Frequently Asked Questions
Before going any further, please read the README file contained in the archive you downloaded; it contains important info which may not be repeated here or elsewhere.
For Frequently Asked Questions about the HackMii installer or The Homebrew Channel, please refer to this FAQ.
Installation
What does "The installed boot1 version prevents a boot2 install mean? Are you going to fix it?
No, it can't be fixed. Installing as boot2 is the most useful way to install BootMii, but it requires that we exploit a particularly silly bug in a part of the system that can not be changed under any circumstances. Nintendo finally fixed this bug in new Wiis that were released sometime in 2008. We have looked for a suitable replacement for this exploit, but have not found one, and it does not seem likely that anyone ever will.
But "Preloader" is the same thing as BootMii, and I could install it just fine!
No, it's not. The two programs achieve similar goals in completely different ways (which is why you can install both at the same time). We hope that someday, someone will use BootMii/IOS to make a bulletproof recovery system for late-model Wiis, but we won't be upset if someone else gets to that before we do; we will be concentrating on the code that will make that possible.
What does 'WARNING: ECC failure at page XXX' in the installer log mean?
Nothing, it's normal; it's just there for diagnostic purposes.
Using BootMii
I installed BootMii/IOS, but it doesn't come up when I boot my Wii.
It doesn't work that way. For the moment, the best way to launch it is from the home-button menu in the Homebrew Channel.
I installed BootMii/boot2, but it doesn't come up when I boot my Wii.
Try booting with no SD card inserted. If you see a brief set of flashes from the blue slot LED right after you hit the power button, try a different SD card. Make sure you have a directory named "bootmii" with the "armboot.bin" and "ppcboot.elf" files inside.
If you do not see those flashes, BootMii/boot2 is not installed.
I installed BootMii/boot2, but I can't launch it from the Homebrew Channel.
The button in the HBC to launch BootMii is only there for the BootMii/IOS users. If you are fortunate enough to have BootMii/boot2 installed, you can just reboot your Wii to run it.
How do I control the BootMii menu without a WiiMote?
Use a GC pad in port 1 to navigate the menu. If you don't have one, you can use the Power button to cycle through options in the menu, and Reset to select. You just need to briefly press each button.
Why do I have all of these "bad blocks"? Can I fix them?
This is completely normal; in order to bring down the price of NAND flash chips, all manufacturers will allow chips to leave the factory with a small number of bad blocks. It's similar to bad pixels in LCD panels -- it would be too expensive to throw away the whole panel (or in this case, the whole chip) due to a few bad pixels. With NAND flash, software usually remaps these blocks so you don't even notice, but BootMii works at the lowest level possible so we have to take these into consideration when writing our code. There are 4096 blocks; according to the flash chip manufacturer, at least 4016 blocks are valid (in other words, up to 80 blocks may be bad). Reference: datasheet, page 19
Bugs / Limitations
My WiiMote or Classic Controller doesn't work in the BootMii menu. When will you fix this?
Probably never.
Why does my SD card work in the Installer / HBC, but not in BootMii (or vice-versa)?
libogc and MINI use completely different sets of code to talk to SD cards, so a card that works in one may not work in the other. For reasons unclear, MINI does not work with a random 25% of all SD cards; we are constantly striving to increase compatibility, but in the mean time you might want to try another card.
Asking for help
General notes:
BootMii is still in beta; non-experienced users should just wait until the software is more polished. If you are an advanced user or developer and are prepared to discuss this at a technical level, try the BootMii Beta forum.
I think i found a bug, where do I report it?
At our bugtracker, here. When filing a bug report, please attach the "installer.log" file to it. The installer created this log, you can find it in the root directory of your SD card.