What have I just done?

[Roger_Kun]

I was trying to put a chip in my wii (I'm very new to soldering but I didn't know anyone who can solder) with wires and when I was looking to see if the wire would stay on the board and it came off... leaving no solder on the board and it looked like there were some tiny wires on the bit of solder I took off. I put it back together and it worked so what do I do now?

Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

 

[Sillyhat]

Yea this is the wrong place, and I'm pretty sure any site that you go to will tell you that it is illegal to do this.

 

[Skippy]

I was trying to put a chip in my wii (I'm very new to soldering but I didn't know anyone who can solder) with wires and when I was looking to see if the wire would stay on the board and it came off... leaving no solder on the board and it looked like there were some tiny wires on the bit of solder I took off. I put it back together and it worked so what do I do now?

Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

You probably killed it.
Soldering well is not something you can pick up in a few minutes, so using a perfectly good $250 hardware device as your guinea pig is a bad bad idea.

 

[paintba||er]

Yea this is the wrong place, and I'm pretty sure any site that you go to will tell you that it is illegal to do this.

It isn't illegal to mod. It is illegal to use a modchip to play games that you haven't legally purchased, but not illegal to mod it.

 

[billcsho]

If you are new to soldering, then modding is not for you. There are not any service available after the national crack down last week in the US. If there is any still available, they probably would not announce anyway. See the news from last week.

 

[WiiBad]

I don't recommend this, but here you go. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/453283/install_a_cyclowiz_mod_even_if_you_dont_know_how_to_solder/
You may also consider taking it or sending it somewhere that somebody knows how to do this. Google for shops, but this may also be dangerous to the Wii investment.

 

[Spyro]

It's not illegal. He bought the thing, he can do what he wants to it.

 

[Shane_pcs]

As others have said, it's not illegal. It's only illegal if you use it to play pirated games. If you mod it to play DVD's or install linux on it then its perfectly legal.

As for your situation, I did a similar thing to a PS1 back in the day and never experienced a single problem with it. It could have just been a path to a common ground, which may not always be necessary.

 

[billcsho]

Read the news I linked above. Modding service has gone underground for now in the US.

 

[WiiBad]

Despite Myers' assertion that mod chips are created for the sole purpose of subverting copyright, the truth is that they are popular with gamers for a number of reasons—some of which arise from frustrations related to fair use. Mod chips extend the functionality of the consoles, allowing gamers to load full games onto hard drives (making it easier to lug one's favorite games to a friend's house), use the consoles as media centers, and play homebrew content. In contrast, the hardware companies and the Entertainment Software Association can't stand them because they can also be used to play pirated discs; that's the rationale given by the ICE for the raids.

This was taken from the same news ad. People do what they will and this is just another example. Mod chips aren't illegal, it's what some people choose to do with them that breaches the law.

 

[Skippy]

According to the DMCA, devices used to circumvent copyright protection are illegal. It doesn't matter if that's what you use it for or not.

If they were not illegal then there would be no grounds to all the arrests that were recently made of mod chip guys. The arrests were not of people using mod chips to play copied games, it was guys who sell and install them who were arrested.

 

[Shane_pcs]

According to the DMCA, devices used to circumvent copyright protection are illegal. It doesn't matter if that's what you use it for or not.

I thought I remember the wording being that its "sole use" had to be to circumvent copyright protection. All these people arrested have to do is prove there is a legitimate use. I think that if any of these arrested chose to fight and not plea bargain that they would win. That is of course barring any other evidence (ie. pirated games)

I would bet that most of the people targeted were also selling pirated games with the mod chips like the idiots on craigslist.

p.s. I am not advocating piracy, and I do not have a mod'ed Wii, but I cant say that when I was in college that I didn't partake in the occasional free game.

 

[My god the Wii owns...]

I was trying to put a chip in my wii (I'm very new to soldering but I didn't know anyone who can solder) with wires and when I was looking to see if the wire would stay on the board and it came off... leaving no solder on the board and it looked like there were some tiny wires on the bit of solder I took off. I put it back together and it worked so what do I do now?

Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

So...you're saying the Wii's fine now? It works?