Step 1. Find your Wii’s MAC address for LetterBomb
Note: Make sure you remove unnecessary peripherals like the Nunchuck, Wii Motion Plus, GC memory cards, game discs, etc. before continuing this guide. Using a Wii Remote Plus is fine for this guide (the one with Wii Motion Plus actually built in).
Note: Disable WiiConnect24. Watch how to do it here.
A. Turn on your Wii and select Wii Options>Wii Settings.
B. Select the right arrow to go to the second page then select Internet>Console Information. Write down your MAC address, turn off your Wii, and head over to your computer.
C. Install WinRAR onto your computer if you don’t already have it.
- Click here to download WinRAR.
D. Visit this site, select your Wii’s System Menu Version, and enter your MAC address you wrote down before. Enter Captcha and click on Cut the red wire. You should now be downloading “LetterBomb.zip” – we’ll use it in a second.
Step 2. Format your SD card then copy LetterBomb exploit to SD Card
A. Make sure your SD Card isn’t locked and put it into your laptop or computer.
Note: if you have important data in the SD Card, back them up before formatting.
B. From ‘My Computer’ or ‘Computer,’ right-click your SD card and select Format.
C. Make sure its set to FAT32 and that Quick Format is checked and click START>OK>OK>Close.
D. Having both your SD card and the LetterBomb.zip download open, Copy the first two files (Private folder + boot.elf) from LetterBomb.zip to your SD card by “dragging and dropping.”
E. Put your SD card into your Wii and turn it on.
F. Select the Wii Message Board (envelope at the bottom right of the Wii Menu) and press the minus button (-) and you should see a red envelope with a bomb. Click on it and wait for HackMii to load.
Note: If you still do not see a LetterBomb, make sure your Wii is 4.3 and that you wrote down and used the correct MAC Address. If you still don’t see it, then try a different SD or SDHC card or reformat the SD card and re-copy the files over again.
Note: The LetterBomb will appear on “yesterday’s date,” meaning if you used the exploit on Dec. 2, it will appear on the Wii Message Board on Dec. 1 (or Dec 2, depending on your time zone). So if you press the minus button and still don’t see the LetterBomb, make sure it is on “yesterday’s date”!
Step 3. Use HackMii to Install the HBC and BootMii
A. Press 1, and select Continue on the next screen.
B. Select: Install The Homebrew Channel>Yes, continue.
C. Once it reads “SUCCESS” select Continue.
D. Select: BootMii…> Install BootMii as IOS.
Note: If you have the option to install BootMii as boot2, select that instead.
Note: If you failed to install the HBC, you should try reformatting again and re-copying the files over, or try a new SD or SDHC card.
E. Select: Yes, continue>Yes, continue>Continue>Return to the main menu>Exit. The HBC should load now. You can go ahead and turn off your Wii and remove the SD card.
{ 126 comments… read them below or add one }
plain and simple LEG-END
Everytime I go to install BOOTMii as IOS, it tells me to insert an SD card. I click yes, continue and it says failed and I tried to re-format and it still fails. I also tried another card and it does the same thing. What should I do
Never Mind I got it to work. Thanks
Gr8 tutorial!!
Do you have any update to open the letterbomb with a inbuilt motion plus remote??
I dont know anyone who own a wii in my area.
You just need to get system menu 4.3 (if you don’t have it already) and be sure to turn off WiiConnect24 and remove unnecessary peripherals before using letterbomb.
I cannot seem to download letter bomb correctly, it says it downloaded but then says application not found when I try to open it.
nvm…figured it out.
hay there ive just installed everything as said installing went well but when i click the homebrew channel it jus stays in the blue screen with a wifi blinking is that normal? i wanted to install a loader so i can play copied games. i would appreciate your advice on this thank you.
I have a micro sd card that has a usb attachement and an sd card attachement. Can I get with that???
I think so, yes. Just try it out.
Hey so i have tried to hack the wii but when i get to the screen that says this software must not be sold or it is a scam and to press 1 to continue my remote shuts off and will not reconnect. i have done a reformat on the sd card but still does the same thing. Any ideas as to how to fix this problem?
Did you disable WiiConnect24 and remove unnecessary peripherals?
Hey man i followed all your steps but when i go to load the homebrew channel i just get a bunch of bubbles and nothing ever comes up i have the black wii and was running 4.3u
That’s supposed to happen because you don’t have any Wii homebrew apps installed yet. Keep following the tutorial.
Please help, have read all posts and still have no solution…I followed instructions for my 4.3e wii but can’t press the 1 button as when i do nothing happens. Have been doing this reformatting and changed cards to get the red envelope, now got envelope but cant press 1. please help, any advice gratefully recieved. Also have original wiimote with no accessories attached to wii.
Did you turn off Wiiconnect24?
Just for anyone else who’s having a problem, i actually had to go a day ahead in the wii message board to find the letter bomb ^^
Ok, I have a stack of blank DVDs and no USB drive. Is there a way to just burn the iso’s to disc and use them?
Read the troubleshooting section to see if your Wii supports burned DVDs.
can i still use internet normally after i mod my wii?
Yes. Why wouldn’t you be able to use it normally?
after downloading the homebrew channel can i get playing pirated games directly?
Yes. You need homebrew apps like USBLGX and NeoGamma though. Please note that I don’t promote piracy.
Worked just as the instructions said. Now that I have it installed how do I use the home brew channel??
Keep following the tutorial..
I tried the hack but it wouldnt work reading the comments i think it might be the game in the wii do you have to have the game out to play the game, and i had the classic controller plugged up to the wii remote to my that be the reason y it wont work
Just wanted to say THANK YOU I kept googling trying to figure out how to do this and so much junk on here but then i found you and you made it so easy to do!!! You are great!!
can you use a usb stick instead of a sd card
No
Hi there…. Thanks for the guide… It is pretty simple and i had absolutely no problem instaling the homebrew channel… I would like to ask , now that i have homebrew can i burn dvds and play or do i have to continue installing usb loader and the other programms in the next posts???
Read the troubleshooting section and you’ll find out!
You are a legend sir – thankyou!
Dude you are my hero, it was so SIMPLE! Every other stuttering douche made this way more complicated than it should have! thanks a bunch!
I followed so many different tutorials to no avail for like 3 hours. Finally I decided to watch your video and had this hacked and ready to play within 20 mins. It only took that long because I was being cautious and reading every detail. Great tutorial man.
So, can I hug you? I modded my Wii once before 2 years ago, and it was a painstaking 3 day process of links and links and links until I thought my head was going to explode. You my friend are one awesome person for this!
I should mention that I “virginized” the original mod, as it’s called. This time around, the modding took seriously only 15 minutes.
Hi, I have an original wii from launch day, firmware 4.3u. I follow every step to a T, but when I get to the scam screen my wii seems to hang, i have left it doing its thing up to an hour so I’m pretty sure that would be enough time. I don’t have anything other than a microSCHC 4GB in my wii, no motion plus, no memory cards nothing. The first time i tried it i was actually able to get a little further but it fail, it said something like it wasn’t able to find a way to hack and at the very end it said something like “too bad suck it” on the screen. I would really appreciate any help. Thanks
Have you tried disabling WiiConnect24? Other SD or SDHC cards?
WiiConnect24 is disabled, I have tried an a 4gb SDHC sandisk and a 2gb maxell sd card, tried both cards formatted to FAT32 and FAT. Same thing happens I try the smash stack exploit.
Unfortunately, the only solution you have is probably to try another SD or SDHC card. Try to use one that is confirmed to work on both compatability lists:
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/SD/SDHC_Card_Compatibility_Tests
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/BootMii/SD_Card_Compatibility_List
If everything is green but the Twilight Hack is red, you can still use it. We’re using LetterBomb anyway.
I card I’m using is compatible as per the list. Don’t really know what else I can try. is it possible I have one only unhackible we in the planet?
here are the logs and systemcheck:
[deleted, too long!] -homebrewpirate
Hi, will micro sd cards with the adapter work? Thanks!
Yes, it will work.
I have tried two SD cards now. The wii does not show anything in the mailbox. Here in the shops the only sell SDHC card and no SD cards. Getting a little frustrated.
Apparently SDHC cards work for Wii consoles over 4.0, so you should definitely try one. Or borrow one from a friend (have you tried reformatting as FAT32?).
Thank you very much for the help. I really appreciate your great blog.
I got an old version remote from Walmart and used it. I installed the HBC successfully.
Thank you very much for the information.
I have a problem to install the HBC. I can run the letterbomb but it stops at “press 1 to continue” screen.
I checked the install log file on SD, the last part is:
No matching template found
prepare_bootmii: bootmii_inject failed: -1080000000
preparations done!
Do you have any suggestion?
Best regards
I believe this happens when you have WIi Motion Plus built into the Wiimote (or anything connected to the WiiMote like Nunchuk). For now there is no way to bypass this other than using a standard Wiimote. Please borrow one from a friend to finish the softmod tutorial and you can return it.
Hi – For me the bomb is showing day before yesterday. I am not sure it is because i downloaded the letterbomb yesterday. Please suggest i can continue with this
That’s OK, continue!
By the way, I couldn’t find letterbomb in my message center until I went past the date and then back to it. Maybe that’s the problem some people are having finding it.
think i missing something? ive installed homebrew correctly and says correct. im trying to play games off a hard drive that i bought my son. ive plugged the hard drive in and went to the home brew channel but it just sits there and does nothing. im supposed to configure the usb when its plugged in and wii turned on but its not giving me the option to configure it. what am i doing wrong
You need to do more than just install the homebrew channel. You need to continue the guide and install the proper WAD files, Priiloader, and then finally USB Loader GX (homebrew application that you can load from the homebrew channel) to play games from a USB drive.
Hi HomebrewPirate,
I really appreciate your blog and time you spent for it. Could you please help me?
I can find the letter bomb and run it. Bu t I got stuck in press 1 screen. It seems the console is frozen. I have tried diffrent SD card and same situation.
I think it is due to the new Wiimotes that have WIi Motion Plus built in. If you have tried unplugging the Nunchuk, GC memory cards, etc. and this still happens, you need to borrow a regular Wiimote from a friend to get past this part.
Does this tutorial works on the black Wii version that already comes with the 4.3 version?
It does. However, if you are using a Wiimote with Wii Motion Plus built in, you will run into an error. You need to borrow a regular Wiimote from a friend to get past part 2 & 3. You can give it back after you’re done with part 3.
Great Instructions! After seraching and viewing all the youtube posts for soft modding the wii, yours is the best and detailed instructions so far. However, I am still not able to perform the steps succesfully. I am getting stuck at Part 2, Step 3, Sections A (Press 1 and select Continue). It seems like the remote gets unresponsive and I cannot press Button 1. So nothing gets installed and I have to reboot the wii to get back in the system. I have 4.3U with 2GB Kingston SD card. Please help.
Shahzad
If you’ve got a Wii Motion Plus or anything plugged into your Wiimote, remove it (also remove GC memory cards/controllers). If your Wiimote has a Wii Motion Plus already built in, you’re gonna have to borrow a regular Wiimote from a friend to finish part 2 and 3.
When i click to the red envelope wii freezes and needs restart.
I tried several times with the same result.
I have the 4.3e version (upgraded from 4.2), black console.
Any ideas??
thx
You might need to remove unnecessary peripherals like Wii Motion Plus, GC memory cards, etc. Also, try different SD/SDHC cards.
Hii i read everything in this guide and every comment, and i simply cant find a way for the thing with the message board to work. There is simply no message in there, i have used 3 sd cards currently. 256mb SD card, 512 SD card and theyre both from SANdisk. then i have tried another card with 2 gb on and it didnt work too. I just got a wii and i decided to try this out to backup games in the future. But i simply have no idea what to do. i did everything right with the mac adress and so on. My controller has motion plus built inside it could this perhaps be the problem?
Thanks for the effort of keeping this post up 2 date.
I believe the Wii Motion Plus is the likely cause. You should borrow a regular WiiMote from a friend to see if that works, or other SD/SDHC cards.
when i load letterbomb i cant use my wiiremote.
Make sure you unplug unnecessary stuff like wii motion plus, gc memory cards, etc.
hi,
i’ve downloaded a game in ciso format,transformed it to iso and burnt it in dvd
will that work after i hack my wii?
thanks for yor time
chris
grrece
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that will work.
Hi, I put the SD card in the Wii and I go click on the red envelope and everything works fine but when the screen saying: “This software must not be sold etc…” my remote just stops and it won’t start again so I can’t press the 1 to continue. I bought the remote with MotionPlus allready inside it… is it because of that?
I believe it is the Wii Motion Plus. Did you unplug everything else?
My Wii freezes after I have to press 1. Is it because I have softmod Neogamma R8 on my Wii installed?
I suspect you have Wii Motion Plus built into your Wiimote. You may need a regular Wiimote or unplug anything you don’t need.
hi.. can i use HD? my lappy’s card reader is not working =(
Nope, must use SD or SDHC (use SDHC if SD doesn’t work).
Going thru your steps and I was able to load the HBC fine. When I went to try the bootmii as IOS or as boot2 I get prompted saying it needs to drop files to the SD card? I didn’t see that in your documentation. I went ahead and attempted to continue but the step fails using either IOS or boot2. If I restart the Wii I do have the HBC channel and it loads with a blue screen with bubbles floating around. Does this mean I may proceed to the next steps?
Yes, proceed. Sorry for the delayed response.
I just baught a black Wii 4.3u and wanted to know if it has to have a wifi connection (the Console) for the letter bombing to work? Relatively new to the gaming world.
Yeah, it will work. However, you will need to use a USB drive since black Wii consoles supposedly can’t play DVDs because of the D3-2 chip.
I followed the steps, and I just updated the new firmware on my Wii.
When I get to the screen, where you are warned not to pay for this trick, it just freezes when I press 1.
What do I have to do? I followed all the steps with care.
Have you tried removing unnecessary peripherals like Nunchuk, Wii Motion Plus, GC memory cards, etc? If so, then try other SD or SDHC or reformat and re-copy the LetterBomb files.
Is still doesn’t work… I reformatted the (micro) SD, took out my GC memory cards, and tried again. Could it be that because my Wii already has Neogamma R8?
It’s probably your SD card. You should try SDHC or other SD cards.
I just updated the new firmware, and I opened the LetterBomb. It goes until the screen where it says that I should press 1, and when I do this, it just freezes!
What can I do?
Did you try removing unnecessary peripherals like the Nunchuk, Wii Motion Plus, GC memory cards, etc? If so, then you should try other SD cards, or SDHC, or reformat and re-copy letterbomb over again.
Do you need to extract all the contents of LetterBomb.zip before copying onto the SD card?
Yes, but if you drag and drop the files from the zip file over to the SD card, your computer automatically extracts it and copies the files to the SD card.
look all step its correct but i need to know something
i have the homeb. chan. on my Wii now can i run a .iso game whithout install anything else???????
or must i install an other programm???
The Wii homebrew channel is useless by iteself. You need to download homebrew apps like USB Loader GX to play games frmo USB.
i’ve just finished installing HBC. just realised that i should have updated the WII before installing HBC. my white wii 4.3E is only a few days old, is it important to update the system first?
also my version is not able to install as boot2, does it make it more vulnerable for bricking?
thanks.
You don’t need to update since you’re already on 4.3. Here is a detailed explanation of boot2 vs IOS.
i am having problems downloading Letterbomb.zip. i got the Wii MAC address and inputted into please.hackmii, the file that was downloaded was haxx.htm, which was essentially the same page again, i inputted the MAC again, and it led to a blank page.
i even tried disabling AVG 2012, same result.
please help. thanks.
Problem solved. i did two things different this time. i uninstalled Orbit Downloader, and i clicked “cut the blue wire” instead of “cut the red wire”. i guess Einstein was right when he said “you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results”.
proceeding to the next step.
i was wondering if those mini SD cards that you get from phones will work? like if i have the adaptor for it? or will i need one of the other SD cards?
and also i tried to download winrar on my mac and it doesnt seem to be anything but some coding do i have to buy the actual program or?
Using a regular SD card adapter with a micro SD card worked for me. But if it doesn’t work, probably will need to reformat or try other ones, even SDHC cards. For some reason, I forgot that Mac users existed. You can get the Mac version here.
Hey thanks for this guide, it has been very encouraging so far but I am having a problem when installing homebrew from the sd card, I get an error when installing saying “exception (DSI) occured” with a lot of crash dump numbers.
I tried a couple of different sd cards too
Any help at this stage would be really appreciated!.
Did you try SDHC cards too? 1GB or 2GB SD cards usually work best for most people. Try reformatting as well.
Hey thanks for the reply mate, I tried a 1GB standard SD card first, then I tried a 4GB SDHC card with no luck, so today I will try reformatting both of those and retrying, If not I will find a 1 or 2 GB SDHC in case it is the fact that mine is 4GB that is causing problems. I have been scouring the internet for similar problems and while it has occured for other people I can’t find a fix for it so far.
You should try removing unnecessary peripherals like GC memory cards, nunchucks, discs, etc. and see if it helps.
Dude, I feel pretty dumb at the moment! Spent the last 2 days scouring the net trying to find the solution and the problem was my nunchuck or wii motion plus. Removed both of them and the homebew installed like normal, haven’t proceeded from that yet because I just wanted to drop by and say thanks before I forgot.
Such a simple solution but I can’t thank you enough, I’ll continue with this guide and hopefully all goes well, you have my thanks!
Hi
i have got a question about web: please.hackmii.com
I try ti click on link, but i found only blank screen with 500- internal server error
Will be link online or closed forever?
It is up again for me.
it said FAILED
I’m assuming the HBC is failing to install. I read that it may be because your SD card is in the wrong format. Did you format as FAT32? Maybe you need to reformat or try different SD cards or SDHC ones.
Hi,
1. I am just about to start this process and wanted to make sure I understand the steps. if I already have wii games can I skip step 1? The first thing I want to do is be able to backup all my wii games to the hard drive and play from there.
2. it looks like you format your SD card twice in step 2 and step 3, is that correct?
Thanks
D
1. Yes you can skip step 1. However, you would need to copy all your games to your computer as disc images (.ISO) instead of downloading them from TPB.
2. Yes, it is to make sure everything is wiped clean from the SD card before installing the necessary files.
homebrewpirate,
Please help me..
I copied both the first two files (Private folder + boot.elf) from LetterBomb.zip to my SD card and selected the Wii Message Board and pressed the minus button (-) but nothing’s happening. I tried on multiple SD cards (SDHC, microSD on an adapter) but I am not getting the red envelop. What should I do? I am lost….
I have Wii (Blue) with 4.3u version.
You may need to go further back in your message board. Make sure the date is yesterday’s date. If that isn’t the problem, you may need to reformat your SD card and try again.
hi thanks..
sorry, but what do you mean by “make sure the date is yesterday’s date”?
The LetterBomb should appear on the day right before you used the exploit, so I wanted to make sure your Wii Message Board wasn’t showing you a different date when you pressed the minus button. So if you used the exploit on Dec. 2, see if the LetterBomb appears on Dec. 1. If not, then I’d recommend trying a different SD card or reformatting and recopying the files over again.
Wii’s System Menu Version is E for european? and where do i confirm t
Yes E is for Europe. You can find out your Wii system menu version here.
thanks. Btw, i’m using an sony 2g sd card, is there any inconvinient?
It should work fine. If it doesn’t, just try another one.
hi hun i clicked on the red envelope with the bomb but it isn’t opening its like my wii is frozen i’ve tried turning the wii off and starting again but it still didnt work…
What did i do wrong please help!!!
Are you sure you’re on 4.3? LetterBomb doesn’t work on any other version. If you are below 4.3, you should use the BannerBomb exploit to install the HackMii installer. Once you do that, you can follow the rest of the guide (4.3 hack pack works for all versions).
Tycare,
For some reason my wii’s message board loaded the date from a month ago. Check the date at the bottom of the message board and press either minus or plus until you get to yesterdays date.
Good luck
I had the same thing, thanks for that i spent ages messing around with it till i read your comment
Can i use a usb drive instead of a sd card?
No.
Well just found out that I was not using a SD card but a MMC card.
Now it works…
Thanks
Hi,
I followed all the steps, but when I check my message board, no trace of the bomb envelope.
Could you help.
Thanks
In this case, you should try different SD cards, even the SDHC ones. Tell me how it goes.
OMG you are the best at helping people!!
Greetings from Portugal i will follow every detail of your tutorial!
And thanks again for helping ppl around the world!!
hey, i had the same problem, you’ve probs solved it by now but for anyone else i had to press the minus button twice to get to the envelope
Hey.
I had the same problem…
I made sure i created a new one at please.hackmii.com and formatted my SDHC before i put the contents of LetterBomb.zip in it.
Also make sure that you type the correct MAC Address and Version (4.3u, etc.).
Insert SDHC, Go to the Message Board and Click (-) on the wiimote. You should see a Red Envelope.
Good luck Hacking!
Joshua
After reading your log I realized you already have a modded Wii. I am assuming the 4.3 update bricked your Wii. Luckily, there is a way to unbrick it even without a NAND backup. Follow this guide here, it’s good.