For those unaware, the "SSL Added and removed here!" image is a reference to a diagram describing unencrypted communications between Google datacenters that leaked from the NSA in 2013 [1].
One of the coolest revelations to me, just looking at the status page [1] is that the Wii only had 88 MB of RAM - split between 24 MB built in to the SoC and 64 MB of GDDR3.
Given that this is the case, ntpd using 15% of the system memory means it was using about 13 MB of RAM - hardly a huge chunk by today's standards but not small either. I wonder if reducing the number of time servers would improve this much? On my system I can see I'm tracking about 9 servers from the debian pool.
Compare this to the XBox 360 which even at the time had 512 MB, it's really amazing how much they managed to squeeze out of such a tiny chip.
> Rebooting NetBSD reboots the whole console, and not just the NetBSD ‘app’, so you’ll find yourself back at the Wii Menu after any kernel patch or system upgrade.
This can be mitigated by installing Priiloader, and having it autoboot into either the Homebrew Channel or the NetBSD .dol file
I love this sorta stuff! I once had my blog hosted on a docker container on my Robot Vacuum. I switched back to a saner host when I started getting uptime alerts when the vacuum went under my bed and lost wifi signal!
Based on previous experience with Wii homebrew, you could probably circumvent the (expected) reliability issues of the smaller SD by swapping to a regular USB thumbdrive post exploit, ports are only 2.0 but you're bound by processor anyway
Blog hosted on a Nintendo Wii
(blog.infected.systems)616 points by edent 21 April 2025 | 103 comments
Comments
[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/new-docs-show-ns...
Given that this is the case, ntpd using 15% of the system memory means it was using about 13 MB of RAM - hardly a huge chunk by today's standards but not small either. I wonder if reducing the number of time servers would improve this much? On my system I can see I'm tracking about 9 servers from the debian pool.
Compare this to the XBox 360 which even at the time had 512 MB, it's really amazing how much they managed to squeeze out of such a tiny chip.
[1] - https://blog.infected.systems/status/
This can be mitigated by installing Priiloader, and having it autoboot into either the Homebrew Channel or the NetBSD .dol file
It seemed magical to me at the time and I still remember going to this site often to see updates (that's why I remember the URL).
Thankfully the Wayback Machine still has it:
https://web.archive.org/web/20030204043536/http://fivemouse....
Please use OBS
Nice work.
https://infosec.exchange/@alexhaydock/114377262481451962
Maybe the next post will say "Blog is hosted on a Nintendo Wii (running Varnish)"
Didnt think I'd ever be id'd so accurately on a blog about running a webserver on a WII.
https://wtfhost.onefreecomputer.org
We also have android dedis.
...Then the hardest part is only remembering what layout you're on if you regularly swap keyboard layouts between QWERTY and QWERTZ
..or wait are you even on a keyboard there?