Hacking Just bought a Wii U...

[adam ch]

Hi, I just bought a used Wii U and I wanted to install SNES emulators etc. I've read the FAQ, but i'm confused.
It is currently on 5.3.2, the guides say don't go over 5.3.2. However, i'm going to buy Splatoon tomorrow. Don't you need the latest firmware to play online?

Does it matter which exploit to use for homebrew?


thanks

 

[drfunkenstein2k]

yes u must update to play online. decision making time

 

[nolimits59]

Well vWii mode allow you to play emulators i you want (it doent matter the version you have), either way, the message posted before me answered you for the online play .

 

[adam ch]

I bought it specifically for splatoon, so I guess i'm going to leave the fun homebrew behind

 

[rufuszombot]

I bought it specifically for splatoon, so I guess i'm going to leave the fun homebrew behind

There's still a lot of useful homebrew on the vWii side. As for homebrew on the actual Wii U, there's no telling when that might happen. But even if you update to 5.4.0, it's not going to affect anything on the vWii so you can play all of the SNES you want.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I bought it specifically for splatoon, so I guess i'm going to leave the fun homebrew behind

Don't worry about it. 5.4.0 can support homebrew, nothing was patched. They just have to port the exploits to the new firmware.
It might be a while before that happens, but there's not much you can do with homebrew at the moment anyway.

 

[adam ch]

It updated itself to 5.4.0... so VWii is what I need for emulation? Lego Batman Wii is cheap, but the guides seem really complicated.

 

[Empu1]

It updated itself to 5.4.0... so VWii is what I need for emulation? Lego Batman Wii is cheap, but the guides seem really complicated.

Yeah, that's the thing with this console, it autoupdates if you have a valid internet connection configured.
Well regardless, if you want vWii homebrew, then yes you must use an exploit such as Bathaxx, Smash Stack or Indiana Pwns. Steps aren't really all that complicated (I used Smash Stack myself) and if you get lost, you can always ask here or check out WiiBrew

 

[adam ch]

The store said they had one Lego Batman left, they didn't. So, i had to get Smash which was 3 times the price. Gonna try Smash Stack later on.


Splatoon, maybe the best looking game i've ever seen.

 

[adam ch]

Homebrew channel working. I'm currently dumping mii nand. As soon as thats done I'm gonna try Homebrew Browser.

I have a Y-Cable on order with Amazon Prime, so I can do whatever I like with the vwii? It's ok to run CIOS etc and still use the U normally?


Thanks.

 

[TehCupcakes]

Homebrew channel working. I'm currently dumping mii nand. As soon as thats done I'm gonna try Homebrew Browser.

I have a Y-Cable on order with Amazon Prime, so I can do whatever I like with the vwii? It's ok to run CIOS etc and still use the U normally?


Thanks.

Yes, more or less. vWii mode is a "sandbox" inside the Wii U, and anything you do inside there will leave your Wii U mode untouched.

However, it IS possible to brick your vWii if you install cIOS and wads designed only for normal Wii, and not vWii. Make sure to check that carefully before installing anything. The guides in the Wii U section will generally point to the vWii versions, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about, but still make sure you read carefully.

 

[adam ch]

The initial mii nand dump, took over 3 hours. I found the SD card in a cupboard and i've no idea where it came from or how long I've had it.


I'm halfway through Truths tutorial, I stopped last night just before the blue dump.

As soon as my Y-cable arrives today, i'm going to let the Wii U format it and send all my saves off the internal drive to that. Then i'm going to install USB Loader GX. Once that is done, I can take the SD card out and never have to use it again?

and sorry for asking, but the Wii U is happy with ISOS/roms etc on the external HDD?

 

[TehCupcakes]

Once you have Homebrew channel installed, you will not need an SD card. If you want, you can use both an SD card (up to 32GB) and your external hard drive. For example, I like to store my homebrew apps on the SD card, but you don't have to.

Do not format with your Wii U. The hard drive formatting (in Wii U mode) is a special Nintendo format that prevents it from being used by any homebrew or PC. You cannot back up your WIi U game saves at this time. If you meant game saves for vWii, you don't need to format your hard drive for that, assuming it's already formatted to NTFS or FAT32. (Each format has it's own quirks with homebrew... Do some research to decide what you need.) You can store whatever Wii ISOs, roms, emulators, vWii saves, etc. that you want on your external hard drive and the Wii U will not have an issue with it. Just make sure if you get a pop up asking you to format, say no.

 

[adam ch]

I got everything working, I have a spare 500gb hard drive. So i'm going to buy a second enclosure and have one drive for Wii U and another for Homebrew stuff. I'll have to unplug one to use another, but thats fine.