Wasabi Modchip

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sadalius
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Wasabi Modchip

Post by sadalius »

Robinhoodsplayground Review of the Wasabi Mod-chip for the Wii
Written By Sadalius RHPG Admin Staff
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With all the choices in mod-chips that are available for the Wii, it is a daunting task to figure out which one is right for your console. That as it may, there is one chip out there that advertises its one for all, low wire install that has attracted the attention of a lot of modders in the scene. That chip happens to be the Wasabi. The Wasabi is not just another Wiikey or Wiid chip. Quite the opposite, the Wasabi boasts working on all chipsets for the dvd drives of the Wii and a low wire count on top of that. The Wasabi can be installed with as little as 5 wires for the DMS, D2A and D2B chipsets and as few as 9 for the D2C chipset. With the additional chip reset wire, total wire count would be 6 and 10 wires respectively. Very impressive when your talking about a one stop chip.

We decided to check one out and now that we have, we are going to let you know how things turned out. The only Wii's we had available to us to try out the Wasabi had DMS chipsets so installation was pretty straight forward. If your looking for instructions on how to take your Wii apart, there are plenty of tutorials out there to help you with that and the only suggestion I can make to you on that subject is, when your taking the Wii apart, do it on a table or work bench that has enough room to where you can layout the parts as they come off or properly label them so you can keep track of which screw goes where because there are a lot of screws and each one has a particular place that they go. The solder points are different for the Wasabi as compared to the Wiikey or other Wiikey similar chip except that you can use the ground and 3.3v supply points if you happen to be replacing a different mod-chip like a Wiikey. Here is a photo showing the connection points for the Wasabi. It includes both chipset ranges. Use the ones labeled in green for the DMS, D2A and D2B only. For the D2C, use both the green and red labeled points. You will also have to bridge a couple of places on the chip itself depending on what chipset you have and what region your Wii is. On the bottom right corner you set the region. If you bridge 1, that sets NTSC-U, if you bridge 2, you set it for PAL. If you don't bridge any of them, you set JAP, or NTSC-J. C, D and E is where you set what chipset you have. If you don't bridge any of them, that indicates that you have a D2C. If you bridge C and D, that would be a DMS or a D2A. Bridging D and E would indicate a D2B.
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Once I had the chip installed and checked my solder points with a multi-meter for bridged solder and the likes, I connected up the cables that went to the DVD drive, plugged in the sensor bar, video cable and power cable and turned on the Wii. I did not put the Wii back together yet as I needed to test the chip prior to re-assembly. As the Wii booted, I noticed the LED that is on the chip was red for a brief few seconds, then turned green as it was supposed to. Once the Wii was fully booted, I inserted a backup and waited for it to be recognized. As the drive re-initialized, the LED turned red for just a second, then turned green. The game that I inserted then showed up in the disc channel. As per the Wasabi website instructions, I repeated this for a total of 5 times. Then I put the Wii back together making sure to cover the Wasabi with some electrical tape to prevent shorts.

Once the Wii was back together, it was time for a test drive. I played originals of Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and both played flawlessly. Then I played the backups of the same games. Again, they played flawlessly. Then I played Sega Bass fishing for a while. I broke out my backup library and tested a few, all played with no problems. And finally rounded it off with some Guitar Hero III. Everything played fine. I did notice that with the Wasabi, the DVD drive operates at its full read speed instead of being speed locked like with the Wiikey. So that may help if you have a Wiikey and are having read problems, make sure to check your media though as that is the biggest culprit when it comes to read problems.

Now, we have read about some people having problems with the Wasabi if their Wii happens to have a D2C chipset. To be fair, not everyone has the problem. We didn't have a D2C to test it on, but can say that any other chipset besides the D2C, the Wasabi is flawless and rock solid. If you happen to have a D2C chipset, I wouldn't worry too much as there are work arounds listed on the Wasabi website. If it makes you worry that you would have to do some extra work to get the Wasabi to work on your D2C, then I would probably go for the Argon. But the Wasabi seems to work above and beyond for the DMS, D2A and D2B range and we can highly recommend this chip at the very least for those Wii's. Wasabi is not just a condiment anymore!

The only complaints that I have is not this chips or any other chips fault for that matter. Installing any modchip into a Wii requires good vision, a steady hand, some patience and the right tools. The soldering is, for me at any rate, borderline microscopic. Most of the solder points are super small, about the size of the tip of a needle. But that can work in your favor if you tin your wire, place the tip of the wire over where you want to solder it, put your iron in contact with both the wire and the point for just a second or two, then pull the iron away. Make sure not to move the wire any when you pull the iron because the solder will still be molten and you'll pull the wire away from where it needs to be soldered. hold the wire in place and let the solder cool for a few seconds to let it solidify. Then check your connections.

Overall ratings given the hardware available for testing and compared to other mod-chips:
Quality of material: 9 out of 10
Ease of installation: 8 out of 10 if you have experience installing chips, 2 out of 10 if you have no experience installing chips.
Operation: 10 out of 10
Performance: 10 out of 10

Where to buy: if your in Canada or the US:
http://www.modchipcentral.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.modchip.us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.cellexmods.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Everywhere else:
Check the reseller page on the Wasabi website at http://wasabi.net.cn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you have questions or comments about Wasabi, please post those in the appropriate section of the forum. This section is for reviews only. Comments or suggestions towards the review itself is welcome to post in this area.

Hope you enjoyed the review!!
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CoFree
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Re: Wasabi Modchip

Post by CoFree »

nice review man.
Its got me wanting a wasabi now. :lol: :lol:
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Sesshomaru
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Re: Wasabi Modchip

Post by Sesshomaru »

Hmm interesting, this looks like the chip to get if I ever get a Wii (doubtful). Nice review Sadalius, I had no idea you were such a good solderer!
sadalius
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Re: Wasabi Modchip

Post by sadalius »

I've been practicing :D but let me make it clear that this is not something I do on a regular basis. I am getting old and my vision isn't anywhere near what it used to be :geek: Even with a magnifying glass those points are hard to see.

No matter what chip you choose, the one thing that I would recommend is to spend the extra cash and get a wii-clip for the chip that you choose. Some places even sell them with the chip of choice already soldering into the clip. If you go this route, most all chips then become solderless. All you have to do is clip the wii-clip in place on the chip on the DVD drive and your done. If the case of the Wasabi, you have to solder one wire with the wii-clip and thats the F point. The F point isn't all that bad either. It is small, but not quite as small as the A, B and CLK points.
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pluto_00
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Re: Wasabi Modchip

Post by pluto_00 »

I have the wasabi V2 and the wii clip V5 they are not that hard to solder together !

Wasabi works great !
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