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NAND Flash from different wii fix.

Posted by Karrde 
NAND Flash from different wii fix.
September 21, 2010 04:58PM
Hey guys,
Someone mentioned a method involving nand flashing to fix my wii so i thought i'd ask here for the full details.
WARNING: Wall of text, i am sorry.

Problem:
Wii boots to health screen. There is no press A. I checked over the troubleshoot, but savemii wasnt working as i couldnt boot any autoboot discs (the version number does come up however 4.3e). They just sit in the drive. It did use to work on 4.2 when i had a problem but doesnt now.
Ages ago, I did the trick to play the NTSC MP3 on a PAL console, where you stop the update partway by pulling out the power. Ever since then my wii has been acting strangely, trying to update off any and all discs, only asking to do this sometimes etc.

After not using my wii for ages i didnt even think and updated to 4.2. This caused a blackscreen on load which i managed to get around using savemii to play games. (This no longer works). When metroid came out i was able to use that to install 4.3 and my wii would get to Sys menu. However i was not able to install the HBC. Using MMM to check what IOS i had installed(used indy pwns to run) i noticed i was missing IOS 58, and had both IOS 70 and 80 active versions simultanously. I installed IOS58 from a wad. But was getting the same problem.

Then one of the times it asked to update off metroid it actually worked (usually it would fail straight away) and it seemed to install everything it should of from 4.3. Except boot2v4. I checked my IOS and they were all the newer versions as they should be. However it still wasn't letting me install HBC. As i already had 4.3 i figured why not just do a complete update of Nin server. I had no HBC so there was nothing to worry about, and it seemed to be common to tell people to update via nin and then try HBC. This dled and installed the update fine, but when i next booted the wii. Everything had gone to hell and i was left with the problem as described above.


Now i have a friend with a launch wii, same as me and he has the technical skills required to attach an infectus and we could both program one if need be. However we just need to know what exactly the process is for doing so.
I've found betwiin. So i figured we would need to flash bootmii onto my nand, make a dump, get the keys, insert them into a dump of his nand, then flash that back onto my wii. Is there anything i've missed here? Anything simpler i should try before we get an infectus. I don't think a 4.4 will be coming out for a while, especially on a disc so waiting round to see if that works, while an option, is not a very appealing one.

So if anyone could list a step by step guide or tutorial, or point to one already made that i've missed, on what exactly the process is. I would be VERY appreciated.
Re: NAND Flash from different wii fix.
September 21, 2010 06:47PM
I found this guide in a heavily piracy infested place, so I would publicly provide a link. However, some of the links in the guide don't appear here, and I don't have time to fix that. Therefore, PM me if you would like a link to the original.

You will not need a NAND backup from another wii, since you can use Comex's NAND formatter instead, if necessary. However, if there is data on your wii you would like to recover, you may even be able to avoid that. Just be sure to flash only the boot2 blocks (it would be fine to flash the boot1 blocks as well, though this is not necessary), so that all your data will remain intact. Once you have installed Bootmii/boot2, we can work out these details.

Quote
Erikie
NAND programming- Low Level Brick recovery without bootmii

If you have a low level brick and bootmii is not installed and already tried the GC method (holding down all 4 directional buttons when controller is in port 4 during startup) and pre-loader is not there too then you are basically screwed.
However there is a possibility to recover this Wii using the infectus modchip.
This chip can function as a nand programmer and with this you can try to inject a new boot2 with bootmii installed already.
First you need to buy the infectus : :: InFeCtuS ::
then you need to install the infectus on your Wii, this is the hardest part
Install the chip like this: [www.infectus.biz]
Download the software you need for putting the infectus into nand programming mode (Infectus Programmer): :: InFeCtuS :: (this is the top download)
Make sure you program the infectus into Nand mode. Select NAND out of the menu (search for it) and then click Program at the bottom of the same menu. Don't forget to have the chip connected on the USB port first

Download this software found here for programming the nand: Download Infectus NAND Flasher 1.03.rar from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way
more info about the program can be found in this thread:
Infectus NAND Flasher 1.03 (Amoxiflash Dot Net for Windows) - Wii, XBOX360, PS3

To have the software working you will also need to install this program:
Browse libusb-win32 Files on SourceForge.net

If you have all the wires on the nand then it is time to see if you can read the nand file:
switch on the Wii (so the green light is on)
then connect the infectus to the USB port.
Open the nand programmer software and select the correct driver out of the list. Then click connect. If all is well you will see the memory chip listed in the screen. Otherwise check your wiring again or reprogram the infectus into nand mode again.

Dump the nand, you can to the whole nand but we are really interested in the first block. This contains boot1. If boot1 is vulnerable then we can inject bootmii otherwise we can quit here and pray that another bug will be found in the newer boot1 versions anyday. So you can also dump from 0 to 135168(decimal) which will dump block 0 of the nand chip.

Compare the results of these blocks in a hex editor with other dumps from working Wiis with bootmii installed to see if you have one that matches the boot1 block. Basically check if the first 200 - 400 bytes are the same. If so
clean up your nand (working one) dump using Wiinand (download here: [www.tehskeen.com]) to clean up your nand dump for infectus programmer. This will only remove the last 1024 bytes (the keys) so you can also do this using a hex editor

now program the nand for this range 0 to 1081344 (decimal). This will flash boot1 and boot2 into the nand (blocks 0 - 7)
After this make sure you have an SD card in it with bootmii on it to boot into bootmii.

If you programmed the nand and the wii does not boot:
a) you did not use the correct boot2 version so try another one
b) also the composite output could be broken (happened a lot to me, turned out that the wii was not even bricked, more later about this if and when I have a fix for this)


If it worked you will need the attached program to format your nand and install basic files again to get it working.
Just copy all the files in the file to the root of your Sd card, start bootmii, go to the SD icon and start formatter.elf. The rest should go automatically. Another option is to use signcheck to see what is installed on the Wii and install the missing piece to unbrick it. There are many guides as sticky you can use for that

The formatter is specific for European wiis. If the program worked correctly open a disc in the disc channel with a firmware upgrade on it to get the channels back, I used Wii Play and I have 3.1E on the Wii. I am going to use Mario Kart to get to 3.3E but it is up to you what to use


Hope this is clear and will help a lot of others too!

Edit:
I uploaded the formatter tool file and you can download it here: RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

Identifying if a board can be injected with bootmii:
If you need to flash bootmii into the nand then you need to know if boot1b is in the wii. To my knowledge only rev 01 boards have boot1b in it. So if you have a higher rev board then you need the a full nand backup to save it. You can find the rev number right of the SD slot
Assuming you have a rev 01 board your datecode on the Hollywood chip should not be higher than 0830 (this number is at the last row the 4 first digits on the CPU) I know that 0811 is still fixable and 0830 is not anymore. So any number in between please post to this topic and I can modify this information. Still need to find out the cut off point for it.
Re: NAND Flash from different wii fix.
September 24, 2010 12:35AM
Interesting little bit of info... however... would it be impossible to fix a brick using a NAND programmer WITHOUT a healthy NAND backup from the same Wii? Say... using a generic NAND backup (have no idea where to find one... might just find it if I look hard enough).

If not... wouldn't it be possible to manually reprogram the NAND?

Another question: can one MANUALLY install bootmii with a NAND programmer? Or is boot2 write-protected? Thanks for your attention.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2010 12:36AM by Magil.
Re: NAND Flash from different wii fix.
September 24, 2010 12:58AM
That has nothing to do with this topic, and I suspect you know which topic it really is relevant to. In any case, that guide answers those questions, if you take the time to read it. A NAND backup from one wii will not work on another wii. Therefore, the only way to fix such a problem is to manually install Bootmii/boot2 or restore a working NAND backup from the same wii.
Re: NAND Flash from different wii fix.
September 24, 2010 07:24AM
I would appreciate a little bit less hostility. YOU were the one who suggested to follow this topic in the first place. And my questions are regarding the quoted post from a different forum. I did read it thoroughly, and even went and found the original post at it's source. I'd appreciate that you do not asume stuff about me out of the blue. I ask questions because I want to learn, and it's not like several other regulars here haven't gone and added their own questions to other posts... sometimes just plain (and blatantly) deviating from the original topic.

It is because I read that quoted post that I ask, because somewhere else I found something a bit related: Betwiin. A program that supposedly allows/converts a NAND backup from a different Wii for use on another Wii.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2010 07:25AM by Magil.
Re: NAND Flash from different wii fix.
September 24, 2010 10:14PM
I apologize. I was suggesting you read through this topic and that guide, but not to move our discussion here. I have no problem answering questions, but let's leave this topic for discussion Karrde's issue. I will continue this discussion in your topic.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2010 10:15PM by jbc007.
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