Part 2: Installing the Wii Homebrew Channel
<< Back to Part 1: Generating a Randomized ROM
If you already have the Homebrew Channel installed on your Wii, you can skip to the end. Otherwise, you need to install it in order to play this on your Wii.
Step 1: Make sure your Wii is System Menu version 4.3
Open the Wii System Settings by clicking the round Wii button in the lower-left corner of the System Menu.
Look in the upper-right corner and you'll see your version number. If it's not version 4.3 then you need to perform a system update, which means you need to connect to the internet. Version 4.3 is the final system menu revision for the Wii, and it makes installing the Homebrew Channel simpler.
If you can't update your system for some reason, there are ways to install homebrew on a lower version that aren't covered here. See this guide for details.
Step 2: Locate your Wii's MAC address
Click the round Wii button in the lower-left corner and select System Settings.
Go right to the second page and select Internet.
Select Console Information and record your Wii's MAC address for use in the next step.
Step 3: Download the installer
Go to the LetterBomb website: http://please.hackmii.com
Select the radio button for your System Menu version/region (US, Europe, Japan, or Korea).
Enter your Wii's MAC address you recorded in the previous step.
Make sure Bundle the HackMii Installer for me! is checked (it should be by default).
Check the captcha, and click one of the "Cut the X wire" buttons (it doesn't matter which one) to download the ZIP file with the installer.
Step 4: Install the Homebrew Channel on your Wii
Extract the contents of the ZIP file you just downloaded to the root of your SD card.
Put the SD card in your Wii.
Open the Message Board by clicking on the envelope icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You should see a notification indicating that you have an unread message. You may need to scroll back and forth between days or go back to the menu to get it to appear.
Find the unread message that looks like a red envelope with a bomb in it. It should appear under either the current date or yesterday, depending on your time zone.
Open the letter to trigger the installer. Your screen will go black and you'll see a bunch of text that looks like a command prompt. This is normal, everything is fine!
Once the installer is loaded, you'll see a warning screen about scams asking you to pay for this installer. This will stay on the screen for one minute, then a message will appear saying press 1 to proceed.
Once you get to the main menu, press A to continue.
Select Install the Homebrew Channel and choose Yes to continue. This will install the Homebrew Channel on your Wii.
Optional: After installing the Homebrew Channel, you can optionally install the BootMii boot loader. This will let you make backups of your system, but you don't have to install it. More details about this can be found on the homebrew guide: https://sites.google.com/site/completesg/hacking-guide/4-3-guide
Step 5: Pick an option to play the game
At this point, you need to decide which way you're going to actually run the game on your Wii now that you have the Homebrew Channel installed. There are two options:
Playing on the RetroArch emulator - This is the simpler option, but has some slowdown in spots compared to the Virtual Console emulation and also has some tiny audio delay (if configured optimally). However the input delay doesn't appear to be greater than the Virtual Console, but it's hard to tell.
Injecting the randomized ROM into a VC WAD - This is slightly more complicated, but the VC emulation is more stable than RetroArch and doesn't slow down. It's made to look and feel like the SNES version, and playing this way on a CRT is as close as you can possibly get to playing on a real SNES. This is the most recommended method.