Title
Backup Nintendo Wii Discs
Detailed description
There are several potential solutions for backing up Nintendo Wii discs, but finding the right combination of hardware and operating system wasn't possible at the Freiberg event. In lieu of a demonstrable solution I've put together some links to the appropriate resources. I will be trying some of these solutions at home where I'll have access to a better selection of hardware and software.
It should be noted that some of the information / techniques documented and linked to may be of dubious legality.
It is technically possible to back up Wii discs using a PC with a compatible DVD drive attached. The main issue we encountered when trying to copy a Wii disc at the event was that only a small handful of PC DVD drives are able to read discs. An explanation of the issue and a list of suitable DVD drives can be found here 
.
There are linux utilities that can be used to back up discs, but we were unable to try those at the event, as the only linux machines available lacked a DVD drive at all. Many laptops have sacrificed the DVD drive for either size / portability, or to make way for an SSD. It seems likely that the same DVD model restrictions may apply under linux, but this would need to be tested. The eHowTo site gives a walk through for copying Wii discs under linux here .
Given that most of the compatible drives seem to be out of production, a better solution would appear to be the use of a Homebrew Wii console. Internet guides as to how to achieve this have come and gone, but the Lifehacker site have a guide here that's been online for quite some time now. Although this sort of mod risks ruining your Wii hardware, it seems to be fairly straightforward and allows original Wii games to be backed up to, and played from an external USB hard drive, connected to the Wii.
Solution Champion
Carl Wilson
Corresponding Issue(s)
Media migration and emulation of computer games
Tool/code link
Not applicable.
Tool Registry Link
See links to howto sites in the description.
Evaluation
My own experience will be available here when I've attacked the Wii I have sitting at home, but the solution is widely used and seems to be reliable.