Creating the ULTIMATE Wii in 2024

[@cheyennerae5403]

hearing you say it might not function without the disc drive made me laugh. The Wii boots without *most* things attached you'd be surprised, look into Wii board trimming, it blows my mind too.

[@E.B._Tech]

I will have to look into that! I wasn’t really sure if it would work or not because every time I’ve worked on a DS they won’t even turn on unless everything is plugged back in all the way. I know they’re different consoles but still I just assumed it was a weird quirk of Nintendo 😂

[@echonomix_]

​@@E.B._Tech seriously you can literally cut off (like with a kitchen knife if you want) like 50% of the wii mobo

[@E.B._Tech]

Dang😂 I watched a video where someone did it with a dremel and that seemed to do a pretty good job. I had no idea they could still function like that!

[@icanlevitateoff]

funnily enough one of the few exceptions is the wifi card, the wii will not boot without it

[@Asfgxff]

“The disc drive doesn't work” 👀 Hold my controller! 🏃💨

[@oliviapatterson1121]

The Wii is so nostalgic and brings back so many memories for me! $10 for the finished product seems like a steal! I loved the blue it turned out awesome! I am a sucker for the see through consoles and Would love to see another in a clear red shell! I love that you were able to give life to a console with a broken disc drive!

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you! I absolutely love the Wii so this was a very exciting project for me! A red shell one would be awesome so I’ll have to see what I can do in the future maybe

[@spitt0110]

putting a noctura fan in place of stock fan would be even more ultimate! :) i've seen folks creat a hack for the disc drive where you put a small chip or something in place so it will still function without it, I think placing a ssd in its place would be sick.

[@E.B._Tech]

I considered a Noctua fan! I decided against it but I agree it would definitely make it more ultimate. I’m considering making an ultimate PS2 in the future though and I will definitely be putting a Noctua fan in it! I also agree an SSD would be awesome, however I decided against that too because the Wii always defaults to USB 2.0 speeds so it would never be able to take advantage of the fast speeds of an SSD. The biggest advantage of an SSD would be I’m sure there is a way to fit it inside of the Wii but I decided to go with an external HDD so I can still plug it into a computer whenever I need if there is anything I want to change or add to it

[@KaydeGRules2010]

🎵SUNSET DRIVER!!!🎵 🎵MIDNIGHT RIDER!!!🎵 🎵FRIDAY’S BRIGHTER!!!🎵 🎵GOTTA REACH THAT DRIVER!!!🎵 🎵CUZ, THE SATURDAY NIGHTER, OH!!!🎵 Idk why I think of that when I hear ultimate.

[@EquinoxTheGoober]

i personally, am not smart enough to comprehend what i just watched. 10/10 would watch again.

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you I’m glad you enjoyed! It’s not as complicated as it seems. A more in depth tutorial would make it seem much simpler, however I did not record certain parts of the process in fear of getting the video taken down 😅

[@slenderaftonOfficial]

The front of the Wii with the rest of the casing on gave me iPod vibes tbh

[@E.B._Tech]

Yeah I can see that. The color is very similar to an old iPod Nano we used to have

[@slenderaftonOfficial]

So true

[@me234234]

Cool tip if you have Priiloader installed you can install USB Loader GX and set it to load installed file at boot and it will load it at boot instead of the Wii Menu and if you have the USB Loader GX forwarder channel you can go to the setting inside of USB Loader GX and there is a return to option and it will show all your installed channels and if you select USB Loader GX every time a game is launched from USB Loader GX and you go to the Home Menu and select Wii Menu it will go back to USB Loader GX and if you still need to get back to the Wii Menu just open the menu in USB Loader GX not in game and select Wii Menu and it will still go back to the Wii menu and any game or app not launched in USB Loader GX will still go back to Wii Menu as normal upon selecting that option as long as it is loaded outside of USB Loader GX

[@E.B._Tech]

Interesting! I did set USB Loader GX to where when I exit a game it will go back to USB Loader GX but I didn’t know that you could set it to automatically go to USB Loader GX when it boots too!

[@oakley2001]

@@E.B._Tech Booting into USB Loader doesn't allow you to sync new Wii motes. If you don't have a wired Gamecube controller you won't be able to load the Wii menu to sync an actual wii mote.

[@E.B._Tech]

Ah gotcha. I will probably let it just boot up normally then

[@me234234]

@@oakley2001 yah but if you sync all your Wii remotes beforehand then they should all just connect whenever you turn them on every time and you can still get to the Wii Menu to sync your remotes from Priiloader by holding I believe reset after pressing power to turn it on to get to Priiloader as it actually allows you to navigate using the buttons on the front of your Wii console and you can use power and reset and one navigates the UI and the other selects the options you are on and as long as you synced your Wii remotes you can have it just auto boot to USB Loader GX every time and just turn on your Wii remote every time and it just connect without having to go back and sync them up and after that the only time you have to go ever go to the Wii Menu is if you need to get to the settings to change the time as USB Loader GX does display current time

[@oakley2001]

@@me234234 You used absolutely no punctuation. I have a difficult time following what you are trying to say. It is important to note the inability to sync wii motes since it can effectively lock you out of your system. Preserving retro equipment includes thinking of someone else owning your equipment in the future and not being familiar with the technical jargon.

[@Joe15-ob4te]

I shell swapped my white wii to clear blue as well except that I left behind the rf shielding for the disc drive and the motherboard just to make it look even better than it already is.

[@E.B._Tech]

Clear blue was definitely the best color in my opinion! I considered leaving off the rf shielding but I kinda like the metal looks on the inside. Though I’m sure it looks super cool without it!

[@wyzeazz]

Yooo, copy your nand to emunand (in USBLOader - features) then uncheck the NAND checkbox and Check the EMUNAND checkbox - in the wii titles sources Menu (top icon 4th from the left ) then just uninstall the ? channels from emunand just like uninstalling a game in USBloader. No more unwanted channels.

[@E.B._Tech]

@@wyzeazz gotcha that would definitely clean things up a bit. Thanks!

[@jmqp3535]

The idea of ​​a translucent case is that you can see the inside, leaving the cover of the disk drive and the board does not let you see all the components, it looks more vintage without this

[@E.B._Tech]

That’s fair. I’d probably do it differently next time

[@BreloomsGarden]

Very cool vid! I haven't seen that menu with your backups before. Is that a homebrew thing? I've only had a homebrewed wii maaaaaaany years ago. Great choice on the case color too, one day I hope we get a resurgence on colored transparent electronics. I love them.

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you so much! The menu is called USB Loader GX. I had an old modded Wii that also didn’t have USB Loader but I think it really adds a lot! And yes I absolutely love transparent electronics which is why I decided to go with this case!

[@newogame1]

I loved the Wii so much I made some homebrew games for it.

[@E.B._Tech]

That’s awesome! Where are they available to download? I will have to check them out!

[@theanonymousgamer4638]

That transparent blue Wii's looking CLEAN! Awesome job my man.

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you so much! I love it! Also nice profile picture! Sonic is awesome

[@TSSCATS]

The thing you didn't knoq qas for was the wifi card

[@Milesdrums]

Great video! Glad you could turn this wii into the ultimate retro gaming console! I can definitely tell you put a lot of effort into this video and it was very interesting to watch! Thanks for the great video!

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you so much! It’s one I had been working on for a while lol glad you enjoyed!

[@P8NPrivTV]

great job bro! Looks like fun

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you! This was very fun!

[@lowguidoschopshop]

you should have left off the top and bottom shields so that you can see inside better with the translucent shell.

[@E.B._Tech]

I did consider doing this but I ultimately decided to leave them on as I wasn’t sure how it would affect thermal performance if I left them off. Though I probably didn’t have anything to worry about considering the Wii doesn’t really produce that much heat

[@luisisbored]

Damn came here expecting a crappy video but found a hidden gem in the youtube sands

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you so much! Thanks for watching!

[@Wailky2008]

Why does my wii2hdmi not work 😭 I changed the video settings by using composite but there is no way for me to click EDTV/HDTV When I plug a headset in I can hear the wii background music but that's it

[@E.B._Tech]

If you are not able to change it to HDTV or change the video output to 480p then my guess is that your tv is not capable of displaying 480i through HDMI. My suggestion would be to watch a video on how to change the settings and try to navigate the system menu to do so while the screen is blank. This is difficult to do so but I’ve had to do this on many PlayStation 2s and once the settings were changed it displayed

[@arelaxedsoranani8160]

Would you happen to have a link for the screwdriver you use to take it apart?

[@E.B._Tech]

@@arelaxedsoranani8160 yes! I just added it to the description with the rest of the links! (KZbin doesn’t like links in comments anymore for some reason )

[@YamiReborn]

You can discard the metal sheets ? For a cleaner look?

[@E.B._Tech]

Yeah this is something I considered but I ultimately (no pun intended 😆) decided to put them back on because I wasn’t sure how it would mess with the thermals leaving them off. Though after someone else pointed it out to me I realized it would probably not make a difference considering the Wii doesn’t generally get very hot

[@RickyD1968]

WOW that is really cool !!! Good job !!!

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@User-p9n7l]

What do you clean your monitor screens with? Nice video

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you! Typically I just use a Swiffer duster

[@grski900000000000000]

Did You manage to get the front disc loader foam slot back into the blue shell ? its always a pain to replace after cleaning :(

[@E.B._Tech]

Unfortunately no. I absolutely destroyed that piece 😅 for some stupid reason I thought I could transfer just the black velvety fabric part over to the new shell not realizing it was glued into the old shell (stupid on my part in retrospect) so I just left it out of it

[@grski900000000000000]

@@E.B._Tech Wonder can spares be sourced , I'm going to see what the Bay of E has to offer , Thank You kindly

[@E.B._Tech]

No problem! I’m sure eBay has plenty to offer! Unfortunately shipping kills me on there sometimes 😂

[@OBGuy]

Are the pink wiimote lights a custom mod or a quirk of the pink wii remotes?

[@E.B._Tech]

They are actually the normal blue lights they just look pink in the video for some reason I’m not sure why. That would be cool to put custom lights in one though I may check into that one day!

[@jeffreybenefield2530]

This video is so well made it gives me a dangerous level of confidence to be able to reshell my own wii 😂

[@E.B._Tech]

It’s a bit of a difficult process but it’s certainly worth it! I believe in you!

[@omegazero7174]

man i love your custom

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@FFTG09]

Beautiful Wii congrats! I’m curious tho, how did you do to make usb loader read the gamecube games? I’ve been playing them through nintendont. I also had issues with wii games and had to format my usb drive using the wii manager to wbfs and load the game through it too

[@E.B._Tech]

I am actually trying to figure out this issue for myself! I can get the usb loader to recognize all of my GameCube games through Nintendont but I am actually not able to get any of the GameCube games to load up from usb loader gx directly despite the fact that it recognizes them and knows they’re there. I have been loading them up directly from Nintendont. I’ll be honest I had been working on this project so long that I did my best to get it to “look pretty” for the video and try to work out the kinks later. However this seems to be a common issue and I haven’t been able to find a workaround for it yet which is unfortunate. And yes I also used Wii manager to format my Wii games!

[@FFTG09]

@@E.B._Techhey thanks for your reply, I’ve kept forgetting to reply back lol Since my comment I had new issues and usb loader stopped recognising all my games. I kinda assumed that my issue was using an usb stick and since I didn’t have any external drives to use I basically put all the files for homebrew, wii and GC games in the SD and usbloader is working flawlessly to be honest. I know that using a SD for everything is not ideal so I’ve ordered an adapter for an 2.5” HDD drive that I have laying around. Hopefully using the hdd as an external drive my problem will be fixed, don’t really mind having to use Nintendont to play GC games even though the Usbloader layout’s more aesthetically pleasing haha. Thank you agajn for the video and reply!

[@E.B._Tech]

Oh no! I have heard of people having issues if they are using a usb stick so that makes sense. I hope that you will have better luck with the HDD! I’ve already decided that if I ever make a Wii like this again that I’ll probably attempt installing an SSD within the shell for less hassle instead of dragging around the big hard drive with it lol plus that would technically make it more “ultimate”!

[@GiSWiG]

Well, when I see "Ultimate Wii" I'm thinking of an internal HDMI mod. My "Ultimate Wii" does have the AVE-HDMI internal mod. I got the smoke gray/black clear case but that blue does look awesome. The smoke-clear shows off the HDMI mod and wiring job better I think, leaving the bottom shield off of course. I stuck with the original white buttons because the clear ones just get 'lost'. I also have my GameCube games on a 128GB SDCard in the front slot and Wii games on a 2TB drive. Now does the HDMI look 'God-like' compared to an HDMI adapter? Depends but not really. I would recommend the Mayflash adapter as the next best thing to the Electron Shepard HDMI adapter. Really both are very affordable. A cheaper Wii2HDMI adapter I have does look the worse. When paired with an mClassic, you can tell a difference between the HDMI mod and the Mayflash but you would have to be looking for it when just playing it. I like the mClassic for its 4:3 switch vs. having to navigate TV menus to switch between 16:9 and 4:3 because not all Wii games support 16:9. My Samsung TV w/ a streaming box style remote takes like 8-10 steps. I would seriously take your Wii, get either the Mayflash or Electron Shepard adapter and pair it with an mClassic. It will look great!

[@E.B._Tech]

I will certainly have to look into that! I originally decided against an internal HDMI mod because I felt I didn’t have the skills to install one, however I’ve gotten a lot more soldering experience since I started this project last year so I would feel much better about attempting one now. Thanks for watching!

[@GiSWiG]

@@E.B._Tech It's not too difficult. Follow along with the video linked on the AVE-HDMI page. All my contacts were clean so it was easy. My most problematic issue was not knowing where to put the ground wire because my board layout did not match the video. I don't think it covered the IR sensor either. I found a guide on one of the product page's pictures. Also, when you get it to display video but you are not getting audio, don't panic! It is GCVideo based so you need to enable the DVI setting. I almost re-did it. Also, make sure you have a good solder station. You can't get the right temps with the simple plugin kind.

[@E.B._Tech]

@GiSWiG gotcha! Thank you I will check that out! And yes I think my soldering station should be up to the task as it isn’t the simple plugin kind!

[@vdpt9911]

I've heard that usb loading for wii is somewhat unstable, wouldn't using just the SD card be better even if maybe not as long-lasting?

[@E.B._Tech]

From what I can tell (I couldn’t find a definitive answer I’m mostly speaking from experience and from what I’ve read from others online) USB Loader GX is only unstable when the homebrew app is stored on the hard drive (meaning usb loader gx, any other homebrew apps you might be using, and all your ROMS all on the hard drive). So mine seems to be nearly as stable as using just the SD card since I have all my homebrew stored only on the SD card while having only my ROMS on my hard drive. I do believe it would probably work best to run it all from an SD card, however I chose to do it with the hybrid method like this because it was cheaper for me to buy a 1tb HDD then it was to buy a 1tb SD card. I hope my answer makes sense and wasn’t too long winded!

[@vdpt9911]

@@E.B._Tech good to know, thanks!

[@E.B._Tech]

@vdpt9911 no problem! Thanks for watching! Also nice pfp I love Terraria

[@oakley2001]

@@E.B._Tech Using a powered USB drive can help avoid a lot of issues. The Wii has a possibility of dropping the power to the USB ports and it is recommended to use a drive with its own power supply.

[@E.B._Tech]

Oh okay this is good to know! I’ll look into that!

[@snel]

W verse of the day

[@E.B._Tech]

Amen!

[@thesmokecriminal5395]

More projects like this!!!

[@E.B._Tech]

I’d love to at some point! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@thesmokecriminal5395]

@@E.B._Tech Great vid, I'm gonna do the same thing with my wii!!!

[@E.B._Tech]

@thesmokecriminal5395 go for it! It’s so worth it!

[@thesmokecriminal5395]

@@E.B._Tech is it possible to replace thermal paste or thermal pad on a Wii?

[@E.B._Tech]

@thesmokecriminal5395 it uses thermal pads and yes it’s possible but I am not sure the specifics on it. You may want to look it up to be sure but I know when I replaced the thermal pads on a PlayStation 2 there was a specific type and thickness that I had to buy so that way the heat transfer was still effective

[@Streethere]

underrated

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you!

[@phony4581]

I'm curious, are you gonna put any emulators on the Wii like Snes9x or The N64 one?

[@E.B._Tech]

Yes! I do eventually plan on setting up SNES, NES, and maybe GBA. I haven’t decided on the N64 yet. Me and my brothers had a modded wii that my dad’s friend set up for us using the Smash Brawl method (to give a time frame it was probably in like 2010 or 2011) and it was set up with the N64 emulator on it too and it ran pretty poorly and had issues with textures and such. So I need to do some research to see how much it has been improved since then to see if it would really be worth it. I also have heard that the Wii can emulate PlayStation 1 and I would love to check that out to see how it performs too!

[@phony4581]

@@E.B._Tech Awesome! I gotta get a Wii myself again and softmod it. (I don't think I'm experienced enough to do a custom faceplate mod lol)

[@E.B._Tech]

It’s super worth it! I see Wiis for sale for so cheap all the time (although some places get way more than what they’re worth out of them all the time) but it’s so nice to have especially when they are modded!

[@chrismclaren113]

You can play any dvd on wii

[@E.B._Tech]

I have seen that you can do this but I haven’t checked it out for myself yet! It is something I want to try eventually!

[@MalcolmTheRealtor]

I just bought one how do I download Netflix

[@E.B._Tech]

To be honest with you I’m not entirely sure. This one had it already installed on there when I got it and I am not sure if Netflix even still supports the Wii version

[@oscarloria]

Friend, use Electron AVE HDMI!

[@E.B._Tech]

I have never heard of this but will probably try to get one eventually now that I know it exists! Unfortunately it does seem a little on the expensive side

[@oscarloria]

@ yes it’s a little expensive but with that you will get the ULTIMATE Wii 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 see you

[@Brody-bl8dx]

Gives me iMac G3 vibes

[@E.B._Tech]

That’s what I was going for! I love the looks of those!

[@dynamoaanval]

👍

[@austinpatton96]

nice also thanks for the bible verse hope you have a blessed day

[@E.B._Tech]

Thank you so much! I hope you have a blessed day too!

[@matchagreent3a152]

I really don't want to be that guy but changing the case does not make it ultimate. Its a fun video (delivery could be les monotone) but its not ultimate sorry. If it suits your needs that's great, but it doesn't have any features that separate it from a regular homebrewed Wii. A HDMI mod kit (or an upscaler), some homebrew apps, a custom interface (or at least a blue skin for USB-Loader when your whole console is blue 😮‍💨) would of made it more accessible to newer monitors or feel more exclusive with features. There not even any emulators for older consoles when you have a whole terabyte to play with. Maybe also don't have an uncut time-lapse of all your "backups". Again not to be that guy. Fun video but I feel it could of had more, or call it YOUR Ultimate WII.

[@AliBaba_Ramo]

I don’t see the point of modding a wii, it’s more efficient to mod a Wii U …anyway great video thanks anyway A red case would be awesome

[@E.B._Tech]

I completely agree! Though I’ve dealt with some people that don’t care about anything Wii U in which case it could be much cheaper to just mod a Wii for them. And yes I agree a red one would be awesome too! I’m actually in the process of modding a Wii U. I should’ve made a video on it. Maybe some day!

[@o0kaelas]

My Wii u doesn't have GameCube memory card ports, not super important but I like being able to recover old save data.

[@MisfitMods]

A wii what? 😂😂

[@o0kaelas]

@@MisfitMods u

[@FroStreams]

You own Pokemon Box?

[@E.B._Tech]

They were all ripped from discs!

[@FroStreams]

@@E.B._Tech Damn Pokemon Box goes for like $2,000