About current modchips [Archive]

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XviD

07-01-2007, 09:55 PM

Okay.. this thread is for people that don't own a modchip but are planning to buy one.
I'm gonna compare a few mods not only by what they do, but also the support from the creators.

Wiinja

Features :

- Non Swap / Direct Boot
- Boots Own Region WII Backups Directly
- Boots Own Region Gamecube Backups Directly
- Boots Imports Gamecube Backups by SWAP
- D2B Drive Support and Improved Read Method
- Yes,We've AudioFix ;)
- Supports MultiDisc/MultiGames
- Easy Soldering & Remove / 5 Wires
- Support DVD-R and DVD+R (Burn +R on DVDROM Booktype)
- Universal EUROPE/USA/JAPAN Wii Console Supported
- Stealth Mode
- NOT Upgradeable / ON SALES NOW!!

Support :

Good, I won't say great because it simply isn't.. the website has a forum where you can ask additional questions, this was the first mod ever released for the Wii and it simply does what it says, no problems whatsoever.

Notes :

The Wiinja V2 chip is not being manufactured anymore, I have one myself and everything works great, but now they are only selling Wiinja Deluxe (which has more features of course).

After the Wiinja chip cyclowiz was announced.

Cyclowiz

Features :

- Fully upgradable via DVD
- Direct boot of Wii and GC backups
- Direct boot of GC homebrew (Disc Backup Tool, Media Player, etc.)
- Runs Wii imports (partial compatibilty for NTSC->PAL and PAL->NTSC)
- Supports all Wii / Drive versions from all regions
- Fully compatible with D2B chipset and new drive board (V2)
- Runs Gamecube imports (partially without swap)
- Built-in, fully working, audio fix (no patch required)
- Reads DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW
- Compatible with Multi-Disc games for both Wii and GC
- Possibility to put many GC games on one disc
- Improved read (no slowdowns)
- Stealth mode
- P.O.S.T. with LED status (Power-On Self Test)
- Quick-solder features: no wires required to install the chip
- Easy installation troubleshooting thanks to the onboard LED
- Chips supplied in professional ESD packing

Support :

Pretty much like Wiinja, they have a support forum for all your questions.

Notes :

This was the first chip that has a quicksolder method (no wires nor soldering skills required).
Altho this is a nice chip, they promised updates and couldn't meet the deadline, but now they have got everything up and running again.
Running wii imports wasn't in the first cyclowiz batches, but an update solved that :)
Actually WiiKey was the first chip that supported Wii imports.

Price : $30.95 (€ 26.93)

After cyclowiz, wiikey was announced, it was supposed to be "The First and only upgradeable modchip" but the cyclowiz creators were smart enough to have that implemented in their chip too, they just announced it a bit later ;)

Wiikey

Features :

- Direct boot of wii backups
- Direct boot of GC backups
- Direct boot of homebrew in GC mode
- Supports all currently available console/drive versions
- Supports D2B chipsets
- Sophisticated (true) update mechanism via DVD (future proof, expect cool - features to come)
- Direct boot of different NTSC region Wii games/backups on US and JAP consoles
- Partial support for NTSC region Wii games/backups on PAL consoles
- Boots different region GC games/backups (partially without swapping)
- Supports multi-disc games for BOTH Wii and Gamecube
- Supports DVD-R / true DVD+R and +RW support (no bitsetting required!)
- Improved readsettings for recordable media
- Built-in audio fix
- Supports fullsize 4GB discs for gamecube homebrew
- Stealth mode
- 512 byte EEPROM to store configuration
- Quicksolder interface - no wires required
- Unique disc backup application via sdcard
- Compact design, best quality components, rock solid high speed controller
- Professional ESD packing
- Recovery mode - Can recover from a bad flash

Support :

CRAP!
Altho they were the first to "crack" the Region lock, before the chip was even released a group released RegionFrii, it patches in the same way as WiiKey does (only a few bytes) so you could play imports. Not all work, it's dependant on how the game was coded.
Let's take a look at their website shall we?

Wiikey update: ETA 1 week!
We have received positive news from the developers. The long-awaited upgrade to wiikey is basically finished, and is now being tested on different systems to ensure that is is working smoothly. We expect that it will be available to the public around May 15.

We would also like to point out that making the upgrade incompatible with clones have not caused any delays in the process.

It's the 2nd of July, and where is the update?
Now you prolly understand why the support is CRAP.
Sorry guys, nice chip, but coding should have a higher priority than smoking crack.
Oh yeah i forgot to mention that they say they have an audiofix, too bad it doesn't work..

Notes :

The chip is very, VERY overhyped and does not do anything other chips can't.

Price :$19.95 (€ 17.36)

After that came Wiinja Deluxe.

Wiinja Deluxe

Features :

- Non Swap / Direct Boot
- Boots All NTSC JAP/USA on NTSC WII
- Boots NTSC Backups/Originals on PAL WII Partially
- Boots PAL Originals on NTSC WII Partially
- Boots Directly Gamecube Original Imports Partially
- Boots All Gamecube Imports by SWAP
- Supports all the WII Versions/Drive currently available
- D2B Drive Support and Improved Read Method (No DRE)
- Audiofix
- MultiDisc/MultiGames
- Easy Soldering & Remove / 6 Wires
- Support DVD-R/DVD+R & DVD+RW/DVD-RW without Booktype
- Universal EUROPE/USA/JAPAN Wii Console Supported
- Hardware DISABLE Option Using Pin3+SW2 (Poweron+Reset)
- Stealth Mode
- Recovery Mode for Bad Upgrade
- DVD UPGRADEABLE

Support :

Same as normal Wiinja

Notes :

Actually the first chip to reach the top! audiofix works, region games work, advanced disk reading method and nothing to complain about.

Price : $29.95 (€ 26.06)

Conclusion :

Wiinja Deluxe seems to win this one, altho it's 10$ more than wiikey, the chip does everything that it claims too and the support is pretty good :)

drsquirrel

07-02-2007, 03:38 AM

Why not compare open source ones too...

HisshouBuraiKen

07-02-2007, 10:17 AM

http://wiki.nintendo-scene.com/index.php?title=Wii_modchips

End of thread.

SixKiller

07-02-2007, 10:37 AM

Nice Comparison.

Will buy a Wii next week and just started to think about what mod to get :rolleyes:

Thanks

Ichinisan

07-02-2007, 01:00 PM

Nice comparison, but at $6.99 a chip if you order 5 WiiKey clones (and who couldn't? only $1 more otherwise), it becomes mighty attractive. Off the shelf parts for a much cheaper price.

The only problem is that they are ripping off the glitchy WiiKey code, broken GC audio streaming Audiofix and all and also requiring you to initialize the chip with the WiiKey setup disc before it will play Wii originals or backups (though it runs the setup disc just fine). I'm sure it ships uninitialized for cost reasons.

drsquirrel

07-02-2007, 01:57 PM

Nikeplektrum

07-02-2007, 04:24 PM

Quick question

Do D2B compatible modchips work on D2C?

drsquirrel

07-02-2007, 06:32 PM

Quick question

Do D2B compatible modchips work on D2C?

D2C is sort of unconfirmed right now...

And if there was, probably no. It should be easy to change the code to do it anyway.

Nikeplektrum

07-02-2007, 06:53 PM

Read it in this thread

http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=67803

Ichinisan

07-03-2007, 08:37 AM

It's not a requirement to use the setup disc.
I've personally confirmed it ten times over with Divineo stock and the good people in #wii-hack. Anecdotally, I've confirmed it far more by watching these forums. There may be more than one clone, but it doesn't makes sense for them to initialize the settings on each chip at their expense if they don't have to when the whole idea is to save cost. Just to be clear, ONLY clones "require" the setup disc before they will load Wii originals or Wii backups. It just so happens that the five Wii consoles I did this on were 2006 consoles, in case that matters, but I haven't found a clone user yet that claimed to boot backup Wii games without first running the setup disc.

drsquirrel

07-03-2007, 08:55 AM

I've personally confirmed it ten times over with Divineo stock and the good people in #wii-hack. Anecdotally, I've confirmed it far more by watching these forums. There may be more than one clone, but it doesn't makes sense for them to initialize the settings on each chip at their expense if they don't have to when the whole idea is to save cost. Just to be clear, ONLY clones "require" the setup disc before they will load Wii originals or Wii backups. It just so happens that the five Wii consoles I did this on were 2006 consoles, in case that matters, but I haven't found a clone user yet that claimed to boot backup Wii games without first running the setup disc.

I have not yet come across either an offical chip or a clone that has required it.

Why would they need initialising? ...None of the others need this, every time I program a PIC chip it requires no intervention either...

Ichinisan

07-03-2007, 12:15 PM

I have not yet come across either an offical chip or a clone that has required it.

Why would they need initialising? ...None of the others need this, every time I program a PIC chip it requires no intervention either...

It's the small amount of memory that this chip has specifically for saving settings. Similar to a BIOS EEPROM, rather than save the settings to the EEPROM chip (requiring an entire block to be overwritten), a PC BIOS will save the settings to CMOS memory. Most programmable logic chips like those used in drive mods have address space for saving settings so that they can remember small details like what is enabled (region over-ride) or what mode is selected (3x drive speed). For instance, the Stealth chip was one people were making to use with the GBA Afterburner and it would remember the brightness level setting and on/off status from the last use.

"Initializing" is just setting the defaults. For instance, many DS games now initialize when you turn them on for the first time and they will do it again if the save is ever corrupted. It's almost like formatting a disc for use. NES games do not initialize the memory when reset, so that the high-score is remembered (leading to a famous "glitch" when you save the high score in the emulated Super Mario Bros. in the Classic NES Series... permanent hard mode and continue codes). You might notice this when the same character or track is selected when you reset a game, but it is not if you select "quit" from mid race (Super Mario Kart for the SNES for example). I remember skipping the long intro on Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run Baseball by just resetting as soon as I powered on (the address that shows that the system has already triggered the intro stays in memory). When a PC BIOS is corrupted or updated so that it is incompatible with the old settings in CMOS, you get to see initializing first-hand. Most of us have seen this MANY times: CMOS Checksum Error. Defaults initialized. Press F1 to continue or Delete to enter setup.

In the case of the WiiKey clones, the chips were gang-flashed. Initializing them would require a jig to connect the completed PCBs to and this would be a tedious extra step in manufacturing. Of course, the extra cost is nothing compared to the price difference between genuine and clone, but it all adds up. The clone makers hope to sell a clone at the price of the original, so every penny saves results in a bigger profit from stealing the WiiKey's MSRP. Of course, not many sellers are actually trying to pass them off as originals, and they are obviously getting them from the manufacturer very cheap, so cloning the WiiKey was obviously to make a dual-purpose chip... one that the manufacturers themselves could directly profit from by selling as original WiiKeys and one that they can sell cheaply to large buyers by undercutting the price of the competition. They wouldn't be able to pass them off as originals for long considering that they've already been caught red-handed and public measures have been taken. Probably why they've been dumped so cheaply (at cost?) in massive amounts.

Oh! An the PIC programming can be programmed to initialize defaults if there is no setting saved stating that this has been done (as would be the case if it were all zeros!). WiiKey does not, therefore clones do not.

homicidalmo0se

07-04-2007, 03:18 PM

which one is the best open source mod?

ashhong

07-19-2007, 01:49 PM

Can you explain the switches and stuff? Which modchip has the easiest and best on/off switch available? Is a switch even really necessary for chips like the cyclowiz? It's supposed to be transparent right? Sorry, new to the Wii mods.

Pasky13

07-19-2007, 02:51 PM

http://wiki.nintendo-scene.com/index.php?title=Wii_modchips

End of thread.

What he said.

abzddon

07-21-2007, 10:16 AM

brentbizzle

07-21-2007, 10:43 AM

Sorry this might be a stupid question, but plz answer it anyway.......:D

You know when it said 'Boots NTSC Backups/Originals on PAL WII Partially' and vice versa. Does that mean it'll boot up PAL Backups on PAL WII on 100% of PAL games?

Cause if it does i have no problems. Thank You.

P.S. That was a great comparison, saved me the time to check it all up myself:cool:
Actually that statement says nothing about booting own region backups. But I'm pretty sure all Wii's boot their own region games with a chip... lol. This may stand true for every modchip for any system :D