How to Identify Wii Chipset

The Nintendo Wii chipset is a group of microchips on the Wii's control board that determine how the DVD drive is used. These chipsets contain restrictions on what kind of discs you can play in the Wii, preventing copied games and discs from other regions from working. To get around these restrictions, hackers have created modchips, which are soldered onto the control board and circumnavigate the restrictions in the chipset. Nintendo doesn't like this practice, so as the company produces newer Wii consoles, it changes the chipsets slightly to prevent the modchips from working, forcing the hackers to create new modchips and rendering the old modchips useless for the new machines. If you want to know if a particular modchip will work on your Wii, you first need to know what chipset you have.

Instructions

1. • 1

     Look at the bottom panel on your Wii console. You will see a number listed as "Serial No." The number will have two or three letters, followed by nine digits, including a digit in a box at the end, which is still part of the serial number. Write this entire number down.

   • 2

     Visit either the "Nintendo Scene" or "Wii Drives" websites.

   • 3

     Enter in your serial number into the database on the website. Click "Go" to input your serial and the chipset version will display on the screen. The "Wii Drives" site will also include a list of known modchips that will work with your chipset.