Hacking semi bricked vwii

[gi5431]

yeah the vwii works fine just no HBC. IDK about blocking updates but u can set the console so it doesn't log on to your wireless network. Because there is an update for eshop in 5.1.0, I'm assuming if I try to go on eshop it will prompt me to update.

 

[Bug_Checker_]

yeah the vwii works fine just no HBC. IDK about blocking updates but u can set the console so it doesn't log on to your wireless network. Because there is an update for eshop in 5.1.0, I'm assuming if I try to go on eshop it will prompt me to update.

Do you have any content/purchases (of your own) on either the WiiU or vWii that you care about?

 

[gi5431]

nah, everything can go.There is a wii flow forwarder.

 

[Bug_Checker_]

nah, everything can go.There is a wii flow forwarder.

ok for the time being disconnect the WiiU from internet if you are still on 5.0

 

[gi5431]

I can't try anything until tonight - 9:30 pst. What would be next?

 

[gi5431]

it's off the network

 

[Bug_Checker_]

I can't try anything until tonight - 9:30 pst. What would be next?

If your absolute next step (without any help) would be a return to nintendo for service, Then and ONLY then, a bunch of radical crap.

My guess is that you only have ONE shot each update window to correct problems.

If I were designing this system, every time I launched the WiiU from a cold boot/or reformat/maintenance) I would check the vWii side of things for invalid ios's(by sha1 checks of all content "parts" and NOT just firmware name and date and time stamps) and if any were found to be invalidly installed then I would reinstall valid ios's. But the WiiU does not appear to do this or has been disabled from doing that(unlikely).
The problem is the vWii ios's are not updated regularly or if at all.
The Wii Menu Manual , IOS59 and (just recently) IOS62 appear to be the only updates on the vWii side since the system's release. So the vWii side of things probably never checks the validity and version numbers of the IOS's to do cleanups or repairs.
(As I write this, I'm thinking for clarity (we as a community) should begin calling IOS for wiis , vIOS for vWiis and IOSU for WiiUs on the forum. It maybe less confusing for people.)
Anyway, the vWii ios's(00000007-xxxxxxxx) can NOT be downloaded off of Nintendo's servers and used in their current state on the vwii because they are encrypted with what I believe is the vwii commonkey as revealed in the cetk(on the server) by the new commonkey type 2. Those vWii commonkey encrypted ios's are mostly likely archived in some sort of "SAFE_MODE_FIRM" .
I do not know if there are any catastrophic or failsafe system recovery tools for the vWii.

Here's my thinking AFTER checking with others(@damysteryman, @JoostinOnline,marcan_troll ,Cyan etc.) and IF you are going to send in your unit to Nintendo then you have nothing really to lose I would suggest the following(but it is a HUGE risk and especially since you:
do not have an original NAND backup ,
do not have the ability to current do a NAND backup and even if you did have backups you:
don't possess the hardware/skills to install the NAND backup.

SUGGESTED Steps:
If the unit has NOT updated to 5.1 AND is NOT connected to the internet.
Begin deleting vWii vIOS's and System Titles(either completely or partially) in some order that should be agreed upon FIRST:
Then HOPE for an Emergency repair program to Automatically kick in.
If that does NOT happen then do a COLD BOOT to see if an Emergency repair program will Automatically kick in.
If that still doesn't solve the problem then (reconnect to the internet) activating the update to 5.1 MAY do a FULL rebuild of the vWii.

If marcan_trool does comment on this thread, I would be interested if ANY of these are likely to work , what is known of the update process of WiiU and vWii and (if it is not giving too much away) what is HBC actually checking for that is hanging the launcher when people screw with their vIOS's. Is it the sha1's or the firmware/date/time stamp or both (or cetk/tmd etc.)?

 

[Bug_Checker_]

I can't try anything until tonight - 9:30 pst. What would be next?

I just had another thought. Can you run riivolution through Smash Stack or another exploit? Because,if you can, we might be able to patch things that way. Provided riivolution isn't loaded with a bunch of crippling checks.
Also, I thought I remembered tueidj having added wifi logging without usbgecko maybe something similar can be added to SysCheck.

Oh right. The sample loader now initializes the network (which is causing the extra delay) and sends logs over wifi if a USB gecko isn't found (other loaders won't do it unless they add support for it - see the source code). If you want to receive the logs on your PC, get something like netcat and listen for UDP broadcast traffic on port 64444. So for example the netcat command line you would use would be "nc -l -p 64444 -u". If your wii's IP address changes regularly you'll need to restart netcat each time, since once it receives a message it will only show other messages from that same IP address.

 

[gi5431]

I see the plan, Has anyone confirmed that there is an Emergency repair program? Do we know what IOS the update installs to? We would only have to delete 2 or 3 IOS - where the update installs and where we can install HBC.
I like riivolution idea - It sounds low risk. I'll see if I can get it running tonight.

 

[Bug_Checker_]

I see the plan, Has anyone confirmed that there is an Emergency repair program? Do we know what IOS the update installs to? We would only have to delete 2 or 3 IOS - where the update installs and where we can install HBC.
I like riivolution idea - It sounds low risk. I'll see if I can get it running tonight.

Please ReRead my post about my suggestion about deleting.
To be clear: DO NOT DELETE ANY IOS'S until a plan is approved of FIRST.
IF it comes to that it will ONLY be a LAST resort before shipping back to Nintendo.

To Be Clear: We would be actively trying to BRICK your vWii in the hopes that there is a failsafe program.

 

[gi5431]

riivolution booted. We've got 3 options, install, launch, exit

 

[Cyan]

How is triggered the update on WiiU?
the console is checking for a version string or a value to tell "come to the server and download missing/old files" ?
or is there a list of defined files to download for each updates?

If it's a list of files, deleting an IOS will not redownload it.
if it's checking for missing/older files compared to current version on NUS, then it's fine and he can delete IOS.


Can't we trigger the update (using a proxy redirection) to fake a new update to force the console to download missing and outdated files?

 

[gi5431]

I'm in today so I can play about with it all day. I'm reading up on how updates work but there's not much info on what we want to know. Is there any hope with riivolution idea?

 

[gi5431]

Maybe missing IOS on vWii will be re-downloaded when the WiiU triggers the update.
I've read another user did it (in the previous thread, where we were helping the other user).

I can't guarantee it, as I never did it nor don't understand how vWii is updated on WiiU update.
If you are willing to try, and if you manage to delete IOS on vWii (you might require AHB access to do that), it's worth a try. your current IOS are not working anyway.

before deleting them, let's get sure it's ok by asking other users

Hey guys, Bit of an odd request but I need help bricking my vwii. lol. I just phoned the big N and told them that my vwii was bricked - I couldn't say I just can't install HBC. They told me $80 and 27 days to fix it. I would still prefer for us to fix it ourselves and save $80 but we are now free to experiment and be as radical as we want - If we can brick it, I'll be happy with the outcome. I know I'm being inpatient but the amount of anxiety this has been giving me, $80 seems like a good deal.

I'm not going to do anything before I spk to you guys just because it will be useful to you from a research point of view.

BTW The nintendo 'put u on hold' music is awesome.

 

[Bug_Checker_]

Spoiler

Hey guys, Bit of an odd request but I need help bricking my vwii. lol. I just phoned the big N and told them that my vwii was bricked - I couldn't say I just can't install HBC. They told me $80 and 27 days to fix it. I would still prefer for us to fix it ourselves and save $80 but we are now free to experiment and be as radical as we want - If we can brick it, I'll be happy with the outcome. I know I'm being inpatient but the amount of anxiety this has been giving me, $80 seems like a good deal.

I'm not going to do anything before I spk to you guys just because it will be useful to you from a research point of view.

BTW The nintendo 'put u on hold' music is awesome.

Please try to be patient.
While we wait for others to chime in on the update/delete question. I'm am very encouraged that you are willing to brick a vWii but before you do that take sometime and carefully think and answer the following list of questions. (I'll explain later.)
If you can recall ANY and ALL details, I would like to know absolutely EVERYTHING about your WiiU.
And then EVERYTHING you did to it. Whatever you can recall it is important.(I'll explain later.)
Start with:
New/used?
Region?
Version (when purchased)?
Updated yes/no?
Updated how? by disc/by internet?
How many updates from version to version (to version etc)?
All updates by disc or by internet or combo (be specific if by combo)?
Length of time you owned it?
Are you in sole control of WiiU or could others have tampered with it?
About how many hours do you have on WiiU?
About how many hours do you have on vWii?

Did you have a mii?
Did you access/use the miiverse?
Did you access/use the Friend Lists? (Do you have friends on the WiiU?)
Did you access/use the eshop?
Did you make ANY purchases from eshop?(free or otherwise?)
Did you access/use the Internet Browser?(if yes on a regular basis?)
Did you access/use Nintendo Tvii?
Did you access/use Download Management?
Did you access/use Mii Maker?
Did you access/use Notifications?
Did you access/use WiiU Chat?
Did you access/use Nintendo Network?
Did you access/use Parental Controls? if they were used,are they still in use?
Did you access/use Health and Safety?
Did you access/use System Settings? what did you change from default if anything?
Did you access/use Wii/vWii?
Did you do ANY system transfers?
What are ALL the accessories which have been connected to your WiiU/vWii?(how many of each?)
What software/channels did you have on WiiU/vWii when it was working?

If I am leaving questions off the list about the hardware/software of the WiiU/vWiii PRIOR to the problem, please add them(and thank you in advance for excluding the humorous/off topic questions)

Before this current problem, did you experience ANYTHING abnormal related to the WiiU/vWii either in hardware or software?

Did you ever format the WiiU/vWii? if so, when and under what conditions?

Ok that should end the known working state of the WiiU/vWii PRIOR to the problem section!

How did you get to the current problem?
list everything you did to your vWii when it started to cause problems
list every piece of software you used(and the version used)
list every instruction you followed.
Include every link you have used to get software/programs EXCEPT FOR COPYRIGHTED SOFTWARE.
Anything that is copyrighted just include md5 or sha1 of them so I can identify them.

Start with that. Take your time and be as complete as possible. I'll ask followup questions if I'm confused.

 

[gi5431]

Start with:
New/used?...................................................................................................New
Region?.......................................................................................................USA
Version (when purchased)?...........................................................................03/2013
Updated yes/no?...........................................................................................yes
Updated how? by disc/by internet?..................................................................Mario 3d world and the rest online
How many updates from version to version (to version etc)?.............................No idea
All updates by disc or by internet or combo (be specific if by combo)?................Mario 3d world and the rest online
Length of time you owned it?..........................................................................From 03/2013
Are you in sole control of WiiU or could others have tampered with it?................Only me
About how many hours do you have on WiiU?...................................................Average usage
About how many hours do you have on vWii?...................................................Hardly any, 5 max

Did you have a mii?.......................................................................................Just made it quick
Did you access/use the miiverse?....................................................................Nope
Did you access/use the Friend Lists? (Do you have friends on the WiiU?).............Nope
Did you access/use the eshop?........................................................................Had a quick look, didn't DL anything
Did you make ANY purchases from eshop?(free or otherwise?)...........................Nope
Did you access/use the Internet Browser?(if yes on a regular basis?)..................Nope
Did you access/use Nintendo Tvii?....................................................................Nope - Only TV handset
Did you access/use Download Management?.....................................................Nope
Did you access/use Mii Maker?.........................................................................Nope
Did you access/use Notifications?.....................................................................Nope
Did you access/use WiiU Chat?........................................................................Nope
Did you access/use Nintendo Network?.............................................................It loggs on to my wifi but I don't really use anything
Did you access/use Parental Controls? if they were used,are they still in use?......Nope
Did you access/use Health and Safety?.............................................................Nope
Did you access/use System Settings? what did you change from default if anything?.....Internet setting and No auto update
Did you access/use Wii/vWii?...........................................................................Only while flashing
Did you do ANY system transfers?.....................................................................Nope
What are ALL the accessories which have been connected to your WiiU/vWii?(how many of each?)....Wii remote and PS3 pad (nintendon't)
What software/channels did you have on WiiU/vWii when it was working?..............HBC and wii flow

Before this current problem, did you experience ANYTHING abnormal related to the WiiU/vWii either in hardware or software?.......Nope

Did you ever format the WiiU/vWii? if so, when and under what conditions?.............Factory reset after HBC stopped working

list every piece of software you used(and the version used)...................................Games I own - Nintendo world, Mario 3d land, luigi U, new mario U, zelda WW,
vwii - lego batman

 

[gi5431]

TBH guys, I think this thread is dying so I'm gonna try to brick my vwii later and get it sent off to the big N - It's depressing me too much seeing it on the side. I like the cyans idea of uninstalling the IOS and running the update so I think that's going to be the plan - although I'm not sure if I should delete all IOS or just a couple. If anyone has any advice or if anyone wants me to try something for research purposes, I'm all ears. Thanks

 

[Bug_Checker_]

Spoiler

Start with:
New/used?...................................................................................................New
Region?.......................................................................................................USA
Version (when purchased)?...........................................................................03/2013
Updated yes/no?...........................................................................................yes
Updated how? by disc/by internet?..................................................................Mario 3d world and the rest online
How many updates from version to version (to version etc)?.............................No idea
All updates by disc or by internet or combo (be specific if by combo)?................Mario 3d world and the rest online
Length of time you owned it?..........................................................................From 03/2013
Are you in sole control of WiiU or could others have tampered with it?................Only me
About how many hours do you have on WiiU?...................................................Average usage
About how many hours do you have on vWii?...................................................Hardly any, 5 max

Did you have a mii?.......................................................................................Just made it quick
Did you access/use the miiverse?....................................................................Nope
Did you access/use the Friend Lists? (Do you have friends on the WiiU?).............Nope
Did you access/use the eshop?........................................................................Had a quick look, didn't DL anything
Did you make ANY purchases from eshop?(free or otherwise?)...........................Nope
Did you access/use the Internet Browser?(if yes on a regular basis?)..................Nope
Did you access/use Nintendo Tvii?....................................................................Nope - Only TV handset
Did you access/use Download Management?.....................................................Nope
Did you access/use Mii Maker?.........................................................................Nope
Did you access/use Notifications?.....................................................................Nope
Did you access/use WiiU Chat?........................................................................Nope
Did you access/use Nintendo Network?.............................................................It loggs on to my wifi but I don't really use anything
Did you access/use Parental Controls? if they were used,are they still in use?......Nope
Did you access/use Health and Safety?.............................................................Nope
Did you access/use System Settings? what did you change from default if anything?.....Internet setting and No auto update
Did you access/use Wii/vWii?...........................................................................Only while flashing
Did you do ANY system transfers?.....................................................................Nope
What are ALL the accessories which have been connected to your WiiU/vWii?(how many of each?)....Wii remote and PS3 pad (nintendon't)
What software/channels did you have on WiiU/vWii when it was working?..............HBC and wii flow

Before this current problem, did you experience ANYTHING abnormal related to the WiiU/vWii either in hardware or software?.......Nope

Did you ever format the WiiU/vWii? if so, when and under what conditions?.............Factory reset after HBC stopped working

list every piece of software you used(and the version used)...................................Games I own - Nintendo world, Mario 3d land, luigi U, new mario U, zelda WW,
vwii - lego batman

That is AWESOME and quite complete. I maybe be able to duplicate your setup on my WiiU but it may take some time.
Do you believe the WiiU had it's original launch day firmware(1.0.x) on it?(example no vWii).
And if you can recall what update you started with that was on Mario 3D?
After that I'll just assume you updated over the internet whenever possible.

 

[gi5431]

I'm pretty sure it came with the came with vwii already on it but i'm not too sure. It updated for about an 2 hrs when i first turned it on.

 

[Bug_Checker_]

TBH guys, I think this thread is dying so I'm gonna try to brick my vwii later and get it sent off to the big N - It's depressing me too much seeing it on the side. I like the cyans idea of uninstalling the IOS and running the update so I think that's going to be the plan - although I'm not sure if I should delete all IOS or just a couple. If anyone has any advice or if anyone wants me to try something for research purposes, I'm all ears. Thanks

I do NOT have a problem with you trying to brick but before you do are you able to backup your NAND with DumpMiiNand?

Until I fix the issue about TMD size (it's not so much a bug as more laziness from the original version of SysCheck), I'll make a version that skips vIOS36 and post it here. I'll try to make a proper fix in the next version.

This should skip vIOS36.

http://expirebox.com/download/9b5bf437e255430d82aedf51dfae7b23.html

try this alternate SysCheck to see if it works for you