Conservative WiiBrewing (only a cup with dinner)

Hello.

This is a noobie question but from all I've read on the wiki and here in the phorums, I'm not 100% sure about the answer.
I am very interested in the Homebrew Channel and I'm considering installing it.

Could the following conservative approach work?
1. Already downloaded the Oct 23rd updates
2. Install Homebrew Channel (aready compatible with #1 above)
3. Install Homebrew Browser
4. After any official Nintendo firmware updates, wait for HBC team to release a compatible release and update the HBC
5. Install official Nintendo firmware update

What I'm trying to avoid is installing unofficial firmware patches. I would rather install Nintendo's own. But I don't know if by following this approach my homebrew applications would stop working.
Apparently, the Homebrew Channel would not have a problem with this approach as things stand TODAY.

Also, do official updates present in game discs installs themselves or do they ask for the user's permission?

Thank you for you opinion.

Regards.

That's what I did for the recent update, so go for it.

TheManuel (why not just Manuel? :P), Homebrew Channel beta9 is already compatible with 23Oct update. And there's no such thing as "unnoficial firmware".

Nintendo can disable homebrew on Wii, if they really try. But for now, is completely safe to keep going with the homebrew stuff. If you didn't installed the update, is recommended to not do it, though, because it disables some apps, and it's not really a crucial update (for instance, if you want to use Wii Shop Channel, use the Wii Shop and IOS51 installer)

EDIT: Oh, and don't worry, any game disc with an update will ask you before installing it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2008 08:00PM by DanielHueho.

Thanks.

How about the individual applications you install through the Homebrew Browser?
Are all of those still working or is it hit or miss?

The prefix "The" is so that nobody can figure out what my real name is. This is analogous to Superman taking off his glasses so that nobody recognizes him :-))

The Wii Shop and IOS51 installer is precisely the kind of unofficial patches I'm trying to avoid. I want to be sort of an "uncommitted" homebrewer. I already had installed the Oct 23rd update before posting.

What kind of apps are currently disabled because of the Oct 23rd update?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2008 08:04PM by TheManuel.

Apps are disabled only until developers (like me) update them. Once they are updated, the homebrew browser will update the version of the app it is carrying. Having said all this, many apps still work right now, and many more have already been updated.

But those apps don't work NOT because of the Nintendo update, but because of the new Wiibrew update.

Hmm.

So in general, the worse thing that happens is that, if I update the HBC first and the update to Nintendo's latest offcial firmware, some apps could stop working until the authors "fix" them?

Of course, this assumes that if I udpate the Homebrew Channel I can then safely update to the official Nintendo firmware without using the unofficial patch. Is this correct?

I appreciate everyone's patience.

Quote
DrLucky
But those apps don't work NOT because of the Nintendo update, but because of the new Wiibrew update.

Does the new Wiibrew update refer to the Homebrew Channel update?

@TheManuel

Yep. EDITED (AGAIN): I mean, I said bullshit in this space, oh forget it :P



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2008 08:57PM by DanielHueho.

Thanks Daniel and everyone else.

The Wiishop / IOS51 install isn't "modified" firmware. It's a partial update. The october 23 update isn't one "update" - it's a bunch of stuff delivered at once. The Wiishop / IOS51 installers just install the parts needed to get WiiShop to work and not the rest. If you use that and then use the normal Wii updater you'll get exactly the same result as if you used the normal wii updater in the first place, as it'll just install the missing bits and pieces.

Thanks, Marcan.

Is this still an issue at this point and people are still trying to avoid the Nintendo delivered updates or have most applications been udpated to "play well" with the new updates?

For my two pence worth - I installed the 23Oct and regreted it as most of my homebrew stopped working. When I say most, I mean 90%. The only things that worked were a shareware of Doom and MPlayer vis HBC beta 9. Everything comes up with the lovely 'Not a recognised WII application". Incidentally I spent ages trying to downgrade yesterday and eventually managed to get it to 3.2e but the TONA method keeps telling me that I have a region missmatch, gives an error code and STILL won't play my homebrew. If I were you amigo - wait until someone really gets their head around the new updates and releases a HBC that really works around these issues.

Incidentally can anyone tell me why I have a region missmatch and if this is the reason why my HB apps still don't work?

Thanks for the feedback.
I can definitely wait until this gets sorted out, although an earlier forum member posted that most applications still work so there is a possibility that you have some specific issue.
I already did the update myself so I'll probably wait a little before installing the HBC for the first time.

col70, RTFM; that has nothing to do with the update. You need to convert the programs to DOL files.

Ok, now I feel like an idiot - got you loud an clear Hyperhacker! My bad

Tried to convert using the release from Jossi "24603_ELFDOL_Converter_windows" and did what it said ie. copied the bat and exe to apps. clicked on the exe and a window appeared very briefly then disappeared. Clicked on the bat file and when prompted pressed any key and the window disappeared. Then tried to drag an elf into both of them and when did it on the exe file, it created a small file briefly then once again disappeared. Anyone help a blind noob?

col70:
Well, I'm hardly qualified to give advice given I haven't even downloaded the HBC but, would you not be able to fix all your problems by using the Homebrew Browser and downloading the most recent updates for your applications that don't work?

@col70

Try to copy the files to the folder of the app you want to convert, not the "apps" folder itself, and then you run the bat file.
If this doesn't work in anyway, you can try the command prompt method. Run the command prompt as administrator and type:

X:\
cd apps/homebrew
powerpc-gekko-objcopy.exe -O binary "boot.elf" "boot.dol"
exit

Where is "X", you put your SD card letter
Where is "homebrew", you put the name of the folder with a app to convert and with the ELF converter.
You can also put the powerpc-gekko-objcopy executable on your "system32" folder of Windows, so you won't need to put this file in every single place where you want to convert a app.