 3 files in it, but your picture of what the SD should have shows only the 3 files.
Last possible reason it may not work is that i am using a burnt copy of Lego Indiana Jone, do you think this would be the problem? I currently have a wasabiDX chip installed in it.
Thanks
Marlie
Thank you for the reply,
I am using an 8gb Kinston Micro SD card with a Kingston Micro SD adapter. Probably the same issue using this right?
I will go buy a regular SD card of 4gb or bigger and let you know how I make out.
Thanks
Marlie
The indianapwns file won't seem to show up. I see the saved indiana jones file on my wii but nothing is on the sd card and I have tried what you have said to do. Nothing seems to work. I am using a kingston 2GB SD card.
Okay, I got the right card everything is working so far. But when I get to the phase 2 step 9 I get an error.
It says to continue select (+/A) and when I do that I get an error then says aborting. Any ideas? Says something about IOS 058
Thanks, I'll try that tonight. So instead of +/A do (Hold B then +).
I'll post my results.
Marlie
Hi again, I tried what you said and it worked (I think). It loaded and as the writing was scrolling down the screen I could see that it said successful a lot of places but then it said Error 106 twice then said completed successfully. So is that normal?
I proceeded to the next steps and got to Phase 2 step 12 "System Menu Hacks" You stated to make sure that we configure as per your picture, but the problem is that I had one entry missing. On your picture you have "Disable Haxx, DVDx, RZDx, deletion" but that was not even offered to me.
I double checked to see if I can read burnt DVD's and I can't so I am assuming it was done correctly.
I know will be setting up my external HD and see if everything works. I haven't read your tutorial yet on how to load games but wanted to just ask this: Are the games on my External HD still 4.37gb? Basically it is the same as if I were to burn my DVD, but just running them from HD?
I'll read your tutorial and let you know if I have any questions and let you know how I make out.
Hello, I am in the process, when i get to the check and delete stub i pick the right option but it gives me the same error everytime. i skipped this step, when i got to step 8 another error...
All done and working great. I can even play my DVD's games even burnt ones as I still have the WasabiDX chip installed.
Easy process to get games on HDD, but I have to get a way to download games directly to the HDD without having to insert a DVD copy to put in the HDD.
Thanks
Marlie
Why is it that my SD card has to be in the Wii in order for the USBLoader to work? Can I get it to work without having to have the SD card in all the time?
I wanted to thank you for all your help in getting me up and running with this hack. It works great and my wife loves the fact that there aren't any games laying around.
Can you also provide me with a good how to restore to original setting should I ever want to remove the hack?
Thanks again.
Marlie
I put in my kids smurf game to rip and the game icon says to system update. Should I go ahead and update my system or should I not update the system? Other games show up regularly without a prompt to system update. Thank you for a guide that got me up and running, I've been wanting to do this for my kids.
let me clarify...when I put disc into wii to play it, I get a prompt in the upper left wii channel box that says system update. Is this an issue with the priiloader? I could not get the priiloader screen by holding reset button and powering on...what should I do to get priiloader working and get rid of system update notification?
I have figured everything out, sorry for multiple posts, but thank you. I have tried a few guides and this is the only one that got me a true soft mod that works (for now). I got hung up on step 10. Priiloader didn't install for me and I thought the error it kicked back to me was the expected "glitch". I went back to step 9 (phase 2), got priiloader installed (although it wasn't the + sign I needed to press)and was finally able to get to the priiloader system hacks screen to make it like the pic. Thanks again, my discs are on their last legs...
yes it is 4.3u
Hi Alucard_1990,
I'm doing my neighbours wii and running into a problem on Phase 2 step 3 and 4.
I select the top most option to remove stubbed IOS's and then it states that error removing IOS222, IOS223, IOS249 and IOS250.
Any ideas if I should continue with these errors or that the wii is not able to be modded?
Thanks
Marlie
100% certain. It is the new black wii
As stated it is a 4.3U and a it is a Black wii. I'm actually doing two wii's right now and the other one is saying the same thing and it is also at 4.3U and it is the new blue Wii released here in Canada.
When you say they need to be removed can I go to manage IOS's and select delete IOS 222, 223, 249 and 250?
Thanks for your help,
Marlie
Same problem as MArlie - "I select the top most option to remove stubbed IOS's and then it states that error removing IOS222, IOS223, IOS249 and IOS250"
When I hit reset and try to restart in step 9, I don't get the menu I should.
I went back to step 3 & 4 to try and remove stubbed ios' but this time it said none were found. I can't get priiloader menu while pressing reset and power...
I have tried at least 8 times to get pass this error. Still nothing.
I have the new Black Wii firmware 4.3U and also on a Blue Wii (without the game cube ports) at firmware 4.3U and still no go.
I have tried almost everything I can think of and Alucard hasn't been able to help as he hasn't seen this before.
If I find something i'll post and hopefully you can do the same so we can help others that run into the same problem.
Marlie
I am getting the new black wii (the one that lays flat) for Christmas. Will I be able to hack it right away?
I'm got a Black Wii 4.3E and get the same error: "Error removing IOS222, 223, 249 250". Any ideas guys?
i cant install games on the usb loader n cant play them
I'm also getting the same error when trying to remove the stubbed ios', I've tried to delete them with the ios manager but that does not work as well. Someone please help
phase 2 part 4 did not work and on part 6 none of the wads installed successfully, can you please help me!
Where do I put the homebrew browser? In another sd card by itself? Or inside the apps folder?
Hi - I'm on 4.3E and also have the problems removing the stubbed ios - I notice the package isn't identical to your picture it contains a config folder too - but whether I use that extracted into the root, or not on it, or on it, it still doesn't work - nor can I manually delete them in manage ios files...
Someone on some forum said something about using dopMii or something - is there any chance you could make a guide?
And I've repeated the steps about 6 times now downloading a fresh 2nd package every time
Hey this guide is awesome, but i cant get past phase 2 part 10 n 11. Im not getting the system hacks screen. Please advice
hi my friend has a wii with 4.2 firmware. he had usb loader and everything worked great....until his kid done an update and now he has 4.3 firmware.. how do i fix this problem? do i just use this guide? do i need to delete anything off his wii/ sd card. please help!!
also i have done a couple of wii softmods with 4.1 with not much problems, i didn't have to connect wii to the internet. do i need to connect wii to the internet for this hack or can i just use pc/sd card, and then load stuff onto wii.
can i use this guide for 4.3 even with a wii that has 4.2 hack already... update was done recently and usb loader etc not working anymore. please help
Do you have to use Indiana Jones? Could I use Lego Batman?
is there anyway to install HC and bootmii with out using a game
hi, is there a way to just plug a usb flash drive into the wii and start playing games just like that? my uncle bought a white wii from a store and he says he just plug the flash drive into the the usb port in the wii and then the games loaded like a normal wii game O.o
so i was wondering is that even possible :X?
Im having trouble installing north America (u) - system menu u4.1.
I cant get past phase 2 part 8, Im getting contents 2/9 error4 (-2) I think i messed up the Ioses. Please help.....I do have a black wii, and it's a 4.3u. Just got it for christmas.
hello, i am trying to mod mw3, like have a mod menu and crap like that. i got hombrew, usb loader gx, wii loader and 1 other i got from... please.hackmii.com. so i got everything now all i need is help hacking/moding mw3. can you help me, please and thank you?
i have a wii 4.3 e with a pal system my tv is pal and the games in usa how can i hack a 4.3e system what will i need
I have installed the homebrew channel using the letterbomb and would like to use a 32 GB usb drive or a external hdd.
Should I use the 4.3 second zip file next?
Bobber
I tried Phase 2 and step 3 Click the option that says "Remove stubbed IOSs". it failed all
Bobvan103
Having problems with Wii control going unresponsive to the menu items for both bootmii and priiloader. It is a Black 4.3U wii and I managed to get Homebrew channel installed using letterbomb method. When I select bootmii it loads and restarts and brings up MMM and from there control is not responsive.
ANy ideas?
Adam
One of the wii's I did buy around Christmas but it is not the one I am working on.I think it was purchased before Christmas a year ago but I did upgrade it to 4.3u when I got it hooked up to the internet. It asked and I said OK and I guess that was a mistake.
Bob
The unite I am working on is the one that came with a bad CD Drive ans I sent it in and had replaced under warranty.
Bob
Yes it has 2 gamecube ports.
The model # one the unite is RVN-001 USA.
bobvan103
Hi,
Got my Xp Sustem up and running and no better.
Down loaded phase 2 again and put it on a sd card and tried step 3 again remove stubbed IOSs.
Error Removing IOS222 v65820
223 ""
249 ""
250 ""
any help would be good.
Thank You
Bobvan103
hey i just want to say that this is a GREAT guide and congrats and a big thank you. was bit hesitant and doing this but was very easy and straight forward...Totally recommend it
Is there any way to do this with super smash bros or twilight princess I remember using those a while back
hey i just want to say that this is a GREAT guide and congrats and a big thank you. was bit hesitant and doing this but was very easy and straight forward...Totally recommend it
hello,
I want to Thank you for guide, I do it like you white,
HVALA (on croatia - thank you)
Hello,
I dont own indiana jones, can I do this using any other games? I have a wii from 2010 4.3U.
Thanks
Hi
Should I go back to Phase 1 and try to install the home brew channel again or wait for someone to figure this out. It seams like I am not the only one that is having this problem. I hope some one comes out with a usb loader for this ver. 4.3u
thank you
bobvan103
hi i need help i downloaded some games and put them on my usb by using WBFS Manager 3.0 and when i start the game on usb loader gx i get a black screen and i have to reset the wii i dont know what to do pls help
I tried so many times, I am fallowing all the steps in order and still, I always receive this messages;
First: http://imageshack.us/f/580/error1os.jpg/
Second: http://imageshack.us/f/807/error2p.jpg/
From here on I cant do anything but to shutdown the system, the remote start flashing and stuff.
I used a Toshiba 2GB(the Wii read it)I got wireless internet, (I tried with encryption and without it).
From the Phase 1, I reach until step 8 (Once you are in the Gallery Room, talk to the guy on the pedestal holding the bazooka. Scroll through the options and click the icon that has two lego people in it. Shabamm! Your screen should turn black(*HERE IS WHERE I'M STUCK*) and begin loading the boot.elf on your SD Card.)
PS:I am a newbie in wii terms but I learn fast, this wii is new, I bought it 2 days ago and today I open it.
PS2:my Wii ver. is 4.3U
The version of my Wii is 4.3U, as I mention I bought it a couple of days ago, it comes with super mario and a super mario soundtrack. I was reading others updates and I think that the console does not freeze, is the control that loose signal because it start flashing right after the screen reach the press A button, in another update mention something about that so I think that could be the source of the problem.
I think I should get an older controller version.
PS: the Wii does not have any kind of connection to gamecube and if it does, I read the guide, I would disconnected any kind of cable :)
Gonna try this out, thanks man.
This guide is awesome(yours)and I saw a couple of your other post, verrrrry verrrry nice XD
I got a question, can you access completely http://please.hackmii.com? if I use my phone, it shows a capcha with 2 words/numbers but in my pc it does not show the capcha and is needed in order to make the download. In my phone the download is always unsuccessful I dont know why.
I am VERY new to the Wii, so one thing that tripped me up for awhile was how exactly I was supposed to copy the Indiana Jones file over to the console. I kept clicking the SD Card and would get a error#004.
I did not realize I needed to go into the settings, and data management, and into the SD card that way, and then copy it to the wii. I had to get this step from another guide.
Another issue I came across was somehow the wrong IOS was loaded, and I had to manually load 249. I pieced together a couple guides and finally got it without bricking the wii.
Hope this may help some others, GL!!!
I couldn't "customize" my Wii so I ended up buying another, an old one that have GC ports, is white, I was able to "customize" it. I read somewhere that white, black, blue and red Wii consoles are different(when you hack them, something work in one but not in the other(s))
Does someone knows what it is?
Looks like a lot of good info here... You guys seem to know what you’re talking about and I’d appreciate your help. I’ve worked in IT for many years (so I’m not afraid of poking around), but haven’t done any poking around or “hacking” with my Wii (my kids use it for games). The extent of my Wii experience is loading games…
I'm having a problem with a Wii that was hacked (soft modded) by a buddy. I'm looking for some ideas.
I'm running games from a new Seagate 500 GB drive. Some games will work for a while and then stop working (the games will either not work altogether or let you play up to a certain point and then stop/freeze). The latest games that this has happened to are "Zelda Twilight Princess", "SIM 3", "Super Smash Brothers (Brawl)", "Silent Hill", "Bully", and "Fire Fighter". Usually, I'll delete the games, reload them, and then I'm good to go (for at least a while longer).
This makes me think it might have something to do with the reliability of the drive, but I was having the same problem with an older 300 GB drive (that’s what got me to get the new 500 GB drive). Actually, the Wii got to the point (with the 300 GB drive) that the USB Loader would hang when trying to launch it. I downloaded WBFS Manager 3.0, plugged the drives into my laptop, copied the contents of the 300 GB drive to the 500 GB drive, and plugged the 500 GB drive back into the Wii. At first the Wii didn’t work with the new 500 GB drive - it took a few, prolonged, hard power cycles to get the Wii working again, but it eventually did. It didn’t take long for the same behaviour to resurface thou…
So, just some stuff off the top of my head…
I remember reading somewhere that WBFS is pretty “quirky” and “unreliable”, that you’re better off going with “NTFS”. The drives I’ve used seem to work well with NTFS and my laptop. Any thoughts???
I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to try re-hacking the Wii … or if it even makes any sense. (Where would I start following the instructions from?)
I’m not sure if my card is SD or SDHC (the Wii is at home and I’m not). Would it even work at all if it was SDHC?
The Wii was updated to 4.3 before my buddy did the soft mod. He’s done a few soft mods before, but has told me that other people he’s done it for have had similar problems (but of course – his is working well – go figure).
Any suggestions or ideas???
Joe here again - I checked and it's a Kodak 2 GB SD card...
Anyone with any suggestions or ideas???















club1820 6 months ago
Hello. Thanks for this guide. I have a couple of questions.
Do I understand correctly that once you do this hack, you can no longer use the Wii's internal dvd drive for anything?
Also, once you do the hack, can it be undone at any point and revert your Wii back to its original configuration.
THANKS!