Tutorial Blocking WiiU Update Domains With OpenDNS

[TotalInsanity4]

No because when I sign up and I will never come back because all I want is an opendns. You understand what I mean ?
Look above.

I kind of see what you're saying. It doesn't matter if you come back, though, it still needs you to login so that it can configure for your IP address. It doesn't matter if you intentionally forget both your username and password after you set it up to block the Nintendo addresses

 

[Cyan]

Why do I get the impression that TotalInsanity4 is intentionally ignoring my questions I ask him about using OpenDNS to achieve both online gameplay but also preventing Nintendo's update servers from installing updates on the Wii U? Was I in the wrong for wanting clarification and for wanting to be sure that a balance can be done with this method?

Because I answered your question, but you intentionally ignored it too?
sorry that I don't always quote previous poster's content when it's answering a question from the natural flow of a conversation.

I was the one doing the tests, not him, so I thought the question was directed to me so I answered you myself.
Why would he have to answer something he wasn't the user reporting/trying?

I'll quote my answer :

So, does that mean a perfect balance of not updating and going online can be achieved..?

that's what I want to know.

Not updating : Check (even if scary to see it downloading empty files)
online play : Check (Already possible by blocking only the 6 URLs from the tutorial)
Eshop access : ... you tell me

I don't have eshop access and I asked someone to try.
We don't know yet as nobody tried, so nobody can answer you!

Why don't you try if you are on 5.3.2 and let us know if it's doing what you (we all?) expect?

Just refresh Wiimpersonator before trying, to be sure there's no new update.
5.4 or 6.0 will not be few Mb more more ~1GB so if it starts downloading it it will not complete it in a flash. you can always block updates to download blank files and force the console to delete the partially downloaded update.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

I'm testing later today, as I finally have the time to. Sit tight for answers by mid-afternoon, most likely

 

[the_randomizer]

Because I answered your question, but you intentionally ignored it too?
sorry that I don't always quote previous poster's content when it's answering a question from the natural flow of a conversation.

I was the one doing the tests, not him, so I thought the question was directed to me so I answered you myself.
Why would he have to answer something he wasn't the user reporting/trying?

I'll quote my answer :

I don't have eshop access and I asked someone to try.
We don't know yet as nobody tried, so nobody can answer you!

Why don't you try if you are on 5.3.2 and let us know if it's doing what you (we all?) expect?

Just refresh Wiimpersonator before trying, to be sure there's no new update.
5.4 or 6.0 will not be few Mb more more ~1GB so if it starts downloading it it will not complete it in a flash. you can always block updates to download blank files and force the console to delete the partially downloaded update.

He already answered me via PM, it's cool, dude, he was at school at the time and didn't have time to reply right away, all is well No worries. I don't know if he has had the time to test out that method yet.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Ok, so here's what I've come up with when only the three "nus.cdn..." domains are blocked: Yes, you can enter the eShop, however, the Wii U CAN detect what version you are on now, and, in the case of an out-of-date Wii U, will try to connect to the update server. I am assuming that what Cyan has said about downloading fake 0MB files is correct as I don't have a WiFi sniffer (unless someone can point me to a good app for Android or Windows). If this is indeed the case, then I will update the OP with a "RISKY" option near the bottom, after all the steps, so someone would have to read the entire tutorial first so they know their options

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Updated OP with information, along with a big fat "non-liability" statement. Please note that when using the "Risky" option, you are choosing to do something that I personally would recommend against for safety reasons, as there is a workaround that I have already published for the benefits it provides. I will not be responsible for any potential brickage (worst case scenario) or updating (second-worst case scenario) that may occur. In shorter terms: This guide comes with no warranty, express or implied.

Also note that the original tutorial that I posted is still very much safe and very thoroughly tested to date as it totally blocks the Wii U's ability to even seek updates, which is why I recommend blocking the six domains over just the three

 

[Cyan]

did you try downloading something from eshop? a demo, video, game update, etc
I don't know if it requires cdn access or not.

About the 0byte file, it's only when I'm using CCProxy with empty error message.
It seems OpenDNS is sending a custom html page for blocked URLs, so it's not 0byte, but more like ~1Kb

Thank you for trying

 

[spotanjo3]

I kind of see what you're saying. It doesn't matter if you come back, though, it still needs you to login so that it can configure for your IP address. It doesn't matter if you intentionally forget both your username and password after you set it up to block the Nintendo addresses

True but I think there is a way to work around instead of just login.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

did you try downloading something from eshop? a demo, video, game update, etc
I don't know if it requires cdn access or not.

About the 0byte file, it's only when I'm using CCProxy with empty error message.
It seems OpenDNS is sending a custom html page for blocked URLs, so it's not 0byte, but more like ~1Kb

Thank you for trying

That's a good question; I have a few things I still need to redeem from Club Nintendo, so I will test that before I try downloading as well

True but I think there is a way to work around instead of just login.

Sorry, but there really isn't :/ Unless you use URL filtering through your router or something, but any online tool will always require you to log in no matter what. If you don't have a computer to set it up with, you can even do it through the Wii U web browser

 

[Cyan]

If you don't want to register to a website to filter URLs, you can use the proxy solution.
You setup your console to pass through your computer to access internet, and let your computer do the filtering.

look in the FAQ for CCProxy guide.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

So I've tested downloading Mario Kart 8 update data and DLC with the three "nus.cdn" domains blocked, and it doesn't want to work. I'm thinking that the "risky" option might be kind of obsolete

 

[endoverend]

Cool, worked perfectly. Thanks

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Cool, worked perfectly. Thanks

Good to hear!

 

[Cyan]

Thank you for testing it.
So the "risky option" is good only to browse the eshop but not to download anything.
Maybe the advantage is to allow access to other services, like miiverse? (is it blocked with the 6 URLs too?)

I will edit ccproxy guide to reflect that.

So, all the files (being updates or games or demo) are all located on cdn. It's Good to know.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Thank you for testing it.
So the "risky option" is good only to browse the eshop but not to download anything.
Maybe the advantage is to allow access to other services, like miiverse? (is it blocked with the 6 URLs too?)

I will edit ccproxy guide to reflect that.

So, all the files (being updates or games or demo) are all located on cdn. It's Good to know.

I believe that Miiverse works even with all six domains blocked. I'm going to edit the spoiler for the risky option to say that you can only browse the eShop, not download from it

Edit: Did so

 

[keven3477]

thanks for this tutorial, cant believe I never saw it before.
do you know if this can block updates from discs or do those updates come from inside the discs

 

[TotalInsanity4]

thanks for this tutorial, cant believe I never saw it before.
do you know if this can block updates from discs or do those updates come from inside the discs

It only blocks online updates. On-disk updates come directly from a partition on the disk that wouldn't be able to be blocked without somehow patching it out on the fly

 

[Borge63]

Hey there [user]TotalInsanity4[/user]!

First of all, cool work, this kind of stuff is always really apreciated.


Moreover, I've been wondering if there's a 100% efficient way of blocking updates while still allowing online playing ( let us sacrifice eShop ). As most of us mortals do not have an static WAN IP adress (as ISPs usually fee for their use thanks jerks) the dynamic ip updater is quite a great solution, but it has some flaws hasn't it? I mean, for it to be completely reliable we would need to be refreshing the ip continuously, as we never know when the ISP is gonna change it, or at least we would need to execute an update everytime we turn on our Wii U just right before doing so, wouldn't we? It's kinda tedious to have a computer running 24/7 or need to boot a pc just to turn on your wii u, so hope my ignorance wins this time and you can tell me a solution!

I tried setting the router's DNS to the one in openDNS, and actually it did blocked updates but didn't let me play online. Right now I've come back to the settings in the tutorial and it doesn't even block updates! No big deal I hope, I'll check it out later.

Furthermore, could you clarify me how turning off quick menu and changing any setting on the wii u telling it not to perform actions while it is off could help block updates or is it plainly useless?

Edit: I got some more time to test things and discover some cool stuff which might be useful for other users in the same situation as me. I'll give a brief explanation in case you want to add it at the bottom of the tutorial:

• First of all, follow every step on this tutorial (kinda straight-forward right?).

• If you've already ensured you didn't fuck up during the process (hard to do actually, but double-check mistyping errors just in case) I'm afraid your ISP might not allow you to use third-party DNS providers.

• Don't freak out! You can easily dissipate any doubt here.

For those feeling extra lazy today, in sum it tells you to open your OS terminal and type the following depending on your OS:​

1. Windows & Linux: nslookup -type=txt debug.opendns.com. 208.67.222.222
2. Mac: /usr/bin/dig @208.67.222.222 +time=10 debug.opendns.com txt

Now if you get an output similar to this one I got some bad news for you!​

​

Spoiler: Results

Results for: nslookup -timeout=10 -type=txt debug.opendns.com. 208.67.222.222
stdout:
Server: resolver1.opendns.com
Address: 208.67.222.222
stderr:*** resolver1.opendns.com can't find debug.opendns.com.: Non-existent domain

​

But don't worry, a bit of extra work should do: you just need to change not only your Wii U's DNS (it will work even if you keep it dynamical after performing this, but I DO recommend to leave it the way the tutorial tells us) but also your router's DNS. You'll probably need an administrator account to your router (don't worry if you don't know it, resetting the router will enable you to use the default one). Check if your router is in this list and follow the guide attached to it or follow the general one if applies. Do not alarm if yours is not in the list (mine wasn't), just google a little bit about how to change your ISP's router's DNS and it's just a matter of time!​

Hope you find this useful! Know to work perfectly today: no updates, nor store but I could still play MK8 DLC and kick some asses in the track!

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Hey there [user]TotalInsanity4[/user]!

First of all, cool work, this kind of stuff is always really apreciated.


Moreover, I've been wondering if there's a 100% efficient way of blocking updates while still allowing online playing ( let us sacrifice eShop ). As most of us mortals do not have an static WAN IP adress (as ISPs usually fee for their use thanks jerks) the dynamic ip updater is quite a great solution, but it has some flaws hasn't it? I mean, for it to be completely reliable we would need to be refreshing the ip continuously, as we never know when the ISP is gonna change it, or at least we would need to execute an update everytime we turn on our Wii U just right before doing so, wouldn't we? It's kinda tedious to have a computer running 24/7 or need to boot a pc just to turn on your wii u, so hope my ignorance wins this time and you can tell me a solution!

I tried setting the router's DNS to the one in openDNS, and actually it did blocked updates but didn't let me play online. Right now I've come back to the settings in the tutorial and it doesn't even block updates! No big deal I hope, I'll check it out later.

Furthermore, could you clarify me how turning off quick menu and changing any setting on the wii u telling it not to perform actions while it is off could help block updates or is it plainly useless?

Edit: I got some more time to test things and discover some cool stuff which might be useful for other users in the same situation as me. I'll give a brief explanation in case you want to add it at the bottom of the tutorial:

• First of all, follow every step on this tutorial (kinda straight-forward right?).

• If you've already ensured you didn't fuck up during the process (hard to do actually, but double-check mistyping errors just in case) I'm afraid your ISP might not allow you to use third-party DNS providers.

• Don't freak out! You can easily dissipate any doubt here.

For those feeling extra lazy today, in sum it tells you to open your OS terminal and type the following depending on your OS:​

1. Windows & Linux: nslookup -type=txt debug.opendns.com. 208.67.222.222
2. Mac: /usr/bin/dig @208.67.222.222 +time=10 debug.opendns.com txt

Now if you get an output similar to this one I got some bad news for you!​

​

Spoiler: Results

Results for: nslookup -timeout=10 -type=txt debug.opendns.com. 208.67.222.222
stdout:
Server: resolver1.opendns.com
Address: 208.67.222.222
stderr:*** resolver1.opendns.com can't find debug.opendns.com.: Non-existent domain

​

But don't worry, a bit of extra work should do: you just need to change not only your Wii U's DNS (it will work even if you keep it dynamical after performing this, but I DO recommend to leave it the way the tutorial tells us) but also your router's DNS. You'll probably need an administrator account to your router (don't worry if you don't know it, resetting the router will enable you to use the default one). Check if your router is in this list and follow the guide attached to it or follow the general one if applies. Do not alarm if yours is not in the list (mine wasn't), just google a little bit about how to change your ISP's router's DNS and it's just a matter of time!​

Hope you find this useful! Know to work perfectly today: no updates, nor store but I could still play MK8 DLC and kick some asses in the track!

Ah, nice! It looks like you resolved everything yourself, but it looks like there were still a few things that were left unanswered:

No, there isn't any way to 100% securely block updates on a dynamically updating router, but a few things I added in the tutorial do help; namely, setting the standby interval of the Wii U to 24 hours. On top of that, it works really well to keep your computer in low-power standby mode, as the OpenDNS updater will still do its job.

Yes, turning off standby and quick start menu is helpful and will block updates so long as your Wii U turned off, but it's completely useless when blocking updates as the update query will never reach it anyway (unless you're only blocking the nus.cdn domains, then it might actually be pretty helpful)


That's good to hear about the difficult router, I'm glad you took the time to test that! However, if you have admin access to your router, why not just block the domains straight from there? That way you don't have to rely on a 3rd party service and you won't have to worry about your router's IP address updating just a suggestion!

 

[Borge63]

Ah, nice! It looks like you resolved everything yourself, but it looks like there were still a few things that were left unanswered:

No, there isn't any way to 100% securely block updates on a dynamically updating router, but a few things I added in the tutorial do help; namely, setting the standby interval of the Wii U to 24 hours. On top of that, it works really well to keep your computer in low-power standby mode, as the OpenDNS updater will still do its job.

Yes, turning off standby and quick start menu is helpful and will block updates so long as your Wii U turned off, but it's completely useless when blocking updates as the update query will never reach it anyway (unless you're only blocking the nus.cdn domains, then it might actually be pretty helpful)


That's good to hear about the difficult router, I'm glad you took the time to test that! However, if you have admin access to your router, why not just block the domains straight from there? That way you don't have to rely on a 3rd party service and you won't have to worry about your router's IP address updating just a suggestion!

Blocking those domains would be certainly nice actually, but I wasn't able to do so even with administrator rights! I did check every single setting related to IP configuration or managing without success. Maybe my knownledge is not enough or simply I just skipped it, so I would deeply appreciate if you could do a fast check about it. You can find here screenshots and descriptions for every option in my router here.

Moreover my solution wasn't perfect in the end as my telephony service didn't work though the wifi did properly, so it looks that it's going to take a little longer! Any advice, options or guidance is welcomed and appreciated!