HOWTO: Install Priiloader to help prevent system bricks if you cannot use Bootmii as boot2
***IMPORTANT***
Priiloader will only work on the following European/Australian and American System Menus. 3.2, 4.0-4.2 do not use priiloader on any other region or any other system menu version. I advise you to update to system menu 4.2 using the safe updater by clicking here if you are on any other European/Australian or American system menu other than 3.2 or 4.0-4.2
Priiloader is a small application which places itself before the system menu. It?s main feature is to directly boot the Homebrew Channel or a file you can install from a FAT device. This is useful, incase you brick your Wii you can still gain access to the Homebrew Channel to try and restore the system menu.
Priiloader is not the same as Bootmii and is not able to backup your NAND. If you was able to install Bootmii to boot2 (you get the grey/silver screen with 4 icons when you power on your Wii before the Health and safety screen) then Priiloader is not needed. However if you was unable to install Bootmii to boot2 then Priiloader is very good app to have installed as it enables you to access the Homebrew Channel if you brick your system menu, which will enable you to access Bootmii as an IOS in order to restore a NAND backup.
Priiloader is also able to apply memory patches to the system menu to remove limitations or other things.
Since priiloader 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 priiloader?s menu simply hold RESET while powering the wii on.
Requirements:
Homebrew Channel to already be installed.
Not necessarily required but if you come across installation problems you may need to have IOS36 trucha patched. Visit the getting started page and follow the instructions for installing the trucha patch for your version system menu.
1. Download this file.
2. Check what version system menu you are on, by clicking the Wii Options icon in the buttom left hand corner of your main Wii system menu, and choose Wii Settings. Your system menu version will be displayed in the top right hand corner.
3. From the download go into the hacks folder, and the folder that corresponds to the system menu you are currently on. Note for Australian Wii consoles, use the European hacks. If you are not on a 3.2,4.0 -4.2 system menu then you can safely upgrade your Wii to system menu 4.2by following the instructions here.
4. Copy the necessary hacks.ini file from the folder to the root of your SD card.
5. Copy the the apps folder on the download, to the root of your SD card.
6. Load the Homebrew Channel and select preloader
7. On the install screen press +.
If you get no error message continue with step 8.
7.1 At this point if you get the error: ?Got Root! Ticket could not be found, aborting mission? place your SD card back into your computer. go into the apps folder and then the preloader folder. Rename boot.dol to boot.old and rename preloader0.29-jodi.dol to boot.dol. Place the SD back into the Wii.
Go back to homebrew channel and re-run preloader. Follow the on screen instructions to install preloader. Once Preloader is installed you?ll be placed into the Preloader menu choose to return to the homebrew channel.
Eject the SD card and again place back into your PC. Back in the preloader folder in the apps folder, delete the boot.dol file and rename the boot.old file back to boot.dol. Put the Sd card back into your wii.
Run the homebrew channel and again run the preloader install. It will now install the 0.30 version.
If your still getting errors be sure you have modified the correct IOS files for your system menu beforehand by following the prep guides again:
System Menu 4.1 and below
System Menu 4.2
8. When you next turn on your Wii, hold down the reset button to access the priiloader menu.
9. When in the priiloader menu scroll down to system menu hacks and enable block disc updates. This will disable any original or backed up games that have an update partition on them from running and potentially disabling all your homebrew or at worst, bricking your Wii. Scroll down to save settings. Once settings are saved, press B to return to the menu.
In the settings menu. Change autoboot to system menu. Scroll down to save settings. Once settings are saved, press B to return to the menu.
Select system menu to boot to the wii system menu.
In future if you need to access priiloader before the system menu, hold down the eject button as you power on your Wii.
Bootmii as IOS
To restore a NAND backup from Bootmii as IOS you will need already have Priiloader installed. A Nintendo Gamecube controller will also need to be connected.
In the Homebrew Channel press the home button on your Wiimote and select Launch Bootmii.
If at this stage your Wiimote stops working to navigate the menus you need to use the buttons at the front of your Wii, or use a Gamecube controller.
The power button allows you to toggle through the menus so you can highlight which option you want. And the reset button selects it.
So, press the power button until you hover over the settings icon, and then press reset.
Hit reset on the backup to SD card option (the first icon on the left)
Press Eject to start the NAND backup. The Wii system will begin to backup to your SD card. This will take 5 or so minutes to complete, so go and make a cup of tea.
You now have a backup of your NAND. It is advisable to also back up the nand.bin file that will be created at the root of your SD to a safe blace on your computer also, so you have a backup, of your backup!!
Note that Bootmii will only ever use the nand.bin filename, so if you create another nand backup it would erase the current one on your SD. If you would prefer to keep the existing nand when you want to create a new one, be sure to rename your old one to something that?s relevant to you.
*** Before restoring an old nand file it is advisable if possible to save your game saves using the homebrew savegame manager application. As some games such as Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit are known to lose their saved game data back to that of when you made the backup. So if you want to keep your current saved game progress I advise to use the savegame manager to backup your saved games to your SD. If the savegame manager app is not already listed in your homebrew channel, it can be downloaded from here ***
To restore a backed up nand when you power on your Wii hold down the reset button. The priiloader menu should launch. Select to go into Bootmii IOS.
Press the power button until you hover over the settings icon, and then press reset.
Hit reset on the restore from SD card icon.
Press reset to do a simulation restore of your NAND. Bootmii will warn you that it is not installed as boot2 and that it is risky to do this process. To continue you must hold down A+B+X+Y all at the same time on a Gamecube controller. It may take a few times for you to perfect this but you will eventually be able to do it and Bootmii will continue.
Once the simulation is finished, press the Eject button to start the real restore. Once the real restore is completed, reboot your Wii and you will be back to the point of when you created your NAND backup that you used.
Problems: Before posting a comment below, check the list of common error codes found here with solutions on how to fix, and then read other comments below to see if your problem has been reported and solved previously.
Special thanks go out to all the coders that made these apps possible. I did not do any coding of them and have just supplied my own custom downloads with easy to follow guides. Special thanks especially to Team Twiizers, Waninkoko, Comex, Pembo, tekncal, Hermes, Kwiirk , Starcube, Crediar, tona, red squirrel, Wiipower, Marc, Wiigator, WB3000, xzxero, DacoTaco, phpgeek & Kongznutz.