This method has been circulating around since yesterday. Presumably, it was discovered on a Chinese forum.

Using this method allows you to stay connected without DNS blocking, and therefore have complete access to Nintendo services.

There are some concerns floating around about this process. So here is a complete guide detailing the process.

Disclaimer:
The following guide tampers with your NAND. Use this with caution or there is a good chance you'll MESS UP your Wii U for good, or even BRICK!

Requirements:

• A Wii U & SD: Firmware and SD size doesn't matter as long as you satisfy the other conditions
• Mocha Or Haxchi
• HBL on SD card
• ftpiiu_everywhere (Haxchi) on SD card
• Access to HBL: Browserhax, Haxchi/CBHC, or any other form of entry point, are all fine. As long as you access it.
• A PC with FTP Client: Technically it doesn't have to be a PC. It can even be done on your phone with an FTP Client. I'm using the PC for the simplicity of it. FileZilla IS RECOMMENDED.
• Optional: Use Nand Dumper to back up your nand with all it's contents, as well as dumping the OTP and SEEPRPOM. By having those, you can unbrick your system with a hardmod at any point. Dumping MLC will require a 64GB SD card if your Wii U is 32GB, or 16GB SD card if your Wii U is 8GB.

1A) Using Haxchi/CBHC:

1. System Menu: Have Haxchi reboot to System menu.
2. System Menu: Launch HBL via Haxchi or browser.
3. HBL: Launch ftpiiu_everywhere.
4. Proceed to section "2)" of the guide to block updates. Proceed to section "3)" if you want to unblock them again.

1B) Using Mocha:

1. System Menu: Launch HBL via browser.
2. HBL: Start Mocha (Using default values are fine)
3. System Menu: Launch HBL via browser again.
4. HBL: Launch ftpiiu_everywhere.
5. Proceed to section "2)" of the guide to block updates. Proceed to section "3)" if you want to unblock them again.

2) Modifying your Nand, and blocking updates:

1. PC: Use an FTP client to connect to your Wii U using the IP address and port on your Wii U screen.
2. PC: Once connected, Navigate to: "storage_mlc/sys/"
3. PC: Locate "update" folder, right-click it and Pick "File Permissions". Make sure it's the same as the screenshot below. If it's not the same, then make note of that. You will need it if you want to enable updates later. If it's the Same, then proceed to the next Step.
   
4. PC: Delete “update” folder.
5. Wii U: Press "Home" button to get back to HBL, press it again to get back to Mii Maker.
6. Wii U: Exit Mii Maker, and click on system settings.
7. System Settings: Attempt to update your Wii U as Normal. A few seconds after it starts and the progress bar appears, it should give out this error code: 105-3012. If the progress bar actually continues to move, TURN OFF THE WII U IMMEDIATELY!! Recheck your steps, cause something went wrong.

3) Unblocking updates:

If for whatever reason, you would like to return the Wii U to it's original updating state, start by following "1A)" or "1B)" of the guide, then proceed to the next step of this section:

1. PC: Use an FTP client to connect to your Wii U using the IP address and port on your Wii U screen.
2. PC: Once connected, Navigate to: "storage_mlc/sys/"
3. PC: Right-click, and select "Create Directory". Create “update” folder. Once created, right-click again, and select "File Permissions".
4. PC: When you originally did section "2)", if your permissions were the same as the screenshot in that section, enter those same permissions here. If not, then you should have noted them down somewhere. Enter those values instead, then click ok.
5. Wii U: Press "Home" button to get back to HBL, press it again to get back to Mii Maker.
6. Wii U: Exit Mii Maker, and click on system settings.
7. System Settings: Attempt to update your Wii U as Normal. It should proceed to update normally.

Credits:
@fejich for being the first to notify us about a Chinese website doing this method in this thread
@Shaoxudong for translating the process, and testing it.

 

[godreborn]

I think this is the correct wupserver command line for the update folder since people r reporting that u can't add permissions:

w.chmod("/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/update", 0x755)

the folder must exist first in that location as well. that's correct, right?

 

[BIFFTAZ]

Thanks for the tut. Just done this & its all gone perfectly so far. Just one question... Is it possible for this update folder to somehow recreate itself? Has this happened to anyone as of yet? Thought I'd ask.

 

[Madridi]

Thanks for the tut. Just done this & its all gone perfectly so far. Just one question... Is it possible for this update folder to somehow recreate itself? Has this happened to anyone as of yet? Thought I'd ask.

Nope. At least not that we know of.

And you're welcome

 

[johsam]

Tnx for the well-written guide. Followed it and it worked perfectly.

Got haxchi from earlyer so updating to 5.5.2 wouldn't be the end of the world but I feel better staying on 5.5.1 in case
the haxchi would break, and now i can skip the DNS-block and use nnu-patcher when i wanna update games or access eshop

 

[David1357]

Hi guys,
I've used the noob guide for wii u hacking,
https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-noob-guide-to-wii-u-hacking.451297/
And it seems like DNS servers were down, and my wii u got updated to the last version.

So, I bought another wii u, and this time I want another layer of protection, as obviously DNS alone won't do. I thought to retry with Nintendo servers blocked from router, but that might not allow me to d/l a title from the EStore which is needed to install Haxchi.

So, I thought I could use the folder deletion trick. But for that you need a modded wii u to some degree.

So, I wonder whether you can tell me, after which step of the noob tutorial should I stop and try this tutorial?

 

[kevdawg]

If I am still running rednand, do I need to do both steps 1A and 1B?

 

[Elbarto1]

Thank you for this thread. Very helpful tutorial and as always, friendly. Much appreciated!

 

[Cyan]

So, I wonder whether you can tell me, after which step of the noob tutorial should I stop and try this tutorial?

After Step3

First you choose a way to launch your hacks (haxchi or browser)
if you choose haxchi to get a persistent way to launch homebrew, you get the NDS game and replace it with haxchi.
if you choose browser, there's nothing to do in step 2.

Step 3 is NAND backup

Now you can do what you want, either "don't pirate" or "pirate". See the step 4 is covering the different game playing method ("do you want to play wiiU games?")
if you don't want to install/pirate games, you can stop at step 3.

Now you can follow other guides to do other things, like launching homebrew app, homebrew games, etc.

So, you need to run Mocha or Haxchi or CBHC, and use ftpiiu_everywhere to access your internal file system and delete the update folder.

 

[naddel81]

So, did anybody brick his Wii U using this method?
I am a bit frightened of deleting the folder.

 

[C0mm4nd_]

So, did anybody brick his Wii U using this method?
I am a bit frightened of deleting the folder.

you can't really brick

 

[naddel81]

good to know. I just deleted the update folder. on top of that I still have DNS blocking and router blocks enabled. so unless nintendo puts out a new Wii U game with a higher update on disc, I don't see a chance they can update my console without me noticing.

 

[Madridi]

good to know. I just deleted the update folder. on top of that I still have DNS blocking and router blocks enabled. so unless nintendo puts out a new Wii U game with a higher update on disc, I don't see a chance they can update my console without me noticing.

I'd say it's pointless to have DNS enabled if you deleted the update folder. But to each their own I suppose

 

[godreborn]

I'd say it's pointless to have DNS enabled if you deleted the update folder. But to each their own I suppose

that's actually how I have mine setup. I also have a second wii u completely unmodded blocking updates via my laptop. both of my systems are. what you need now is a way to recreate the update folder with the correct permissions via wupserver. I think I know how with chmod.

 

[Madridi]

that's actually how I have mine setup. I also have a second wii u completely unmodded blocking updates via my laptop. both of my systems are. what you need now is a way to recreate the update folder with the correct permissions via wupserver. I think I know how with chmod.

Dont all clients allow you to simply right click and assign permissions, similar to FileZilla? Cause that's only a few ticks marks. Doesn't even take 10 seconds

 

[godreborn]

I was unable to fix permissions in that way with filezilla. it wouldn't allow that with folders unless u mean creating the folder on the system, then assigning permissions. I was trying to assign permissions on a folder on my laptop.

 

[Madridi]

I was unable to fix permissions in that way with filezilla. it wouldn't allow that with folders unless u mean creating the folder on the system, then assigning permissions. I was trying to assign permissions on a folder on my laptop.

Huh? It worked for me several times I tried it. What did you exactly do?

Btw its worth noting that the whole permission thing might just be extra precaution from my side. I'm not entirely sure it actually matters. The whole point of me having it in the guide was to get the update folder back to the exact original state it was in before deleting, regardless if it was needed or not

 

[godreborn]

I think the problem is that the folder/file needs to be on the system in order to assign permissions. u can't assign permissions to a folder/file on the computer running filezilla before uploading as there's no option for it. file permissions should be the last option in the command window. you're able to assign permissions while the folder is on the system? I thought even renaming the folder ended in failure?

 

[Madridi]

I think the problem is that the folder/file needs to be on the system in order to assign permissions. u can't assign permissions to a folder/file on the computer running filezilla before uploading as there's no option for it. file permissions should be the last option in the command window. you're able to assign permissions while the folder is on the system? I thought even renaming the folder ended in failure?

Yeah I dont know about assigning on the PC itself. Not sure why you'd even need to create that on the PC to begin with. I just directly created it on the system, and assigned the permissions after creating it.

And yeah, the way the system is handling it is weird. It wont allow you to rename, and wont allow you to add permissions other than the one in the pic, or take off permissions of the stuff in the pic. But setting it exactly to those permissions work.

 

[godreborn]

alright. I have no plans to recreate the folder at this time. I did get crunchy roll from the eshop just in case I do update, only if there's an exploit for 5.5.2. I was merely curious how u could create the folder with the correct permissions. thank u. I never tried creating the folder on the system itself, then assigning permissions.

 

[Kleyon]

So, did anybody brick his Wii U using this method?
I am a bit frightened of deleting the folder.

Risk of bricking is only if you delete files you're not supposed to. If you only delete update folder pointed by this tutorial, there's really no risk.