Wii System Menu 4.0 Update - Safe Upgrade Guide Is Up

[CT Chia]

It was just announced at GDC that there is a new update for the Wii - version 4.0

This updates adds a lot of neat SD options to your system:
-Support for SDHC cards up to 32GB
-Download games straight to SD Card
-Launching games straight from SD Card

The problem with this is that many of us use the homebrew channel for things such as Brawl+ or Texture Hacking. While people are still investigating how this new update will affect this channel and our methods for homebrew, the WiiBrew page for the 4.0 update currently says these things are affected:
Twilight Hack 0.1beta2, probably (confirm)
DVDx
The Homebrew Channel (new install AND already installed)

There is no workaround for the three problems so far. The obvious parts that mean anything to us here in the Smash Workshop though are:
Twilight Hack - Meaning with Menu 4.0 you will not be able to use the Twilight Hack to install the homebrew channel.
Homebrew Channel - It seems that this will not work after you update your Wii, even if it is already installed.

If you treasure your precious Brawl+ and such, please hold off on updating your Wii. I will keep a close look on the situation in finding a workaround, and keeping an eye out for new versions of these programs to help us.

Edit:
-Contrary to the WiiBrew page saying this affects the Homebrew Channel, GBATemp reports that the Homebrew channel works, and can even be loaded off of the SD Card Channel!
-I just remembered my friend left his Wii at my place and he doesn't play Brawl+ or anything. He pretty much just plays Melee lol. I'm going to experiment what works and doesnt on his system when I get home from work and report my findings.

Edit2:
Ok, here's the preliminary report:

I updated to Version 4.0 and...

Everything is fine. I haven't lost any features (well, coming from 3.3v1 that is. 3.2 specific things like StarFall won't work).

HOWEVER! Do not update on your own yet unless you know what you are doing. You must do a couple things to make sure everything works after the update.

I'm not mentioning how to do it here, since I believe some things in the instructions wouldn't be allowed to be posted according to SWF rules. However, I have the following things working fine in Version 4.0:
-Installing/Uninstalling WADs
-GeckoOS to run Brawl+
-Backup Loader
-Wii Shop Channel
-Nintendo Channel
-Http Dumper
-Ability to downgrade to Version 3.2 (and then go back to 4.0 if you wish)

I will write up a guide tomorrow how to safely advance to v4.0

Edit 3:
Ok here is the beta of my guide:
http://followingrevolution.com/guide/

The reason I say beta is that I wrote it all from memory while at work. When I get home from work later I'm going to follow my own guide to update my own Wii to make sure it works correctly. Everyone can try it now if they wish, but remember, if you fail to follow instructions, you might brick your Wii. I am not responsible for any bricks resulting from this (though it's unlikely)

Essentially, but following this process for updating to Version 4.0, you will still be able to:
-Install WADs
-Use the backup loader
-Use the homebrew channel and all applications like GeckoOS
-And just incase you need to, have the ability to downgrade to Version 3.2U

 

[Fenrir]

Good to let people know this.

 

[Revven]

Yeah, ANYBODY that plays Brawl+ should not update to this at all. You can already pretty much do everything Nintendo has given people with Homebrew (except for the appealing 32GB SD Card compatibility, it's still not worth it).

Don't update, at all, ever. No matter how good the update looks, don't do it. Also, people who WANT Brawl+ should not update either, as there isn't a workaround yet. Stay on 3.4/3.3 and install what you need to right now.

 

[SCOTU]

Yeah, ANYBODY that plays Brawl+ should not update to this at all. You can already pretty much do everything Nintendo has given people with Homebrew (except for the appealing 32GB SD Card compatibility, it's still not worth it).

Don't update, at all, ever. No matter how good the update looks, don't do it. Also, people who WANT Brawl+ should not update either, as there isn't a workaround yet. Stay on 3.4/3.3 and install what you need to right now.

I wouldn't say NEVER update... just wait until your h4x are supported before updating.

 

[kupo15]

Woah! A possibility to be able to launch HBC from the SD card? That can be just what we need for those who don't want to softmod their wiis

 

[Fenrir]

Woah! A possibility to be able to launch HBC from the SD card? That can be just what we need for those who don't want to softmod their wiis

I'm 99.99% sure you have to have first installed it to your Wii for it to work. But who knows if there will be an exploit that allows it to run from the SD Card uninstalled. If there is, that would be hilarious.

 

[patoons]

" What is NOT affected
The Homebrew Channel (previous install)
DVDx (previous install) "

right from the WiiBrew homepage. does that mean that as long is you have it installed now, you can go ahead and update your Wii to menu 4.0 no problem, and continue to run homebrew?

 

[Rikana]

It's best that you don't update. Homebrew can already allow SDHC to run.

 

[Anth0ny]

I'm so not updating to this lol. I'd never risk my precious homebrew.

 

[Kawaii Poyo]

Hell, I run on 3.2, haven't updated since and won't.

 

[Zook]

I can download games onto my SD card now? Great.

 

[MBlaze]

I'm so not updating to this lol. I'd never risk my precious homebrew.

This, just until they 100 about my Homebrew being safe.

 

[LLDL]

I still have my Wii on 3.2, which is what you should always keep it at

 

[GHNeko]

Hell, I run on 3.2, haven't updated since and won't.

If I could "this" enough times to accurately show how much "this" im saying atm. The post would of stretched the page to hell and back.

3.2 forever.

 

[CT Chia]

im gonna do a whole bunch of testing everyone so wait on my report before you update. unless some other credible source like gbatemp (i normally go to them for homebrew info) finds out info.

but yes it seems previous installs will still work. havnt heard anything specific about gecko os though.

twilight hack is out again though.

edit: the first version of 3.3 is just as good as 3.2 lol. i can do everything 3.2 has no probs

 

[Revven]

I can download games onto my SD card now? Great.

You can already achieve this with the Homebrew channel.

Also, I'd like to remind everybody that the Twilight Hack save file cannot again be copied when you update to this, and by the sounds of marcan's post below it looks like we won't see a workaround for 4.0 if it's even remotely possible:

http://hackmii.com/2009/03/system-menu-40-rundown/

 

[Zook]

You can already achieve this with the Homebrew channel.

Not if you're an unfortunate soul like me who can not/does not want to/is against hacking Wiis.

 

[Fenrir]

You're not unfortunate if the only thing keeping you from doing it is your own choice.

 

[Ange]

4.0? What happened to 3.6 to 3.9?

I have no reason to update my Wii, so I wont. Never.

 

[Zook]

You're not unfortunate if the only thing keeping you from doing it is your own choice.

I am if I don't have a way to hook up my SD card to my computer.

 

[Revven]

I am if I don't have a way to hook up my SD card to my computer.

Go buy an SD Card Reader, they're like $10...

 

[Zook]

Go buy an SD Card Reader, they're like $10...

Why do that when I could just update my Wii for free?

 

[MBlaze]

Nintendo still doing that **** when you update your Wii, they can auto-update it anytime they want to? Because if this is safe thats the only thing I'm afraid of.

@Zook: If you don't approve of hacking why the hell you here?

 

[GHNeko]

im gonna do a whole bunch of testing everyone so wait on my report before you update. unless some other credible source like gbatemp (i normally go to them for homebrew info) finds out info.

but yes it seems previous installs will still work. havnt heard anything specific about gecko os though.

twilight hack is out again though.

edit: the first version of 3.3 is just as good as 3.2 lol. i can do everything 3.2 has no probs

Preloader, SoftMii, and Starfall would like to have a word with you.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Well this sure is a twist. Just hope that none of the future Wii games require Wii System Menu 4.0 or else you're toast with hacking.

 

[GHNeko]

Well this sure is a twist. Just hope that none of the future Wii games require Wii System Menu 4.0 or else you're toast with hacking.

GeckoOS and Starfall bypass Disc Updates.

Wurd up

 

[Roxas215]

What i want to know is will updating affect the backup launcher?

 

[Revven]

What i want to know is will updating affect the backup launcher?

I believe it does, but, I'm not 100%.

 

[leafgreen386]

Honestly, I would recommend people not only to never update, but if they have a wii with a system menu of 3.3 or higher to downgrade to v3.2. Really, it is the best system menu for homebrew, and the updates to the wii system menu really do not bring any new fantastic features, as they are all accessible with homebrew... and then some.

Even if it is technically "safe," don't update. Ever.

 

[ratts]

it's lame to trash talk nintendo's updates, they are good updates. I'm not going to update till there is a workaround, but that will only take a few days tops, before this I was running brawl+ wii backups, and gamecube backups on 3.4 and in a few days I will continue to do so on 4.0

sure you could play roms on the sd card before 4.0, but some of us prefer not to steal.

saying NEVER NEVER NEVER update is just being ignorant and scared. toodles guys, I'm going to enjoy this update.

have fun back there in the stone age.

 

[Revven]

I like how you assume I'm scared to update. I just don't really see the point in the update, it's something Nintendo could've done on day 1 but they didn't. I'm not really living "in the stone age" as all it is is just an SD Card update which, what? Is nothing new? Exactly.

 

[Volt7x]

Can we install a WAD of the SD channel? And there should be something that lets you install some of the good features without updating.

Preloader, SoftMii, and Starfall would like to have a word with you.

This. Starfall is great since you don't have to run GOS each time you want to play. And you don't need a Wiimote anymore (unless you want to use hacks or play VC).

it's lame to trash talk nintendo's updates, they are good updates. I'm not going to update till there is a workaround, but that will only take a few days tops, before this I was running brawl+ wii backups, and gamecube backups on 3.4 and in a few days I will continue to do so on 4.0

sure you could play roms on the sd card before 4.0, but some of us prefer not to steal.

saying NEVER NEVER NEVER update is just being ignorant and scared. toodles guys, I'm going to enjoy this update.

have fun back there in the stone age.

Okay. Have fun when Nintendo disables your Homebrew with auto-updates. Unless you have Wiiconnect24 turned off.
Btw, does anyone know if it's safe to have WC24 on with 3.2?
EDIT: Wait, is the SD launcher a channel or something in the Wii Menu?

 

[leafgreen386]

it's lame to trash talk nintendo's updates, they are good updates. I'm not going to update till there is a workaround, but that will only take a few days tops, before this I was running brawl+ wii backups, and gamecube backups on 3.4 and in a few days I will continue to do so on 4.0

sure you could play roms on the sd card before 4.0, but some of us prefer not to steal.

saying NEVER NEVER NEVER update is just being ignorant and scared. toodles guys, I'm going to enjoy this update.

have fun back there in the stone age.

They are not "good updates." They have very little marginal utility from what you could already do using homebrew. Homebrew already supports greater sized sd cards. Homebrew already lets you save all games to your sd card. And playing them from your sd card? This really is not that big of a feature to be added to the system. None of the updates nintendo will ever put out for the wii will be "good," because the wii as a system is so limited and poorly designed. This article was written a little while ago, but it's very very relevant:

http://hackmii.com/2009/02/why-the-wii-will-never-get-any-better/

And here I'll quote a specific part of the article that has to do with loading games from SD. I suggest you go through the whole article, though. It's a good read, and it explains exactly why system menu updates are essentially worthless.

As a specific example, let’s look at the much-discussed future ability to load Virtual Console and WiiWare titles from an SD card (seriously, what the hell were they thinking with 512MB of internal storage and no sane infrastructure to ever expand it externally?) There are three possible solutions to get this to work:

1. Add FAT filesystem code to IOS retroactively, disabling any SD access for titles that launch from SD
2. Add FAT filesystem code to IOS retroactively and push title updates for everything that uses SD, to remove the in-title FAT code and replace it with a new interface to IOS
3. Just fake it and transparently copy titles to the Wii system memory when you want to launch them, causing more Flash wear and tear and longer launching times

Chances are they’re going to go for number 3. And the only reason 1. and 2. exist is because downloadable content access is implemented through a unified “application security” subsystem, which forced them to define a sort-of-standard interface for it. They wouldn’t have done it otherwise.

And guess which one of those options they did go for? Yep. Number 3.

There is no good reason to update your wii. Ever. And there will never be a good reason to in the future. Utility lies in homebrew, not in system menu updates. You're the one who's living in the "stone age," my friend.

 

[Zook]

@Zook: If you don't approve of hacking why the hell you here?

I never said that. I was just commenting on the Wii update, and you became defensive.

 

[MBlaze]

I never said that. I was just commenting on the Wii update, and you became defensive.

I wouldn't say defensive but tired of you meat-riding Nintendo as it seems.

 

[shadowtroop]

I...Don't...Know...


I...Must...

I...Shouldn't...

Shiny...

Failed...

Cool...

Dumber than you think...

I Am In Conflict...Help..

 

[Meru.]

Moooo, but I wanna buy Virtual Console games >< Especially is Smash64 comes out.

I'll just wait.

 

[ph00tbag]

I'm keeping an eye on this. If I can keep using Homebrew with this update, I might as well just go for the next one. I do have my eye on some upcoming releases, and I expect them to require authentication.

And if I can run HBC from the SD Card channel, well then wtf not?

 

[CT Chia]

Preloader, SoftMii, and Starfall would like to have a word with you.

what does preloader and softmii do?

true, i forgot about starfall. iv been meaning to get that (would have to downgrade first though). its pretty convinient.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Honestly, I would recommend people not only to never update, but if they have a wii with a system menu of 3.3 or higher to downgrade to v3.2. Really, it is the best system menu for homebrew, and the updates to the wii system menu really do not bring any new fantastic features, as they are all accessible with homebrew... and then some.

Even if it is technically "safe," don't update. Ever.

Its possible to downgrade the Wii System Menu?