My poor Wii ;;;;;;;

[Tyche]

Protip, if you order a Wiikey, get someone to install it who has modchip and PCB soldering experience, just because someone is a master electrician does not mean they can solder for shit

Failed modchip install. First install was by my companies CEO, who is a master electrician. I sent it to a professional to fix the fucked up install. I had him take some pics.

This is from the original botched install, you can see the 2 burned off pads in the 4th picture:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/9171/before11dh4.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7154/before21tu9.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5926/before31zo1.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8143/before41uy4.jpg

The guy cleaned up the huge mess:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/1784/cleanup1cr2.jpg

And had to reinstall the chip directly to the firmware chip because the solder pads were completely burned off the circuit board.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8...alled11wm8.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/9...alled21sv6.jpg

The wiikey got toasted because the initial installer used a soldering iron that got too hot. Hafta order another damn chip and have it shipped to florida to be fixed.

[MF Perm]

Damn lol. What does a WiiKey do again?

[Semitry]

What did it cost to get it fixed?

Wiikey is a modchip.

[Tajin]

Fuck son, that is some FUCKING UGLY soldering work.

[Tyche]

Just a standard modchip. Allows for direct boot backups and even allows for homebrew. Basically I can load roms onto my wii, saving me from paying anything for VC, and I'm not constrained by the Wii's memory limitations. Not to mention no more buying wii games.

Edit: A friend bought me the modchip in exchange for getting him a early copy of 300 DVD rip. So the initial chip didnt cost anything. The repair work and new chip will cost a combined $170.

[aurik]

Piracy is bad.

[Exoduso]

told you that boss of yours would fuck it up for ya lol.

[Semitry]

Edit: A friend bought me the modchip in exchange for getting him a early copy of 300 DVD rip. So the initial chip didnt cost anything. The repair work and new chip will cost a combined $170.

That's like a year subscription to gamefly! Was the wiikey a bootleg or the original? I can't see the hologram that's being shown on their website.

[Minions]

Piracy is bad.

It also allows you to play imports, let us not forget!

[Khamsin]

You'd better pirate-- er.. import $170 worth of games to make it worth it!

[aurik]

Piracy is bad.

It also allows you to play imports, let us not forget!

Playing imports and homebrew is awesome, it's a shame that piracy induces console makers to baggage their consoles with lockout technology which for the vast majority of people means they'll never be able to run homebrew.

[Tyche]

It's an original, the hologram just comes packaged, it's not actually on the chip. The Wiikey hologram sticker is bigger than the wiikey itself. The wiikey is no bigger than a quarter. The pics really don't do the small size justice. Those solder points are about the size of FDR's ear on a dime. The legs on the chip, even smaller, and about a millimeter apart. How the guy I sent my wii to managed to solder directly to the chip leg is one of the more amazing accomplishments ive seen. I have about 8 Wii games ready for burning saved on my HD.

[octopus]

Have you considered Wiinja? I was looking at the Wii modchips too but I decided not to get one at this time...

[Epical]

Can someone give a quick rundown on what Homebrew is?

[JoOeetheplatypuS]

You do it to yourself
You do
And that's why it really hurts
You do it to yourself
Just you
You and noone else

[aurik]

Can someone give a quick rundown on what Homebrew is?

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_%28video_games%29

Homebrew is a term frequently applied only to video games that are produced by consumers on proprietary game platforms; in other words, game platforms that are not typically user-programmable, or use proprietary hardware for storage. Sometimes games developed on official development kits, such as Net Yaroze or PS2 Linux are included in the definition. Some, however, also refer to all non-commercial, "home-developed" games for open architectures as homebrew games, though these typically go under more frequently used labels, such as freeware. The term doesn't, however, include commercially sold games that are developed without the console manufacturer's license.

A popular type of homebrewed games is fangames.

In Japan, these games are usually called Dojin soft. Which is the way of saying this software is not illegal depending on what the software does.

[GraveRobberX]

Im not keen with soldering.. and I dont really like to fuck with machines.. that much, to achieve a little more out of whatever benefit you gain from it

So does this mean Tyche Wii waranty is void, and can see he still trade it in? (Stupid ? I know, but my mind wants to know)

[Vade]

I told him to get it professionally done by someone who mods a lot >.>;; And there is no void sticker on the wii, but it's kinda obvious you did something to burn the board. And the soldering gun you're supposed to use is supposed to be 15-30 watts...

[Tyche]

Well, First off, the Wii is still functional. Absolutely nothing wrong with the Wii itself, aside from an inability to do what I wanted it to do. I could have said fuck it after the botched installation and still played it the way it was intended. However, I had already sold my games that I did buy, and I really want to play homebrew on it. The initial installation was done with a 30 watt iron, however, it was also done with 24g wire as opposed to the recommended 30g. I guess it took a little longer to get the thicker wire to stick, in essence burning 2 pads and the chip. Everything I had read had suggested this was a fairly average install, and a average to good solderer could handle it np. As vade said, Nintendo doesn't (and has never afaik) used warranty void stickers/labels. They've always just used proprietary screws that required special tools to get the case open. Wii is no different, as it requires a tri-wing screwdriver. Anyone that installs a modchip as pretty much kissed a warranty goodbye, and it would be pretty evident, using a wire or direct install, that the points have been tampered with. The PCB points are all done by machine, so the size, amount and spacing is perfect. It would be damn near impossible to remove a chip and recreate that look after you have tossed extra solder onto the pads. With that said, I ordered a new chip, and modchipcentral.com has authentic wiikeys on sale for $17.

[Oxyminus]

You do it to yourself
You do
And that's why it really hurts
You do it to yourself
Just you
You and noone else

haha i was thinking the same thing. i dont know if i would mod a wii. not to say in an ideal world i wouldn't, but right now id be too paranoid to have...well...the same thing that happened to you happen to me

at least it still work