Posted by Rob Beard on 30th Aug 2008

I bought one of these as I am not very handy with a soldering iron at all and didn't want to completely kill the Wii.

The delivery of the item was quick (ordered before 3pm and it arrived the next morning).

The chip arrived blank as expected and needed programming. This is where I came unstuck at first.

Both my desktop PCs don't have printer ports on them but I do have an IBM Thinkpad R50e with a printer port and it runs Windows XP. So I attempted to program the chip using this. Unfortunately it appeared that the laptop didn't provide enough power on the printer port to power the chip so it wasn't detected (I did read that the connection between the chip and programmer is a bit lousy).

Anyway after an hour of fiddling I bit the bullet and installed Windows on an old Dell desktop PC. This time the programming worked first time.

I did read one tip, if the LED on the programmer goes dim then the chip is connected okay. By default when you plug it in when Windows is running the LED is bright blue. I take it that it dims when the chip starts taking power.

Anyway, after programming came the fitting itself. I had already backed up my saves and disabled Wii Connect 24 (this is supposedly important to do before removing the battery) disassembled the console (using this guide: http://wiki.nintendo-scene.com/index.php?title=Wii_disassembly) to check that I had the correct drive chip (I had a D2B without the cut legs which was purchased about the end of January 2007).

Fitting the chip consisted of just lining up the chip and pressing it down. The programmer pins go over a hole in the drive itself (I used this installation guide for reference: http://www.wii-clip.com/KEY-CLIP.htm).

I then reassembled the console and tested.

For my first test I checked Wii Sports which came with the console. It came up with read errors. Turns out I'd put the disc in upside down!!!

On realising this after taking the console apart again I checked it the right way up. It worked fine.

I then checked a homebrew disc and this also worked fine.

I'd say it's well worth the purchase. Sure it's probably not as good as some of the soldered chips out there but it seems to do the job.

If you haven't done anything like this before, read the instructions, make sure you have the right tools and print the instructions out and read them a couple of times. The tools I used were a tri-wing screwdriver - I used one from my DS replacement case and a small Philips cross head screwdriver and a normal size one. A glasses repair kit (little screwdrivers) will be handy, plus some tweezers in case you drop a screw in the drive.

You will need a drive chip which HASN'T got the cut legs (D2S/D2A/D2B) and a PC with a desktop 25-pin parallel printer port (USB adapters supposedly don't work). I'm not sure if there is a programmer tool available for Linux, I used the Windows Wiikey autoprogrammer but the source is included.

All in all I'd say the product is great, does the job at the right price and that Wii-Chip.co.uk delivery was great.

Rob