Trying to figure out which hack was used to softmod this Wii U I bought recently...

[Blythe93]

I recently bought a used Wii U and I'm thinking of doing a factory reset so that I install Tiramisu on it (alongside new Aroma as well), but I'm not sure which hack previous owner used. It came with an SD card and here are the contents of it:

Spoiler: SD card file listing

|   nincfg.bin
|   payload.elf
|   
+---install
+---nand
|   \---launcher
|       \---0seeprom_red
|           +---AL
|           |   \---elf
|           |           icon.png
|           |           launch_image.tga
|           |           meta.xml
|           |           Singtolalpa.elf
|           |           
|           +---hl
|           |   \---elf
|           |           icon.png
|           |           meta.xml
|           |           
|           +---m
|           |   \---elf
|           |           config.ini
|           |           fw.elf
|           |           icon.png
|           |           launch_image.tga
|           |           meta.xml
|           |           
|           +---U
|           |   \---elf
|           |           icon.png
|           |           meta.xml
|           |           u.elf
|           |           
|           \---W4
|               \---elf
|                       icon.png
|                       meta.xml
|                       wupameris.elf
|                       
+---wiiu
|   |   payload.elf
|   |   
|   \---apps
|       +---Actualizador Haxchi
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       Update.elf
|       |       
|       +---appstore
|       |   |   hbas.elf
|       |   |   icon.png
|       |   |   meta.xml
|       |   |   
|       |   \---cache
|       |           (Lots of PNG files)
|       |           
|       +---haxchi
|       |       haxchi.elf
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       
|       +---hbl2hbc
|       |       hbl2hbc.elf
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       
|       +---homebrew_launcher
|       |       homebrew_launcher.elf
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       
|       +---PacmanGX2
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       Pacman_GX2.elf
|       |       
|       +---REGION FREE & FWIMG
|       |       icon.png
|       |       launch_image.tga
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       sign_patcher.elf
|       |       
|       +---sigpatcher2sysmenu
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       sign_patcher.elf
|       |       
|       +---Wup Ameris
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       wupinstaller.elf
|       |       
|       +---wup_installer_gx2
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       wup_installer_gx2.elf
|       |       
|       +---wup_installer_gx2_mod
|       |       icon.png
|       |       meta.xml
|       |       wup_installer_gx2.elf
|       |       
|       \---mocha_fat32
|               mocha.elf
|               meta.xml
|               icon.png
|               
\---LOST.DIR

As far as I can tell, it's some sort of Haxchi hack, except for the fact that I couldn't find neither Homebrew Launcher channel on Wii U Menu nor Haxchi. It came with few games on it and that's pretty much it. Let me know if you need any more info. Thanks in advance!

 

[Sypherone]

Its seems haxchi, without cbhc its a temporary hack because it needs to run everytime manually. There must be a app with a red triangle "dont touch me". It needs to be uninstalled if you want tiramisu, BUT check for cbhc first by booting the console. If a black screen appears with "autoboot launching...." its cbhc and you can enter the menu by holding home button at boot. In this case first the installer for cbhc needs to rerun for uninstall (which i dont see in the /wiiu/app folder), else you get a brick. FIRST unistall cbhc then remove haxchi app.

If tiramisu would installed with autoboot, you would able by holding "+"(plus/start) to enter the boot menu. Also by holding "X" at boot you should be able to enter some menu. Recommended guide for install tiramisu https://wiiu.hacks.guide/#/

 

[Blythe93]

Thanks for reply! Weird thing about this console is that it has no Haxchi, Do not touch me! or Homebrew Launcher app on the Wii U menu. There's nothing under Data Management either, where you can move/delete apps/data. No "autoboot launching" either on startup, nothing happens if I hold "+" or "X" while console's booting.

Then I started to doubt whether it's hacked at all, so I checked downloaded titles in eShop app and I've noticed that Brain Training was among them (neither of the games currently installed to NAND were in that list) so it could be Haxchi... of sorts?

I further checked Daily Log to see which apps and games the previous owner used to run and, weirdly enough, other than a few games here and there, I've noticed that they used Browser a lot, so I checked it out. Wii U exploit page was set as homepage so I guess they maybe used Indexiine?

 

[Sypherone]

Haxchi is a patch which needs to patch a compatible game thats have to be installed on Nand. If there is none with red triangle then there is no haxchi.

If a WiiU browser is used a lot then they used a temporay exploid/hack to run mocha, for sure http://u.wiidb.de/ which to use is explained here or they used http://wiiuexploit.xyz/ .

Indexiine is just a offline mod to run the exploid in browser without internet connection. It will automatically launch the browser exploid in about 10 seconds when the browser is opened and returns then to homebrew launcher. As there is no indexiine installer in the app folder, i will think there is none installed, as it could also uninstalled with it.

To check for sure for tiramisu is installed or not someone else might check for it.

 

[Blythe93]

I see... Well, I successfully loaded into HBL via browser exploit. When I launched the browser, nothing happened until I clicked on Run Exploit button, so I guess it isn't autobooting into HBL? And yeah, no indexiine installer in it. Maybe I should grab it and run it via HBL, see if there's an option to uninstall it? Based on what I've found on Wii U Hacks Guide website, it should be pretty easy.

I doubt that Tiramisu is installed, so I guess there's no need to check for it. This console was probably hacked back in 2019 based on the Daily Log activity.

I do wonder how the games on it are running without loading a CFW before starting a game? That's usually the case with Haxchi, you have to run it before games provided your Wii U was powered off. Games in question are: Super Mario Maker, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country Returns (VC) and Minecraft. (Actually, I tried Super Mario 3D World only, now that I think about it.)

I also wonder how safe or unsafe would it be for me to do a factory reset?

If you need any screenshots (or video even), do let me know. I'd really like to start from scratch if possible with this console and set it up the way I'd like.

 

[Sypherone]

If you launch the browser (also without WLAN/Ethernet connection) and nothing happens and still cant launch a specific game without cfw. Then there is no indexiine.

Some game run with out cfw, but dont know for sure if it needs to be a specific titleID like on 3DS with universal legit titles.

A factory reset, reset the user data and configuration. As there is no cbhc or autoboot of tiramisu, there is no problem.

 

[Blythe93]

Alright, I'll make a factory reset and see what happens afterwards. Thanks a lot for your replies!

 

[V10lator]

I do wonder how the games on it are running without loading a CFW before starting a game?

These games have probably been dumped from consoles where they where preinstalled. These preinstalled titles use some kind of special ticket not glued to the console, so you can install them onto other consoles without CFWs. IIRC it's similiar with the 3DS ("legit" tickets).

I also wonder how safe or unsafe would it be for me to do a factory reset?

Looks pretty safe and I would even recommend doing it. Just, as you say, to start from scratch.

//EDIT: Or the games have simply been purchased from the eShop?

 

[Blythe93]

Looks pretty safe and I would even recommend doing it. Just, as you say, to start from scratch.

Thanks for confirmation. I'll do that tomorrow morning. ^^

//EDIT: Or the games have simply been purchased from the eShop?

I checked and none of those games were not on the previous owner's list. I did see a Brain Training among them, though, so I assume that they probably wanted to do Haxchi at some point?

Post automatically merged: Oct 23, 2022

Everything went well with factory reset and everything works flawlessly. Thanks for everything, guys!