Question Getting Started

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Hello there!

For the last few weeks, the YouTube Algorithm has decided to flood me with portable Wii videos. For once, the Algorithm sent me something decent to watch, and what the hell, I figured I'd give it a try. I've been involved in the lightsaber building community for a few years, so I have pretty solid soldering, CAD, 3D printing and PCB design skills, as well as some okay noob-level understanding of coding and li-ion BMS stuff. From the portable Wiis I've seen so far around the internet, I think I've got most of the skillset required to make one, I'm just lacking on know-how. I figured this is the right place to ask questions that will inevitably come up.

So, what I'd like to do is make a wii portable. I travel around a bit, and so far I've been using emulators on my laptop for entertainment. It's ok, for the most part, but I've been wanting to play some games again that Dolphin still can't handle all that well, so using original hardware it is. I'm still in the early stages of planning it out, but i hope to start soon.

Last night, I pulled the trigger on this, went on ebay and bought a couple of "broken" Wiis (all failed/stuck disk drives.) I'm hoping I got at least one with a 4-layer board, but I won't know until they get delivered.

For my first build, I'm planning on making something like a Wii Switch, ie, a GBA/Switch-layout Wii portable, but with the option of video out (HDMI?) and maintaining the option of using wii motes/nunchuks (that are lightweight enough to fit in any travel bag). From what I understand, that's doable by embedding some IR LEDs into the body of the portable and moving the bluetooth module.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, though, or suggesting something that won't/can't work. it sucks, but I've dealt with enough lightsaber newbies who had delusions of grandeur for their first builds and had to have their unrealistic dreams smashed on the first go, so I'd rather know what I can and can't do out of the box.

Aside from the build specific parts (buttons/caps, IPS screens, PCBs, etc) and tools like (3D printer, solder station, etc) Is there anything else out of the ordinary that I'm going to need to get? Nintendo love putting tri-wing screws on their toys, so am I going to need stuff like that?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to a fun new hobby.
 
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Is there anything else out of the ordinary that I'm going to need to get? Nintendo love putting tri-wing screws on their toys, so am I going to need stuff like that?
okay, scratch that question, I went through the G-boy manual and that's given me an idea of what I'm missing. Always RTFM.
 
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Right, the first of the three "broken" Wiis I bought on ebay arrived in saturday's mail. As far as I can tell, this one is a 6-layer rev1, so I won't be trimming it first. I bought this one because it was the cheapest borked Wii I could buy that came with all the cables. Also, I'll practice the jailbreaking on it, as I've never done that before.

Okay, before I get started, I have one question: are broken disc drives likely to have any real impact on the jailbreaking/softmodding side of things? I've read the guides and watched the videos, and I can't think that there should be any problems, but I'd rather know now rather than while I'm trying to do it.
 
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Hello there!

For the last few weeks, the YouTube Algorithm has decided to flood me with portable Wii videos. For once, the Algorithm sent me something decent to watch, and what the hell, I figured I'd give it a try. I've been involved in the lightsaber building community for a few years, so I have pretty solid soldering, CAD, 3D printing and PCB design skills, as well as some okay noob-level understanding of coding and li-ion BMS stuff. From the portable Wiis I've seen so far around the internet, I think I've got most of the skillset required to make one, I'm just lacking on know-how. I figured this is the right place to ask questions that will inevitably come up.

So, what I'd like to do is make a wii portable. I travel around a bit, and so far I've been using emulators on my laptop for entertainment. It's ok, for the most part, but I've been wanting to play some games again that Dolphin still can't handle all that well, so using original hardware it is. I'm still in the early stages of planning it out, but i hope to start soon.

Last night, I pulled the trigger on this, went on ebay and bought a couple of "broken" Wiis (all failed/stuck disk drives.) I'm hoping I got at least one with a 4-layer board, but I won't know until they get delivered.

For my first build, I'm planning on making something like a Wii Switch, ie, a GBA/Switch-layout Wii portable, but with the option of video out (HDMI?) and maintaining the option of using wii motes/nunchuks (that are lightweight enough to fit in any travel bag). From what I understand, that's doable by embedding some IR LEDs into the body of the portable and moving the bluetooth module.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, though, or suggesting something that won't/can't work. it sucks, but I've dealt with enough lightsaber newbies who had delusions of grandeur for their first builds and had to have their unrealistic dreams smashed on the first go, so I'd rather know what I can and can't do out of the box.

Aside from the build specific parts (buttons/caps, IPS screens, PCBs, etc) and tools like (3D printer, solder station, etc) Is there anything else out of the ordinary that I'm going to need to get? Nintendo love putting tri-wing screws on their toys, so am I going to need stuff like that?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to a fun new hobby.
Good start! I would just look over some of the guides here, they're really well written. And honestly, just going around the forum looking around, and asking questions will help you build up a great knowledge base to start. Try looking over some work logs, all the nitty-gritty details are in there.
 
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Ok, last question before I move onto a proper build log style thread.

I'm trying to jailbreak the Wii I've got: Good news, it works, and I was able to reset it to factory settings. Bad news: there's a disk stuck in the drive, and the wii keeps shutting itself down with a warning to eject it before I can even get to the letterbomb.

Is there a way of ejecting a stuck disk without taking the wii apart? Some hole I could poke a paperclip into, or something like that? I'm still waiting on the tri-wing screwdriver in the mail, so disassembly isn't (yet) an option.
 

GingerOfOz

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You'll probably have to tear it down to get the disc out. I don't think there's any secret technique for forcing a disk out
 
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I got two things in the mail today: a set of screwdrivers, and the second "broken" wii from ebay. Good news, Wii 2 is a 4 layer. Further good news: I had to disassemble the disk drive on Wii 1, but once I got the disk out, the disk drive works fine. Not that that matters much in the long run. Not sure what to to with it, might turn it into a gamecube mini for the hell of it. Kinda tempted to buy a broken gamecube just to gut the shell and replace the internals with a wii, but that's getting way ahead of myself.

Ok, so, onto Wii 2. It was sold as "broken/for spares" on ebay, but for the life of me, aside from something rattling inside the shell, I can't figure out what's wrong with it. The seller isn't answering my messages, and as far as I can test, it's reading disks fine and playing games ok. I'll have a play around with it at the weekend, see if I can figure out what the problem is. Any common things to look out for?
 
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Final update on this thread before I start some kind of build log. I still haven't decided if I want to try making a Wii micro as a starter project, or just proceed directly to a portable.

Wii3 has arrived. Like Wii2, there is nothing wrong with it that I can find (aside from being a Family model sans Gamecube controllers.) the "faulty" eject button, as mentioned in the ebay listing? the plastic LED bezel behind the disk port had gotten bumped slightly out of place, and was blocking the plastic tab from returning into place. One disassembly and reassembly from a relative newbie, and the "problem" is fixed.

Oh, and the "fault" with Wii2? broken composite cable. apart from that, I can't find a single flaw with it.

if it wasn't for having scored three working wiis for dirt cheap, I'd almost feel bad. some idiots just don't even bother trying to fix things. out of place plastic tab? dodgy wire? it's landfill time. *grumble* something something something ewaste, something something something Dark Side...

Oh well. I'll give them all a comprehensive rundown/jailbreak over the weekend, see if I can find any obvious faults with them and proceed from there.
 
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