I FU CKED Up trying to installed Wiikey

Yes, i messed up my wiikey AND the Wii. ( im pissed right now. I knew I shoulda paid someone to do it for me. When it comes to small stuff, im not good at specially if u are a smoker grrrrrr.

I screwed up a Brand-new V3 Razor when it first came out, a 1.5 PSP when they came out, now this .

And please, if you're gonna comment, dont try to say stupid stuff or comments etc etc. I know its my fault, not blaming anyone, nor the wiikey etc. I just feel like I needed to vent a little. So w/ that aside,

does anyone know of an online shop/business that sell pre-modded (wiikey installed on a wii system already) Wii system? Or if any of you ever feel like selling your working wiikey-wii system, feel free to PM me.

shouldn't the 2nd time when you messed up the psp taught you a lesson.. ?

Any images? Whats wrong with Wii now? It maybe fixable, or at least fixable to a Wii unmodded state.


Practice is meant on old electronics, not new But i think yoiu have learned your leasons.

Ill try to take pics of the breadboard from the wii later today/tomorrow. I havent assemble it back yet. The reason i said its messed up is cuz 2 of the lines or "points" where it was to be connected cut cut off completely trying to desolder the chip. ( i tried the quick solder method last night, i didnt work but at least it was working w/ original games.) Today I tried doing the wires-method, but as soon as I desolder the chip and saw the 2 points not connecting anymore, i just put everything aside.

Also, i will also take pics of the equipment i im/was working w/. I think my solder is too thick and has too much wattage. I dunno about the lead tho. Ill put pics
by tomorrow at the latest.

On a bright side, I found a local guy on craigslist that guarantees installation of a 'modchip' on a wii. He charges $40 and that is the price for installation AND the chip!!!! cant beat that. Now, I dunno what chip he installs, Imma call him tomorrow. He is an electrical engineer student at a local college.

I'll keep u all posted.

Obviously you don't learn from your mistakes.

DUH

Sounds like you might be able to fix it. Get it to an experienced solderer for cleanup. You should be able to have a chip soldered directly to the controller chip's legs.

ok i just emailed the guy I mentioned above on my last post about installing a 'chip' on my wii.

I asked him some questions, among them were these: how much experience do you have modding wii's? and which chip are u gonna install..there are a few available.

Here's his response, and I quote:

"I have done 2 so far and I am scheduled to do more this weekend, it is a fairly easy procedure for me (I'm an electrical engineering student). I would be installing a custom chip that I program myself injected with code written by a development group that makes their code available on the net. $40 covers the entire cost of everything (chip, installation, testing). Let me know if you have any more questions or would like to set up a time to meet up."

I dunno....a custom-injected chip? never heard of it b4......I have a bad feeling about this. Any thoughts on his response?

Sounds repairable, just need to solder points from modchip direct to DVD Drive chip.

Fixable for sure

Custom injected code===== FREEWARE Chip.

Just tell him you have modchip and you want installed not his chip.

If you live in UK ill sort it for you.

Originally Posted by GTluver

I dunno....a custom-injected chip? never heard of it b4......I have a bad feeling about this. Any thoughts on his response?

He's using one of the free/open source mod chips (wiifree, openwii, wiip, chiip, etc.). These are OK chips, with one big problem for you. All of the chips, including the "big" commercial ones (wiinja deluxe, cyclowiz, wiikey) are doing software updates from time to time.
The commercial ones are doing software updates by putting in a "upgrade DVD" and having it reprogram the modchip with the latest firmware. This is very nice, since you don't have to open up your wii.
The free modchips have not implemented upgrades from DVD, because most of the people using them have the equipment and knowledge to reprogram them. This involves removing the chip from the wii, placing it in a chip programming device connected to a PC and running some software to erase/reprogram it.
This upgrade process is not what you want, since it sounds like you don't have the equipment or experience with electronics to do this. There are indications that Wiifree is going to add DVD upgrades soon, but I can't comment on that from experience.

My recommendations (in order of preference) would be:
1. Buy a wiikey/cyclowiz/wiinja deluxe (I leave the flamewar over which is better for someone else) and pay your local guy $30 to install it for you.
2. Insist that your local guy install a chip running wiifree (and hope for DVD upgradeability).
3. Insist that your local guy install the open source chip into a socket. This makes it easier to remove later when you have to do a software update.

If you go with options 2 or 3 (they are less expensive) ask your local guy if he will upgrade the software in your chip for you from time to time.

I love how I see people post every day "an electrical engineer should have no problem" or whatever...

Installation of this chip has almost nothing to do with electrical engineering if you can read the install guide. All it has to do with are reading skills, and soldering skills.

I'm a mechanical engineer, who cares?

If I worked at McDonald's I could install this chip with some patience and reading skills that I learned in elementary school.

It comes with pictures too

i opened up my Wii today and thought nope im definently gunna fcuk this up so i juat gave it to the local TV repair man to do.. should be dont on friday for me so its a bit of a wait but id rather that than me kill it. oh yea it only cost me 25 bucks for the install too so thats about 18 bucks US

Originally Posted by jagojago

I love how I see people post every day "an electrical engineer should have no problem" or whatever...

Installation of this chip has almost nothing to do with electrical engineering if you can read the install guide. All it has to do with are reading skills, and soldering skills.

I'm a mechanical engineer, who cares?

If I worked at McDonald's I could install this chip with some patience and reading skills that I learned in elementary school.

It comes with pictures too

While this is understandable, you still have to comprehend that an EE student is more apt at working with electronics than others are and much more apt to diagnose a problem should one arise.

While this is obviously not true in all cases, if we were to round up 100 EE students and 100 McDonald's workers, I guarantee you that the EE students would have a higher success rate installing the chip.

EE's mean nothing.

I can claim tobe one in email etc.. and tell you heah i do tonnes of stuff, but reality is could be a Mcky D's employee making extra $ on side, or student.

Nothing is really known on Wii's yet for a EE to make a great assesement of damage and take for granted for a paid price. All we have is traces from points and traced 2 which anyone can do, missing resistors, anyone with ohm meter can test and give proper value. And blown fuse which volt meter can read.

Anything a EE can do to repair a wii now, anyone with a bit of soldering knowledge or common sense can fix as well.

unless the EE is working on making own modchip, etc.... this where degree can mean alot.

Also an EE will use documents on all chips in diagnosing issues, while a Mcky D's employee will come staright to forums for answers and have unit back running in a few hours versus a few days.

Originally Posted by jagojago

I love how I see people post every day "an electrical engineer should have no problem" or whatever...

I think this is because the general public knows NOTHING about electronics. Granted, anyone with good hand-eye coordination and the proper equipment can follow the instructions provided. The evidence of this is all of the first-timers who had no problems. However, as soon as something unexpected happens, some general electronics knowledge is helpful.
For example, what if you can't find a switch that is identical to the one in the cyclowiz document? Knowing the difference between SPDT and SPST is suddenly very important to you - and most people don't have a clue. There are a couple of threads on this topic.
Also, what to do when you burn the bejeezus out of your board and lift the pads? Although it seems like common sense, most people don't know anything about "nodes" or "conductivity" and are not able to find alternate solder points. The evidence of this is the pictures being posted highlighting these alternate points.
Finally, what do you do when you install it and it doesn't work? Basic usage of a multimeter is critical now - and again this is not something that is well known outside of electronics circles.

No, you do not need a EE degree for any of this. If you ever put together an electronics kit as a child, you'll do fine. However, for many people this is a topic they don't have any interest in, and it's much better for them to hire a professional. It's what I do with my car.