Wii startup disc system FOUND!

Discussion in 'Nintendo Game Development' started by pstrick1, Aug 18, 2010.

  1. supermariovb64

    supermariovb64 Spirited Member

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    oh very interesting:D cant wait for the full write up;) and yup paul wii accessories are very expensive:( lol um the only place to get them cheaper are like a flee market or pawn shop or to get it used
     
  2. mooseblaster

    mooseblaster Bleep. Site Supporter 2012, 2014

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    You can buy all of that (bar the PSU, I'd expect) third-party if you're thinking of going el' cheapo.
     
  3. link83

    link83 Enthusiastic Member

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    Sorry if I misunderstood here, but does that mean you had to boot an update disk before you could dump the NAND? and if so wouldn't that mean that whatever was special about this Wii's NAND might have been overwritten by the update disk before being dumped? Or did you use an infectus to dump the untouched NAND before using a disk to update?

    Was the NAND dump already region locked? If not thats probably a major reason why Nintendo decided not to use any Startup Disks (Region change any new Wii console just by using a different regions Startup Disk) Also can you tell us what the original serial number would have been on this Wii?
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2010
  4. pstrick1

    pstrick1 Site Supporter

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    Yes, he can (probably) tell us the original serial #. The SN is stored in the NAND.

    And this IS region locked! If it were region free, it would have the message in Japanese!
     
  5. pstrick1

    pstrick1 Site Supporter

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    Wii came today. I now have it running at 3.2U.
    Bushing is THE MAN!
    In the box:

    Wii signed by Bushing
    SaveMii
    All the discs need to "fix" the wii
    Instructions on how to use the discs.
    A 2GB SD card with 3 different nand dumps. (unmodified, one with bootmii, one with bootmii+hbc)
    AN OFFICIAL TEAM TWIIZERS PAIR OF.....TWIIZERS! <--Epic-est thing in the box

    I look forward to the write up.
     
  6. ASSEMbler

    ASSEMbler Administrator Staff Member

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    So you found a unit needing a startup disc, then restored it? Wouldn't that ruin the uniqueness of it?
     
  7. caitsith2

    caitsith2 Member

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    As long as the copy of the unmodified nand dump is maintained, it will be possible to bring the system back to the "Insert Startup Disc" state, thus restoring the uniqueness of the system.
     
  8. ASSEMbler

    ASSEMbler Administrator Staff Member

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    But this doesn't tell us squat about the nand ... info?
     
  9. G0dLiKe

    G0dLiKe <B>Site Supporter 2013</B>

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    Nice stuff, especially the signed Wii ;)
     
  10. pstrick1

    pstrick1 Site Supporter

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    Bushing didn't tell me too much about what he found. He will post it on hackmii eventually.
    I only know that the wii was looking for a disc with the title id of RAAE. He just modified some discs to have this id, then was able to get them to boot.

    And I have a "pure" nand dump. If I ever choose, I can use bootmii to restore the wii to factory state.
     
  11. link83

    link83 Enthusiastic Member

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    I am still curious about how exactly the Wii NAND was dumped in a completely untouched state? The only way I know of to acquire a pure/untouched NAND dump is by using an infectus (Or by desoldering the NAND and reading it using a programmer etc) Any other method carries the risk of changing the NAND at least a little bit. To quote bushing from the Hackmii blog:-
    http://hackmii.com/2008/07/factory2/
    Also from the comments here:-
    http://hackmii.com/2010/04/check-disk-for-pre-repair-process/
    And
    The fact that it might be possible to reconstruct a Nintendo repair/check disk from its cache on NAND is awesome :-0
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2010
  12. pstrick1

    pstrick1 Site Supporter

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    Wait for the writeup. I don't want to feed you guys bit by bit until I have given away everything.
     
  13. Twimfy

    Twimfy Site Supporter 2015

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    Now I'm usually excited by all sorts of interesting hardware (why else would I be here?) But I totally fail to see the significance of this Wii, it seems to me like it's one that came out of the factory fucked because somebody forgot to load software on it.
     
  14. ASSEMbler

    ASSEMbler Administrator Staff Member

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    I think the only significance is proving the packaging as correct on the early boxes.

    I suspect nintendo made the changes so wii machines couldn't be sold out of their designated markets using the startup disc as a bypass for the market controls. "fake shortage" they are so good at.
     
  15. pstrick1

    pstrick1 Site Supporter

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    This is a UNIQUE wii. (Not in it's present state, but I can easily revert it.)
    I doubt another wii like it will come to market anytime soon.

    No matter how much you want one, no amount of money will be able to find another. Unlike dev kits, where you just needs loads of cash to bribe the right people, this wii is an error; a fluke. It was never meant to leave the factory. It is the only one.

    If I had chosen to burn the wii or rub it with an electro-magnent, the secrets of the wii would be lost.


    So, yes, this may be a small discovery. I will admit that it is not an earth shattering revelation about the wii. But think about it:
    If this wii had been thrown out, sold to the wrong person, etc, it is a discovery that never would have been made.

    I am being very inarticulate. I will try to get the words out:
    The fact that a wii in this state still exists is luck. The fact that I bought it is luck. That I even knew the people to contact about this is luck.
    The history of this wii is one of luck, not one of money.
    A wii like this will never show up again.
    I want you to compare the following pictures:
    http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/03/wii-startup-disc-is-a-surprise-set-up-disk/
    http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb57/UFPEX/GEDC0172.jpg

    If not for this wii, we never would have know that there was so much more to that picture. When the wii was long dead... the first pic would be the only proof of the startup disc. But now we know the whole story! There are pics, vids and NAND dumps! (None public)

    When you consider how close this information was to being lost forever, can't you, even a little, think of the significance?
     
  16. angelwolf71885

    angelwolf71885 Dauntless Member

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    im willing to bet more that some authorized repair company had a few broken wii's

    and decided to make a Frankenstein wii and given Nintendo has a FAQ article on it
    means these things are more common then we think just more people call Nintendo and get a replacement
     
  17. ASSEMbler

    ASSEMbler Administrator Staff Member

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    You bought it off ebay. I hardly think it's unique and hard to get.
    Be a bit realistic...
     
  18. G0dLiKe

    G0dLiKe <B>Site Supporter 2013</B>

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    As paul says, this IS a rare find, maybe one can find another one at ebay or else but not that fast I guess. I still think that there are maybe more out there with this state but as stated before, most ppl will send it to BigN to get a replacement.

    IMHO I see pauls wii as a special wii, not unique. But hey, the nand has been dumped, we did a good thing for the wii community in lifting on of the last secrets ;)

    BTW, Bushings signature makes the Wii still kinda special :)
     
  19. link83

    link83 Enthusiastic Member

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    This Wii's NAND could give us lots of clues about Nintendo's factory installation process:-
    http://hackmii.com/2008/06/factory/
    It could even have cached parts of the original factory disks DOL file still on the NAND, at the moment we just dont know.

    I wouldn't say its unique but its certainly a very rare find, and kudos to paul.strickler1 for getting it sent to the right person/people :thumbsup:

    Its awesome that bushing sent you some Team Twiizers tweezers! If its not too much trouble is there any chance of a picture?
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2010
  20. pstrick1

    pstrick1 Site Supporter

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    ...And somebody bought Earthbound for the NES(Or was it SNES?) at a yard sale for $40.

    I won't defend the rarity of the wii; I would probably just be repeating myself.

    How about you find your own Start up disc wii, then? I really don't like the idea of releasing my NAND Dump of this one. As soon as you get yours, you should release your copy. After all, it took 4 years to find this one. I'm sure one that you can buy will show up on ebay in a few days.

    I will post pics, but I'm serious about the NAND dump. Bushing can chose to release the NAND dump, but I really don't see the point in uploading the NAND dump of such a common wii.
     
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