Recently I had a Wii U that I was selling (I'v got 4 of them,) and the buyer got back to me right away, and said I sold him a brick. I was like "No I didn't. It worked fine a couple months ago, before I put in storage for sale."
Long story short, I gave the buyer a different one, and took this back, thinking he had probably just broke it, or didn't know what he was doing.
I started it up, got the blue light, but it flashed once, and the DVD check went twice. Sure enough, no video signal from any output. And to top it off, the buyer had un-synced the gamepad.
After reading a lot of doom and gloom posts about fried hardware, or bad EMMC, (some of it around here) I came across a fix for memory errors, but not 'no video signal'. I thought I would try it, since I had nothing to lose.
I changed the battery in the console, because I had heard that might fix it, but it didn't, though the old battery WAS dead. Which makes me think that may have been what caused my problem in the first place, but back to the fix.
I followed this video:
And it fixed my Wii U in under 5 minutes.

Basically you need:
1. A"Rasberry Pie Pico", I happened to have one,
2. A FAT32 Formated SDCard with one file on it recovery_menu, found here: https://github.com/GaryOderNichts/recovery_menu/releases,
3. A file installed on your Pico: udpih.uf2, found here: https://github.com/GaryOderNichts/udpih/releases,
i. Plug your pico into your pc while holding the boot button.
ii. Place the file on the pico drive. It auto sets up.
iii. Unplug Pico.

Running the fix:
1. Unplug Wii U Power and all USB peripherals.
2. Plug SD card into Wii U.
3. Plug the power cord into the Wii U.
4. Press Power on Wii U.
5. AS SOON as the Wii U disc drive sound finishes, plug Pico into front USB slot. (Either one).

If your issue is software, and not hardware, you should now see a recovery screen.
If you don't get the screen, try the timing of plugging in the Pico a couple more times before you give up and say the Wii U is toast. I did, and I am glad, because my timing was off.

The recovery menu is controlled by "Power" = Enter "Eject" = Next Item.
Enter "Set cold boot Title"
Enter the correct Menu for your Wii U's region.
Once you see the "Success" Message, turn everything off, eject SD card and unplug Pico. Start your Wii U.

All better.

Hope this works for you. Sure did for me.

 

[Ettino]

So basically it's this: https://gbatemp.net/threads/udpih-usb-host-stack-exploit-recovery-menu.613369/

 

[MrBerzerk]

So basically it's this: https://gbatemp.net/threads/udpih-usb-host-stack-exploit-recovery-menu.613369/

Yes, but there is no mention there of 'no video signal' or 'bad battery'.
That is why I re-posted with this title. So people would find this when googling "no video signal wii u"

If the OP of that post wants to mention this in his original post, then we can merge it all in one.

 

[V10lator]

A WIi U runs just fine w/o any battery, so we can rule that one out (also in the first post there's no mention of the battery at all?).

The crash sounds like a CBHC brick, so exactly what the "Set Codlboot Title" option of the recovery menu was designed to fix. Has nothing to do with THAT video... The buyer probably just did a factory reset while CBHC was installed and that factory reset is also why the gamepad wasn't synced.

Only question that remains is why was the Wii U blackscreening... This I can't answer but maybe the buyer tried to fix the brick already but made things worse while doing so?

 

[MrBerzerk]

A WIi U runs just fine w/o any battery, so we can rule that one out (also in the first post there's no mention of the battery at all?).

The crash sounds like a CBHC brick, so exactly what the "Set Codlboot Title" option of the recovery menu was designed to fix. Has nothing to do with THAT video... The buyer probably just did a factory reset while CBHC was installed and that factory reset is also why the gamepad wasn't synced.

Only question that remains is why was the Wii U blackscreening... This I can't answer but maybe the buyer tried to fix the brick already but made things worse while doing so?

I talked to the buyer, and the reason the gamepad wasn't synced was because she couldn't get the gamepad to detect the WiiU, because it wasn't booting right, so she pressed the sync buttons. (This was an un-modded Wii U.)
The only thing I can figure is that "I" factory reset it, then turned it off, and put it in storage for a couple months. The battery died. Then when the buyer went to start it up, it was messed up for some reason. She disconnected the gamepad by resetting the sync, and I got it back.

I suspected that the memory was screwed up, not that my HDMI has suddenly died, and I couldn't find any fixes for video, so I tried the title recache, and it fixed it. Something in the memory for turning on the output signal had messed up.

Post automatically merged: Jan 23, 2024

(also in the first post there's no mention of the battery at all?).

That was just me guessing that the one thing had caused another.

 

[Retinal_FAILURE]

One of my Wii U's has this problem displaying no video and a constant flashing blue led. I just bought a Pi Pico and went through the process to no avail with this console. Even changed the battery with a fresh one, but no video and no purple light. I tested the same process with my known working console and it immediately booted to the recovery menu so I know I didn't mess up UDPIH.

 

[SDIO]

I started it up, got the blue light, but it flashed once

Flashing once is normal

And to top it off, the buyer had un-synced the gamepad.

Are you sure it was unsynced and just couldn't connect because the console wasn't comming up? Did it have that white screen with the black text, which tells you to sync it?

Enter "Recache Boot Title"

The Option isn't called "Rechace Boot Title" but "Set cold boot Title", because that's what it does. The video you linked there is very misleading and the auther, who btw confused the CBHC brick with eMMC corruption, just didn't know what he was talking about and made something up. This option doesn't cache anything, it just sets the title in the system.xml, which isn't cached. If a wrong CB title was the problem, it only would show, after the screen is already inited.
There is a good chance that just triggering UDPIH and and then shutting down cleanly fixed the problem for you. Why - not sure. But it would be helpful if you could dump the logs and post them for analysis. Then we might also see what was wrong in the first place.

One of my Wii U's has this problem displaying no video and a constant flashing blue led. I just bought a Pi Pico and went through the process to no avail with this console. Even changed the battery with a fresh one, but no video and no purple light.

Blue blinking means boot1 failed to load IOSU. That can either be caused by corruption on the SLC or defective dram: https://gbatemp.net/threads/ultimat...reset-black-screen-after-stuck-update.642339/
You would have to defuse. If it is only SLC corruption it is fixable with defuse.

Post automatically merged: Jan 29, 2024

The only thing I can figure is that "I" factory reset it, then turned it off, and put it in storage for a couple months. The battery died. Then when the buyer went to start it up, it was messed up for some reason. She disconnected the gamepad by resetting the sync, and I got it back

She probably didn't desync the Gamepad. During the Factory Reset the gamepad gets desynced

 

[MrBerzerk]

Flashing once is normal

Well, it was booting twice. It would go through the DVD check twice. It only does one DVD check now.

Are you sure it was unsynced and just couldn't connect because the console wasn't comming up? Did it have that white screen with the black text, which tells you to sync it?
...
She didn't desync the Gamepad, you did, when you did the Factory Reset. During the Factory Reset the gamepad gets desynced

Yes, it was unsynced, and it was the buyer who unsynced it. When I factory reset it, I went through the setup process and made a Mii called 'owner'. I do that with any Wii's WiiU's I sell. So the gamepad was synced when I put it in storage.
She definitely unsynced it because she said she hit the sync buttons and that she was being asked to input the "suits", but nothing was showing on the tv.

The Option isn't called "Rechace Boot Title" but "Set cold boot Title", because that's what it does. The video you linked there is very misleading and the auther, who btw confused the CBHC brick with eMMC corruption, just didn't know what he was talking about and made something up. This option doesn't cache anything, it just sets the title in the system.xml, which isn't cached. If a wrong CB title was the problem, it only would show, after the screen is already initiated.
There is a good chance that just triggering UDPIH and and then shutting down cleanly fixed the problem for you. Why - not sure. But it would be helpful if you could dump the logs and post them for analysis. Then we might also see what was wrong in the first place.

Sorry about the 'Recache' thing, it WAS the boot title option, whatever it was. I thought it said recache, but I knew it had to do with the boot title, and it was the first option.

How do I get you the logs?

What ever my problem was, like you said, triggering the UDPIH fixed the no screen issue for whatever reason, so people can give that a try before giving up on the WiiU.

 

[SDIO]

The recovery menu has an option to dump the logs.
There is also this homebrew: https://github.com/wiiu-env/WiiUCrashLogDumper/releases/

 

[XpertXP1]

This method has unfortunately not worked for me. I have the same exact issue, black screen, wiiu gamepad is not synced. I ran the script, it completes with error and shows finished, but nothing appears on the Tv screen. I have also tried the other recovery menu that is supposed to output a log file to let me sync the wiiu gamepad, but it never writes anything to the SD card. Not sure what else to try at this point.
I have tried different TVs, HDMI cables, and even used the analog video cables. Anyone happen to know what else i can try to get this thing working?

 

[SDIO]

if UDPIH doesn't work, you probably have to solder in defuse.

 

[JLeche]

So I’m having a similar issue, I tried the udpih but nothing, my Wii U is powering on, no screen, and when I try to power it off on the console it won’t power off, also the game pad does power on the console which tells me they are synced but I get a “no connection” message on the game pad, I’m kind of at a loss here if anyone has any further advice

Post automatically merged: Jul 29, 2024

I’m having sort of a similar issue, no video output to either port av or hdmi, however I’m experiencing that the game pad isn’t synced yet the pad powers on the console which tells me there is a connection, also when I press the console button to power off the console nothing happens, I have to unplug it, I tried the pico drive but no luck, does anyone have any suggestions or experienced what I am, one last thing the console was mint in the box with the plastic still on it so I’m pretty sure it’s not a hardware failure

 

[SDIO]

There is a good chance that is a bad Hynix eMMC. You probably have to defuse it: https://consolemods.org/wiki/WiiU:De_Fuse

 

[fishykipper]

My WiiU has suffered the same fate and I currently have no video out via HDMI nor Composite.
I've followed the above guide and managed to access the Wii U Recovery menu as I'm able to dump the logs onto the SD card. Trouble is, I'm navigating the menus blind as I have no video out.

Could someone give some guidance on how to enable the video out again, if possible?
Can I dump the WiiU gamepad sync icons anyway? Then I could actually sync up the gamepad.

Thanks in advance
-fishykipper

Post automatically merged: Feb 12, 2026

This method has unfortunately not worked for me. I have the same exact issue, black screen, wiiu gamepad is not synced. I ran the script, it completes with error and shows finished, but nothing appears on the Tv screen. I have also tried the other recovery menu that is supposed to output a log file to let me sync the wiiu gamepad, but it never writes anything to the SD card. Not sure what else to try at this point.
I have tried different TVs, HDMI cables, and even used the analog video cables. Anyone happen to know what else i can try to get this thing working?View attachment 449243

Which recovery menu is this?
I need to sync up my gamepad. Can the 4 sync icons be dumped to the SD card somehow through the logs? That would be a life saver.

 

[SDIO]

Tools have evolved since 2024...

Since UDPIH still works Install ISFShax with that. From minute we can then dump the logs to see what the issue is.

 

[fishykipper]

Tools have evolved since 2024...

Since UDPIH still works Install ISFShax with that. From minute we can then dump the logs to see what the issue is.

Could you point me towards a guide? As I struggle to see how I can install ISFShax without a video out? Again, I'll be navigating the menus blind.

 

[SDIO]

S

Tutorial Project  Thread 'How to set up ISFShax + Stroopwafel'

Oct 31, 2023

Special Thanks to @rw-r-r_0644 for finding and implementing ISFShax.

Warning

Although this is in use by many users and has proven itself as safe and reliable, you still use this at your own risk. Messing with the isfs superblocks is dangerous and can brick your Wii U. The superblock linked here was tested and confirmed working. Installing an broken superblock will brick your Wii U.
Also keep in mind: if you are restoring a old SLC backup, which was taken before installing ISFShax, ISFShax will be removed by restoring that backup. Newer versions of minute try to...

• SDIO
• Replies: 1,439
• Forum: Nintendo Wii U

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