Wii won't play Wii games but will play GAmecube Games? Whats the problem?

[OldSkoolBrian]

Hey
I have a Nintendo Wii that won't play wii games but will play gamecube games with no problem. This happened after a regular dvd movie was put into the console.. Any suggestions on how to repair this? Thanks!

[ncman071]

does your wii resemble a cube?

[Lanzo]

does your wii resemble a cube?

Oh man!!! LOL

[RP2A03]

For whatever reason it seems like Wii discs are harder to read than GameCube discs. The problem you are experiencing is likely caused by a dirty lens. To gain access to the lens for cleaning follow the instructions here (http://www.wiidrivekey.com/wiidisassembly.php) to step 9. From here you should be able to see the lens if you hold it at an angle and look inside. Gently clean the lens with a Q-tip dampened with alcohol. Reassemble as minimally as necessary and test.

[OldSkoolBrian]

does your wii resemble a cube?

Really?

[Leo_A]

He said it happened after mistakingly putting in a DVD video into his Wii.

So we can assume it was able to play Wii disc just fine before that incident, so I don't see how you can consider is as likely being due to a dirty laser.

That said, just the process of putting in a DVD video in the drive isn't going to hurt it any. The drive is fully capable of handling such disc, although the firmware for playback isn't present on stock systems.

[OldSkoolBrian]

The wii did play the Wii games perfectly before the dvd was put into the system.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

For whatever reason it seems like Wii discs are harder to read than GameCube discs. The problem you are experiencing is likely caused by a dirty lens. To gain access to the lens for cleaning follow the instructions here (http://www.wiidrivekey.com/wiidisassembly.php) to step 9. From here you should be able to see the lens if you hold it at an angle and look inside. Gently clean the lens with a Q-tip dampened with alcohol. Reassemble as minimally as necessary and test.

Nintendo actually sells an official lens cleaner, which I've found to work really well ... and of course you don't have to open your system up to use.

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/wii/en_na/acc/cleaningKit.jsp

[RP2A03]

He said it happened after mistakingly putting in a DVD video into his Wii.

So we can assume it was able to play Wii disc just fine before that incident, so I don't see how you can consider is as likely being due to a dirty laser.

That said, just the process of putting in a DVD video in the drive isn't going to hurt it any. The drive is fully capable of handling such disc, although the firmware for playback isn't present on stock systems.

I think that it is likely to be a dirty lens because inserting a DVD movie should not cause any harm and the symptoms are that of a dirty lens. Unless cleaning does not work I consider the DVD movie to be coincidental to the problem.


Nintendo actually sells an official lens cleaner, which I've found to work really well ... and of course you don't have to open your system up to use.

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/wii/en_na/acc/cleaningKit.jsp

I never actually gave that a second thought until now. I just assumed that it was like every other lens cleaner with a brush glued to a disc that was good for nothing more than smacking the lens around. Looks like this should work just as good as a cotton swab; I'll have to remember that for next time.

[Leo_A]

I suspect something more serious is up with it, since he says that Wii disc played just fine beforehand.

Now unless the last time he played a Wii disc was weeks or months before this incident, it just doesn't strike me as very likely that the lens just suddenly got so dirty that it couldn't read Wii disc in the span of time it took to mistakingly insert a DVD video disc.

But it can't hurt to try cleaning it. You never know, I suppose.

[rkotm]

Before you do all that, maybe the Wii is very confused and thinks every Wii game is a DVD movie-Unplug the system (power cable to the Wii AND the outlet) and wait for 10 minutes. Then plug it back up and try again-hopefully it's just a minor error.