Official Wiikey Fusion to GC MOD troubleshooting thread!

[Ashen]

So, I've gotten a ton of PM's lately from people who have been having trouble getting their Wiikey Fusions working with their GameCubes. Some have even ended up with dead Wiikey's which is of course something I/We would like to avoid I'm sure. So this is the place to post if you are having issues. I honestly don't mind helping people out in PM's, but I think you will be better off here where many people can help troubleshoot your issue instead of me just guessing all the time.

A couple things to check before you do anything else... If you have the option available to you, test your Wiikey Fusion out on a Wii first to make sure its working correctly. If so now is a good time to make sure it is updated to the latest firmware version. If not, you may update once hooked to your GC. This needs to be done before you add any GC iso's to the SD card. Firmwares before 1.5 will not recognize GC iso's properly. The Wiikey Fusion region switch needs to be set to your correct region, how to do this can be found on the official wiikey fusion website. Check that your FFC cables going to the Wiikey connector AND the SD card reader are inserted properly. Little blue end tabs should be facing UP at all the connection points.

If you haven't done it yet this is the thread you need to read. 10x or more. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=6003 I know its lengthy and some people here have ADD or TLR syndrome but really, if you skipped reading this and understanding it fully, then its your own Dang fault your Wiikey is dead. I will not shed any tears for you.

Secondly, if you've done the first step and have moved on to making all the connections here are some tips. Label ALL of the wires coming from the Wiikey side connection. This will make hooking everything up so much easier on you. Please, do yourself a favor and DOUBLE, TRIPLE, and QUADRUPLE check EVERYTHING BEFORE you turn the power on!!! If you have even one wire misswired you run the chance to kill your modchip. Its imperative that all the datalines go to the right places and that ALL ground connections are connected to the GC MB ground!

The last tip I can give is that if you have done everything exactly as I've stated above and you turn on your cube and its still not working properly IMMEDIATELY turn off the power and disconnect the modchip. Let it sit for 30mins to an hour or so before you try again. During this time re-check EVERYTHING. This may save your modchip, but it also may not :/

If you're still having trouble please post your issues here. Pics or video really are a HUGE aid to helping you troubleshoot your problems.

 

[bentomo]

I have a recommendation as well.

Find some wii to test the wiikey on before wiring anything to make sure it's not doa before you even connect it to a gamecube.

I never got a light on my wiikey and I thought I fried it, but I ordered from the cheapest sight and there's a chance it was doa to begin with.

Just my 2 cents

 

[carbsdog]

the thread is fillbyjibbying confusing ive read like a billion times and i think i get it, although the business with the switches and what not is still rather confusing. im just going dd for my cube although if i make another one which i currently plan on doing although im a lazy person so we'll see where that goes, ill use a wiikey. the gc forever thread is just really confusing. i think if you wanted to make a good contribution to this help thread it would be maybe be good to decode that thread and put a FAQ at the bottom or outline the confusing parts in more detail cause that just does it briefly. also maybe take out all references to using a wii + wii switches etc

 

[ShockSlayer]

Please, do yourself a favor and DOUBLE, TRIPLE, and QUADRUPLE check EVERYTHING BEFORE you turn the power on!!!

THIS.

SS

 

[Ashen]

the thread is fillbyjibbying confusing ive read like a billion times and i think i get it, although the business with the switches and what not is still rather confusing. im just going dd for my cube although if i make another one which i currently plan on doing although im a lazy person so we'll see where that goes, ill use a wiikey. the gc forever thread is just really confusing. i think if you wanted to make a good contribution to this help thread it would be maybe be good to decode that thread and put a FAQ at the bottom or outline the confusing parts in more detail cause that just does it briefly. also maybe take out all references to using a wii + wii switches etc

Well, like I said. I'll be reworking that whole guide to make it much more end user friendly. If there is a specific part you find confusing though please let me know so I can work on those "most confusing" parts in particular.

 

[unicycler17]

the thread is fillbyjibbying confusing ive read like a billion times and i think i get it, although the business with the switches and what not is still rather confusing. im just going dd for my cube although if i make another one which i currently plan on doing although im a lazy person so we'll see where that goes, ill use a wiikey. the gc forever thread is just really confusing. i think if you wanted to make a good contribution to this help thread it would be maybe be good to decode that thread and put a FAQ at the bottom or outline the confusing parts in more detail cause that just does it briefly. also maybe take out all references to using a wii + wii switches etc

I honestly thought the guide was really good. The only thing I would suggest is a few pictures of the applied work.

 

[Tchay]

After some testing with my 2-way, I was FINALLY able to get the blue light to flicker. Let it be known that IF YOU ARE USING A 2-WAY, ITS NOT THAT EASY. It won't even register if you flip the switch back and forth all the way. Don't even move the switch all the way to "off". Only slightly nudge the switch until the screen shows "loading disc". And it will take a few tries before the linux shows up.

Anyways...The moment I turn on my gamecube, my wiikey flickers an orange LED. Then I get linux to boot up (blue LED flicker as usual). I got to the linux menu and it showed the settings and such. Not sure if I am supposed to change any of the settings.

Problem: - If I plug my 8GB SD card in, the wiikey menu freezes. If I plug the card before even turning the gamecube on, then the linux menu NEVER shows up. No blue LED light up or anything.

My 8GB SDHC, was properly formatted, has 3 different ISO's on it, along with the wiikey update (1.5?) mentioned by hailrazer.

I have a class 6 SDHC 8GB card.

*****Do all of you get that orange LED flicker right as you turn on your gamecube??? You can't see it unless you turn off your lights.

 

[Ashen]

No, the orange/red led flicker means something is wrong. It truly sounds like you have a bad ground on your datalines now to me. I had something like this the other day when I had completely forgotten to re-hook all the grounds back up... I got wbfs error, something, something, then the wiikey froze.

Did you ever try moving the ground wires for your datalines to a better spot? The coppery colored pads where the screws for the heatsink go thru are good spots imo.

Edit: Tchay, try just putting the 1.5 update on your card with nothing else on it. Update the Wiikey Fusion to 1.5 THEN add your GC .iso's to the card. It may not be recognizing the file formats if its on a firmware earlier than 1.5 as the wiikey team changed some things with WBFS manager 4.0 and the handling of GC .iso's.

 

[Tchay]

My 8GB SD card fried. Thats why wiikey freezes when it tries to load it.

It won't even come up on my computer or register; thus, I realized it was fried.

All because I wired the wiikey wrong the first time around (which I have since then, fixed).

Now, that still doesn't explain the orange light, which is happening on a brand new wiikey fusion with everything being re-wired properly. So I will try to shorten the voltage line, strengthen ground, and check all connections AGAIN to make sure there are no mistakes.

I'm also going to use thicker wire for the switch and ground.

Since I am able to get to the linux menu, does that mean my IPL isn't the issue??? Assuming I have the right switch, I can pretty much boot up the linux at any time in the beginning. So my IPL is good right?

 

[Ashen]

Yep, your IPL is fine. If that was the issue your GC would just hang when you press/flip the "eject" switch.

 

[Tchay]

Yep, your IPL is fine. If that was the issue your GC would just hang when you press/flip the "eject" switch.

Okay great

Also, does a high class SD card mean, faster loading/performance? Or will class 4+ all be about the same for gameplay.

 

[Hugo_Peters]

Please, do yourself a favor and DOUBLE, TRIPLE, and QUADRUPLE check EVERYTHING BEFORE you turn the power on!!!

And that's how I messed up 3 WKF's.

 

[Hugo_Peters]

Yep, your IPL is fine. If that was the issue your GC would just hang when you press/flip the "eject" switch.

Okay great

Also, does a high class SD card mean, faster loading/performance? Or will class 4+ all be about the same for gameplay.

Tested a Class 4, SDHC, MicroSD of 4GB, workings flawlessly.
I bought a SD card with 16GB @Class 6, but it loads games slower than the 4GB.
It's only a second or so, but it is slower...

 

[DcMc]

What is the best place to get 3.3v off the mobo for the wiikey?

 

[Ashen]

For portables I usually hit up this capacitor here for my wiikey power:

If its just for a regular mod'd cube though, there are literally like 1000 places to get 3.3v from. Poke at the board with a multimeter and find one of em. Or pull directly from the regulators power input like so.

 

[DcMc]

The top picture is a dol 101?

 

[Hugo_Peters]

The top picture is a dol 101?

That doesn't matter.

 

[DcMc]

Well if the mobo in the pic has an integrated regulator board or not would matter and thats what i need to know. the mobo im using has one.

 

[Ashen]

It doesn't matter, stuff on that side of the board (controller port side) should be (relatively) the same on all the board revisions. That picture is of the bottom of the motherboard.

 

[horzza]

Thanks Ashen, for pointing me here and your help so far ^^

I'm on a PAL DOL-001, and not experiencing any of the lock ups associated with the wrong IPL, and have my region switch set correctly as far as I can tell.

I broke-out each of the traces of the FFC to an intermediate PCB, which I have thoroughly tested for conductivity and shorts between traces, with a multimeter.



On power-on, the blue LED blinks dimly, then does nothing until I flick the toggle switch (soon to be replaced by a momentary NC), where if I leave it flipped, the blue LED on the wiikey blinks dimly once a second. Flipping the switch back (grounding pin 29), no matter if I leave the pin floating for a long time or as small of a time as I can, results in the LED blinking once more, a second after its previous blink, also dimly. The error I get on screen is the regular "The disc could not be read." one. Starting the GC without a card in the SD slot results in the freezing "An error has occured. Turn the power OFF and...." error, from where I am forced to power-cycle.

I can't get the blue LED to come on brightly by choice, though once or twice in the 50 or so restarts I've done I've seen it do it. I can make it stop blinking when I have pin 29 floating, by touching my finger to the ground/chassis of the GC, from where it will blink once again the instant I remove my finger.

I just noticed that the toggle switch i'm using is actually conductive through to the common terminal, which I have connected to pin 29. If I leave pin 29 floating, "Reading disc..." appears on the screen, but if I touch the switch (effectively touching pin 29), every time the LED blinks dimly, the display will flash "Please insert a NINTENDO GAMECUBE DISC" a few times, then jamming with the same "An error has occurred" message. I know from here I should have turned it off, but after about a minute of hanging here, with pin 29 floating, the wiikey fusion LED eventually turns on brightly and constantly, after no activity for the past minute. At no point have I seen the other LED turn on.

I'm thoroughly confused as to why it won't work, having checked my wiring multiple times, along with conductivity for both the SD card FFC and the HOST FFC. I'm wondering if there's a way, without access to Wii, that someone can help me debug what's going on? I suspect it might be an SD card problem but the card works with the WBFS just fine.

Many thanks.