Article Source

Hackmii Scamstuck Fix

This problem seems to come up on the sub fairly often, and a workable solution has recently been found, so I figured I’d make a post about it to help guide users in the future that encounter this issue.

The issue itself

The problem here is that when you load the HackMii Installer, it either freezes on the press 1 to continue screen, or it loads into the installer but claims it cannot find any IOS vulnerabilities. Another potential issue is if you open the Homebrew Channel, it will be flipped upside down. Now, you might be thinking, “If I have an issue with the HackMii Installer, how would I know if my Homebrew Channel is having issues?”. Hang on. This will be explained later.

Symptoms of this issue

The symptoms of this issue are essentially what I mentioned before. Here’s that in more detail.

  • When attempting to load the HackMii Installer, you encounter one of two problems. Either the installer freezes on the Scam Screen when it asks you to press 1 to continue, or when it loads to the installer screen, it complains about not finding any IOS vulnerabilities.
  • Inside the Homebrew Channel, the channel itself is upside down. It’s usable, just incredibly difficult.

The Cause

When you have this issue, the base cause is that an IOS has been patched. To break it down further,

  • If the HackMii Installer is having issues, it means all of your IOS, or at least a large chunk of them, have been replaced/patched with cIOS. This could be because you installed a wad pack from the internet that contained these IOS, or you used the program DARKCORP, which replaces every IOS on the Wii with a cIOS. The HackMii Installer looks for certain vulnerabilities in IOS, but it will always refuse to use a patched IOS, so if all of them are patched, there’s nothing the installer can do.
  • If the Homebrew Channel is upside down, it means that IOS58, the IOS that the channel uses, has been altered, as mentioned above. However, having an upside down HBC does not necessarily mean your HackMii Installer will also have issues. The simplest way to put this is that if the HackMii Installer is having issues, it means that all of the IOS that it could use, including IOS58, are patched. This means that the HBC will definitely be upside down then, as IOS58 has definitely been tampered with. However, if the HBC is upside down, HackMii Installer could potentially work fine, as the HBC can only indicate tampering with IOS58. There may still be another IOS that HackMii Installer can use. Essentially, A means B, but B does not necessarily mean A.

You might be wondering how this can happen when your Wii does not have any visible traces of being softmodded. It doesn’t have the HBC, it doesn’t have Priiloader, BootMii, or anything like that. On the outside, it looks like a fresh Wii. Chances are, what happened is at some point in the past, you or a previous owner did something mentioned previously that caused the IOS to get patched, and then reset the Wii. This removes the HBC among other things, but leaves the IOS there, meaning next time you try to use HackMii Installer, you will have issues.

How to prevent this issue

This issue can be prevented pretty easily

  • Do not use WAD Packs you find online.
  • Do not use DARKCORP. It’s dangerous and there are better ways to accomplish what DARKCORP does. I have another post on this.
  • If your HBC is upside down, don’t take the risk of resetting your Wii.

Overall, just don’t tamper with any IOS that doesn’t need to be tampered with. Also, follow updated guides (video tutorials are not recommended), as some of the causes of this issue are related to old methods of accomplishing homebrew-related tasks. There are likely updated methods.

The Solution

Got a Wii that has this issue, or accidentally got yourself into this mess, don’t fret! There is a solution to this problem.

First, you have to discern the issue severity.

  • If you have the Homebrew Channel installed but it is upside down, and HackMii Installer still works, follow Method 1
  • If your Homebrew Channel is installed but is upside down and HackMii Installer does not work, follow Method 2
  • If you do not have Homebrew Channel and HackMii Installer does not work, follow Method 3

Method 1:

This is by far the easiest method out of the three.

You will need:

  • An SD Card formatted as FAT32, along with a way to transfer files to the SD Card
  • The HackMii Installer .zip file, which can be found here

Procedure:

  • On your SD Card, create a folder called apps on the root of the SD
  • Inside this apps folder, create a folder called HackMii
  • Extract the HackMii Installer .zip file from earlier
  • Inside, you will find two .elf files, a boot.elf, and a bootmini.elf. Make sure you take the boot.elf, not the bootmini.elf. Move this file inside the HackMii folder that we created on the SD card earlier
  • Take the SD Card and insert it into your Wii
  • Launch the Homebrew Channel
  • Since the channel is upside down, this will be tough, but you need to locate an app named HackMii in the channel. It will not have an icon or a description, which should help. Assuming you have no other apps that do not have an icon or a description, it will be the only one in there like that, which will help. If you are having trouble, if you have any other apps on your SD card in the apps folder, you can temporarily move them somewhere else, leaving only the HackMii folder left
  • Once you find this app, launch it
  • You should now be in the HackMii Installer. Continue as you normally would, by waiting and pressing 1, then press continue on the main screen
  • Now, select the option to uninstall the Homebrew Channel
  • Once it is complete, go back and select the option to install the Homebrew Channel
  • Once it is complete, you can exit the HackMii Installer
  • Voila! Your Homebrew Channel should now be back to normal

Method 2:

You will need:

  • A computer with an internet connection
  • An SD Card with an ability to transfer files to it
  • NUS Downloader, make sure you extract it to a place you can find easily
  • A WAD Manager inside the apps folder of your SD Card. I recommend using Wii Mod Lite or YAWMM

Procedure:

  • Open NUS Downloader. Ensure the “Pack WAD” option at the bottom is checked. By default it will save the WAD to wherever you extracted NUS Downloader. You can change the save location if you’d like, just remember where it is
  • Click on Database at the top left. Navigate to IOS > IOS58 > v6175. Then, start the NUS Download
  • When the download is finished, navigate to wherever you chose to save the WAD earlier
  • There should be a folder called titles. Inside that folder will be another folder called 000000010000003A. Inside that will be yet another folder called 6175. Inside that folder will be the WAD
  • Copy this WAD to a folder on your SD Card called wads. When you’re done, the file structure should be sd:/wads/(IOS wad here)
  • Next, insert the SD Card into your Wii.
  • Launch the Homebrew Channel
  • Since the channel is upside down, this will be tough, but you need to locate your WAD Manager of choice in the channel. Try looking for its icon. If you are having trouble, if you have any other apps on your SD card in the apps folder, you can temporarily move them somewhere else, leaving only the WAD Manager left
  • Launch your WAD Manager
  • Use your WAD Manager to install the IOS WAD you downloaded and put on your SD card earlier
  • Exit the WAD Manager
  • Voila! Your HBC should now be correct, and HackMii Installer should now work

Method 3:

This method is the most involved, but it is still definitely doable.

You will need:

  • An SD card with the LetterBomb exploit or any other SD-based exploit ready and you’ll need to be able to transfer files to the SD card
  • A computer with an internet connection
  • NUS Downloader, make sure you extract it to a place you can find easily
  • A WAD Manager. I recommend using Wii Mod Lite or YAWMM

Procedure:

  • Open NUS Downloader. Ensure the “Pack WAD” option at the bottom is checked. By default it will save the WAD to wherever you extracted NUS Downloader. You can change the save location if you’d like, just remember where it is
  • Click on Database at the top left. Navigate to IOS > IOS58 > v6175. Then, start the NUS Download
  • When the download is finished, navigate to wherever you chose to save the WAD earlier
  • There should be a folder called titles. Inside that folder will be another folder called 000000010000003A. Inside that will be yet another folder called 6175. Inside that folder will be the WAD
  • Copy this WAD to a folder on your SD card called wads. When you’re done, the file structure should be sd:/wads/(IOS wad here)
  • Now navigate to the root of your SD card
  • There should be a file called boot.elf. Move this file somewhere safe, because you will need it later. Make sure it is no longer on the root of the SD
  • Inside your WAD Manager of choice, there will be a file called boot.dol. Transfer this file to the root of your SD card
  • Insert your SD card into your Wii
  • Run the exploit you had placed on your SD card using whatever method is needed for the exploit. For example, if you’re using LetterBomb, navigate to the letter and open it
  • Now, once the exploit is finished running, rather than seeing HackMii Installer like your normally would, you will see your WAD Manager. Use this WAD Manager to install the IOS WAD you downloaded and placed onto your SD Card earlier
  • Once this is complete, exit the WAD Manager
  • Voila! Your HackMii Installer should now be repaired. Before you try to run HackMii Installer through an exploit, make sure you delete the boot.dol file from the root of your SD card and restore the boot.elf file that you temporarily removed earlier. Then, you can use an exploit to load HackMii Installer, and you’re all set!

As mentioned earlier, this method will only work with SD-based exploits, such as LetterBomb or any of the game-based hacks. It will not work with exploits such as FlashHax and str2hax.

Summary

Moral of the story: Don’t follow outdated tutorials, and don’t install WAD Packs from the internet.