Moonlight Wii U is a port of Moonlight Embedded, which is an open source client for Sunshine and NVIDIA GameStream. Moonlight allows you to stream your full collection of games and applications from your PC to other devices to play them remotely.

It's using the hardware-accelerated h264 library of the Wii U which results in pretty fast decoding.
Using my LAN Adapter 720p@60fps runs almost flawlessly.

Here's a little demo (and april fools) video:

Quick Start​

A Wii U LAN Adapter is recommended!

• Grab the latest version from the releases page and extract it to the root of your SD Card.
• Enter the IP of your Sunshine/GFE server in the moonlight.conf file located at sd:/wiiu/apps/moonlight.
• Ensure your Sunshine/GFE server and Wii U are on the same network.
• If using GFE, turn on Shield Streaming in the GFE settings.
• Pair Moonlight Wii U with the server.
• Accept the pairing confirmation on your PC.
• Connect to the server with Moonlight Wii U.
• Play games!

Configuration
You can configure all of the documented settings in the moonlight.conf file located at sd:/wiiu/apps/moonlight.
Note that a lot of option are commented out by default, to edit them you need to remove the # in front of them.

Supported controllers

• Gamepad (can be disabled with the disable_gamepad option).
• Up to 4 Wii U Pro Controllers and Wii Classic Controllers (Pro).
  The Gamepad needs to be disabled to use the 4th controller.

Troubleshooting​

Input doesn't work when using Sunshine​

Verify that you've installed Nefarius Virtual Gamepad and restarted your PC after the installation.

The stream disconnects frequently/immediately​

Depending on your network connection you need to adjust the configuration to find a stable bitrate and resolution.Try something like this to get started:

width = 854
height = 480
fps = 30

bitrate = 1500

Then slowly increase the bitrate until the stream is no longer stable.

Can't find app Steam​

Moonlight Wii U tries to start the app "Steam" by default, but sunshine does not have a default Application called "Steam".
You can either rename the app in the moonlight.conf to

app = Steam Big Picture

which is a default option in sunshine or add a new application called "Steam" in the sunshine configuration.

Releases: https://github.com/GaryOderNichts/moonlight-wiiu/releases
Source code: https://github.com/GaryOderNichts/moonlight-wiiu

Special thanks to agilly1989, rw and QuarkTheAwesome.

 

[Moon164]

I have a silly question, since we can use Geforce Experience in Moonlight on Wii U, maybe it was possible to use Geforce Now in it in some way?

I really don't understand any of these things, but I was curious to know if something like this is possible.

 

[AxlSt00pid]

I have a silly question, since we can use Geforce Experience in Moonlight on Wii U, maybe it was possible to use Geforce Now in it in some way?

I really don't understand any of these things, but I was curious to know if something like this is possible.

Using the instructions on moonlight's own github tutorial page and changing the config file of Moonlight Wii U you can actually stream the entirety of your desktop to your Wii U

And since Moonlight Wii U emulates/makes your PC think the Wii U gamepad is an Xbox gamepad I'd say you actually can play GeForce Now games on Wii U (Since using this exact method I was able to play with PCSX2 and more apps)

 

[recapp]

When I put my IPv4 Address it says "Can't connect to server (IP Address)" Is it a different IP Address? Like IPv6 Address? Thanks for all the help.

Edit: I fixed my "Can't connect to server (IP Address)" issue, (For some reason my Wii U wasn't connected to internet) but now I have another lmao, when I connect to the Wii U the screen freezes immediately, I still get audio and it sounds great, but the screen is frozen.

Edit Edit: Well I fixed that, but now have another problem, the inputs have MASSIVE delay (like 5 seconds after hitting a button) and they only register if I hold the button for 5 seconds, or the input doesn't go through, the video has only a little big of delay so I don't know why the inputs have so much delay. Hope you can help me

 

[Deleted User]

I just get a black screen and I updated to moonlight Wii u 1.1.

 

[adrianops]

Thanks for the amazing work! Is there any possibility of a moonlight wii u version for amd link? (for user with amd cards). The latest version of geforce experience needs a nvidia card.

 

[GaryOderNichts]

Thanks for the amazing work! Is there any possibility of a moonlight wii u version for amd link? (for user with amd cards). The latest version of geforce experience needs a nvidia card.

Yeah, there is sunshine:
https://github.com/loki-47-6F-64/sunshine

 

[AlMightyBob]

Sunshine just updated after being dormant for over a year. It adds in AMF support which I gather would be native encoding for better performance. It's enabled by default and, for me, Moonlight Wii U just shows a black screen for about 5s on pressing A to connect before shutting down and falling back to the Homebrew Launcher. Selecting the 'software' encoder in the sunshine config still works ok for anyone having issues. I don't know if it's worth the trouble but would supporting the amf encoder be possible?

 

[recapp]

Otherwise Nintendo how persuade to buy the Switch, that basically are on similar power console range....so sad this story for this great underestimate console.

@carlitos2200 The best stream that I have tried without problems and smooth are:
Set to 60 FPS and stream at 5000 for lower resolution. The rest I didn't try because to stream at 1080p at 60 it's useless on the pad Screen as the PAD screen it as just 854x480, save a lot of resources and it's perfect for the screen. Play also with MTU from Wii U settings if you want test more and set at 1480 and then the MTU from the conf file...I didn't touched these MTU parameters because I already achieved no INPUT LAG ( and when I say NO input lag it's really in real time streaming) from controller response and streaming smoothly like natively hardware .

Edit: to whom would like to experiment more stream settings from what I did (even with just little improvements) , please share and post here.

How did you get no input lag? I tried the settings you listed here, but I get 7+ seconds of input delay, but the video and audio has no delay. Do you know what could be causing this? My PC is Ethernet and my Wii U is not.

 

[lexarvn]

Edit Edit: Well I fixed that, but now have another problem, the inputs have MASSIVE delay (like 5 seconds after hitting a button) and they only register if I hold the button for 5 seconds, or the input doesn't go through, the video has only a little big of delay so I don't know why the inputs have so much delay. Hope you can help me

What version of GeForce Experience do you have? 3.22 caused a very similar sounding problem for me and the only way I could fix it was by reverting GeForce Experience to 3.21

 

[recapp]

What version of GeForce Experience do you have? 3.22 caused a very similar sounding problem for me and the only way I could fix it was by reverting GeForce Experience to 3.21

Yeah, I have 3.22, how can I revert to 3.21?

Edit: Never mind I found out how. It fixed my problem, thanks so much!

 

[danny19901]

Amazing Work but im having issues not sure why either i have latest GFE & Moonlight installed Wii U sometimes connects and steam recognizes it as 360 controller but always freezing up on streams at 720p 60fps at 25Mbps sometimes doesn't get connected as a controller it's paired up and everything hope some can help also my pc and Wii U are Pretty close to the router and im using Ethernet Cables on both devices

 

[GreatWhite_Gamer]

Yeah, there is sunshine:

I am wondering if you don't have the ethernet dongle into the Wii u and doing the NVidia streaming will it be stutter like a slide show? I tried a game and it would not get any other image than the loading screen and then when Hit esc and ctrl it would show that but just and image. Is that a wifi issue or something else. I have a rtx 2070

 

[CrisMod]

Hello everyone, to whom will face the stream problems between GeForce Experience - Moonlight - Wii U, no worries because just then I was setting for my son the PC streamimng to the Wii U, and after some testing I discovered that the GeForce Experience v.3.22.0.32 it doesn't work well or at all with Wii U Moonlight (even the Moonlight v. 1.1).
So, to use the stream service without problems, I suggest you to follow as below:

1) Find and Download in a trusted internet site the NVIDIA GeForce Experience v. 3.21.0.36

2) Once done it, go to Windows Control Panel - Programs and uninstall only the voice from Nvidia the NVIDIA GeForce Experience v. 3.22.X.XX

3) Once the uninstalling process will be finished, the software will ask you to Reboot, so before Reboot the system go to disable your Internet connection in anyway more convieninet for you.

4) After that Reboot System, once you are into your Desktop, go to the search bar and write

cmd

and press Enter (or press Windows Button + R) then into the Terminal (or the popup shell) write

wf.msc

and press Enter.

5) This will open the Windows Firewall, now on the left Menu you will find the Rules for the Internent connections IN and OUT , click on the IN connections Rules and and choose New Rule .

6) Press Next on the first page, and on second page click on Browse, and once pop up the new window go to find NVIDIA Web Helper.exe in

C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\NvNode\NVIDIA Web Helper.exe

click open and press Next.

7) On the third page select Block the connection and press Next, and on the fourth page keep everything selected and Next again

8) On Final fifth page just give a name to this New Rule like GeForce Experience Auto Update Block, and then click Finish .

9) Repeat the same steps from 5 to 8 for the New Rule under the Connections OUT .

10) Connect again the Computer to internet and login to your GeForce Experience account.

As you can undersatnd, this will block only the Geforce Experience to Auto Update , so all the services from the Drivers, Wii U streaming and so on, will keep to working as always. This will just block the annoying Auto Update from the GeForce Experience software.

Maybe some of you knows already how to block a single service connections , but I made this just for the people who has less practice with internet block service connections.....

The best Stream from my side, that doesn't give me any problem with the Wii U connected by WiFi , it's to keep the bitrate at 5000 as below:

bitrate = 5000

And the Video streaming configuration, or you keep as default with all the symbol # that will auto adjust the stream quality on different scenarios, or you can make as below:

## Video streaming configuration
width = 854
height = 480
fps = 60

The differences are solely that from the first Default Settings the Video will adjust the resolution on base of your stream bandwidth and the second will keep always the same native resolution. But in terms of stability and performance I cannot see so much differences.....
And last thing, when you will test the streaming I suggest you to keep the Router-Wii U- and PC close to each other, and once you are sure that the Stream it's working well, after you can try to put back in them place. Just to be sure that your problems of straming are not related to the Wii U base and Router/ PAD controller because are far from each other....

 

[PixelEyes]

Sorry for the the trouble but no matter what I do the gamepad's input is not being registered on my host machine. Disable_gamepad and swap_buttons are both set to false in the conf. No difference if I comment em out. I've removed all paired bluetooth devices from my computers, tried turning off Steams controllers for Generic gamepads, Xbox gamepad, and nintendo gamepads. All I have connected to my pc are a webcam, usb desk lamp, Razer cynosa, and hyperx mouse. I'm running windows 10 pro 64 bit with Ryzen 5 3400g, GTX 1660 super with latest drivers and Geforce Experience 3.20.3

 

[emanubit]

Sorry for the the trouble but no matter what I do the gamepad's input is not being registered on my host machine. Disable_gamepad and swap_buttons are both set to false in the conf. No difference if I comment em out. I've removed all paired bluetooth devices from my computers, tried turning off Steams controllers for Generic gamepads, Xbox gamepad, and nintendo gamepads. All I have connected to my pc are a webcam, usb desk lamp, Razer cynosa, and hyperx mouse. I'm running windows 10 pro 64 bit with Ryzen 5 3400g, GTX 1660 super with latest drivers and Geforce Experience 3.20.3

Hm, do you know if the Virtual Gamepad is created/ran whenever you stream? Check on Window's Device Management if a new input interface shows up when you start the stream. This may be a driver conflict issue

 

[PixelEyes]

Hm, do you know if the Virtual Gamepad is created/ran whenever you stream? Check on Window's Device Management if a new input interface shows up when you start the stream. This may be a driver conflict issue

In device manager I do not see anything of the sort, however in Devices and printers under the control Panel I see a virtual mouse and keyboard. I had rainway installed before which had its own virtual gamepad so I deleted that and the driver to no avail.

 

[rasky]

In device manager I do not see anything of the sort, however in Devices and printers under the control Panel I see a virtual mouse and keyboard. I had rainway installed before which had its own virtual gamepad so I deleted that and the driver to no avail.

Are you sure the problem is that it’s not registering and not the input delay associated with the latest version of GFX? Try holding down one of the dpad buttons or the back button for 3-4 seconds and seeing if the cursor eventually moves. I went through the same thing you are until I did that and came back here to see it’s a known issue. You’ll either have to rollback to an old version of GFX (this worked for me) and find a way to prevent the auto updates (I couldn’t be bothered) or wait for OP to release a hotfix (this is where I am).

If it’s not the input delay then sorry I’m out of ideas.

 

[PixelEyes]

Are you sure the problem is that it’s not registering and not the input delay associated with the latest version of GFX? Try holding down one of the dpad buttons or the back button for 3-4 seconds and seeing if the cursor eventually moves. I went through the same thing you are until I did that and came back here to see it’s a known issue. You’ll either have to rollback to an old version of GFX (this worked for me) and find a way to prevent the auto updates (I couldn’t be bothered) or wait for OP to release a hotfix (this is where I am).

If it’s not the input delay then sorry I’m out of ideas.

No even holding down the dpad in any direction didn't work. I did figure out the issue though. I switched to sunshine, and updated windows 10 to 21h1. I also went through optional updates and selected all updates related to 360 controllers and game devices. After a reboot it worked. Thank you so much for help everyone and sorry for the trouble

 

[FanNintendo]

is it possible to play off 3DS??

 

[ZTylerDurden]

This is great, but unfortunately it cuts off after pairing because of GFE updates.

I've been using Moonlight for years via macosx, ios and windows. Would be great to see it working on the Wii U gamepad again without rolling back drivers.