Hacking Hardware Wii RVL-001 Sound but No Signal on Video

MrArcade

Member
OP
Newcomer
Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Messages
10
Trophies
1
XP
52
Country
United States
I have been out of the wii scene for several years. I hacked several wiis years ago. I am currently setting a wii up for my daughter and am trying to get back up to speed.

I still have several wiis that I picked up at garage sales etc. I am going through them. One of them is a very nice looking red RVL-001 that I remember buying untested, console only, at a garage sale. I bought it cheap figuring at least I can swap into the red case if the wii is bad. I assumed it was since they only had the console for sale with nothing else, they likely kept that suff for their replacment wii.

This wii will power on and off with the power button. I can sync a wiimote and turn the wii on and off with the wiimote. The tv shows "No Signal". I am connecting with a composite cable (Red/White/Yellow). I have tested several different wiis and all hardware and cables work with them.

While powered on I press the A button and then I can hear the main screen background sound.

I wanted to try to change the video setting in case it was set for component cable. I tried turning on without the av cable plugged into the wii, then plug it in after boot, still No Signal.

I hooked up a working wii and figured out how to get to the video output setting by feeling the tactile feedback felt when going over a clickable icon.

When I tried to do this on the No SIgnal wii I never get any tactile feedback. I turned up the volume and realized I could hear the clicks as I went over the icons. I tried changing the video output by sound but am not sure I succeeded.

I believe the bluetooth module must be plugged in because the wiimote connects and can power on/off the wii.

I can't test wifi, but what I have read says the wii won't boot if the wifi is unplugged, so guessing it is plugged in.

I tried holding Reset while powering on to get into priiloader if present, still boots to regular menu background sound.

I read about a repair where the 1.8v was not present which feeds video output:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/transfer-broken-wii-content-to-another-wii.604111/

Is there anything else I can/should try before disassembling to check the 1.8v?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

MrArcade
 

Exidous

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
347
Trophies
0
Age
44
XP
730
Country
United States
You could test with a component video output cable. Consider that each of the three colors carries picture signal over an RCA cord, so you can even plug one of them into the yellow RCA video input you've been using, if your display lacks component in. The cords themselves are less than $10 from third party manufacturers now.

I may be more skittish than you about cracking hardware, and that's why I'd consider this first.
 

JuanMena

90's Kid, Old Skull Gamer & Artist
Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2019
Messages
4,974
Trophies
2
Age
30
Location
the 90's 💙
XP
10,426
Country
Mexico
It seems to be bad capacitors.

If it were the Bluetooth Module, it simply wouldn't boot.
If it were the WiFi Board, same, wouldn't boot.

It also can't be a signal issue since you said other Wiis works with the same component cables, so that's ruled out too.

The only thing I can think off about go causing black screens are bad capacitors (6 surface mounted caps near the AV input) or some kind of brick.

In order to rule out if it's a brick, try accessing PriiLoader by holding RESET while turning on your console.
It should boot to PriiLoader, which should be visible regardless (unless bad caps) and if you're still can't access PriiLoader then definitely it's bad capacitors.
 

MrArcade

Member
OP
Newcomer
Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Messages
10
Trophies
1
XP
52
Country
United States
In order to rule out if it's a brick, try accessing PriiLoader by holding RESET while turning on your console.
It should boot to PriiLoader, which should be visible regardless (unless bad caps) and if you're still can't access PriiLoader then definitely it's bad capacitors.
As I started in the original post, I tried that.

About the bad caps, does this lead to no 1.8v?
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    I'm doing good, just made my first drink of the day, so better now, Captain and Coke today. I had to cut grass all day, then get my hair cut. I messed with my wifey, she knew I was going to get hair cut, and I went and bought a purple dyed wig, and came home wearing it, she freaked out, thinking I dyed my hair purple, was funny.
    +1
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @BigOnYa, Hey BigOnYa
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Hey hope all is well
    +1
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @BigOnYa, And you too :)
    +1
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    @BigOnYa how are you doing
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    any mushroom trip adventures you can share
  • JakobAir @ JakobAir:
    Damn, I haven't been on here in while. My wife and I went on a mushroom trip like 10 years ago. A friend had a PS3TV with the glasses and some racing game. It hit when I was playing the game and I freaked out because I thought I was really driving and crashed.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Orange ocean Hawaiian punch is pretty good but @BigOnYa keeps putting vodka in it
    +1
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    With enough Vodka everything is good
    +1
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    Im back
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    We are having a bbq
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    Nice! Hopefully the weather is good today?
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @Sicklyboy, it's a bit cloudy but Yea it's good
    +1
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    80 for us all that rain then mother nature's like have some sun burn
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    @Xdqwerty, good weather, good food, what's not to like about that? Hope you have a lovely day dude
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Got some porkchops marinating in honey teriyaki hope it comes out good
  • Sonic Angel Knight @ Sonic Angel Knight:
    Porkchop was the name of that dog in that one cartoon, DOUG! :P
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @Sonic Angel Knight, never watched doug
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    I might play Roblox again
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Nuh jump back to gdevelop
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @BigOnYa, i say "play Roblox" not "make games on Roblox"
    Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty: @BigOnYa, i say "play Roblox" not "make games on Roblox"