If I have a disc with a prototype on it, can I get the prototype off the disc with a normal computer, or would I have to get a wii rvt-r unit?
You cannot with a normal computer. There's some drives that can read them but it means disk swapping which can damage the disk so I would suggest leaving it. Trust me, I know from trying myself. An RVT-R unit should be able to dump it. If you want help and you're in the UK I can however dump it, Just pay postage. I have a custom drive that is able to read them. You can't buy these elsewhere though sadly and mine's not for sale.
Well, I made an offer on a disc on ebay, he hasn't accepted or denied it yet. I'm located in the U.S., so sending it to you would cost too much, so if he does accept, I will just keep the disc and probably try to sell my rvt-h for a rvt-r, or something.
Sadly not. The information was lost years ago. The drive I have was made before then and nobody's been able to get it cloned meaning mines the only one known to be around/working still.