Wii-Linux Wiki - User contributions [en]

GameCube Controller

2026-10-17T23:31:39Z

Waterpear: *do* mention NetBSD's support

The GameCube Controller is a device that plugs into the controller ports (connected to the [[Hardware/Serial Interface|Serial Interface]]), and speaks a custom protocol (JoyBus) down the serial link. They can be used for controlling almost all software on the [[GameCube]], as well as some games on the [[Wii]].

== Variations ==
There are multiple variations on the traditional GameCube controller, such as the Wavebird (wireless version of the standard controller), and the GameCube ASCII Keyboard (for Phantasy Star Online).
Notably, you can also connect a Game Boy Advance's link port to the GameCube/Wii controller ports, as the port can also speak JoyBus.

== Compatibility ==
The standard GameCube Controller, and all derivatives, are compatible with [[Wii-Linux]]. It has a driver that wires it up into the standard input subsystems, and can be read by any program that supports the Linux joystick interface. Note that Game Boy Advance connectivity is not supported under Linux.

The GameCube Controller is compatible with NetBSD. The SI driver simulates a USB hub and presents the controllers as USB HID devices. The ASCII Keyboard is not supported, nor is Game Boy Advance connectivity.

[[Category:Accessories]]

NetBSD

2026-10-17T23:23:43Z

Waterpear: update for 11.0; more detailed hardware support comparison

{{seealso|[https://netbsd.org/ Official NetBSD Website]}}

'''NetBSD''' is one of the BSD operating systems, descended from the Berkeley System Distribution. Starting with version 10.0, NetBSD supports the [[Wii]] as a first class platform, with further enhancements to hardware support added in version 11.0.

=== Comparison with Wii-Linux ===
* [[Wii-Linux]] is launched from [[BootMii]] via [[Gumboot]] or [[NPLL]]. NetBSD is started from the [[Homebrew Channel]], or, as of NetBSD 11.0, from BootMii via a NetBSD-specific bootloader.

* When NetBSD starts from the Homebrew Channel, it can only use MEM2. Wii-Linux is able to use part of MEM1 as system RAM, as can NetBSD if started from BootMii.
* NetBSD's init system is ''much'' simpler and lighter than systemd.

* The Wii-Linux [[ArchPOWER]] image has better menu-driven configuration tools. While NetBSD's <code>sysinst</code> can be used for tasks like network configuration, it is not as easy to use as tools like <code>nmtui</code> or [[ConfigMii]].

* NetBSD's package manager is not included as part of the base system, and has to be installed using <code>sysinst</code>.

* The framebuffer driver in both Wii-Linux and NetBSD emulates RGB colors, so graphical software doesn't have to be rewritten for the Wii's YUYV framebuffer. NetBSD's driver does this via the [[Hardware/GX|GX]] GPU, using a scratch framebuffer in memory, copying into the EFB (via the CPU) every frame, and then using GX to do the conversion + copy back to the XFB. Linux does this via software math. Both approaches have similar performance.
* Wii-Linux has more complete hardware support in some areas:
** Recent versions of Wii-Linux present the EXI bus as SPI, allowing the use of SPI drivers (most notably using the mmc-spi driver for SD Gecko support). NetBSD has a bespoke SPI stack, with driver support limited to the RTC and the USB Gecko.
** Because NetBSD has no general "game pad" or "joystick" input abstraction, the [[Hardware/Serial Interface|SI]] driver simulates a USB hub and presents [[GameCube Controller|GameCube controllers]] as USB game controllers.
** NetBSD has no [[GameCube]] support whatsoever.
* NetBSD has superior hardware support in other areas:
** There seems to be a wider array of USB drivers enabled in NetBSD, so many devices will work on NetBSD but not Linux.
** The NetBSD driver for the Wii's [[Wii Hardware/BCM4318|BCM4318]] Wi-Fi has been reported to be faster and more stable than Linux's driver (although performance is still not good.)
** NetBSD has support for Hollywood's AES engine. Allegedly, this is used for accelerating WPA as well as disk encryption.

GameCube Controller

2026-10-17T23:09:37Z

Waterpear: remove obsolete mention of NetBSD

Homebrew Channel

2026-10-17T18:46:53Z

Waterpear: more detail about the NetBSD HBC boot paths

The Homebrew Channel (often abbreviated "HBC") is an application developed by fail0verflow (previously known as Team Twiizers) which is primarily used to run other applications (homebrew) stored on an SD Card or USB mass-storage device (e.g. flash drive, HDD, etc).

It also supports loading applications via the network or [[USB Gecko]].

[[Wii-Linux]] can be launched from the Homebrew Channel either by launching [[NPLL]] as a regular homebrew application or by booting into [[BootMii]] IOS (from the HOME/START button menu).

[[NetBSD]] can be launched from the Homebrew Channel either by launching the kernel directly as an application, in which case it runs underneath IOS with limited RAM. As of NetBSD 11.0, booting under BootMii IOS is also supported by means of a bootloader that loads the kernel from the first FFS partition on the SD card.

Recommended Apps

2025-06-20T10:26:51Z

Waterpear: add tcsh and lynx

Here's a list of apps for [[Wii-Linux]], curated by Techflash and some others, to help you get the most out of your Linux experience.
Most of these will need additional on-disk swap space. <code>helpmii</code> can instruct you how to do that fairly easily.

{| class="wikitable"
! App Type !! App Name !! [[ArchPOWER]] package name !! Notes
|-
| Xorg Window Manager || i3wm || i3 || Faster, but not very friendly to new users
|-
| Xorg Window Manager || JWM || jwm || Fast, Needs additional configuration to look good
|-
| Xorg Window Manager || IceWM || icewm || Still relatively fast, but friendlier to new users
|-
| Xorg Terminal Emulator || XTerm || xterm || Blazingly fast, but may want to do some configuration to make it look nicer
|-
| Xorg Terminal Emulator || Suckless Terminal || st || About the same as XTerm, a little bit slower
|-
| Shell || tcsh || tcsh || Starts faster than bash. Note that the tcsh syntax is different from bash/zsh/sh for advanced features and scripting.
|-
| Text Web Browser || Lynx || lynx || Probably the best performance you're going to get out of a Wii-Linux browser. Does not even attempt CSS or JavaScript.
|-
| Web Browser || NetSurf || netsurf || Not all too fast, medium compatibility, no functional JavaScript
|-
| Web Browser || ArcticFox || arcticfox || Very slow, decent compatibility, good JavaScript
|-
| Web Browser || Phantom Satellite || phantomsatellite-gtk2 || Slightly faster than ArcticFox, medium compatibility, good JavaScript
|-

| Discord Client || Abaddon || abaddon || Dreadfully slow, takes '''minutes''' to load<br>Requires very fast swap to be remotely usable
|-
| Audio Playback || aplay || alsa-utils || Works great, but only for WAV files or raw audio
|-
| Audio Playback || Mpg123 || mpg123 || Works great, but only for MP3 Files
|-
| Audio Playback || play / sox || sox || Works great for all formats I threw at it, but you'll<br> need to install the "optional dependencies" for most formats.<br>pacman will list these out after the package is installed.
|}

Gumboot

2025-05-18T15:51:49Z

Waterpear: fix external link

Gumboot is a [[MINI]]-based boot menu for the [[Wii]], created by neagix, specifically for use on his [[Wii-Linux|wii-linux-ngx]] project. Techflash ended up making [https://github.com/Wii-Linux/gumboot a fork] of Gumboot to fix bugs and update it for the modern era. Gumboot is currently the main bootloader used by the [[Wii-Linux]] project.

== Screenshot ==
[[File:Gumboot-neagix-menu.png]]

NetBSD

2025-05-05T16:09:08Z

Waterpear: GaMeCuBe

'''NetBSD''' is one of the BSD operating systems, descended from the Berkeley System Distribution. Starting with version 10.0, NetBSD supports the Wii as a first class platform.

=== Comparison with Wii-Linux ===

* Wii-Linux is launched from boot2 via Gumboot. While NetBSD has boot2 support in the current branch, as of May 2025, release builds are started via the Homebrew Channel.

* Wii-Linux is able to use part of MEM1 as system RAM, while NetBSD only seems to use MEM2. Hence, a Wii-Linux system has access to more RAM. (This is somewhat mitigated by the NetBSD init system being ''much'' simpler than systemd.)

* The Wii-Linux ArchPOWER image has better menu-driven configuration tools. While NetBSD's `sysinst` can be used for tasks like network configuration, it is not as easy to use as tools like `nmtui` or [[ConfigMii]].

* NetBSD's package manager is not included as part of the base system, and has to be installed using `sysinst`.

* USB support in NetBSD seems to be more complete and less buggy. Many common USB networking devices that aren't supported or don't work with the Wii-Linux kernel will operate just fine in NetBSD.

* The framebuffer driver in Wii-Linux emulates RGB colors, so graphical software doesn't have to be rewritten for the Wii's YUV framebuffer. NetBSD's driver does not, preferring to perform the color transformation in the X.org server.
** As a consequence, the color palette for the text-mode console has many incorrect colors, which makes a lot of text-mode screens hard to read.

* As of May 2025, NetBSD doesn't have drivers for [[GameCube Controller]] or the [[USB Gecko]], and the driver for the internal Wi-Fi adapter is not yet available in release builds.

NetBSD

2025-05-05T16:08:34Z

Waterpear: throw together crude NetBSD page

'''NetBSD''' is one of the BSD operating systems, descended from the Berkeley System Distribution. Starting with version 10.0, NetBSD supports the Wii as a first class platform.

=== Comparison with Wii-Linux ===

* Wii-Linux is launched from boot2 via Gumboot. While NetBSD has boot2 support in the current branch, as of May 2025, release builds are started via the Homebrew Channel.

* Wii-Linux is able to use part of MEM1 as system RAM, while NetBSD only seems to use MEM2. Hence, a Wii-Linux system has access to more RAM. (This is somewhat mitigated by the NetBSD init system being ''much'' simpler than systemd.)

* The Wii-Linux ArchPOWER image has better menu-driven configuration tools. While NetBSD's `sysinst` can be used for tasks like network configuration, it is not as easy to use as tools like `nmtui` or [[ConfigMii]].

* NetBSD's package manager is not included as part of the base system, and has to be installed using `sysinst`.

* USB support in NetBSD seems to be more complete and less buggy. Many common USB networking devices that aren't supported or don't work with the Wii-Linux kernel will operate just fine in NetBSD.

* The framebuffer driver in Wii-Linux emulates RGB colors, so graphical software doesn't have to be rewritten for the Wii's YUV framebuffer. NetBSD's driver does not, preferring to perform the color transformation in the X.org server.
** As a consequence, the color palette for the text-mode console has many incorrect colors, which makes a lot of text-mode screens hard to read.

* As of May 2025, NetBSD doesn't have drivers for [[Gamecube Controller]] or the [[USB Gecko]], and the driver for the internal Wi-Fi adapter is not yet available in release builds.

User:Waterpear

2024-11-14T19:41:46Z

Waterpear: now I have one :)

~~the only person in Wii-Linux who doesn't own a Wii (yet)~~ not anymore!

Installation Guide

2024-11-14T19:41:09Z

Waterpear: write install guide, based on the install guide on the Discord

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up a Wii-Linux system using the official [[ArchPOWER]] images.

== Requirements ==

* A Wii modified to run homebrew apps via BootMii ([https://wii.hacks.guide/ Wii Hacks Guide] will walk you through this process)
* An SD or SDHC card (no larger than 32 GB, can also be used for other homebrew as space allows)
* USB storage device for the root partition (optional)
* Access to a Linux system
** GNU tar is '''required''' to properly extract the rootfs.
** We assume this is a physical machine. Virtual machines will require special configuration to pass through the root device, which is beyond the scope of this guide
** Use of Windows Subsystem for Linux or the ChromeOS "Linux development environment" (aka Crostini) is also beyond the scope of this guide.

We also assume you are comfortable with technical tasks like partitioning media and installing packages.

== Preparing Media ==

# From the [https://wii-linux.org/downloads Wii Linux downloads page], download "Latest build's ArchPOWER rootfs (.tar.gz)" and "Latest build's ArchPOWER SD Card files".
# Partition the media. You will need a FAT32 partition on your SD card, and will need an ext4 partition on either the SD card or USB storage.
#* The SD card files take up around 34 megabytes of space. To ensure plenty of space for updating, we recommend at least 512 MB for the FAT partition.
#* If you are using USB storage for the root, you don't need to partition the SD card.
# Format the root partition as ext4.
#* You will need to ensure that the <code>verity</code> and <code>metadata_csum_seed</code> ext4 features are disabled, because the Wii Linux kernel is too old to support them.
#* <code>sudo mkfs.ext4 -O '^verity' -O '^metadata_csum_seed' -L 'arch' /dev/[root block device here]</code>
# Extract the SD card files to the SD card's FAT32 partition.
## <code>sudo mount /dev/[SD card block device here] /mnt</code>
## <code>cd /mnt</code>
## <code>tar -xzvf [/path/to/boot_files.tgz]</code>
## <code>cd; sudo umount /mnt</code>
# Extract the rootfs.
## <code>sudo mount /dev/[root block device here] /mnt</code>
## <code>cd /mnt</code>
## <code>tar -xvP --acls --xattrs --same-owner --same-permissions --numeric-owner --sparse -f [/path/to/rootfs.tar.gz]</code>
##* You ''must'' use these flags to extract the rootfs properly
## <code>sync; cd; sudo umount /mnt</code>
# Remove the SD card and root device from the Linux machine.

== Booting ==

# Insert the SD card and USB device into the Wii.
# Enter BootMii.
#* If you were able to install BootMii as boot2, your Wii will automatically enter BootMii.
#* If you followed the Wii Hacks Guide and installed Priiloader, hold Reset as you power the Wii on, then select the "BootMii IOS" option.
# Wait for gumboot to load the kernel.
#* You can navigate the gumboot menu using the power and reset buttons on the Wii, or the D-pad on a Gamecube controller, but that isn't needed for the first boot.
# At the Wii Linux boot menu, select ArchPOWER (or wait).
# Watch the systemd boot messages and wait for the login prompt.

== After boot ==

The login prompt will have the default root password, and will instruct you to run <code>helpmii</code> and <code>configmii</code> to help set up your system. Helpmii will let you read the [https://github.com/Wii-Linux/helpmii/blob/main/getstarted.txt Getting Started Guide] on your Wii, which will show you how to do important tasks like using <code>nmtui</code> to set up your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection and how to add swap space.

You may want to check the [[Recommended Apps]] list to get started.

User:Waterpear

2024-11-05T21:45:08Z

Waterpear: Created page with "the only person in Wii-Linux who doesn't own a Wii (yet)"

the only person in Wii-Linux who doesn't own a Wii (yet)