Wii Themes

For support in English, ask for help at Nintendo Homebrew on Discord.

This guide is intended to be the last you will ever need when it comes to theming on the Wii, not only providing instructions for the Wii Menu through csm-installer, but also with themes on WiiFlow Lite, USB Loader GX, and The Homebrew Channel. Additionally, forwarders are covered.

Wii Menu Theming

DO NOT CONTINUE WITH THIS GUIDE UNLESS YOU HAVE ADEQUATE BRICK PROTECTION, SPECIFICALLY BOOTMII (Wii only) AND PRIILOADER!

csm-installer has built in safety features to prevent from installing bad or corrupt Wii Menu themes, so please opt to use it instead of other theme installation homebrew.

Do not use any other version of ThemeMii than the one linked here, as ThemeMii Mod allows you to make a theme for Wii Menu version 4.3, other versions may not.

Only install themes on your Wii that have been formatted specifically for its version and current region. Installing themes from the wrong version or region on your Wii will cause a brick. This tutorial will tell you how to create a .csm file that is safe to install.

Before proceeding, it helps to know the difference between .MYM and .CSM as file formats when used in Wii Menu theming. While the MYM is made by the theme creator which can then be shared around, the CSM is the result from building a MYM into a system menu. In other words, MYM mainly just holds assets - the actual system menu itself that needs to be installed comes seperate.

Theme Sources

Requirements

Building a Theme

  1. Extract the csm-installer .zip file to the root of your SD card or USB device.
  2. Create a themes folder on the root of your SD card/USB device.
  3. Insert your SD card or USB device into your console, and launch the Homebrew Channel.
  4. Launch csm-installer, and hold + while the app is loading. If done right, the app will begin downloading the base theme for your Wii menu.
  5. Once the base theme has finished saving, press HOME to exit the app.
  6. Insert your SD card/USB device back into your PC.
  7. Extract the ThemeMii MOD .zip to a location on your PC.
  8. Launch the ThemeMii applciation.
  9. Go to File -> Open, and select the .mym file for the theme you want to build.
  10. Press Create csm.
  11. When asked to select an .app file, select the newly downloaded base theme on the root of your SD card or USB drive.
  12. When asked to save the .csm file, save it in the themes folder.
  13. After the theme finishes building, you will be prompted to save the .mym. Press No.

Theme Installation

  1. Insert your SD card or USB device into your console, and launch the Homebrew Channel.
  2. Launch csm-installer, and wait for it to load.
  3. Select the theme you would like to install with A. Be absolutely sure at this point that you have downloaded the correct theme for your system menu version and region.
  4. Press + to install the theme.

  5. Reboot into the Wii Menu, and see if the theme successfully installed. If all goes well, you will have a result similar to the below!

WiiFlow Lite Theming

Unfortunately, because of the codebase difference between the original WiiFlow and the newer WiiFlow Lite, themes are sparse - in fact, only one theme could be found that confidently works on the newer version. The instructions for installing that theme are below.

Requirements

Instructions

  1. Have the storage device that holds WiiFlow Lite connected to your PC.
  2. Download the Rhapsodii Shima archive, either version of the theme works and can be installed side-by-side with no issues.
  3. Extract and copy the wiiflow folder to the root of your storage device, merge all folders and overwrite all files when requested.
  4. Follow the theme setup and theme configuration instructions in installation.txt. Enjoy the theme!

USB Loader GX Theming

Requirements

  • A modded Wii
  • An SD card or USB device
  • USB Loader GX
  • A Linux/macOS/Windows PC with an Internet connection
  • A theme, this link contains an assortment of dark themes

Instructions

  1. Download a theme .zip file from the website linked above, or anywhere else you can get a proper theme.
  2. Unpack the .zip file’s contents into the apps\usbloader_gx directory on the storage device where you installed USB Loader GX.
  3. Put the storage medium in your Wii and boot it up.
  4. Start USB Loader GX, go to the Settings menu, and then go to Theme Menu.
  5. Open the theme and install it.

Homebrew Channel Theming

Requirements

  • A modded Wii
  • An SD card or USB device
  • A Linux/macOS/Windows PC with an internet connection
  • A theme from WiiBrew

Instructions

  1. Download a theme .zip file from the website linked above.

  2. Paste the .zip into the apps folder on your storage device where you load homebrew.

  3. Extract the contents of the .zip into the apps folder, and delete the archive.

  4. Reinsert the storage device into your Wii and enter the Homebrew Channel.

  5. The theme you just installed can be loaded in the same way that you access a standard app.

  6. The theme should now be loaded, enjoy!

App Forwarders

App forwarders can add a bit of extra flair to your Wii Menu - but be careful with them as bad forwarders can cause a banner brick. Generally, you can find forwarders on places like GBAtemp for popular apps such as emulators. Since forwarders come in a .WAD format, the process of installing them is as simple as normal usage with YAWM ModMii Edition.

Click here to go back to the site index.