Preloader Wii

Preloader
General
Author	crediar
Type	System Tools
Version	0.30 (Final)
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2009/03/31
Links
Download
Source

Preloader is an application which places itself before the System Menu. Its main feature is to directly boot the Homebrew Channel or a file you can install from a FAT device. Preloader is also able to apply memory patches to the system menu to remove limitations or other things.

Since Preloader places itself before the System Menu any problems that would cause the System Menu to fail are not causing your whole Wii to stop working.

If autoboot is enabled and you want to access Preloader's menu simply hold RESET while powering the Wii on.

Special Thanks

Many thanks to ajd4096 who donated me an USBGecko!

First of all I want to thank 'zouzzz zzzuoz', AlexLH, GizmoTheGreen and SquidMan.

Thanks to svpe for the ES_DIVerfiy patch.

Thanks to marcan for the stub code (stub.S)

Note on release

Since there is still a high demand for preloader and I don't really want to work on it anymore I thought it would be the best to release the source. Source is released under GNU GPL 2.

Warning

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE README BEFORE RUNNING THE INSTALLER. THIS TOOL MODIFIES THE NORMAL BEHAVIOR OF THE WII SYSTEM AND THEREFORE CAN CAUSE UNEXPECTED PROBLEMS. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO INSTALL PRELOADER ONLY ON A WII WITH UNMODIFIED IOSs!! YOU AGREE THAT YOU INSTALL THIS TOOL ON YOUR OWN RISK, THE AUTHOR CAN NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES CAUSED BY EITHER USING OR INSTALLING THIS TOOL.

Note on compiling

Code has been tested on the latest devkitPro with devkitPPC and should compile fine. Before you can compile anything you need to place a certs.bin into the data directory.

Hacks

To install additional System Menu patches, simply copy the "/hacks|hacks.ini" file included with preloader into the root of your SD card. (Ensure you are using the correct hacks.ini for your Wii's region.)

Then, boot into Preloader's settings, and chose to enable or disable the patches in the Hack Settings menu.

Once applied, your patches are placed in NAND, so feel free to erase the file on your SD card.

The format for adding additional hacks, or patches, to your hacks.ini file is simple and should explain itself.

Uninstall

The simplest and safest way to remove preloader is to reinstall the System Menu using Anyregion Changer Wii or a WAD installer.

Changelog

0.30:

• added SDHC support
• added a new option to the "return to" setting; "return to: autoboot"
• fixed a bug where enabled autoboot overwrote the "return to preloader" setting
• removed netcode, online update check, online update code.

0.29:

• added a feature to load the system menu with any IOS version you want.
• The installer includes an IOS patcher which when found patches IOS60 so Preloader can fully work with System Menu 4.0
• Moved some text around for better visibility on 16:9 screens
• fixed a bug which let the disc endlessly spin when wc24 was enabled and the Wii got turned off
• fixed a bug which broke System Menu loading when the system got formatted

0.28:

• rewrote the hacks parser, it's more solid now and detects syntax errors much better
• added a new font
• optimized the menu layout
• you can now add unlimited offsets/value in one hack entry
• added beta version related code
• added a setting which allows to always turn you Wii off even when standby is enabled
• fixed that when shutting down from the System Menu, the Wii always got powered down instead of using the set shutdown mode.
• fixed a bug which prevented updating to a non beta version during beta testing
• fixed a bug in the System Menu hacks scrolling code

0.27:

• added a setting to stop the disc when autoboot is disabled
• added a setting to return to Preloader when Wii titles are using the switch off state
• added a setting to show beta updates
• added a setting to disable lighting the drive slot on an error
• added one message to make the online update not look frozen
• errors when parsing the hacks.ini now show the line
• Preloader now regards the shutdown mode (OFF/Standby)
• fixed that under certain circumstances hacks from another version were applied
• fixed a settings related bug

0.26:

• added elf-loading (able to load white-linux!)
• added an option to load Preloader or the System Menu when the return-to state is used.
• made the hacks list scrollable, allowing an unlimited amount of hacks
• rewrote the installer
• added some interface improvements
• fixed the online update
• fixed returning to the System Menu, which loaded preloader instead
• fixed shutting down from System Menu, which loaded preloader instead
• fixed a bug in the "Install/Load File" menu that allowed users to move out of the list
• fixed System Menu loading for all System Menu versions
• fixed the stuck-systemmenuhack-option bug
• fixed the bug that when a Nunchuk was connected the System Menu wouldn't load
• fixed a bug which caused the Wii to freeze when power was pressed
• fixed a bug where only the first Wiimote was powered down when the Wii got turned off

Third party modifications

• Priiloader

External links

• Wiibrew - https://wiibrew.org/wiki/Preloader