yeah, i have made sure that i've unplugged the system each time i attempt it. is the sd card reader known to degrade just like the eMMC? I recall the SD card working perfectly fine the last time I used it many years ago.
I've been trying to use PTB on my old Wii U that was sitting in storage for about 6 years. It was unmodded prior to being in storage, but it still had the eMMC fail as all deluxe versions are bound to experience.
Long story short, I did...