Argon modchip for D2c equipped Wii (quick review)

[dweebs0r]

Here is a review:
http://www.iso420.org/wii/argon/index.htm

Anyone have any experience with these?

My Wii is being modded with this as we speak so I can give more insight on it later.

[patrickl]

Sounds like it's not completely ready yet. Lots of "isn't fully functional" remarks in that review.

[shmokes]

IMO, it's just too difficult a mod to justify only partially cracking the system.  If it opened the system wide, I'd be interested.  Or if it was a super easy mod, maybe the ability to run backups alone would be enough.  But as it is, I just don't think it's ready for primetime.

[dweebs0r]

The mod looks like a pain in the arse to me.  I have a fair amount of soldering experience and I sent the sucker off.

Here is a pic of my Wii (hehe, that never ceases to be funny):



Ouch.

[dweebs0r]

I modded a couple of Gamecubes and those little legs on the drive chips are a real pain to solder to.

[shmokes]

Yeah . . . that's beyond my skills.  Again, not worth it for only a partial mod.

[dweebs0r]

This is the guy who did my mod.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=333458

I am going to get him to do my brother and a friend's Wii's.

If anyone decides to use him, tell him dweebs0r sent you.  I cant recommend this guy highly enough.
Its pretty scary sending your console off to a stranger but this guy is professional all the way.

-D

[dweebs0r]

The thing that makes this chip worth it imho is that it includes a chip programmer.

It isnt a partial flash like with a DVD upgradeable chip.  It fully overwrites the code.

Using the firmwares on the website, you can flash the chip and make it a PS2 modchip or an Xbox 360 modchip.  Supposedly, they are implementing a function to flash the firmwares of some their competitors firmwares to the chip.  Specifically the Wasabi firmware.

So although its not a "full" mod at the moment.  This chip is future proof.  When those functions are out, they are a firmware upgrade away.

-D

[AcidArmitage]

i put an argon on my d2c. it was hard but not impossible... it plays backups and its a lot better than paying for my games HAH

[dweebs0r]

How is the compatibility of the argon?  Any games not working?

[shmokes]

Why would you ever want a chip that was soldered to your Wii's motherboard to be converted into PS2 or Xbox 360 modchip?

[dweebs0r]

Why would you ever want a chip that was soldered to your Wii's motherboard to be converted into PS2 or Xbox 360 modchip?

Its soldered to the dvd drive and could be removed in about 10 seconds.

I was just trying to illustrate how easily and extensively the firmware can be upgraded.

[ChadTower]

Why would you ever want a chip that was soldered to your Wii's motherboard to be converted into PS2 or Xbox 360 modchip?

Producing one piece of hardware is much cheaper than producing three and thus would cost less to buy.

[fjl]

The mod looks like a pain in the arse to me.  I have a fair amount of soldering experience and I sent the sucker off.

Here is a pic of my Wii (hehe, that never ceases to be funny):



Ouch.

Nice clean work. I like it.

[AcidArmitage]

um... i havent played any games in a couple months (japanese DVD9 of Smash Bros was the latest i think) but most of the games worked... I think all of them worked for me. The argon team seemed to keep up with updates so im sure its almost 100% compatible now (at least with Wii games, i never got GC games to work but i never really tried.)

[dweebs0r]

Why would you ever want a chip that was soldered to your Wii's motherboard to be converted into PS2 or Xbox 360 modchip?

Also, It occurred to me that if you were a "professional" modchip installer that you could stock up on these chips and use them for multiple consoles without fear of having a large stock of modchips that you may have to dump at cost later.

Anyway, I will try to get a review of this chip posted asap.

-D

[dweebs0r]

My informal quickie review of Argon modchip + Injectus programmer:

For comparisons sake, my Wii is a US NTSC unit with a D2C dvd drive.  The argon modchip is flashed with the latest available firmware at the time of this writing ( 1.8 ) and the console has been completely updated with the latest Nintendo software/ dash updates.

The modchip features great web support via the forums:  http://www.infectus.biz/forum/ 
Frequent firmware updates.  Aforementioned ability to update chip completely via usb programmer.

Compatibility seems to be good.  I tried 9 Wii backups that were tested working on another modded Wii system and of the 9, only one the games, Bully, did not load.  It froze with a black screen during load and the Wii had to be reset. 
All of the games load and play as expected just like retail games except for FMV (full motion video) problems with some titles.
Speaking of web support, this modchip was plagued with freezing and compatibility issues when it came out.  It received quite a bit of bashing throughout web forums like these until the frequent firmware updates started hitting.  Now compatibility and freezing is not an issue at all.  These guys seem to be supporting the chip w/ updates.

Full motion video seems to have a stutter or lag on some Wii games.  Most work perfectly.  However Super Smash Brothers and Super Mario Galaxy both have excess lag during video play (cutscenes).  It is very annoying during the scenes that cant be skipped.  Hopefully this can be corrected with a firmware update but for now is a very annoying drawback to the use of this chip.

Every gamecube backup I have tried has worked perfectly.  The mod is worth a fair amount to me just to play all of my gamecube games.

Again, I want to give a plug to the guy who modded my system.  He can be found via this Xbox Scene thread:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=333458
or he can be emailed at Buzzjockey@netzero.net

The soldering job he did was superb.  He received the console on Thursday.  Modded it on Friday.  Shipped it back to me on Saturday (priority mail) and the console was back in my hands on Monday afternoon.  Great turn around time.

I am going back to testing and tuning and trying to work on correcting the lag issues.

Overall I would rate the modchip a 7.5 out of 10 at this point with the rating to go way higher when the FMV problem is corrected.

-D

[shmokes]

Does it support dual-layer media as far as backups are concerned?

[dweebs0r]

Does it support dual-layer media as far as backups are concerned?

Yes, Super Smash Bros is dual layer.  It also does DVD-R or +R and DVD-R or +R DL.