Hacking Hypothetically, if/when we get fully hacked WiiU and a WiiU emulator, would it be possible to...

[GoldenSun3DS]

...Connect the Wii U to the PC?

Why would I want to do that if I already own a Wii U? So that I could run the Wii U games with enhancements like 4K resolution, 3D, texture packs, save states, etc while loading the games from the Wii U's own disc drive* and using the Wii U's Mac address for online play. Also for purchasing DLC or eShop games.

*Downloading 25GB games would take tens of hours, plus all that hard drive space xD


On a related note, how many CPU cores do you guys think a Wii U emulator would be able to take advantage of? One for each WiiU core plus one for the WiiU GPU plus one for the sound (similar to Dolphin's 2 for CPU&GPU + 1 for sound)?

 

[Foxi4]

4K resolution, 3D (stereoscopy?), save states or anything of the sort will not be available via "PC hardware acceleration", not now and not in the future - the processing takes place on the Wii U and that's the resources you're stuck with. You might be able to whip up save states and interchangable texture packs via individual homebrew, but not as an external application. As for CPU cores in emulation, emulation is abstracted anyways so the amount of cores that will be used isn't set in stone.

 

[GoldenSun3DS]

4K resolution, 3D (stereoscopy?), save states or anything of the sort will not be available via "PC hardware acceleration", not now and not in the future - the processing takes place on the Wii U and that's the resources you're stuck with. You might be able to whip up save states and interchangable texture packs via individual homebrew, but not as an external application. As for CPU cores in emulation, emulation is abstracted anyways so the amount of cores that will be used isn't set in stone.

Then how does Dolphin manage 4x internal resolution and stereoscopic 3D on Wii games if it's locked to the Wii's power level?

By connected to a PC, I didn't mean just outputting controls and video to the PC; I meant more like a Wii U emulator (with all the enhancement hacks possible) using the Wii U's own disc drive and WiFi chip* for loading game discs and connecting to Nintendo's internet servers.

*So that Nintendo cannot possibly detect it's a PC connecting to their servers.

 

[Foxi4]

Then how does Dolphin manage 4x internal resolution and stereoscopic 3D on Wii games if it's locked to the Wii's power level?

By connected to a PC, I didn't mean just outputting controls and video to the PC; I meant more like a Wii U emulator (with all the enhancement hacks possible) using the Wii U's own disc drive and WiFi chip* for loading game discs and connecting to Nintendo's internet servers.

*So that Nintendo cannot possibly detect it's a PC connecting to their servers.

So you don't mean connecting the console to a PC at all, you mean an emulator. When emulating, you can change the internal native resolution, hence the enhancements.

As for "connecting the Wii U to a PC to use the disc drive and the WiFi chip", the former might be possible via Wii U homebrew (serving content from the disc drive via some form of protocol, for instance SAMBA), but it's completely useless as you might as well use .ISO's directly from your HDD for faster read times.

Using the Wii U's WiFi chip on the other hand would be backbreaking, as you'd literally have to interface with it directly, and although technically feasible if you go low-level enough (good luck with that), it's unlikely to be possible through Wii U's own kernel since the hardware wasn't designed to function in this fashion, not to mention that it's not required for stealth operation at all. The servers you connect to have absolutely no clue what WiFi chip you're using for your LAN connection, verification of the connection is a part of the protocol and has little to do with hardware.

 

[NWPlayer123]

Well if and when we get access to the common key to decrypt hard drives, then it should be possible to use it to transfer games/saves from a Wii U to a computer. As for using network settings, that can probably be spoofed once we understand the system more. There's still a lot of barriers of stuff we don't know yet. Besides, 25GB is only the size of the disc, as you've seen with eShop download sizes, it can vary a lot (just google download sizes of various games to get an idea).

 

[poiu17]

... Have a Showtime similar app? (Like the one on PS3, wich can play mkv's, etc...)

If yes, the kernel exploit is enough or we would still need a full exploit?

 

[Marionumber1]

... Have a Showtime similar app? (Like the one on PS3, wich can play mkv's, etc...)

If yes, the kernel exploit is enough or we would still need a full exploit?

Playing media would definitely be possible, especially since there are Cafe OS apps which already do that.

 

[crediar]

Well if and when we get access to the common key to decrypt hard drives, then it should be possible to use it to transfer games/saves from a Wii U to a computer. As for using network settings, that can probably be spoofed once we understand the system more. There's still a lot of barriers of stuff we don't know yet. Besides, 25GB is only the size of the disc, as you've seen with eShop download sizes, it can vary a lot (just google download sizes of various games to get an idea).

The Wii U formatted drives are not encrypted by the common key.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

I've been wondering, so here's my question:

If the Wii U were to be hacked completely and there'd be a GameCube program to play its games, would it be possible to use the actual NGC discs?

 

[Arras]

I've been wondering, so here's my question:

If the Wii U were to be hacked completely and there'd be a GameCube program to play its games, would it be possible to use the actual NGC discs?

I'm not sure those slide-in disc slots like the WiiU and old PS3s have support small discs.

 

[Foxi4]

The Wii U does not support mini discs and since it's a trayless drive you can't use an adapter - I suggest ripping your games and using Nintendont or Devolution in vWii.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

The Wii U does not support mini discs and since it's a trayless drive you can't use an adapter - I suggest ripping your games and using Nintendont or Devolution in vWii.

Bummer so there's really no other option than that. Thanks, you two.

 

[Foxi4]

Technically speaking you could modify the drive and turn it into a top-loader, but you'd have to use a hacksaw and Ben Heck-like expertise or you could somehow transplant a Wii drive's arms into the Wii U, but good luck with that - it's more trouble than it's worth.