PDA

View Full Version : How To Get Homebrew Working on The Wii Tutorial



wraggster
February 24th, 2008, 20:06
Finally in the last few weeks we have seen real Native Wii Homebrew working. (previously it was Gamecube Homebrew on the Wii but Nintendo blocked that route meaning you needed a Modchip to play Gamecube Homebrew on the Wii.

http://digg.com/nintendo/Wii_Homebrew_Explosion

Things Needed

Nintendo Wii

http://image1.play-asia.com/170/PA.32631.008.jpg

UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fexec%2Fob idos%2FASIN%2FB0007UATDG&tag=dcemu-21&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=6738) US (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FNintendo-Wii-Family-Bundle%2Fdp%2FB0009VXBAQ%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fqid%3D1168023100%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dvideogames&tag=nokiangagenew-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325) or Jap (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-2pz-71-bt-49-en-84-j-70-p6f.html)Version

Gamecube SD Card Adapter

http://image1.play-asia.com/170/5/pa.2949.1.jpg

Available at Play Asia (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-2pz-71-26-49-en-84-j-70-29x.html)

SD Card

http://image1.play-asia.com/170/PA.73651.001.jpg

1GB or higher (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-2pz-71-1p-49-en-84-j-70-1ktv.html) should be OK

A copy of Zelda (It must match the version of console, ie US Zelda on a US WII)

http://image1.play-asia.com/170/PA.79931.002.jpg

UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FLegend-Zelda-Twilight-Princess-Wii%2Fdp%2FB000FQBPCQ%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dvideogames %26qid%3D1203461551%26sr%3D8-1&tag=dcemu-21&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=6738) / US (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-2pz-71-z3-77-1-49-en-15-zelda-84-j-70-1pob-43-bs.html) / Jap Version (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-2pz-71-z3-49-en-15-zelda-84-j-70-1lnp-43-bs.html)

First check


On the Zelda Disc on the side thats played look for the following strings:


This exploit does not work with every version of Zelda:TP. Easy way to check your version is to compare the text string which is on the inner cycle of the data surface with the ones below.

RVL-RZDP-0A-0 JPN - working
Some minor problems reported e.g. Some greeny lines around the top area of the screen that appear with the penguin and if the TV type is set to 480i/p (60Hz or EDTV mode) the bottom is cut off

RVL-RZDE-0A-0 JPN - working
RVL-RZDE-0A-0 USA - working
RVL-RZDE-0A-2 USA - working (if you encounter problems with alpha2, re-download the latest rzde2.bin)
RVL-RZDJ-0A-0 JPN - not supported yet

Next Job

Extract the Twilight hack zip archive into any folder.

Grab your SD Card and on it

Make a new folder on it and rename private

inside private folder make a new folder and rename wii

inside wii folder make a new folder and rename title

inside title folder make a new folder and rename RZDE (for USA)
RZDP (for Pal)
RZDJ (for Japan)

Then from the Twilight hack grap the file you need and rename to data.bin - stick that inside the RZDE (change to suit your system) Folder.

Next

Go into Wii Options --> Data Management --> Save Data --> Wii. Find your Zelda save, click on it, and click "Erase", and click Yes.

Now, go into SD card, and select the "Twilight Hack" save (the icon says "Wiibrew Loader"). Click copy, and yes. Now, go back out of that menu

Then start the game. Select the first save file (called Twilight Hack), complete the brightness setting, and talk to the man in front of you.

The Elf Loader Will then load You now have Wii Homebrew :), what it will say is "Coming Soon Elf Loader and Beyond with a big fat penguin sitting there :)

Next is the harder part and it may be where a lot of you will fail and believe me i dont think its easy either but here goes.

Now you will need the demo.elf file from the Twilight Hack zipfile

You will also need Writeelf (http://cybermind.user.stfunoob.com/wii/writeelf/), once you have downloaded (http://cybermind.user.stfunoob.com/wii/writeelf/files/writeelf_1.5.zip) it then extract it to your desktop.

Now you should have the writeelf file and the demo.elf file on your desktop.

Now heres where unless you have used command lines before you may struggle.

I had to move the 2 files to my c:/documents and settings/billy folder because when i opened up the Command Prompt that is the folder it started in.

Now my SD Card showed up on my J Drive so this is the command i pasted into the command prompt box:

writeelf -f=demo.elf j

basically you can use this for any wii homebrew by renaming the file say tetris.elf to demo.elf or by changing the command above to whatever.elf you need. The J part is the drive that your SD Card is on so again change that to the drive you need. (do not change it to your C or Windows drive)

If successfull then it will write to the file :)

Then grabbing your SD Card insert it into the Gamecube SD Card Adapter, then insert that into Slot A on the Gamecube Memory port on the Nintendo Wii.

Then start the game. Select the first save file (called Twilight Hack), complete the brightness setting, and talk to the man in front of you.

The Elf Loader Will then load and you now will see the Demo and you are in the World of Wii Homebrew :)

This method can be reused for any new releases :), so yes its not easy but if your a homebrew fan im sure you will try it ;), hopefully an easier way will be released that doesnt need require you to use command lines via a command prompt.

http://digg.com/nintendo/Wii_Homebrew_Explosion

As Usual Please Discuss Via Comments and thanks to Wii Brew for the Twilight Hack (http://wiibrew.org/index.php?title=Twilight_Hack) and for some of the instructions that ive tried to simplifiy and make a little more sense of them.

royvedas
February 25th, 2008, 05:01
That's all nice and stuff. But what version of Zelda works for the uk version?

thefanaticgamer
February 26th, 2008, 03:11
Just out of curiosity does anyone know if this could possibly work with the gamecube version of zelda?

rokobungi
February 26th, 2008, 03:29
I had to use the command
writeelf -f=demo.elf -s=2048 X
(X is the drive letter) or it wouldn't find anything on the card and said something about maybe it's a .dol

ian h
February 26th, 2008, 17:07
im with rotvedas, is there a specific zelda tp that i would have to use in the uk all do all versions of zelda tp in the uk work with this exploit?

kennyk
February 26th, 2008, 21:49
The world today that cannot use DOS...

rokobungi
February 26th, 2008, 22:47
I got the mp3 player working.....

it sounds horrible .... but it works
I got the snes emulator to run (but had no roms to test)

but with both I had to specify the sector or they would not load.. it might be my particular SD card

anyway I had to write with my laptop(under XP)... vista won't let any program issue commands directly to hardware

I have NO problems with dos.

Xanikseo
February 27th, 2008, 00:32
Shouldn't there be a way to do this by using Linux :P?

rokobungi
February 27th, 2008, 01:07
linux can do this with just a command no extra software needed


I saw it on here under the tetris homebrew

junglerocket
February 28th, 2008, 12:33
Just out of curiosity does anyone know if this could possibly work with the gamecube version of zelda?

Yep, I managed to get it working last month. It took me a while to get it running, but it was well worth it. Zelda is a great game!

slitchfield
March 3rd, 2008, 10:22
Gulp. Having mastered Internet, Radio, etc. on the Wii, I'm going to try to get this working before the end of March. Can't help thinking that there's got to be an easier way though.

tehnoir
March 16th, 2008, 18:12
Gulp. Having mastered Internet, Radio, etc. on the Wii, I'm going to try to get this working before the end of March. Can't help thinking that there's got to be an easier way though.

Currently there is no public method easier than this...or any other public method period for that matter. If you'd like to make one, I'm sure the homebrew community would love you for it. But try to remember that all of this is in its infancy and there seems to only exist a small group of individuals working very diligently to improve this as quickly as possible; not necessarily just for ease, but expanding on capabilities as well.

icecoolwas
March 17th, 2008, 21:13
That's all nice and stuff. But what version of Zelda works for the uk version?

You do realise that (PAL) is europe and Uk is in Europe?

tehnoir
March 18th, 2008, 03:13
You do realise that (PAL) is europe and Uk is in Europe?

I think he was referring to the fact that other countries have multiple ELF files available, depending on which disc you have, while only RZDP is listed for the UK and version numbers are never addressed.

I had just assumed there was only one UK version and hence, the same ELF should work for all UK copies.

tutank
April 11th, 2008, 18:56
Hi
Can anyone help me?
I have done everything with the twighlight hack
the right file in the right folders but when I run Zelda and talk to the man it crashes with a page of text with the bottom line saying "loading binary file"
and thats as far as it gets!

Please help!!

Regards

Jon

Mr.Guy
April 11th, 2008, 20:17
Hi
Can anyone help me?
I have done everything with the twighlight hack
the right file in the right folders but when I run Zelda and talk to the man it crashes with a page of text with the bottom line saying "loading binary file"
and thats as far as it gets!

Please help!!

Regards

Jon

Maybe you have a bad rom. Download from a different site. If that doesnt work then reinstall the chainloader and make sure that you have the region for the save right and redownload the emulator.

tutank
April 11th, 2008, 21:46
Hi
I have downloaded the file again.
RVL-RZDP-0A-0 JPN rzdp0.bin
And it still does the same thing!
The file was renamed data and went into
private/wii/title/RZDP
any ideas?

Regards

Jon

h2923j42n2
April 11th, 2008, 22:58
Hi
I have downloaded the file again.
RVL-RZDP-0A-0 JPN rzdp0.bin
And it still does the same thing!
The file was renamed data and went into
private/wii/title/RZDP
any ideas?

Regards

Jon

Do you have a homebrew file on the SD card, renamed to 'boot.elf'? It sounds like you are doing everything right with the Twilight Princess save file.

tehnoir
April 12th, 2008, 18:14
Are there any helpful errors before the "loading binary file" line?

For instance, if you do not have an elf file properly placed/name, it should give you an error about not being able to read the ELF. Please give more info if you can.

dreemcest
April 23rd, 2008, 09:36
If you still are having problems with wii homebrew:
The card must be formatted as FAT not FAT32, if you do not remember doing this below

then do it now.
-Right click on the disk (ex. "Removable disk (G: )" ) and select "Format..."
File system = FAT with NO "Quick Format" (it should be unchecked).

Please note that under FAT all filenames must be 8 chars or less so 12345678.ext and

1234_678.ext are both fine but 123456789.ext and 123 5678.ext file names might cause

crashes. So when you rename your files, take out all spaces as well by eliminating them or

by using underscore_ or dash in-between chars.

Blue Cup
April 24th, 2008, 23:57
Whenever I try loading this, I get all the way up to the "Boot.elf file found!" line, then it stops and adds a line of text every few seconds and then does nothing.

I'd REALLY like to get the SNES emulator up and running.

dreemcest
April 25th, 2008, 04:31
Whenever I try loading this, I get all the way up to the "Boot.elf file found!" line, then it stops and adds a line of text every few seconds and then does nothing.

I'd REALLY like to get the SNES emulator up and running.
Sounds like a problem with the boot.elf because I have used many others with the twilight pack and have no problems getting them to load. It could be the version of the Zelda save you are using but is hard to guess without more detailed info about your wii and which files you are using.
The best bet would be to re-download the files again, and I would suggest finding a twilight pack and follow the instructions to get the basic files running first.
After a successful run.
next replace the boot.elf file on the root with any other elf loader (mag_loader) or emulator should run .elf's just fine.

If it does still not run elfs then you might:
-have defective card (suggest non-wii sdcard)
it works for me on two diff non-wii cards.
-need to format card as FAT (see above cmt)
-need a different loader or emulator

Have you tried different homebrews or the original files from the twilight pack?

h2923j42n2
April 25th, 2008, 08:00
I don't know if they are using the wrong save file. Whenever I used the wrong one, the game would just crash with a loud buzzing sound. Anyway, if you have another SD card, try doing it on that one. The Twilight Hack has some issues with certain SD cards. I use a 2GB Sandisk card, and have had no problems loading files. Someone else on the forums tried two Canon cards, and it didn't work. They then got a Sandisk card, and were able to load files.

dreemcest
April 30th, 2008, 05:41
re: h29...
I agree, I used different sd cards as well. One a generic cheapy named Impact and another Corsair 512 which I use now.
I know some had issues with bigger than 2gb but I would suggest an old one you have laying around. Put your wii one in your digital camera or mp3 player and swap that card with it.
I would try my gig micros with an adapter but they are for my sansa and is full of cd rips, and I do not see the point since mine works fine with other cards.

Apoklepz
May 3rd, 2008, 16:22
Hi, I just got my Wii last week along with the GC SD adapter and I'm getting Zelda today...I just have one question.

How good is SNES and PC engine emulation on the Wii?

Can't wait!
Thanks.

africansk8er
May 4th, 2008, 01:48
I'm having that problem too. Everytime I load it, I get this string-

retval = c1000002 reply = 0000000 000000 00000 00000

And that keeps repeating. Some people say it's the SD card, but hopefully there's a fix for that. Any suggestions?

tehnoir
May 4th, 2008, 06:10
I'm having that problem too. Everytime I load it, I get this string-

retval = c1000002 reply = 0000000 000000 00000 00000

And that keeps repeating. Some people say it's the SD card, but hopefully there's a fix for that. Any suggestions?

I think that means that the loader isn't finding anything to load. Try reformatting the SD card. Make sure you have everything setup and named properly. I've had it happen a few times where formatting the card helped. Also make sure your card isn't too big. If you can borrow somebody else's SD card or something, it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.

africansk8er
May 5th, 2008, 23:35
I managed to get it working by formatting my card to FAT32 and using an experimental Twilight hack that supports FAT32. Works fine now.

NJisMYhome
May 12th, 2008, 04:43
which version of the twilight hack are u supposed to use????????????//


there are a couple avaiable............

h2923j42n2
May 12th, 2008, 04:52
which version of the twilight hack are u supposed to use????????????//


there are a couple avaiable............

The newest versions are 3a and 3b. If your SD card is formatted to FAT32, you should try the 3b version.

http://wiibrew.org/index.php?title=Twilight_Hack

NJisMYhome
May 12th, 2008, 04:58
The newest versions are 3a and 3b. If your SD card is formatted to FAT32, you should try the 3b version.

http://wiibrew.org/index.php?title=Twilight_Hack

why cant u download the first one? is there something wrong with it??????

i still dont kno which one i should download...........

h2923j42n2
May 12th, 2008, 05:17
why cant u download the first one? is there something wrong with it??????

i still dont kno which one i should download...........

I guess you can download any version you want. However, 3a and 3b supports loading from the Wii Front SD, and the other versions don't. You need an SD Gecko for those versions. If you don't have an SD Gecko, 3a or 3b will be the only versions that can load files for you.

gary_abernethy2
June 16th, 2008, 20:24
If I do the latest version of Twilight Hack (alpha 3?) and I have homebrew channel beta 8 on the SD Card as well, can I skip the difficult elf editing part and will it load it right away?

h2923j42n2
June 16th, 2008, 22:06
If I do the latest version of Twilight Hack (alpha 3?) and I have homebrew channel beta 8 on the SD Card as well, can I skip the difficult elf editing part and will it load it right away?

This tutorial is a little out of date. If you have the Alpha 3 version of the Twilight Hack, as you say you do, you no longer need to have an SD Gecko, or use any programs like 'Writeelf'. All you have to do is place the ELF file on the root of the SD card, and rename it as 'boot.elf'.

If you are going to install the Beta 8 version of the Homebrew Channel, you run the installer with the Twilight Hack, and also rename it as 'boot.elf'. As of right now, after you install the Homebrew Channel, you should no longer need the Twilight Hack, and at this point, you should follow the instructions on how to set up programs to run on the channel.

nugem
October 15th, 2008, 18:38
i also have twilight-hack-v0.1-alpha3a , the "wiibrew loader" will not copy from the sd to the wii.

i have started a new game, ran around and then saved. entered the memory management and deleted the saved game and then accessed the SD card. when trying to copy the data.bin "rzde2.bin" it says "the data was not copied"

the old files copied ok, but then i realized i have version 3.3 so i grabbed the new loader. but no dice.

disk = rzde oa 2
loader = twilight-hack-v0.1-alpha3a

ive seen a lot of people have this problem. hopefully someone comes by with a solution. if someone feels inclined to email me please feel free to do so. thanks

-Nugem
[email protected]

sean.aaron
October 16th, 2008, 11:51
i also have twilight-hack-v0.1-alpha3a , the "wiibrew loader" will not copy from the sd to the wii.

i have started a new game, ran around and then saved. entered the memory management and deleted the saved game and then accessed the SD card. when trying to copy the data.bin "rzde2.bin" it says "the data was not copied"

the old files copied ok, but then i realized i have version 3.3 so i grabbed the new loader. but no dice.

disk = rzde oa 2
loader = twilight-hack-v0.1-alpha3a

ive seen a lot of people have this problem. hopefully someone comes by with a solution. if someone feels inclined to email me please feel free to do so. thanks

-Nugem
[email protected]

You're running an outdated version of the hack. 3.3 requires version 0.1beta1.

b_simpson1999
December 6th, 2008, 18:36
hi am going to get a wii in about 7-10 days well my sister is and I got homebrew on psp-phat and nds-lite, is homebrewing on the wii ok to do its not going to mess it up and can somebody give me a newer way to use hombrew on wii or do i just follow this but i havnt got zelda yet so might get it if its the only thing that lets hombrew on wii as i did with my psp-phat i had to buy gta to downgrade (that was before panadora battery's came out that is) then to upgrade to new custom firmware, but zelda a good game any way like the gta which i still have lol