If it were as simple as "editing a file", then someone would have used libiosuhax to make an automatic coldboot installer already. Nobody's done it though probably cause anybody who has enough programming knowledge to do such a thing is staying away; it isn't worth the added risk when we already have HBL on sysnand.
Very good information. While it may be an oversimplification, when you boil it down, once you have the prerequisites in place setting up coldboothax is just changing a single value in a system file. I can understand why a dev wouldn't want to release a coldboothax installer. I'm not a dev, but I would imagine that it would be difficult to make such an installer foolproof. For example I would think that it would be difficult, or impossible for all I know, for the installer to verify that Haxchi is setup correctly. I would never use an installer anyways. I may sound nonchalant about the whole process but I was actually very, very careful to ensure that everything was correct prior to rebooting. I wouldn't feel comfortable setting up coldboothax unless I could verify for myself that everything was good to go. HBL on the Wii U menu ain't that great in it's current state. You need to be sigpatched to run it. I didn't realize you could start HBL via quicklaunch. So you don't have to reload CFW or reapply sigpatching when you exit standby mode? I don't get it. If sigpatching survives standby mode then you don't need to quickstart HBL. If sigpatching doesn't stay loaded when entering standby mode then you can't quickstart HBL. I don't really care that it takes a little longer to coldboot CFW. The fact the no user interaction is required is what is most appealing to me.
"Actual ways to brick:
- invalid xml formatting (subtle differences that may not be visible in whitespace-- nintendo's XML formatting isn't even valid XML so really
anything could be invalid)"
Sure, but how are you going to mess up the formatting? You're not adding or subtracting any bytes. Just replacing a value with one of equal size. I just tested editing system.xml with Notepad and it worked fine. The MD5 matched the modified system.xml on my Wii U.
"- editing the wrong file (it's pretty simple to accidentally mess up a different file via wupclient using w.up)"
Is it really? That seems like a stretch. Regardless, if you don't double check what you typed then that's negligence. Besides, I think most people copy/paste from the guide they are following.
"- editing the wrong part of the right file (the guide here doesn't even show what the edited XML file looks like, just mentions the XML key to edit)"
The part of the file that you need to edit should be obvious.
"- putting in the wrong title ID (copying the title ID from the wrong region? where's a list of title IDs? does it have dashes in the title ID? upper/lower case? none of this is covered)"
Use the wrong region? Pay attention to what you're doing. The unmodified file doesn't have a dash in the title ID so why would somebody think they should add one? Also, the value "default_os_id" uses lowercase so the proper case to use should be obvious. I agree that the guide should have the title IDs of the compatible games listed. I used that tile key site, the Wii U title ID database, and I found it listed in another guide somewhere. I made sure to triple check since the guide I used lacked the title ID info.
"- having haxchi improperly configured (probably less likely with the new haxchi installer, but applies to people who have it on usb, or perhaps have a bad/older install from the eshop)"
The guide should absolutely mention that you should test Haxchi prior to altering the system.xml file. I could see that being a brick source. The guide I followed had that step but there's no way I would have proceeded without ensuring that it was set up properly anyway. Testing your Haxchi title should be somewhat obvious but I could definitely see somebody following the steps and not thinking to check.
"- wupclient file transfer failing, due to misc wupserver instabilities (wupclient reports a "0" when the file transfer is successful, this isn't mentioned anywhere here)"
Odd, when I did it python returned a "3" (printed it after the prompt actually). I don't know much about python so since I didn't know what that cryptic s___ meant I pulled the modified system.xml file from the Wii U and compared the MD5 to the file on my PC to ensure it matched. I think that should be in the guide as well. Besides, are the file transfers really that unreliable? I have no idea so I'm just asking.
"If such an installer were to exist and had several checks against bricking, I'd probably have a different attitude towards this, but until then it's not fair to say things like 'don't be a baby, it's simply editing a file. Do you even know how to edit a file?'"
If it were possible to setup coldboothax and brick through no fault of the user I'd probably have a different attitude. I mean I'm not a total d___. I feel bad for the people who have bricked. However, it didn't just magically happen. They failed to ensure that everything was correct prior to reboot so it's their own fault. Also it's not like bricking an $8,000 smart TV. It's a $250 dollar console. Not all that expensive as far as mishaps go. That being said I would have been super mad/sad if I had bricked. That's why I was careful.
"Also tangentially related, but a fw.img shouldn't be required anymore with
https://gbatemp.net/threads/simple-signature-check-patcher.451138/ (
wiiubru link)"
I considered it but it doesn't accomplish what I want. I want no user interaction to be required and I also want the system to always be sigpatched.
Simple signature patcher doesn't reload itself upon exiting system settings like CFW does <--- The latest version does now.
I don't mean to beat you up. I just think that people are being a little ridiculous about this. They're making it seem like anything could go wrong and there's nothing you can do about it.
TL;DR
If you brick from setting up coldboothax then I feel bad for you but it's your own fault for not checking everything prior to rebooting. Although I agree that this guide should have a couple of precautions added to it in order to make it more foolproof.
EDIT: I knew your name was familiar. You're the HB Appstore developer man person guy. Thank you for the wonderful homebrew. v1.5 is working great.
