Hacking Tempory use of gamepad to set-up/hack Wii U

zen333

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So I bought a used Wii U without a gamepad...without realising certain functions necessary when hacking would not be possible without one.

That being said if I did manage to get a gamepad temporarily to set up the internet connection, install custom firmware and the games I want...I should be be able to get by without one afterwards correct? I understand some games need it and that I wouldn't be able to access settings menu/reconnect to internet if I needed to. But actually turning on the system and starting the installed games should be OK with a pro controller correct?
 

The Real Jdbye

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So I bought a used Wii U without a gamepad...without realising certain functions necessary when hacking would not be possible without one.

That being said if I did manage to get a gamepad temporarily to set up the internet connection, install custom firmware and the games I want...I should be be able to get by without one afterwards correct? I understand some games need it and that I wouldn't be able to access settings menu/reconnect to internet if I needed to. But actually turning on the system and starting the installed games should be OK with a pro controller correct?
Yes, but you'll have to edit the Haxchi/CBHC title to not require the gamepad. It's a simple meta.xml edit, there are instructions somewhere on the forum.
I think HBL itself can be navigated with a pro controller. Not sure if it can be navigated with wiimotes/classic controllers though.
Homebrew might be hit and miss. Hopefully some version of WUPInstaller works without a gamepad.
 
Last edited by The Real Jdbye,

zen333

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Yes, but you'll have to edit the Haxchi/CBHC title to not require the gamepad.
For every game or just games that require use of gamepad?

I think HBL itself can be navigated with a pro controller. Not sure if it can be navigated with wiimotes/classic controllers though.
Homebrew might be hit and miss. Hopefully some version of WUPInstaller works without a gamepad.
Buy my idea is to just get the hacking and all the games installed with the gamepad and then never touch any of the HBL again. So I am wondering if the games are just accessible and runnable on the menu just like on a normal Wii U? Or do I have to interact with HBL to start them?
 
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D

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In terms of navigating homebrew without a GamePad;
  • I have an open pull request that allows HBL to be navigated with a Pro Controller, and navigation with the Wii Remote was already possible. Download
  • I have made similar changes to the Homebrew App Store, which has been merged into master and will be available in the next release. If you want the changes now, I'll back-port the change to the currently available version of HBAS and release it.
  • I have forked WUPInstaller GX2 and again performed similar changes. Let me know if you want a built copy of these changes. (Note that I suffered crashing issues with this)
  • Software such as Loadiine GX2 I believe already have this functionality.
  • There may be others that I've missed. Most Wii U software (e.g. Haxchi installer) do in fact require the GamePad in order to navigate, unfortunately.
 

zen333

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Thanks. So it's sound like technically you would only really need a Gamepad to set-up internet and get Haxchi installed? My intention was just to hack then install all the games I want it all in one shot and then never have to do any other installations or touch any of the homebrew stuff again. Hence just simply trying to figure out if I can open and run games once they're on there like they would on a unmodded Wii U? My assumption is most games can be open and run on normal Wii U without a gamepad.
 

The Real Jdbye

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For every game or just games that require use of gamepad?


Buy my idea is to just get the hacking and all the games installed with the gamepad and then never touch any of the HBL again. So I am wondering if the games are just accessible and runnable on the menu just like on a normal Wii U? Or do I have to interact with HBL to start them?
Just the Haxchi/CBHC title. You can do it to other (non system) titles that require the gamepad too, but it won't help if they can't be controlled with a Pro Controller or wiimote.

Well, if you ever decide you want more games, you'll need HBL.
 

Ryab

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Yes, but you'll have to edit the Haxchi/CBHC title to not require the gamepad. It's a simple meta.xml edit, there are instructions somewhere on the forum.
I think HBL itself can be navigated with a pro controller. Not sure if it can be navigated with wiimotes/classic controllers though.
Homebrew might be hit and miss. Hopefully some version of WUPInstaller works without a gamepad.
hbl does not support pro controller sadly only gamepad and wii remote
 

zen333

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The title that Haxchi/CBHC is injected into. It's how you launch homebrew and CFW without using the browser each time.

Do I need to launch or interact with hombrew to play games that have been installed with WUPinstaller? Thats all I'm trying to figure out. Once I have games installed can I just launch them like a normal wii u?
 

AmandaRose

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Do I need to launch or interact with hombrew to play games that have been installed with WUPinstaller? Thats all I'm trying to figure out. Once I have games installed can I just launch them like a normal wii u?
Yes you can then launch them withoit the gamepad.
 

Razor83

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Do I need to launch or interact with hombrew to play games that have been installed with WUPinstaller? Thats all I'm trying to figure out. Once I have games installed can I just launch them like a normal wii u?
Yes and no.

Retail games (Games available on disk) installed with WUPinstaller can usually* be launched from the Wii U main menu without accessing homebrew.
Digital games (eShop) have to be launched through Haxchi/CFW (Or setup CBHC)

*However, some games wiill display a 'GamePad Required' message on the Wii U menu and wont even launch (Even some titles that can actually be played with just the Wii U Pro Controller!) and so far the only way to bypass this message is to edit the games meta.xml file, which does require homebrew.
 
Last edited by Razor83,

AmandaRose

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Yes and no.

Retail games (Games available on disk) installed with WUPinstaller can usually* be launched from the Wii U main menu without accessing homebrew.
Digital games (eShop) have to be launched through Haxchi/CFW.

*However, note that some games wiill display a 'GamePad Required' message on the Wii U menu and wont even launch (Even some titles that can actually be played with just the Wii U Pro Controller!) and so far the only way to bypass this message is to edit you the games meta.xml file, which does require homebrew.
Yes but the op can change the meta.xml when they install the games and as has previously been said they can also do that for haxchi so eshop games will also work without the gamepad.
 
Last edited by AmandaRose,

Razor83

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Yes but the op can change the meta.xml when they install the games and as has previously been said they can also do that for haxchi so no wiiu pad will be required after they have installed everything.
Yes but if the OP doesn't realise they need to access homebrew to edit the meta.xml files then they could run into issues later.
 
Last edited by Razor83,

zen333

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Yes but if the OP doesn't realise they need to access homebrew to edit the meta.xml files then they could run into issues later.

I do now. Thanks.

So is this just a flag in an XML file that would need to be changed? Is this done pre or post game install?
 

bostonBC

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So I bought a used Wii U without a gamepad...without realising certain functions necessary when hacking would not be possible without one.

That being said if I did manage to get a gamepad temporarily to set up the internet connection, install custom firmware and the games I want...I should be be able to get by without one afterwards correct? I understand some games need it and that I wouldn't be able to access settings menu/reconnect to internet if I needed to. But actually turning on the system and starting the installed games should be OK with a pro controller correct?
There are some workarounds but as other have pointed out some/most WIi U games require the gamepad.

Just buy one, that's the easiest path.

The amount of wasted time in trying to hack homebrew and/or games to work without one will pay for a gamepad 10x over.
 
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