Thanks for the responses.
For the first question, yes, I made sure that the file after adding was exactly 64 MB (67,108,864 bytes)
The clean dump appears to be precisely 64 MB.
For the second point, at this point I am also thinking that this is more then a simple file size issue.
It may be...
I've been trying to get this running on a DSTT as well.
Confirmed that using YSmenu makes no difference, will still not start (loads to white screen)
However, I have made some progress. I found a small tool that allows you to add a precise amount of zeros to the end of a file. I subtracted...
although i ended up accidentally changing my nand with no way of going back bc i didn't know you needed a gamecube controller to restore it (i have a wii minus/1.1, which doesn't have gamecube controller support)
and if i find the sd card i have my NAND backed up on, i can not only restore the NAND if i solder the right part in, but i can also put my NAND on dolphin, then i can play dolphin online, like PMEX Remix or MKWii Riibalanced