The Ultimate (free) Guide to Installing Homebrew on your Nintendo Wii

Who am I?: I am Arikado. I am developer of two Wii Homebrew applications and a Wii Homebrew developers library. I am also the moderator of the WiiBrew forums.

Preface: Homebrew is a term used to refer to the practice of running code that is "home-made" or unauthorized for the sytem it is running on. Running homebrew on any type of a console opens up a door of opportunity to developers, and most of all, users (AKA you the reader). This guide will tell you both why you should put homebrew on your Wii and how to do it.

Why install homebrew on your Wii?
The easiest way for me to explain why you should install homebrew on your Wii is to have you look at a list of all the things you can do with your Wii after you have installed homebrew on it. Click this link here and take a visit to WiiBrew (the mother of Wii Homebrew) and check out all of the cool applications you can run with Wii Homebrew.

Some of the coolest features of having Wii Homebrew installed (in case you didnt see them in the link above) are:

• The ability to watch dvd's on your Wii
• The ability to run emulators so you can play games on the NES, SNES, N64, GBA, GB/GBC, the PS1 and even more systems on your Wii.
• The ability to play ports of famous id Software games like Quake, DOOM, and Wolfenstein.
• The ability to play tons of original homebrew games (I am the author of two by the way)
• The ability to change your system menu's region (from Japanese to European or USA or vice versa for example)
• The ability to play Wii disc games from another region
  
• The ability to back up your Wii's NAND (also known as the Wii's internal memory) so you can restore it and fix your Wii if something fatal should ever happen to it (like you turn the power off in the middle of an update for instance)

If that doesn't convince you to install homebrew on your Wii, I don't know what will.

How to install Homebrew on your Nintendo Wii
To install Homebrew on your Wii, you need a way to run unsigned code on your Wii. This is also known as an exploit. If you are on system menu 3.4 or lower, you can use the Twilight Hack, Bannerbomb, or Indiana Pwns exploits. If you are on system menu 4.0 or higher, you must use the Banneromb exploit. People on system menu 4.2 must be sure to use v2 of Bannerbomb. Indiana Pwns will work on Wii system menu. The only tool you need to run these exploits and use them to install homebrew is an SD Card.

Before we set up to use an exploit, let's set up our SD Card first. It's important that your SD Card is no smaller than 256mb or else homebrew will not work with your SD Card. First, download the Hackmii Installer from here. Use a tool like Winrar, Winzip, or 7zip to extract the Hackmii Installer. Find the file named installer.elf and place it in the root (the main directory, AKA inside of no folders) of your SD Card. Rename the file to boot.elf

Below, are the ways to set up each of the two exploits on your SD Card. Again, you only need to use one, so pick whatever one you prefer. Bannerbomb is the easiest exploit to use, because everyone can use it regardless of their System Menu version. It is also a lot easier to set up and doesn't require you to own a copy of Twilight Princess or LEGO Indiana Jones.

Be sure to turn off WiiConnect24 before you attempt to run either exploit.

Bannerbomb
Bannerbomb can be found and downloaded here. Below are the official instructions for setting up Bannerbomb on your SD Card. I couldn't write them better if I tried.

• "If your SD card has a private directory, rename it temporarily, e.g. to "privateold". Having other saved channels on the same card will screw it up. (Also, if you don't have any channels on the SD card already, it's possible to skip this step so you can keep saves on your SD card)
• Copy the Bannerbomb "private" folder to the root of your SD card.
• Take your Wii executable, name it "boot.dol" or "boot.elf" if it isn't already, and save it in the root directory of your SD card.
• Put your SD card in your Wii and turn it on.
• Go into Wii Options --> Data Management --> Channels --> SD Card.
• A message should appear asking to "load boot.dol/.elf". If it freezes or does not appear, download the next .zip file from the Bannerbomb website and start over.
• The homebrew on your SD card will load. Enjoy!"

Indiana Pwns
Indiana Pwns can be found and downloaded here. Here are the step-by-step instructions to use it, taken straight from the wiki page:"

1. Ensure your SD card is formatted as FAT. By default SD cards are formatted as FAT, so if you're not sure, you may skip this step.
2. (Optional) If you have an existing Indiana save that you want to backup, do so before proceeding:
   1. Put your SD card in your Wii.
   2. Go into Wii Options ⇒ Data Management ⇒ Save Data ⇒ Wii
   3. Find your Indiana save, click on it, click "Copy", and click Yes.
   4. Put your SD card in your computer, and copy the "private" folder from the card to a safe place.
3. Copy the "private" directory from the Indiana Pwns download to the root of your SD card.
4. Take your homebrew Wii executable (ELF file) and save it in the root directory of your SD card as "boot.elf".
5. Put your SD card in your Wii and turn it on.
6. Go into Wii Options ⇒ Data Management ⇒ Save Data ⇒ Wii.
7. Find your Indiana save, click on it, click "Erase", and click Yes.
8. Open the SD card and select the "Indiana Pwns" save that corresponds to your game region. Note: Some people are having problems with the Wii not "seeing" the save file on the SD card. If you are experiencing this, try setting the archive bit for the data.bin file - in Windows this can be either be done from the file's properties dialog (right click on it in Windows Explorer and check the box) or from the command line using "attrib +a ". More info at #wiihelp on Efnet.
9. Click copy and then yes. Now exit out of the menu.
10. Insert LEGO Indiana Jones disc and run the game.
11. From the Indiana game, load the saved game you just copied to the Wii.
12. When the game loads, you will be in Barnett College. Walk to the Art Room (through the Courtyard), approach the left character on the podium. When it zooms on him, choose the switch to option (two silhouettes, staggered, with an arrow pointing between them).
13. Here, the buffer overflow takes over and the Homebrew install will begin." 

Twilight Hack
The Twilight Hack can be found and downloaded here. Here are the step-by-step instructions to use it, taken right from the wiki page:"

1. Ensure your SD card is formatted as FAT. By default SD cards are formatted as FAT, so if you're not sure you can skip this step.
2. (Optional) If you have an existing Zelda save that you want to backup, do so before proceeding:
   
   1. Put your SD card in your Wii and turn it on.
   2. Go into Wii Options --> Data Management --> Save Data --> Wii
   3. Find your Zelda save, click on it, click "Copy", and click Yes
   4. Put your SD card in your computer, and copy the "private" folder from the card to a safe place.
   
   
3. Copy the "private" directory from the Twilight Hack download to the root of your SD card.
4. Take your homebrew Wii executable (elf or dol file) and save it in the root directory of your SD card as "boot.elf" or "boot.dol" as appropriate.
5. Put your SD card in your Wii and turn it on.
6. Go into Wii Options --> Data Management --> Save Data --> Wii.
7. Find your Zelda save, click on it, click "Erase", and click Yes.
8. Open the SD card and select the "Twilight Hack" save that corresponds to your game region. Note: Some people are having problems with the Wii not "seeing" the save file on the SD card. If you are experiencing this, try setting the archive bit for the data.bin file - in Windows this can be either be done from the file's properties dialog (right click on it in Windows Explorer and check the box) or from the command line using "attrib +a ". More info at #wiihelp on Efnet.
9. Click copy and then yes. Now exit out of the menu.
10. If you are using System Menu 3.4, you must immediately put the Twilight Hack to use. Turning off or running some other channel or game will have the System Menu delete the savegame again, and you'll have to start over.
11. Insert The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess game disc and run the game.
    
    • If you have the USA version of the game, load the "TwilightHack0" or "TwilightHack2" version of the game as appropriate (see above).
    • Otherwise, load the only "Twilight Hack" save game.
    
    
12. Once in the game, either walk backwards or talk to the man standing in front of you.
13. Follow the instructions listed on the screen.
14. Enjoy."

More on the Hackmii Installer
No matter which exploit you choose to use, after running the exploit, the HackMii Installer should start and you will be able to install the Homebrew Channel, DVDX, and/or Bootmii. Be sure to install the Homebrew Channel - it's the most important obviously.

Running apps with the homebrew channel
To run homebrew with the Homebrew Channel, you first need to create a folder a called "apps" (without the quotes of course) in the root of your SD Card. Every app you download, will need to be extracted, and then placed in this folder to be able to be run with the Homebrew Channel. In other words, the path of each app on your SD Card should look like this: root:apps/afolder/boot.dol or root:apps/afolder/boot.elf

Troubleshooting
Read the FAQ I wrote to solve your common troubleshooting issues and problems

Good luck, and have fun with Wii Homebrew :D

Final Notes: If you were able to succesfully install homebrew on your Wii with this guide, please send the link of this guide to others. If you need one-on-one assistance, feel free to e-mail me, Arikado, at castlevania7689@yahoo.com I will help you o the best of my ability with anything to do with this guide, or more advanced Wii Homebrew and wii hacking problems. Feel free to follow me on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/OArikadoO