Information about what IOSes are and what they are useful for
Nintendo has set up a system that has 256 slots for different IOSes. Each IOS is a system that controls base features of games or menus and so on. Nintendo uses the IOSes from about 4-70 at the moment and occasionally uses new ones when needed. You can have one IOS installed into each slot and both games and homebrew apps can tell the Wii which IOS they want to use.
The Custom IOSes
The Custom IOSes for Homebrew install at the larger numbers that Nintendo left open. These IOSes can be used by other homebrew applications and that is the choice you have when starting the apps (i.e., which to use, not where to install). The important ones for homebrew are:
- 202: Used by media playing apps and others that want high speed USB peripherals.
- 222/223/224: The slots used by Hermes' IOS. This is used for USB Loading and includes the patches that allow fake signing. It can go in any of the spots to allow you to have different versions of Hermes' IOS installed at the same time. The method to install this IOS can be found here
- 236: This IOS is needed to install other IOSes easily. This IOS is a hacked version of Nintendo's IOS36 that allows you to install other IOSes. The method to install this IOS can be found here.
- 247/248/249/250: The main slots used by d2x and Waninkoko's IOS. This is used for USB Loading and includes the patches that allow fake signing. You can have different versions in all the slots, but you need to use a few different apps and it's not really worth the trouble. The method to install this IOS can be found here
The Nintendo IOSes
Several Nintendo IOSes are important during the install for various reasons. A description of these IOSes and why the may be useful follows:
- 15: This IOS can be downgraded to allow for installation of custom IOSes. This downgrade is performed as part of the IOS236 procedure.
- 36: This IOS is used as a base for IOS236.
- 37: This IOS can be used as a base for d2x or Hermes' IOS222/223. The IOS is needed to launch games with USB peripherals, like music games and Wii Speak games.
- 38: This IOS can be used as a base IOS for d2x and Hermes' IOS222/223.
- 41: A Korean IOS that is used to allow 4.3 Wiis to downgrade IOS15.
- 56: This IOS can be used as a base IOS for d2x. It has the speed of base 57 and compatibility of base 37, making it the best choice.
- 57: This IOS can be used as a base IOS for d2x and Hermes' IOS222/223. Games will have slightly faster load times when using this IOS. Call of Duty: Black Ops requires this IOS.
Custom IOS versions and bases
Now, the other thing to know about the Custom IOSes is the base IOSes. Both Hermes' and Waninkoko's IOS work by taking existing IOSes from Nintendo and patching in new features that allow games to use the USB and so on. There are several options for which bases to use for each of the Custom IOSes.
Hermes' IOS222/223/224 v4
In v4 of Hermes' you could install any of the following versions to the 222 and/or 223 slot:
- Based from IOS38 only
- Based from IOS38 merged with features of IOS37
- Based from IOS38 merged with features of IOS60
Hermes' IOS222/223/224 v5
v5 of Hermes' forces you to use 38 only for the 222 slot but allows a choice for the 223 and 224 slots:
- Based from IOS37 only
- Based from IOS38 only
- Based from IOS57 only
- Based from IOS60 only
d2x v6
You can choose from many different slots for d2x, but most apps expect them to be in the range 247-250. Waninkoko's IOS, the older version of d2x, used to have a fixed base IOS (IOS36 for early revisions and IOS38 later on), but you can now install from a large selection of bases:
- Based from IOS36 only
- Based from IOS37 only
- Based from IOS38 only
- Based from IOS53 only
- Based from IOS55 only
- Based from IOS56 only
- Based from IOS57 only
- Based from IOS58 only
- Based from IOS60 only
- Based from IOS61 only
- Based from IOS70 only
- Based from IOS80 only
- Based from IOS58 only
What do you use them for
56 is now the best choice as it seems to have the best qualities of all the choices. Previously, you might use 37 for compatibility with music games and 57 for speed, but 56 has both features.
The tutorial gives you the following setup:
- 248 d2xv6 based on 56 - for most things.
- 247 d2xv6 based on 57 - for Call of Duty: Black Ops and any other games you have trouble with
- 224 v5.1 based on 37 - Most compatible Hermes' version
Note that this setup is different to the old one which use the 222, 223 and 249 slots. This is to allow discs with updates you have already performed to work without requesting further updates. You can thus safely play retail discs without worrying about overwriting your homebrew setup.
What Next?
- Now that you know what IOSes are, go back to installing the ones you need.
