Homebrew Official WUP Installer - Title installer + Firmware spoofing [3.x - 5.4.0]

[EmceeKerser]

For some reason I can't get it working. Even after some google searches I got no solution for my problem... vcc redist gives me an error, it claims another version (newer one as believed by the installer) is already installed but the NUSgrabber still doesn't work. (Also tried the GUI Version as well but all I get is an empty list of titles, no connection I guess). Is there any solution for that? I think it's somehow related to Visual Studio which is on the PC but is that really the reason why it's blocking?
Thanks for any help!

Download the new NUSgrabber gui

 

[piratesephiroth]

I just use the "download encrypted" command of jnustool

 

[WiiUFTW]

Hey Everyone, I just joined GBATemp but I have been reading through these forums for a long time now. I just never felt the need to post until now since I found everything I needed by reading others' posts and didn't want to add unnecessary clutter to the thread. But I have done quite a bit of research and have made some interesting findings. (Before I say anything else, I'm on Wii U Firmware version 5.4.0 unspoofed (unmodified original firmware))

First, an explanation:

I started reading this thread in the hope that I could somehow get WUP Installer to work, as I have been struggling to get it working for about 3 or 4 days now. I tried all of the fixes in the Common Problems section in the OP as suggested by @SonyUSA to no avail. I read up to about page 70 of this thread and finally did a google search to find if anyone else was receiving the "error 0x00000000" message, and quite a few people were on page 109-111, but I didn't find any solutions. I have the correct SD Card setup, /install folder in the root of the SD card with all the files in it (Nothing else, the SD card is blank except for the "install" folder) and the SD card is formatted as Fat32. I downloaded the Mario Kart 8 Update (Which is what I'm trying to install) several times with the New NusGrabberGUI by @FoxMcloud5655 and I got 78 files and all the files together are 476 MB (499,364,012 bytes) according to Windows Explorer. @Vladislov said that the 0x00000000 error is normal, and from what i've seen only happens on 5.4.0. I tried about 5 or 6 different SD cards, including a 2GB PNY SD (non-HC) card, and my last 2 attempts last night and this morning were with a 16GB Samsung Class 10 Micro SD card in a Sandisk micro-to-full adapter.

I let each attempt go for about 1 hour each and I expected to see at least the "???" corrupted data message but I didn't even get that, instead I got the "Unnecessary data found, do you want to delete?" message every single time, and it takes about 2 seconds to delete it which makes me think that it attempts to install in the beginning, fails, and just sits there doing nothing until I hard reset it.
What makes me think this is if it were deleting 476mb of data, it would take longer, some people here are complaining of the smash update taking hours to finish deleting. Even the warning message says "It may take up to 30 minutes...". Thinking that it may fix the issue, I deleted the existing MK8 update data (~436mb according to Wii U Data Management) and tried again, but I got the same 0x00000000 error.

But now MK8 doesn't even launch, it tries to update the system, fails (expected since they are blocked) and the only option I get is to go back to Wii U Menu and try again. Normally you get the option of playing without updating but apparently deleting the update removes that option

I checked using Miimaker to see if the SD Card is compatible and it is. I also cleared all browser data several times (I used exploit.wiiubrew.net and I also tried self-hosting the files, but I got the same results). I must have hard reset my Wii U at least 50-60 times in the last 3 days, and it's frustrating to say the least. I was so frustrated at one point yesterday that I gave up and decided to update my Wii U officially, and give up on homebrew, but as I was watching that bar slowly travel across my gamepad screen downloading the ~250mb update, something made me stop the update and I immediately re-entered TubeHax DNS settings and deleted the update data with the homebrew Update Data Remover. I wasn't about to give up.

So I dug a little deeper and found something interesting.

First of all, to anyone who hasn't done so yet, DON'T DELETE ANY UPDATE DATA FOR ANY GAMES. Here's why

"Updates can only be skipped during their first application. I guess at that point it leaves a sort of flag on the system along with the message that informs you that you will have to update the game before you play it again. This counts for offline play too: if for whatever reason you delete a game's update you absolutely CANNOT play until you get back online and fully update it. Even the disc update will not apply."

This is from here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=807370&page=2 5th post from the top.

So I guess if you want to spoof your firmware and connect to the e-shop, that would fix your issue, but for those of us who for one reason or another, don't want to spoof our firmware, the only workaround for right now seems to be to format your Wii U to remove the flag. I haven't tested this so I don't know if it removes the flag or not, and I don't want to test it yet.

Why does this have anything to do with the aforementioned error? Let me explain what I think:
Regardless whether we eventually manage to install the update with WUP, the flag is still there, and won't let you launch the game. I'm not sure if the "Unnecessary data" error is related, but it may very well be, so as long as this game update flag exists, WUP cannot install the update for that particular title until the flag is removed. I don't know this as factual information but since no other information seems to be available, this seems to be the likely cause. If anyone else knows anything about this, feel free to chime in and correct me, I'll edit my post to reflect the new information should anyone find anything else.

For anyone that is worried about the factory reset/format, read this page from Nintendo:
http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1466/~/what-is-lost-after-formatting-the-system-memory?
It says that using your NNID you can redownload any purchased games free of charge, and apparently the vWii is unaffected, but any save files or any other data on USB devices will no longer work and you will have to reformat USB storage devices to get them to work after formatting.

Unfortunately, I don't have any programming experience, and don't have time to start learning until the summer. But I think that this issue may be able to be solved by a homebrew application similar to NNU Patcher or Update Remover. If the Flag is stored in a location that for some reason we cannot access or modify using the current Kexploits, we may have to wait until an IOSU exploit is released, which may be quite some time from now. However, if we can somehow identify where in RAM this check happens, a homebrew app with kernel access may be able to modify it in RAM, the downside being that every time you want to play that game, you'll have to apply this patch beforehand. Sorry if this is wishful thinking, I'm throwing out this idea in case anyone has the programming knowledge and ability to achieve this.

Sorry for the long post, I'll try to summarize it:

TLDR: Wii U WUP Installer issues (5.4.0), can no longer launch Mario Kart 8 without updating, spoofing or factory reset. See links in the post above. DON'T DELETE ANY UPDATE DATA FOR ANY GAMES. Spoofing firmware may solve the issue, but anyone who doesn't want to spoof is pretty much stuck with an unplayable game. Potentially fixable using homebrew, though unlikely (See last Paragraph).

Thanks for reading,

WiiUFTW

 

[Vladislov]

Hey Everyone, I just joined GBATemp but I have been reading through these forums for a long time now. I just never felt the need to post until now since I found everything I needed by reading others' posts and didn't want to add unnecessary clutter to the thread. But I have done quite a bit of research and have made some interesting findings. (Before I say anything else, I'm on Wii U Firmware version 5.4.0 unspoofed (unmodified original firmware))

First, an explanation:

I started reading this thread in the hope that I could somehow get WUP Installer to work, as I have been struggling to get it working for about 3 or 4 days now. I tried all of the fixes in the Common Problems section in the OP as suggested by @SonyUSA to no avail. I read up to about page 70 of this thread and finally did a google search to find if anyone else was receiving the "error 0x00000000" message, and quite a few people were on page 109-111, but I didn't find any solutions. I have the correct SD Card setup, /install folder in the root of the SD card with all the files in it (Nothing else, the SD card is blank except for the "install" folder) and the SD card is formatted as Fat32. I downloaded the Mario Kart 8 Update (Which is what I'm trying to install) several times with the New NusGrabberGUI by @FoxMcloud5655 and I got 78 files and all the files together are 476 MB (499,364,012 bytes) according to Windows Explorer. @Vladislov said that the 0x00000000 error is normal, and from what i've seen only happens on 5.4.0. I tried about 5 or 6 different SD cards, including a 2GB PNY SD (non-HC) card, and my last 2 attempts last night and this morning were with a 16GB Samsung Class 10 Micro SD card in a Sandisk micro-to-full adapter.

I let each attempt go for about 1 hour each and I expected to see at least the "???" corrupted data message but I didn't even get that, instead I got the "Unnecessary data found, do you want to delete?" message every single time, and it takes about 2 seconds to delete it which makes me think that it attempts to install in the beginning, fails, and just sits there doing nothing until I hard reset it.
What makes me think this is if it were deleting 476mb of data, it would take longer, some people here are complaining of the smash update taking hours to finish deleting. Even the warning message says "It may take up to 30 minutes...". Thinking that it may fix the issue, I deleted the existing MK8 update data (~436mb according to Wii U Data Management) and tried again, but I got the same 0x00000000 error.

But now MK8 doesn't even launch, it tries to update the system, fails (expected since they are blocked) and the only option I get is to go back to Wii U Menu and try again. Normally you get the option of playing without updating but apparently deleting the update removes that option

I checked using Miimaker to see if the SD Card is compatible and it is. I also cleared all browser data several times (I used exploit.wiiubrew.net and I also tried self-hosting the files, but I got the same results). I must have hard reset my Wii U at least 50-60 times in the last 3 days, and it's frustrating to say the least. I was so frustrated at one point yesterday that I gave up and decided to update my Wii U officially, and give up on homebrew, but as I was watching that bar slowly travel across my gamepad screen downloading the ~250mb update, something made me stop the update and I immediately re-entered TubeHax DNS settings and deleted the update data with the homebrew Update Data Remover. I wasn't about to give up.

So I dug a little deeper and found something interesting.

First of all, to anyone who hasn't done so yet, DON'T DELETE ANY UPDATE DATA FOR ANY GAMES. Here's why

"Updates can only be skipped during their first application. I guess at that point it leaves a sort of flag on the system along with the message that informs you that you will have to update the game before you play it again. This counts for offline play too: if for whatever reason you delete a game's update you absolutely CANNOT play until you get back online and fully update it. Even the disc update will not apply."

This is from here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=807370&page=2 5th post from the top.

So I guess if you want to spoof your firmware and connect to the e-shop, that would fix your issue, but for those of us who for one reason or another, don't want to spoof our firmware, the only workaround for right now seems to be to format your Wii U to remove the flag. I haven't tested this so I don't know if it removes the flag or not, and I don't want to test it yet.

Why does this have anything to do with the aforementioned error? Let me explain what I think:
Regardless whether we eventually manage to install the update with WUP, the flag is still there, and won't let you launch the game. I'm not sure if the "Unnecessary data" error is related, but it may very well be, so as long as this game update flag exists, WUP cannot install the update for that particular title until the flag is removed. I don't know this as factual information but since no other information seems to be available, this seems to be the likely cause. If anyone else knows anything about this, feel free to chime in and correct me, I'll edit my post to reflect the new information should anyone find anything else.

For anyone that is worried about the factory reset/format, read this page from Nintendo:
http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1466/~/what-is-lost-after-formatting-the-system-memory?
It says that using your NNID you can redownload any purchased games free of charge, and apparently the vWii is unaffected, but any save files or any other data on USB devices will no longer work and you will have to reformat USB storage devices to get them to work after formatting.

Unfortunately, I don't have any programming experience, and don't have time to start learning until the summer. But I think that this issue may be able to be solved by a homebrew application similar to NNU Patcher or Update Remover. If the Flag is stored in a location that for some reason we cannot access or modify using the current Kexploits, we may have to wait until an IOSU exploit is released, which may be quite some time from now. However, if we can somehow identify where in RAM this check happens, a homebrew app with kernel access may be able to modify it in RAM, the downside being that every time you want to play that game, you'll have to apply this patch beforehand. Sorry if this is wishful thinking, I'm throwing out this idea in case anyone has the programming knowledge and ability to achieve this.

Sorry for the long post, I'll try to summarize it:

TLDR: Wii U WUP Installer issues (5.4.0), can no longer launch Mario Kart 8 without updating, spoofing or factory reset. See links in the post above. DON'T DELETE ANY UPDATE DATA FOR ANY GAMES. Spoofing firmware may solve the issue, but anyone who doesn't want to spoof is pretty much stuck with an unplayable game. Potentially fixable using homebrew, though unlikely (See last Paragraph).

Thanks for reading,

WiiUFTW

Wow, great post. Thanks!

 

[TheZander]

I've deleted my Smash save though a few times and can still update it via WUP

 

[Mystic Shadow]

Well got a problem trying to install hyrule warriors. Problem is I can't I used wup but when I try to start it it says preparing update then gives me and error about my wifi. I have it spoofed to 5.5.1 and I can't delete the update in the data management.

Edit: when I disable tubehax and try to start the game it tells me it won't update the game till I do a software update. I am spoofed to 5.5.1. It also won't let me start it when I disable the wifi. I also tried NUU patcher then start the game but still ask for a system update. In data management it just has the download manager icon and it won't let me delete it. The game is hyrule warriors. Trying to get it too the latest version so I can use the legends dlc.

 

[Pachee]

Well got a problem trying to install hyrule warriors. Problem is I can't I used wup but when I try to start it it says preparing update then gives me and error about my wifi. I have it spoofed to 5.5.1 and I can't delete the update in the data management.

You should edit that post and add more information. I can barely understand what actually is happening.

Edit: when I disable tubehax and try to start the game it tells me it won't update the game till I do a software update. I am spoofed to 5.5.1. It also won't let me start it when I disable the wifi. I also tried NUU patcher then start the game but still ask for a system update. In data management it just has the download manager icon and it won't let me delete it. The game is hyrule warriors. Trying to get it too the latest version so I can use the legends dlc.

First, re-enable the update protection, don't disable it because you clearly are showing you are still confused about it. Online game updates will require a system update, NEVER do this.

Now, read the WUP Installer guide details. Make sure you have downloaded the latest version of hyrule warriors update for your region with the NUSGrabber version for WUP Installer. The versions in wiiubrew are outdated, it is only useful for getting the title IDs.
0005000E1017CD00 Hyrule Warriors - v80 JAP outdated, actual is v208
0005000E1017D800 Hyrule Warriors - v48 USA outdated, actual is v144
0005000E1017D900 Hyrule Warriors - v48 EUR outdated, actual is v144

Use this tool for checking for the latest version of updates. https://jsfiddle.net/bkr8v63L/2/embedded/result/

 

[ajd4096]

I've run into something similar to @WiiUFTW describes, with a slight twist: Mario Kart 8 works for me, nothing else does.

(5.3.2 spoofed to 5.5.0 then 5.5.1)

If I remove all the MK8 save+update data it will not let me play at all until I install the update.
After re-installing the update both offline and online play works fine.
Installing from WUP installer works ok, and also copying back a stashed copy from USB works.

It is fairly obvious the console tracks some sort of "highest update seen" number.
I'm wondering if it won't work until it gets that exact update even if you try installing a newer one, I'm about to test installing each update in order.

 

[Mystic Shadow]

Ive used the new nusgrabber to the the 144v of warriors and used wupinstaller. My problem is that even after all of that I can't start the disc. It has a peloaded update file I can't delete. I have update samsh bros no problem and other apps its just this one.

 

[Miles54321]

5.5 users like me --->

 

[Cava]

Hey Everyone, I just joined GBATemp but I have been reading through these forums for a long time now. I just never felt the need to post until now since I found everything I needed by reading others' posts and didn't want to add unnecessary clutter to the thread. But I have done quite a bit of research and have made some interesting findings. (Before I say anything else, I'm on Wii U Firmware version 5.4.0 unspoofed (unmodified original firmware))

First, an explanation:

I started reading this thread in the hope that I could somehow get WUP Installer to work, as I have been struggling to get it working for about 3 or 4 days now. I tried all of the fixes in the Common Problems section in the OP as suggested by @SonyUSA to no avail. I read up to about page 70 of this thread and finally did a google search to find if anyone else was receiving the "error 0x00000000" message, and quite a few people were on page 109-111, but I didn't find any solutions. I have the correct SD Card setup, /install folder in the root of the SD card with all the files in it (Nothing else, the SD card is blank except for the "install" folder) and the SD card is formatted as Fat32. I downloaded the Mario Kart 8 Update (Which is what I'm trying to install) several times with the New NusGrabberGUI by @FoxMcloud5655 and I got 78 files and all the files together are 476 MB (499,364,012 bytes) according to Windows Explorer. @Vladislov said that the 0x00000000 error is normal, and from what i've seen only happens on 5.4.0. I tried about 5 or 6 different SD cards, including a 2GB PNY SD (non-HC) card, and my last 2 attempts last night and this morning were with a 16GB Samsung Class 10 Micro SD card in a Sandisk micro-to-full adapter.

I let each attempt go for about 1 hour each and I expected to see at least the "???" corrupted data message but I didn't even get that, instead I got the "Unnecessary data found, do you want to delete?" message every single time, and it takes about 2 seconds to delete it which makes me think that it attempts to install in the beginning, fails, and just sits there doing nothing until I hard reset it.
What makes me think this is if it were deleting 476mb of data, it would take longer, some people here are complaining of the smash update taking hours to finish deleting. Even the warning message says "It may take up to 30 minutes...". Thinking that it may fix the issue, I deleted the existing MK8 update data (~436mb according to Wii U Data Management) and tried again, but I got the same 0x00000000 error.

But now MK8 doesn't even launch, it tries to update the system, fails (expected since they are blocked) and the only option I get is to go back to Wii U Menu and try again. Normally you get the option of playing without updating but apparently deleting the update removes that option

I checked using Miimaker to see if the SD Card is compatible and it is. I also cleared all browser data several times (I used exploit.wiiubrew.net and I also tried self-hosting the files, but I got the same results). I must have hard reset my Wii U at least 50-60 times in the last 3 days, and it's frustrating to say the least. I was so frustrated at one point yesterday that I gave up and decided to update my Wii U officially, and give up on homebrew, but as I was watching that bar slowly travel across my gamepad screen downloading the ~250mb update, something made me stop the update and I immediately re-entered TubeHax DNS settings and deleted the update data with the homebrew Update Data Remover. I wasn't about to give up.

So I dug a little deeper and found something interesting.

First of all, to anyone who hasn't done so yet, DON'T DELETE ANY UPDATE DATA FOR ANY GAMES. Here's why

"Updates can only be skipped during their first application. I guess at that point it leaves a sort of flag on the system along with the message that informs you that you will have to update the game before you play it again. This counts for offline play too: if for whatever reason you delete a game's update you absolutely CANNOT play until you get back online and fully update it. Even the disc update will not apply."

This is from here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=807370&page=2 5th post from the top.

So I guess if you want to spoof your firmware and connect to the e-shop, that would fix your issue, but for those of us who for one reason or another, don't want to spoof our firmware, the only workaround for right now seems to be to format your Wii U to remove the flag. I haven't tested this so I don't know if it removes the flag or not, and I don't want to test it yet.

Why does this have anything to do with the aforementioned error? Let me explain what I think:
Regardless whether we eventually manage to install the update with WUP, the flag is still there, and won't let you launch the game. I'm not sure if the "Unnecessary data" error is related, but it may very well be, so as long as this game update flag exists, WUP cannot install the update for that particular title until the flag is removed. I don't know this as factual information but since no other information seems to be available, this seems to be the likely cause. If anyone else knows anything about this, feel free to chime in and correct me, I'll edit my post to reflect the new information should anyone find anything else.

For anyone that is worried about the factory reset/format, read this page from Nintendo:
http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1466/~/what-is-lost-after-formatting-the-system-memory?
It says that using your NNID you can redownload any purchased games free of charge, and apparently the vWii is unaffected, but any save files or any other data on USB devices will no longer work and you will have to reformat USB storage devices to get them to work after formatting.

Unfortunately, I don't have any programming experience, and don't have time to start learning until the summer. But I think that this issue may be able to be solved by a homebrew application similar to NNU Patcher or Update Remover. If the Flag is stored in a location that for some reason we cannot access or modify using the current Kexploits, we may have to wait until an IOSU exploit is released, which may be quite some time from now. However, if we can somehow identify where in RAM this check happens, a homebrew app with kernel access may be able to modify it in RAM, the downside being that every time you want to play that game, you'll have to apply this patch beforehand. Sorry if this is wishful thinking, I'm throwing out this idea in case anyone has the programming knowledge and ability to achieve this.

Sorry for the long post, I'll try to summarize it:

TLDR: Wii U WUP Installer issues (5.4.0), can no longer launch Mario Kart 8 without updating, spoofing or factory reset. See links in the post above. DON'T DELETE ANY UPDATE DATA FOR ANY GAMES. Spoofing firmware may solve the issue, but anyone who doesn't want to spoof is pretty much stuck with an unplayable game. Potentially fixable using homebrew, though unlikely (See last Paragraph).

Thanks for reading,

WiiUFTW

Same game update thing happend to me just mine was with ssbu. I wiped my wiiu (system settings-->delete all) and the flags from ssbu update is gone. (Needs internet connection and spoof to 5.5.1 i guess for the wipe) just take care of your saves and important things before wipe and let it tubhax always be enabled. And never forget if wipe it will affects too for the vWii side so the homebrew channel and saves and all channels of course will wipe too. So you need reinstall the hb channel again.

 

[ajd4096]

The versions in wiiubrew are outdated, it is only useful for getting the title IDs.

Yes, I've pondered automatically updating the version numbers, but the wiki is a PITA to work with.

 

[Pachee]

Ive used the new nusgrabber to the the 144v of warriors and used wupinstaller. My problem is that even after all of that I can't start the disc. It has a peloaded update file I can't delete. I have update samsh bros no problem and other apps its just this one.

The disc? Some say Hyrule Warriors has 4.1, others say it doesn't have any. Maybe you have actually an pre-downloaded update file? You should use this tool posted on first page to delete it http://wiiutools.com/RU/index.html

 

[WiiUFTW]

I've deleted my Smash save though a few times and can still update it via WUP

See, the actual save file is probably fine to delete, the problem is when you delete the actual update data, that is what leaves the flag behind, so deleting the save file is fine, just don't touch the update file/data

I've run into something similar to @WiiUFTW describes, with a slight twist: Mario Kart 8 works for me, nothing else does.

(5.3.2 spoofed to 5.5.0 then 5.5.1)

If I remove all the MK8 save+update data it will not let me play at all until I install the update.
After re-installing the update both offline and online play works fine.
Installing from WUP installer works ok, and also copying back a stashed copy from USB works.

It is fairly obvious the console tracks some sort of "highest update seen" number.
I'm wondering if it won't work until it gets that exact update even if you try installing a newer one, I'm about to test installing each update in order.

So, it seems that since you are on 5.3.2 updating through WUP works fine. I am assuming that when you said "After re-installing the update both offline and online play works fine." you mean that you used WUP to reinstall the update... right?

So either WUP on 5.4.0 even with the 0x00000000 error, is really really slow, or it just plain doesn't work. Does anybody know if you need to be spoofed for WUP to install game updates? I am holding back on spoofing since it is irreversible, I don't necessarily want to play online that much (although I love MK8 online), but right now, I can't even play MK8 offline, and MK8 is the game I (used to) mainly play ATM (until this happened). I'm thinking that spoofing shouldn't have any effect since it only changes the version number, but I could be wrong. Also, thanks for testing installing the different versions man, please update us and let us know of your findings.

@Vladislov When you said to leave it on the "error 0x00000000" screen, have you had any updates actually install that way? or just the spoof? Just asking for confirmation since I have a 476 mb MK8 update and you said 20 mins for every 200mb, so I should leave mine for about 50 mins. But I've left it for over 60 mins multiple times and it still gives me the "unnecessary data" message, should I leave it even longer than that do you think? I'll try it again today and leave it for 4 to 5 hours, if it still doesn't work then, I'm giving up.

Maybe for 5.3.2 it works every time, but for 5.4.0 it's hit or miss. What i'm thinking is even if you get the error 0x00000000 message, it may or may not be working. Maybe I just have had really bad luck and it failed many times in a row and I just have to keep trying. Hopefully it works soon. I'll update you guys if I ever get it installed, I just want to play Mario Kart 8, but it seems my Wii U hates me right now

Same game update thing happend to me just mine was with ssbu. I wiped my wiiu (system settings-->delete all) and the flags from ssbu update is gone. (Needs internet connection and spoof to 5.5.1 i guess for the wipe) just take care of your saves and important things before wipe and let it tubhax always be enabled. And never forget if wipe it will affects too for the vWii side so the homebrew channel and saves and all channels of course will wipe too. So you need reinstall the hb channel again.

Wow, thanks for testing that man , It's good to know that wiping removes the "update needed" flag. Unfortunately, I don't think you can keep save files after you wipe the Wii U like you said, I think it generates a new private key that is needed to access external Usb devices. But still, it's great to know that at least it removes the update flags.

Well, thanks for all your feedback guys,

WiiUFTW

 

[ajd4096]

Thanks to the hint from @WiiUFTW, I think I have solved my problem, at least for SMM.

I think what has happened is this:
I updated SMM to update 128, all ok.
Update 144 is released, but never installed.
The kids were playing, got the update notification and quit out of it.
Update 160 is released.
I tried to install 160, but it doesn't work.

I took a backup, then wiped all the SMM save+update data so I'm starting from an easy to reproduce point.

Trying to load the disk always showed:
Preparing Update -> Connection Error -> Main Menu

After installing each of these updates 32 48 64 80 96 113 128, I got the same result:
Preparing Update -> Connection Error -> Main Menu
No online play, no offline play.

After installing update 144 I got:
Preparing Update -> Connection Error -> Quit/Start
No online play, but offline play works. Yay!

After installing update 160 I got
Preparing Update -> Success
Online + offline works.

Next step - testing with my backup from USB.

Edit: (5.3.2 spoofed to 5.5.0 then 5.5.1)

Edit: The error codes I saw are:
Error Code: 103-1601
(no network set up)
Error Code: 105-4207
(network which isn't connected to the internet, or update servers DNS blocked)

The "Main Menu" dialog wording is:
"The software could not be updated.
Returning to the Wii U Menu.
Please restart the software if you
wish to try updating again."
"Wii U Menu"

 

[WiiUFTW]

Thanks to the hint from @WiiUFTW, I think I have solved my problem, at least for SMM.

I think what has happened is this:
I updated SMM to update 128, all ok.
Update 144 is released, but never installed.
The kids were playing, got the update notification and quit out of it.
Update 160 is released.
I tried to install 160, but it doesn't work.

I took a backup, then wiped all the SMM save+update data so I'm starting from an easy to reproduce point.

Trying to load the disk always showed:
Preparing Update -> Connection Error -> Main Menu

After installing each of these updates 32 48 64 80 96 113 128, I got the same result:
Preparing Update -> Connection Error -> Main Menu
No online play, no offline play.

After installing update 144 I got:
Preparing Update -> Connection Error -> Quit/Start
No online play, but offline play works. Yay!

After installing update 160 I got
Preparing Update -> Success
Online + offline works.

Next step - testing with my backup from USB.

Edit: (5.3.2 spoofed to 5.5.0 then 5.5.1)

Wow, this is very interesting, great work @ajd4096 , so it appears that installing the current update you last had, then updating to the next version seems to work. I wonder if installing the latest update directly works...

Unluckily for me though, I can't manage to get anything to install using WUP, so I'm still stuck on "step 1". But at least it gives me hope that when I do get it to work, it will let me play.
Thanks man ,

WiiUFTW

 

[ajd4096]

Wow, this is very interesting, great work @ajd4096 , so it appears that installing the current update you last had, then updating to the next version seems to work. I wonder if installing the latest update directly works...

No, jumping directly to the latest update did not work.
This is what puzzled me, each update definitely includes all the files of earlier updates.

I reloaded my backup (most likely v128) from USB:
After installing update 144 I got:
Preparing Update -> Connection Error -> Main Menu

After installing update 160 I got
Preparing Update -> Success
Online + offline works, and previous saves are still there.

I am now 100% convinced there is some internal flag for "you have version X, but I've seen version X+1 and you can't play until I get it".
I just don't grok why you can't go to X+2 directly.

I'm guessing that if your console was on version X and updates X+1 and X+2 were released but your console never connected online, you could probably skip directly to X+2.

Unluckily for me though, I can't manage to get anything to install using WUP, so I'm still stuck on "step 1". But at least it gives me hope that when I do get it to work, it will let me play.
Thanks man ,

WiiUFTW

As noted, this console is 5.3.2 spoofed to 5.5.0 then 5.5.1.
I've been using WI from the DefinitivePackage-20160208, self-hosted on an ezshare wifi sd card adapter.
The kernel exploit works 3/4 times, and WUP works 100%.

 

[WiiUFTW]

5.4.0 Users, use: https://gbatemp.net/threads/5-4-0-progress.410056/page-148#post-6048355 The WUP Installer Linked by @Zap Rowsdower Works, you need to self host it though. See My Next post with instructions

Thanks for the tip @ajd4096 I'll give the WUP from the Definitive Package a try. Hopefully I have more luck with it

update 1: I'm going to try something different this time, I always deleted the "unnecessary data" after a failed attempt, i'll try leaving it there, maybe it is needed by WUP installer on 5.4.0

update 2: Using the Definitive package I get "wrong version, 5.3.2 only -crediar" so I guess I can't use that one, thanks anyway, I'll keep trying with the one on http://exploit.wiiubrew.net/540/index.htm

update 3: I let WUP Installer Run with the "error 0x00000000" message for just over 2 hours and still, same message "Found unnecessary data. Do you want to delete it to make more space? Depending on the size of the data, the process may take more than 30 minutes to complete. Once started. the process cannot be canceled." "Later" , "Delete"
Tapping Later doesn't magically make it pop out of nowhere either... Well I'm stumped. I also tried launching the game before clearing the "unnecessary data", and I still get:

"Preparing update..." - 20 second delay
"Error Code: 105-4207 -
An error has occured.

Please try again later.

If you are using a Wi-Fi network,the signal strength may be too poor. Please move the console closer to the network device, make sure that there are no obstructions between the two, and then try again.

If you are using a public Wi-Fi network, delete the connection in the Internet option in System Settings and choose another connection. If the problem persists, please make a note of the error code and visit support.nintendo.com.

Support Information
(1) 5.4.0
(2) WUP-001 (02) "

"The software could not be updated.

Returning to the Wii U Menu.
Please restart the software if you want to try updating again
"Wii U Menu"

Update 4: Wait a minute guys, I just tried the WUP Installer linked by @Zap Rowsdower and it seems that it installed something, before the free space wouldn't change and I got an error message, now I got no error message and about 10mb in 30 seconds, I'll leave this one running for about an hour. I think this may be the one.
Fingers Crossed...

UPDATE 5: IT WORKED, Thank you so much for all your help everyone. For anyone else on 5.4.0, Follow @Zap Rowsdower 's link below this post and self host the WUP Installer in his wup-gcvpad.rar file. The others may work for 5.3.2 but if you are on 5.4.0, look no further than that one, it is the only one that works from my experience.

Thank you to everyone else who helped, this community is truly spectacular. I honestly cannot express my gratitude in words I am glad I decided to join. I may make a more detailed post for any other 5.4.0 users later, but for right now, I am excited to play Mario Kart 8.

WiiUFTW

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

https://gbatemp.net/threads/5-4-0-progress.410056/page-148#post-6048355

 

[WiiUFTW]

For 5.4.0 Users:
Most WUP Installer links seem not to work on 5.4.0, I have tried several different links and all of them gave me "error 0x00000000" and nothing was installed. However, @Zap Rowsdower posted a link to a working one, the others may work on 5.3.2, but in my experience not on 5.4.0. Here are instructions to get WUP Installer working on your 5.4.0 Wii U (Courtesy of @Zap Rowsdower):
P.S. You can use whatever local site hosting solution Edit:(Either Html or PHP works, an MP4 file is included too, I am using Xampp on Windows 7/8/8.1/10 in my instructions. I am assuming you followed the instructions in the Original Post before doing the following:

1) Download and install Xampp from https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
2) Download the rar file also linked in the OP: https://gbatemp.net/attachments/wup-gcvpad-rar.37610/
3) Extract it (7-Zip works)
4) Copy the "wupinstaller" folder to "C:\xampp\htdocs"
5) In the Xampp control panel click on "start" in the "apache" collumn at the top
6) Open a command prompt (hold the "Windows" key and the "R" key at the same time) then type "cmd" and press enter
7) Type "ipconfig" (without brackets) and press enter
8) Look for something that looks like "192.168.X.X" next to "IPv4 address". Replace the "X"'s for whatever numbers you have there.
9) On your Wii U, open the browser and in the address bar type:
(i) "exploit.wiiubrew.net/540/index.html" and use the kernel exploit to the left (called "Kernel (5.4.0)"
you may have to try multiple times until it succeeds, once it does...:
(ii) "http://192.168.X.X/wupinstaller"
10) Your Wii U will then go back to the pause menu (the menu that comes up when you press the home button)
11) Tap the "Wii U Menu" button. The pause menu will close and it will go to the System menu and immediately freeze. It is now installing whatever you have in the /install folder on your SD Card

Tips:
- Try to use a fast SD card (like a class 10 or UHS), the slower ones may take longer
- for every 100mb of update, it takes about 10 minutes, so calculate how much time you need based on how large all the update files are, and add about 10 or 15 minutes for good measure. (I had a 476mb update, but I left mine to install for 60 minutes just to be safe)

Warnings:
- The files I link to are provided by others, I have scanned them with my anti-virus scanner and they told me they are safe (as of 29th March 2016). This can potentially change in the future (it's the internet). Use common sense and scan them yourselves to be sure.
- I take no responsibility for any damage caused by the instructions provided (although if you follow them correctly, everything should be fine)
- The above instructions worked for a 5.4.0 unspoofed (stock/official Nintendo firmware)

Good luck , if something doesn't work quite right, use common sense. If you use the same files I did though, it should work fine.

WiiUFTW