The WiiKey 2 is the latest chip from the team that brought us the original WiiKey and other great chips such as D2Pro. It looks like they saw there was a lot of cheaper alternatives coming on to the market to the Pro and decided to release a chip to compete with them. The WiiKey v2 has the same feature set as the D2Pro minus the J-Tag upgradability, so far they have proven to be just as stable and high quality. We did think it was a little odd the team release a new chip when Pro is so popular, but by the sounds of it the Actel IC’s used in their production were starting to cost a lot more, and we saw that from the recent price rise, so I guess this is why WiiKey 2 was born. These chips will support all consoles to date including the new D2E chip sets, a 5-wire install for the older model drives such as DMS D2B, and a 6-wire install on the D2C / D2C2 & D2E drives. These chips are perfect for D2B drives with the legs cut, as they don’t use the same points the first versions do.
It looks like the team will also be supporting the WiiKey 2 with regular firmware updates, the first config disk has already been released and we are sure more will follow when needed. Also the have made it so the chip can’t be bricked by a bad flash, there is a built in recovery mode that will allow you to safely restore the chip in the unlikely event of the power going out during an update or for some reason the flash update just did not complete, in the past this would mean one dead chip, so this feature means customers can no longer kill their WiiKey 2 attempting to update them to the latest firmware. Also they have made a region fall back recovery mode which means if the chip was tested on a PAL unit and then shipped and installed in to a NTSC unit, the chip would fallback and reset to NTSC.
Another unique function the guys have added to the WiiKey 2 is a unique serial number that is imbedded in the chip and can be checked by using the config disk, as we all know there is a big problem in the market with factories & stores producing and selling low cost clones of chips from this team, the unique serial number is a way you can safely verify that you have not been sold a clone, we saw with the v1 that in the end places were even copying the holograms supplied with the chips, so now on top of having the hologram shipped, each chip has its unique serial number that you can verify with the team to make sure you were not sold a cheaper inferior clone of their product.
There are a few other low cost chips on the market now, and we hear you saying why should we use WiiKey v2 if we can get a cheaper chip that does the same thing, this is a good question and for some of you the choice for the cheaper solutions might be right for you, they do work and have good stability and can do the job, but one thing some of the cheaper chips do lack is firmware update support, you can be assumed when buying the WiiKey 2 chips that the team will be there to make updates when needed, and even bring handy new features to the chips such as the brick blocker, so for some the cheaper chips will be the solution and for others you may wish to use a chip such as WiiKey 2 which is sitting in the middle on price and function.
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WiiKey 2 Only 5 or 6 Wires
Latest design using just 5 wires for older models
and just 6 wires for the latest models ... |
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Flash Upgradeable By DVD
Upgradebale using a DVD config disk which can be downloaded and burnt in minutes... |
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The WiiKey 2 installation is one of the most simple on the market, it supports a 5 wire install for the older DMS or D2B boards, while having a solid 6-wire install for the D2C / D2C2 & D2E model consoles. So the WiiKey 2 will support all the current drives on the market and possibly any future ones to come as well. We have no doubt that there will be a D2F console due sometime in the near future, and from what the official team tell us it sounds like they should be able to add D2F support to the WiiKey 2 if that chipset is not too much of a variation from the current ones such as D2E. The stability and compatibility of the WiiKey v2 is what you have come to expect from this team, all titles boot first time every time without an glitches which have been found in some other chips on the market, you can feel confidant when installing these chips you won’t hear back from the customers. |
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Another feature of the WiiKey v2 is that like the first model it is totally flash upgradeable using DVD, you just download the latest firmware update from the official website and burn it to DVD and run it in your console, this will then update your chip to the latest firmware. The team will release firmware updates whenever a bug is found with the chips code, or if a game comes out that is not supported by the current firmware on the chip. This function means that this chip will never become obsolete and you won’t have to replace it with another one later down the track because it ceases to function because of a Wii system update or any other unforseen reason to stop the current firmware from working. The team behind the WiiKey 2 are famous for supporting their products and you can be assured that the WiiKey 2 will have the same great support & updates we have all come to expect from this company. |
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Wiikey v2 Simplicity & Functionality
Direct booting of both Wii & Gamecube games, all region support as standard... |
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High Speed Lattice Core IC
Low power design with ultra high speed pathways make the WiiKey 2 the hottest chip for Wii this year... |
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The WiiKey v2 was made with the end user in mind, there are no tricks or hidden procedures that can confuse the user, just burn your backup and insert it and the WiiKey 2 will play. You will of course have to run the configuration disk the first time you install the chip to setup the chips options you would like on such as the brick blocker or all region support, but after that initial setup you can forget about having to mess around with settings. The WiiKey 2 will play games from all regions no matter which region your console is from, and as we mentioned in the top section of this page has a brick blocker function that will make sure you can never damage your Wii by accepting an update from a game outside your consoles region, the WiiKey 2 is user friendly right to the core. |
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These chips are using one of the latest IC from Lattice that has high bandwidth and stability under high temperatures, some people have asked why are they no longer using Actel IC’s, we believe there are two reasons for this, first is because the Actel 250’s used in such chips as the D2Pro are running out of pathways for them to be able to add future chipset support, so these latest Lattice chips used on the WiiKey 2 mean they will be able to add support for new drives types such as D2F where chips like D2Pro might not have enough path ways left without taking out support for an older model, the other reason we believe is the cost of the Actel were getting so high and with the possibility of them not being able to handle another chipset being added the choice was clear. |
WiiKey 2 | Homepage | News | Diagrams | Firmware
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