Wii-Linux

Wii-Linux
General
Author(s)	GC-Linux Team
Type	Operating system
Version	1.10 (whiite)
Licence	Mostly GPL
Links
Download
Website
Source
Peripherals

Wii-Linux is a port of the Linux kernel and related GNU userspace utilities to the Nintendo Wii video game console. Many distributions of GNU/Linux are available for the Nintendo Wii. All current distributions are based on GC-Linux. Wii-Linux distributions can be loaded through the Twilight Hack, mini (bootmii) (for Wi-Fi support) or the Homebrew Channel.

The Linux kernel itself can communicate with nearly all Wii peripherals; Wii Remotes, Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth, GameCube controllers, USBGeckos and the DVD drive are supported. GameCube Memory Cards are currently unsupported. Actual hardware support depends on the drivers installed on the root partition.

A GUI (X.org server) is available, but is not optimized for a "10-foot user interface". A Wii Remote may be used as a pointing device with the X.org server, but manual configuration is likely needed.

The latest Mini Kernel Preview Five does not support Nintendo GameCube memory cards.

Hardware Required

• Nintendo Wii Console
• SD Card or USB Drive
• USB Keyboard

Note: A computer already running Linux is useful for manual installation.

The SD Card or USB Drive will likely be formatted and repartitioned.

Installing

Whiite-Linux Installer

The GC-Linux team has released a Simple GUI-based installer can be used with Whiite, Bliight and XWhiite distributions. The installer can be loaded via the Homebrew Channel or Twilight Hack.

An ext3 filesystem is created on a removable disk (SD card or USB drive). The kernel image ELF can be loaded through Homebrew Channel. It is recommended to replace the kernel image ELF with the compatible MIKE ELF. This will enable Wi-Fi and the DVD drive to be used.

Manual Installation

Users may install a Wii-Linux distribution manually. Isobel has written the official instructions for manual installation.

Using Wii-Linux

Once a Wii has booted Linux, there are lot's of things for users new to Linux to do.

Hardware Compatibility

Before Wii-Linux supported internal Wi-Fi, users were forced to use USB Ethernet Adapters and USB Wi-Fi dongles for an Internet connection. Supported external hardware is listed.

Note that currently all internal Wii hardware is supported (except GameCube Memory Cards).

Troubleshooting

For frequent problems when installing and setting up Wii-Linux

Distributions

Many distributions of GNU/Linux are available for the Nintendo Wii.

WiiToo!

WiiToo! is a minimal precompiled stage4 made to let you run Gentoo on your Wii using MIKE and Mini. It provides all the basic software required to compile and install new programs on it, and some other software ready to be used. The kernel used is plain vanilla-sources & Wii-Linux patches, so expect WiFi working out of the box.

• Ready to use, uncompress, copy, configure and run
• Highly configurable, like Gentoo
• USB keyboard isn't a requirement, simply configure your network and use SSH
• Can use all the hardware that Wii-Linux is able to use
• Last update: 29 October 2009

Whiite

• Based on Debian Lenny 5.0
• Major update with many new apps and features
• Wifi Support when running with MikeP4
• DVD Support when running with MikeP5
• Easy wifi config tool (in /home/wii/)
• Version 1.10 (Debian Lenny 5.0) Download
• Version 0.1 (Debian Etch 4.0) Download
• Last updated: 21 Oct 2009

Archii

• Arch Linux PPC for the Wii
• Designed for use with the new MIKE p1 kernel but can be made to work with Boot it or any other kernel release.
• Made By TheStorm/JonimusPrime and zc00gii
• Is designed for more advanced users to create from scratch but minimal and X11 file-system tars are available
  • The X11 tar has X.Org installed along with the OpenBox3 WM and Cwiid for Wiimote input
  • It also includes the Opera Browser, X-Chat IRC client and Pidgin IM client
  • The Minimal image is just enough to get you booted and the end user can install any packages they wish using pacman
• ArchWiki-WiiTutorial
• File-system tars can be found here
• Last updated: 11 July 2009

Miight

• Now exists again.
• Designed to be a full distribution for noobs
• Will be released soon, with Miight 2.0 following some time in the future
• It can be installed normally like any other homebrew app (no partitioning needed), and includes many more features. Including the following:
  • An easy way to switch between TV types (although it does require a restart)
  • The ability to install a disk image directly onto a normal partition on an SD card or USB flash drive, meaning absolutely no partitioning or anything (hopefully).
  • Many, many more apps
  • An easy-to-use media mounter
  • Contributions from many users
  • Supertux
  • A pretty screensaver
  • Probably a lot more that I forgot to list
• It was momentarily leaked but it was soon, for lack of a better term, unleaked.
• After it is released, bertjan has said he will abandon his own distribution and contribute to this one instead.
• First public beta version is hopefully going to be released in the end of January
• Miight 2.0 will be released after the 1.0 and will be a complete rewrite
• For progress updates, see http://hbcapps.com/miight/blog. For older posts see http://tehum.blogspot.com, a blog I shared with someone else when I couldn't be bothered to get my own.
• Made by Muzer

External links

• A video showing Arch Linux on the Wii called, "Archii."
• A video showing a playable pacman console game with Wiimote support
• A video showing how Wii-Linux Debian boots, with some features and applications
• A video showing T2 SDE 6.0 Linux booting from an external HDD using the SD card as pivot root. X runs!
• A video showing T2 SDE 6.0 Linux booting from an external HDD using a ramdisk card as pivot root. In this video the xserver works with a driver for Wii/GameCube and has correct colours
• GC-Linux.org
• The Official GC-Linux SourceForge Page
• Muzer's Miighty Blog