The Wii consumes only 13 watts. Sooooo...

Long story short: I want to turn it into a Print Server/NAS.

Is there software out there that will allow me to do this?

Basically I'm a writer, I have two computers, and I do a lot of printing. It would be convenient to have a low energy device connected to the network I could hook a printer up to.

This would fit the bill times TEN.

[crait]

Sorry....
I know that if you have your printer hard-wired to a computer that happens to have WiFi, you should be able to install some software to print wirelessly with other computers that are on your same network.

[DarkPacMan77]

There is currently nothing like this that your Wii can provide for you other than perhaps something virtual setup online that the Wii accesses over a network. There is currently no third-party software to allow something like this and in my somewhat professional opinion, as a multi-platform homebrew enthusiast, is that something like this won't come along for you for a long time... if at all unless you create it yourself.

There's plenty of computing devices that can have Linux installed that take low power to operate. This is where you should be hunting for answers, as Linux-based operating systems or programs written for them are most likely to be tailored for this specifically. There is, in existence, a method of putting a distribution of Linux on a Wii - debian I think. However, there isn't a functional GUI (Graphical User Interface) to use which would mean breaking everything down into commands yourself and still most likely needing to write specific software yourself or pay someone to do for you.

You can lower the computing power of your own computers by getting the best quality components rated for energy usage with the lowest nanometer chips and whatnot also, which might just fork over the extra savings from electricity consumption to the point where you may not need/want an additional low-power machine altogether.

-DarkPacMan77-

Thanks for the quick and detailed response (you're a far cry from "nes-hacks" I'll tell you that! ).

I was thinking about linux... if there wasn't already a program that just did it.

Since there isn't... Do you have any idea how far off a Gui for the Wii version of Debian is?

This whole thing would be ridiculously easy to setup on my PS3... but I actually use my PS3 for gaming.

I mean since I have a Wii ANYWAY...

Hmm... I would imagine setting up a print server in debian wouldn't be any harder than doing anything else in command line linux. Once the kernel and bash (or whatever debian uses) is loaded I should be off to the races right?

[DarkPacMan77]

Well I mean, it's doable on the Wii still, it's just you'd be more of a pioneer in that field. I myself don't know much about Linux / Unix to say I could do it myself. You could look into a quality wireless printer if you don't need "another machine" specifically to handle it. You'd need networking equipment but I think it'd work for your needs?

I am unsure of the progress on the Linux version for Wii's progress as of now. There may be a better version out even or another type of operating system might be possible. The linux version is a quirky idea but in theory it should absolutely work in my opinion.

-DarkPacMan77-

Well I mean, it's doable on the Wii still, it's just you'd be more of a pioneer in that field. I myself don't know much about Linux / Unix to say I could do it myself. You could look into a quality wireless printer if you don't need "another machine" specifically to handle it. You'd need networking equipment but I think it'd work for your needs?

I am unsure of the progress on the Linux version for Wii's progress as of now. There may be a better version out even or another type of operating system might be possible. The linux version is a quirky idea but in theory it should absolutely work in my opinion.

-DarkPacMan77-

There is most likely a way to do it as there is a FTPII server for the wii there are also alot of wireless applications.
i think there is already one im not 100% sure.
i could ask the nerds in my local chat to have a look it would be pritty cool.

I think that linux is the best(only) way, I mean, your question is very specific, I dont think that somebody would want to make a combined FTP server (or whatever) and a print server. And, the only thing you need is kernel, bash and wifi-support, since wii is powerpc it is not that exotic platform to find .debs (or other packages) for...