Monday, December 11, 2006

HOWTO: Transfer a Mii from your Wii using bluetooth and the wii-mote

MiiTransfer is a small application for reading and writing data to the internal memory of the wiimote. Using this app you can easily transfer mii's from your wiimote to your pc, and back to your Wii.

This is exciting, because now Wii hackers can begin trading Mii's using sites such as WiiModWii's Mii Transfer Station:
http://www.wiimodwii.com/miis/

This was all made possible due to efforts by marcan and the author of WDML (WiiMote Data Management Library).

Here is how to transfer Mii's from your Wii to your Wii-Mote to your computer. Once on your computer you can upload and download Mii's from the internet, then transfer them back to your wii-mote and back into your Wii.

First you will need a bluetooth adapter and a Wii-mote.
The first release of MiiTransfer ONLY works with the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack. Yes this is the same MS Stack that will NOT work with GlovePie or many of the other wii-mote apps. If you are using another BT you need to go into device manager and update the driver. The next version of MiiTransfer should be more compatible with other Bluetooth Stacks.

If you can not wait for the next release here is how to change you bluetooth stack: Open Device Manager and goto your bluetooth adapter. Right click and goto properties. Goto teh Driver tab and press Update Driver. Select 'Install from a list' then 'Don't search i will choose a driver', now uncheck the box that says 'Show compatible hardware' and find the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack. Select it and press next until it's finished installing. It may tell you to reboot, but I did not need to, just unplug and replug the USB Bluetooth dongle.

Now you should have the Microsoft BT icon on the task tray. Open that icon, and start the BT connection wizard. Have it search for devices, and press buttons 1 and 2 on your wiimote to ut it into discover mode. After it finds the wiimote, you may need to press buttons 1 and 2 again to finish the bluetooth connection process. If it asks you to use a passcode press 'skip' or click the bubble that says not to use a passkey.If everything went well you will now be connected to the Wii-Mote.

You are now ready to launch the Mii transfer program. Download it from here and extract it. There are a bunch of batch files included in the download archive. Simply run the readslotALL.bat file to read all of the mii's from your wiimote.

Next goto the Mii Transfer website and upload your Mii's or download new Mii's you want to put into your Wii. Once you have these Mii's on your computer, transfer them back to the wii-mote using the writeslotX.bat files.

You will need to manually rename each mii to mii0.mii, mii1.mii, etc and put them in the same directory as your batch files.

Finally go into the Mii channel, hit the icon of the wii-mote on the right, and unload all of your new Mii's into your Mii Space.

Please upload your best Mii's to the Mii Transfer Station. They would like to build up a large database of Mii's and eventually have an online Mii generator.

Also, in case you are interested, Mii Data structure can be found here.
It would be nice to have a little editor app to modify the .Mii files from the PC.

52 comments:

  1. Wow, that was quick. Looks like Wii's getting a big dedicated hacker community behind it. Makes me wanna find a cheap bluetooth adapter.

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  2. Well, I really like the idea of it, but for some reason it isn't working for me... T.T

    Good job though...

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  4. Michel, make sure you are using the Microsoft Bluetooth, it would not work with any of the other drivers for me.

    Ghetto Prince, looking forward to the UI. email it to liquidice620 at gmail.com and i'll post it up here. thanks!

    Also, http://www.wiimodwii.com/miis/ supports RSS.

    I'm willing to help make it so that this UI can pull the Mii listing from the website and automatically upload and download the Mii's into the software from the internet.

    That would be a killer app for the Mii community... Looking forward to your work.

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  9. For those of you having problems, you need the Microsoft Bluetooth driver for it to work:

    go into device manager
    select your BT adapter
    goto properties
    goto update driver
    pick 'select from list'
    uncheck 'show only compatible devices'
    then select 'microsoft bluetooth device'
    and next till it's done

    post to let me know if that works for you.

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  10. the comment i get is that "This application has failed to start because the application config is incorrect. Reinstalling may fix it"

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  13. Check your email. There's a nice, new shiny GUI in there waiting for ya. :)

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  14. Anonymous6:45 AM

    I'm having a problem transferring miis from the wiimote. I can connect the wiimote without a problem, but when i run any of the batch files I get this message "the system cannot execute the specified program." What am I doing wrong? Cheers

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  15. Here is a temporary location to dl a graphical version of the tool:

    http://wiidomain.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

    Soon LiquidIce will have the official download packaged and available.

    Until then, Fred, try downloading the GUI client and see if it fixes your problem.

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  16. I connected a wiimote to my pc using logitech's bluetooth drivers, NOT the microsoft ones! I also transferred a Mii using the MiiTransfer software.

    Search for devices as normal, and press 1+2 to make your wiimote discoverable. Select the wiimote on the found devices list, and click ok/next. Skip pairing, and press 1+2 to connect.

    The wiimote will now show in the devices list (or My Bluetooth Places\Entire Bluetooth Neighborhood for me) as Nintendo RVL-CNT-01 as a connected device. Now use MiiTransfer as instructed.

    If you monitor the connection status, every button press shows as recieved data :)

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  17. Following my above comment, it does not appear that the WiiTransfer worked with my driver.

    Data WAS sent, but maybe corrupt data because the mii isnt visible in games.

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  18. No luck here. I had tried the Microsoft drivers (followed directions exactly as stated in tutorial) as well as the ones listed when "Show only compatible drivers" is checked.

    Either way, when I told it to search for devices and press 1+2, it would show nothing.

    Any other ideas?

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  19. No luck here either I also have only the microsoft drivers. Mine connects, and sends data, but has error.

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  20. Hey you guys with the Microsoft drivers that are still having problems...

    You probably need to make sure you have the wiimote on. By that, I mean that you press 1 + 2 to start the process, and then you might have to press 1 + 2 again to finish the process. I know I had to do it that way. When u do it right, you'll hear the USB chime play and get a windows message from the task tray saying that a new device was found.

    Try that and see...

    Phil: What error do you get?

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  21. My controller is connected, i have pressed 1+2. when i run the gui it says connected, says transfered, but i then get an error that says it failed to connect to the remote. i will try again later with my laptop.

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  22. no luck here either. Im using m$ BT and connected successfully. using the gui version. it says connected but couldnt upload mii.

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  23. For those getting the "the system cannot execute the specified program." problems, it's not specified but you must have .net 2.0 framework installed.

    Then you'll be sorted.

    Download it here

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  24. Thanks to this blog I have my Wii Remote cooking with my Bluetooth adapter, and I know what Mii is technically. But I have no idea what an example of a fun Mii would be. What can a good Mii do for you? Give you a good mapping between buttons and some particular software's functionality? On the Wii? On the PC? What?

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  25. Ok I had the "the system cannot execute the specified program." problem. I installed .net 2.0 framework, but instead of the system cannot execute, I get the list of my Mii slots but it ends in ERROR when it's "Receiving Mii Slot..."

    Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

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  26. roschler, mii's are avatars on the wii. You can see them when you play wii sports and it asks you to choose your character.

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  27. hi guys....i need help by someone...........


    go into device manager OK
    select your BT adapter OK
    goto properties OK
    goto update driver OK
    pick 'select from list' OK
    uncheck 'show only compatible devices' OK
    then select 'microsoft bluetooth device' which ones???

    because i try to change the driver but the OS can change it!?!?!
    I need some help.......thanks

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  28. because i try to change the driver but the OS CAN'T change it!?!?!
    I need some help.......thanks

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  29. I have a Widcomm Software installed (my logitech keyboard requires it). I've read the guide, but when i uncheck the box 'Show compatible hardware' i can't find the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack. I can connect the Wiimote to the bluetooth hub, but when i try to read/write a Mii to the controller it signs me an error. Any suggestion?

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  30. Can you see the scores of other mii than yours on wii sport ?

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  31. I dont have a Microsoft bluetooth Stack in my drivers. Can I download it from somewhere?

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  32. I have downloaded the MS BT Stack driver but when i go to "update driver", its not in the list, with or without the "show compatible hardware" box checked. If I select it by choosing "Have Disk..." it tells me "the specified location does not contain information about your hardware"

    Any ideas?

    btw for those of you without the BT Stack, you can get it here:
    http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/SP/1.1.1/WXP/EN-US/bt_stack_rtm.exe

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  33. I use MSI star key USB bluetooth2.0 adapter with the newest driver FROM MSI, NOT the Microsoft one.
    I use the widcomm software, although took some work, but I am able to connect the wiimote to pc.
    You guys said press 1 + 2 buttons can connect, but not for me. I would have to press the red sync button, and use the software to detect, skip pairing and choose service.
    I am able to use the GUI program to transfer the mii files. One trick though - you have to rename them from mii0 to mii9.mii for them to be able to transfer to the wiimote.

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  34. forget to mention a point
    even if you are not using (or won't bother, like me :D) MS's BT driver, there is still a chance for you to connect to the wiimote and transfer mii files.
    Like mine use MSI driver and widcomm software, still good to go

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  35. I've written a simple program called TransferMii (http://stacktic.org/transfermii.tgz) which transfers mii from and to a wiimote.
    It runs under Linux and uses CWiid

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  36. now you only need to make this for mac.... hint hint.

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  37. That's awesome! You've written a program for the Nintendo Wii! I'm difinitely gonna check it out!

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  38. Awesome, I saw this a long time ago but didn't have the hardware to do it. I picked up a bluetooth usb adapter at walmart today for 20 bucks. As soon as I get my comp back I'll give this a shot. Yes I am writing this with my Wii.thanks for writing a how to on this.

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  39. Ok, I got the BT drive and all the jazz installed and the computer recognizes the wiimote and says that the computer and the wiimote have been paired, but the wiimote keeps on flashing its blue lights like nothing happened until it turns off
    i cant figure it out
    someone please help a poor n00b
    btw im running windows

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  40. my problem is that i cannot skip the pairing. like i click the skip button, but it doesnt work.

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  41. i can't skip pairing either. anybody no why? Please help me, i didnt want to buy an adapter for no reason.

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  42. Ok, I can connect my wiimote to bluetooth, but when i finish the setup, I doesn't have the arrows that say its connected? WHY!? My computer recognises my wiimote, but it won't connect and why? Someone please answer me!

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  43. i need exact steps to transferring miis from mii editor to my wii remote.

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  44. hi. i can get my wiimote connected but when i try to use the bat files to send i just get an ERROR.

    on xp sp2 if that helps

    can anyone help?

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  45. Anonymous7:05 PM

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  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  47. the MS bluetooth stack is available on XP SP2. worked for me using a linksys usb bluetooth adapter. however i was banging my head over transferring the miis back to the wii.

    everything was successful except the wii didnt see any of the miis on the controller. this was a fresh controller with no miis ever copied to the save slots via the mii parade interface. so what i had to do was copy over 9 miis from mii parade onto the controller. this initialized the save slots.

    i took the controller back to the comp and transferred all my mii files onto the controller. then the wii saw all of my transferred miis.

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  48. So, even with Nintendo's updates, this kind of Mii editing doesn't lock the console?

    I will finally be able to get my Wii online (college wireless blocks it) when I go home for the break, so I have all those updates to install. I just don't want my shiny new Wii locked up. :(

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  49. Hi ;)

    I can connect my wiimote to bluetooth and I can send Mii to wiimote "Sending Mii .... OK" but my Wii say me that in my wiimote there is no Miis :( why?

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  50. Mii transfer page is apparently nonexistant? I go there(http://www.wiimodwii.com/) but there is no way to transfer mii there, is there?

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  51. not alot of point to use this when u can get wireless internet through the wii itself, and go through pages and download them directly to wii. much easier, or just make them yourself not hard when viewing from a video on youtube

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  52. And if yo still cannot connect your Wiimote with the PC: I had that problem and got the brilliant idea to just switch off the Wii ... and then it magically worked.

    So, if yo want to connect you need to switch off your Wii. press 1+2 and connect via BT.

    Now I need to check out how the transfer works...

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