Do I need to install IOS wads in order for Dolphin to function properly?

[feugatos]

Hi there. New to Dolphin. I'm a bit confused concerning Dolphin and IOS.

I know Dolphin emulates IOS using its IOS HLE. But I've read that for some games to work I need to install the actual IOS required by the game. Is this correct?

All the games I've thrown at Dolphin worked without having to install any system updates.

Will I have to install the actual IOS wads for certain games to work? And if so could you name a few?

Thanks.

[JosJuice]

All games should work without installing any IOS, but you'll need to have the right IOS installed if you want to run certain system software like the Wii Menu and Wii Shop Channel.

[feugatos]

Thanks a lot.

[leolam]

There's a hack specifically to make sure disc games fully work even without any IOS installed. However, if you want Dolphin to be able to return accurate data (which is required for things like homebrew, the System Menu and the shop, as JosJuice said), you need to install IOSes.

Even if Dolphin cannot run them yet:

1) There is a chance it may in the future.
2) We need the titles installed for proper emulation of some IOS commands.

All the games I've thrown at Dolphin worked without having to install any system updates.

From the game list? If so, that's normal. Any update partition is ignored by Dolphin. If you insert the disc in the System Menu, it should prompt you to update (if required).