Preloader v0.29 showing, but no Systemmenu

I am new to the software part of the Wii, been only playing and reading about homebrew and other stuff. I know a little about the works but am a beginner in actually doing what I read. I have a Wii from a cousin of mine (he's only 12) that when powered on loads Preloader v0.29, does not load Systemmenu (I tried selecting the option and got a "Couldn't find 'hacks.ini' " error). The HomeBrew Channel appears to be loading. He doesn't know how it got this way (or doesn't want to say, you know how kids are).

Tried the SaveMiiFrii but only preloader shows, the Wii does not enter the recovery menu (if that's what it's called). Also the remote does not sync to the Wii, tried several remotes (his and mine). Can only navigate the preloader menu using the GC controller (the SaveMiiFrii one).

I do not know what I should do/read to make it work again, where should one start? Tried searching but have not found a similar problem, maybe because I don't even know what the problem really is...

Thank you in advance,
Alex



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2010 10:42PM by BLKro.

Most likely, the wii has system menu 4.2 (system menu version 480, 481, 482 or 486, depending on your region. This appears near the bottom of the screen in Preloader), with which Preloader is normally incompatible (there is a way to make it work, but it is impractical). If the wii has system menu 4.2, install Priiloader, which will work normally on 4.2. You can run the Priiloader installer through Preloader.

The same issue would happen if you have system menu 3.4. Again, fix it by installing Priiloader.

If you don't have system menu 4.2 or 3.4, the issue is probably caused by a bad channel WAD. We can discuss this if it is the case. Install Priiloader anyway. In this case, Priiloader won't fix it, but it should allow you to access the Homebrew Channel.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2010 11:03PM by jbc007.

I forgot to mention this, in the left corner in Preloader it shows:

IOS v50
Systemmenu v386

The Wii is EU version. I can acces the HomeBrew Channel from the Preloader right now.

Will try to install Priiloader in a few hours when I get back home (I am at work right now). Will search for a guide on installing, as I said I'm a total noob.

Thanks for the fast response!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2010 08:27AM by BLKro.

386 is 3.4E. So it should be fixed by installing priiloader. Its not hard to install, just run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions ;)

So you say that after installing priiloader I should be able to acces the Systemmenu and the Wiimote should sync to the console?

You should be able to access System Menu, and from there sync your wiimote ;)

Well, I cannot install Priiloader, it asks me to press (+) but I only have the GC controller...

There may be a button on the gamecube controller that you could press to install it (possibly start), but I'm not sure. If you can't get Priiloader to install, use Dop-IOS Mod to install IOS 60 and then system menu 4.1E. If you do this, you must install IOS 60 before installing system menu 4.1E, or you will fully brick your wii. Unless you know what you are doing, don't do anything else with Dop-IOS Mod, or your wii may be fully bricked.

Tried all buttons on the GC controller, and combination of 2 buttons, none work. Things become quite difficult for me, I would like to read some more before going further, could somenone recomend some literature related to my problem, what is wrong, what can be done and how. It would be easy to just press buttons, but I would like to understand. As a matter of fact I don't even know how to "use Dop-IOS Mod to install IOS 60 and then system menu 4.1E" :)

Is there a chance the Wii is unrepairable?

Thanks for all your help, will keep you posted.

Preloader needs ES_Identify in the IOS that it launches the system menu on (usually the system menu's IOS, but it can launch the system menu on any IOS). The IOSes used by system menu 3.4 and higher (50, 60, and 70) do not have ES_Identify unless you patch them. Preloader automatically patches IOS 60, which makes it compatible with system menu 4.0 and 4.1, but it doesn't patch IOS 50 or 70, normally making it incompatible with system menu 3.4 and 4.2. Priiloader does not need ES_Identify in the system menu IOS to launch the system menu; however, it still needs it if you launch the system menu on any other IOS (there is rarely any reason to do this). Therefore, Priiloader will work normally on any system menu version. As far as I know, there is no tool to patch IOS 50 with ES_Identify, so you need to remove Preloader or install Priiloader.

Installing a system menu will uninstall Preloader, so if you can't install Priiloader, you must install a system menu. Since Preloader works, you deffinitely can fix it. If fact, I would hardly consider this a brick. The only way it could become irreparable is if you do something wrong when fixing it (installing a system menu without its IOS or installing a stub system menu IOS, downgrading if your wii is relatively new, and such are good examples of things that would fully brick your wii).

Using Dop-IOS Mod is not very difficult. Download it, put its .dol file on the root of your SD card, and install it in Preloader. Then launch it through Preloader. When it starts, have it run on IOS 36. Go to the IOS installing section, locate IOS 60, and have it install IOS 60 whithout patches. Then go to the system menu installing section, select system menu 4.1E, and have it install. It will download the IOS and system menu and install them. It may take a while. Do not power off the wii while it is installing, or it will fully brick.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2010 06:55PM by jbc007.

Wow, thanks for the short course, I see now what the problem is. One more question, I presume the Dop-IOS Mod will connect to the internet to download the IOS 60 and 4.1E files? Do I need to make the router accept connections without requiring a password? Or maybe I can download them using NUS Downloader and put them on the SD, would that be better?

Your wii's internet settings must already be configured for Dop-IOS Mod to download things. You could have it install IOS and system menu WADs, but it may be easier to use WAD Import to do an offline install. Download system menu 4.1E and IOS 60 version 6174 (you must install v6174 since the latest version is a stub and will fully brick your wii) with NUS Downloader and have it pack them into WADs. Place the WADs in a folder called wad on the root of your SD card and install them with WAD Import. Install IOS 60 first.

You can download them and put them on the SD, if you want to. I believe you can then install them offline via dop ios mod.

Edit: Lol, you posted while I was typing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2010 09:31PM by WaxyPumpkin72.

Would it be OK to use Wad Manager (I have a version that can work with GC controller already on the SD) to install de IOS60 and 4.1e WADs?

That program isn't supported here, so please don't talk about it again....But yes, it would work.

Oh, sorry, didn't know about stuff like that. Is there a list of things not to talk about? I don't want to upset somebody in the future... Will try and let you know if it worked.

Some friend suggested I should backup first but H***M** doesn't run (don't know if this is supported in here) says could not find vulnerable IOS. Well, if you guys say that I can't brick I hope I will not need the backup :)

Quote
BLKro
Oh, sorry, didn't know about stuff like that. Is there a list of things not to talk about? I don't want to upset somebody in the future...

WAD Manager is unsupported becuase it is often used to install illegal WADs. Anything that is primarily used for illegal purposes or is illegal itself is unsupported here. Just about anything else is fine.

Quote
BLKro
Some friend suggested I should backup first but H***M** doesn't run (don't know if this is supported in here) says could not find vulnerable IOS. Well, if you guys say that I can't brick I hope I will not need the backup :)

I assume you are talking about the Hackmii Installer. If it can't find any vulnerable IOSes, you probably have cIOScrap (an illegal program that screws up all the IOSes in order to play pirated games). You should remove it, but doing so is a pain. In addition to IOS 60 and system menu 4.1, download the latest versions of all of the IOSes (except IOS 60, which must be v6174, not the latest version) with NUS Downloader and install them. Install IOS 60 v6174 first, then system menu 4.1, then all of the other IOSes.

Installing Bootmii as boot2 before doing this is not a bad idea, but your wii is almost certain not to brick unless you do something wrong. However, you can just install IOS 34, run the Hackmii Installer again (it will work after installing IOS 34) and install Bootmii as boot2. Then make a NAND backup and install the rest of the IOSes and the system menu. However, If you have a newer wii, you can't install Bootmii as boot2, which means that you won't be able to have any brick protection (not really an issue if you don't do anything stupid).

I understood about the software and piracy rules, thanks.

Thank you for the help, I managed to install IOS60 and then 4.1E and now the Wii is alive again. One small problem, I tried running HackMii after installing IOS34 and it still gave me that error. I would have liked to backup just in case this would happen again. Maybe I should install Priiloader now?

Make sure that IOS 34 is not patched and that you are using the latest version (v0.6) of the Hackmii Installer. You can install Priiloader if you want, but if you are looking for brick protection, you need to install Bootmii as boot2, if possible, and make a NAND backup. Priiloader will only protect you from banner bricks and such.

If I installed the IOS34 wad it should have wrote an unpatched version of IOS34, right? I think it was the old version of HackMii I was using that was causing the problem, I installed v0.6 and bootmii installed (as an IOS) but I backed up just in case. I have an Infectus and I can write the backup directly to the nand in case of a full brick. Do I need only the nand.bin or I need any other file from the SD?

Thanks for all the help, thank you so much!