cIOS

cIOS, or custom IOS, are patched and modified versions of certain IOS (or simply, parts of the Wii's system software) that allow homebrew apps like USB loaders to be able to function where they otherwise would not. While not required for a functioning homebrew setup, it is highly recommended to install cIOS anyway because it augments the functionality of your Wii with little to no downside.

Wii/Family Edition

DANGER

Do not attempt to install a vWii/Wii mini IOS or System Menu on the Wii. Doing so will likely brick your console.

WARNING

Ensure that if you are using an SD card, the lock switch is in the unlocked position. Otherwise, you will not be able to select the correct options in the installer.

Requirements

• A Wii with the Homebrew Channel installed
• An SD card or USB drive
• The d2x cIOS Installer

Instructions

Section I - Downloading

TIP

Your browser or antivirus software may flag NUSGet as malware - this is a false positive. NUSGet does NOT contain any malware.

INFO

If you are able to connect your Wii to the internet, you may skip to Section II.

1. Power off your console, and insert your SD card or USB drive into your computer.

2. On your computer, download NUSGet, choosing the archive corresponding to your operating system. For Windows users, you should choose the NUSGet-Windows-x86_64-bin.zip file.

3. Unzip the archive and run the NUSGet executable.

4. Navigate to IOS > IOS 38 > World and select v4123. Uncheck Keep encrypted contents. Check Use a custom download directory and select the folder that your NUSGet executable is in, then click Start Download.

   

5. Repeat the above step for IOS 56 (v5661), IOS 57 (v5918) and IOS 58 (v6175).

6. When you have finished downloading the above IOS, navigate to the folder where your NUSGet executable is stored. This should now contain four different folders with the title IDs for the above IOS.

   

7. Enter the four directories, locating a IOS-XX-vXXXX-Wii.wad file in each.

   

8. Place each WAD file on the root of your SD card or USB drive.

   • This must be the same device containing the d2x cIOS Installer.

9. Ensure that each WAD file is named as listed below for compatibility purposes with d2x-cios-installer:

   IOS	File Name
   IOS 38	IOS38-64-v4123.wad
   IOS 56	IOS56-64-v5661.wad
   IOS 57	IOS57-64-v5918.wad
   IOS 58	IOS58-64-v6175.wad

INFO

The WAD files should be on your SD card like this:

Section II - Installing

1. Copy the apps folder in the d2x-cios-installer .zip to the root of your SD card or USB drive.

2. Reinsert your SD card or USB drive into your console.

3. Power on your console.

4. Launch the Homebrew Channel.

5. Launch d2x cIOS Installer from the list of homebrew.

6. Set everything to match the following:

   Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3>
   Select cIOS base <38>
   Select cIOS slot <248>
   Select cIOS revision <65535>

   

   INFO

   If you do not see d2x-v11-beta3, exit the installer with B, and make sure your SD card is unlocked.

   INFO

   The warning "(c)IOS detected in slot ### will be overwritten" can be safely ignored.

   INFO

   If you are seeing "Slot ### already used in batch settings" or "cIOS already added in batch with revision ##### and slot ###", press - to disable batch mode.

   (If you are trying to exit the installer, the button is B, not Home.)

7. Press A. This will bring you to the slot map:

   

8. Press A again.

   

9. After the installation has finished, you will be brought back to the slot map. Ensure that the slot that was just installed is highlighted green.

   

   INFO

   If the slot is highlighted red, try to install the cIOS again.

   If you are getting an error before/during the downloading stages (eg. tcp_connect timeout, net_gethostbyname failed: ...), press B to exit and continue from Section I.

10. Press A. This will return you to the configuration screen.

11. Repeat the previous 5 steps with the following configurations:

    • cIOS 249 Installation

      Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3>
      Select cIOS base <56>
      Select cIOS slot <249>
      Select cIOS revision <65535>

      

    • cIOS 250 Installation

      Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3>
      Select cIOS base <57>
      Select cIOS slot <250>
      Select cIOS revision <65535>

      

    • cIOS 251 Installation

      Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3>
      Select cIOS base <58>
      Select cIOS slot <251>
      Select cIOS revision <65535>

      

12. Once you have finished installing all 4 cIOSes, press B to return to the Homebrew Channel.

INFO

If you downloaded the 4 WAD files in Section I, you may now delete them from your SD card/USB drive.

---

TIP

Continue to Open Shop Channel installation

Now that your Wii has adequate brick protection, you can install the Open Shop Channel, a trusted repository for homebrew that can be accessed both on and off the Wii.

vWii (Wii U)

DANGER

Do not attempt to install a Wii/Wii mini IOS or System Menu on the vWii. Doing so will likely brick your console.

WARNING

Ensure that if you are using an SD card, the lock switch is in the unlocked position. Otherwise, you will not be able to select the correct options in the installer.

Requirements

• A Wii U with the Homebrew Channel installed on the vWii
• An SD card or USB drive
• The d2x cIOS Installer for vWii

Instructions

Section I - Installing

1. Copy the apps folder in the d2x-cios-installer-vwii .zip to the root of your SD card or USB drive.

2. Reinsert your SD card or USB drive into your console.

3. Power on your console.

4. Launch the Homebrew Channel.

5. Launch d2x cIOS Installer from the list of homebrew.

6. Set everything to match the following:

   Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3-vWii>
   Select cIOS base <38>
   Select cIOS slot <248>

   

   INFO

   If you do not see d2x-v11-beta3-vWii, exit the installer with B, and make sure your SD card is unlocked.

7. Press A to install.

   

8. Repeat the previous 2 steps with the following configurations:

   • cIOS 249 Installation

     Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3-vWii>
     Select cIOS base <56>
     Select cIOS slot <249>

   

   • cIOS 250 Installation

     Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3-vWii>
     Select cIOS base <57>
     Select cIOS slot <250>

     

   • cIOS 251 Installation

     Select cIOS <d2x-v11-beta3-vWii>
     Select cIOS base <58>
     Select cIOS slot <251>

     

9. Once you have finished installing all 4 cIOSes, press B to return to the Homebrew Channel.

---

TIP

Continue to Finalizing Setup

Now that the Homebrew Channel, Priiloader, and cIOS are installed, you can proceed to restore functionality that is normally missing from a standard vWii menu.

Wii mini

DANGER

Do not attempt to install a Wii/vWii IOS or System Menu on the Wii mini. Doing so will likely brick your console.

WARNING

Ensure that if you are using an SD card, the lock switch is in the unlocked position. Otherwise, you will not be able to select the correct options in the installer.

INFO

If you need assistance with this tutorial, please join the Wii mini Hacking Discord server.

Requirements

• A Wii mini with the Homebrew Channel installed
• A USB drive
• The d2xl cIOS Installer

Instructions

Section I - Downloading

1. Power off your console.
2. Insert your USB drive into your computer.
3. Copy the apps folder from the d2xl-cios-installer-mini .zip to the root of your USB drive.
4. Reinsert your USB drive into your console.
5. Power on your console.
6. Launch the Homebrew Channel.
7. Launch d2xl cIOS Installer from the list of homebrew.

Section II - Installing

1. Select Continue.

2. Set the options to the following:

   Select cIOS <d2xl-v1-beta2>
   Select cIOS base <57>
   Select cIOS slot <249>

   

   • Under notes, you will see an IOS version number ending in either v31775 or v31776. IOS57-64-v31775 is for NTSC (North American) consoles, while IOS57-64-v31776 is for PAL (European) consoles. Make sure you are selecting the correct version number for your console.

3. Press A to install.

   • If the install fails with a TMD version mismatch error, press left or right on the +Control Pad over the Select cIOS base option until the version number is different than the one you tried before. The number 57 will not change.

4. When the process is complete, exit the installer.

---

TIP

Continue to Finalizing Setup