Launch Wii drive replacement

[Cornelius]

I've got a friend with a launch Wii where the disc drive is starting to go out. I know that probably getting a cheap replacement Wii would be the best bet for him, but I also happen to have a bricked Korean Wii that I picked up at a garage sale years ago. Any chance that drive will work? I know nothing about Wii revisions (other than the mini/micro) nor anything about region locking (i.e. if that happens in the drive or the console. I figure it is a longshot, but worth checking.

[megasdkirby]

From what I've gathered, there are drives that are "universal" and work with any Wii. Problem is, the newer the console, the less likely the newer drives will read DVD movies.

If this isn't a concern, then replacing it should be much, much easier.

You can just switch the drives on the units to see if it works. Just make sure of connector location.

I will continue to search to see what other info I can come up with.

Found this...try to find each of the units to see what drives they use. If they are the same, the replament should be easy. If they aren't the same, make sure they are compatible by doing a quick search online:

http://www.wiidrives.com/list

[APE992]

I've got a spare drive that *should* work. The Wii it came out of suffered a bad flash but I can tell you this right now that the drive won't be accepting any decent modchips.

But as a replacement drive it should be more than acceptable.

[Cornelius]

Thanks for the replies! I'll report back how things go, and may be in touch with you Ape.