Hi all,
I just bought a Wii today and am interested in it joining the ranks of my modded consoles. In doing research I found that there isn't much support yet for d2c drives besides d2ckey (which looks like a challenging install).

First off is there a way to identify the drive chip without opening the case yet? I haven't found the method people use to identify drives... I assume its written on a chip somewhere.

Should I wait for the other modchips to catchup? I am a little hesitant about d2ckey since it is the only chip that currently supports d2c and I don't know if other teams can do better. What do you all think?

I definitely want a chip that will be well-maintained going forward and appreciate any advice. Thanks!
-ast

You can check your wii version here. It should give you a good idea of what type of drive you have.

Thanks, what is the siginificance of the drive pins being cut or not?

The DVD drive controller chip that you attach your modchip to has 3 pins that the modchip uses to communicate with it. Nintendo got smart and realized that these pins are not needed for the console's normal function so for a while they were cutting these three pins right off of the chip.

This means that to attach a modchip you'd need to take a dremmel and grind down the chip to expose the internal traces that lead to the pins and then solder the modchip to that.

it changes what would normally be a very easy install into one of the most difficult installs on any console.

only D2B chips had cut pins and only for the 2nd half of their use in production. they stopped cutting pins when the D2C chips started rolling out.

Heh that sounds pretty scary. It seems likely that I have a d2c then so I think I will wait a month before going for the d2ckey to give other makers a chance to put out a cheaper/simpler solution.

Wait, So the newest wii's dont have the pins cut?

And as for installing a chip to one that does have cut legs....If its your first time soldering then i would recommend you practice first.....A lot. Its also good if you have some old computer/ electronic devices that you can practice dremeling away the plastic on one of the IC's without damaging it

Today, I've launched a new Wii Drive Database website, the address is http://www.wiidrives.com/

The site will hopefully make it more reliable and easier to identify the DVD drive chip (current and latest) model without having to open the console, by simply looking up the serial number.

Currently, there are only entries from PAL/european consoles in the database but I hope that as many as possible will contribute and add their details. Over time it will become more accurate and the value of the site will increase.

I know, there's already a site available by Nintendo-Scene that works like this and it does a good job. The issues I have with it though is that I think it's not up to date (D2C2/D2E is not supported) and it's not providing the details and flexibility I want out of a tracker.

Anyway, please visit the site, add your details, and let me know what you think.