can you still install homebrew and everything if your wii has been updated with the most recent update, or will it brick up  your wii? if you cant, can you downgrade your wii somehow? thanks for any help!

hey a friend of mine wants to know if its possible to hack a brawl rom on an emulator, and if so how to do it. thanks for any help 

ok so i got homebrew installed, i launced gecko, all was fine and dandy. started the game, went to character select, chose link and metaknight (two ppl i have hacks for) and then at the stage selection i chose battlefield. then the game froze, the tv started going beep constantly,  and my wii remote started vibrating. then i shut off the wii and started the game again without going through homebrew or gecko. same thing happened. finally i took the sd card out and i was able to get it working again. what did i do wrong, and how can i fix it?

Ok so ive been looking  into this hacking stuff for a while now, and i think i understand for the most part. However, i want to be sure Ive got it right before i do anything with my wii. Also, ive read both the Readme and the FAQ on the wiki. So could someone let me know if ive got this right and tell me anything important im missing? 
1st i have to install Smash Stack on my wii, then i can use that to install the Homebrew Channel HackMii thing. Im not sure if i need the Gecko OS or not. I also need to make a codes folder on my SD card and put in the code for the SD loader. After that i can jst put the hacks in the right folder with the right name and load it on my Wii. is that all right? Also, im a complete noob so please forgive my stupidity on this stuff.  Id appreciate any and all help