unbricking wii u black screen of death

tiger1234 · Dec 10, 2022

can anyone help about this??..i got a broken unit from a guy with wii u black screen of death .....(focusing and breifing the exact issue....for those unknown to wii u black screen of death it happens when wii u is shut down manually somehow during updates it corrupts os of wii u and system dosent boots after powering on due to missing or corrupt os files inspite led turns blue and fan also works but no screen comes on tv only black screen gamepad dosent sync as well..its a well known phenomemon among the wii u owners ..sometime it is solved by removing battery in wii u if that dosent work lan adaptor revovery method is tried ...my question is will latest breakthrogh in wii u unbricking especially developed by gary to unbrick a wii u cbhc brick that any chance of that recovery method work in black screen of death ???.its obviously a software issue if somehow we can enter recovery menu in this scenario the console can be unbricked any suggesion or help will be highly appretiated regards....if solved this will be extremly helpful for guys facing black screen of death in wii u due to failed update

note...ive already tried removing battery and lan adaptor recovery mode but that dosent solve the issue ...any help will be appretiated by you guys regards

NinStar · Dec 10, 2022

I believe your only option would be to do a hard mod, but you would require a previous backup of the MLC, SLC and OTP.

Also, for how long that guy had his Wii U in that state? I can only remember seeing people reporting these very specific issues you described when updating to system version 2.0.0 (which was that infamous 5gb launch update) and powering off the console in the process.

tiger1234 · Dec 10, 2022

NinStar said:
I believe your only option would be to do a hard mod, but you would require a previous backup of the MLC, SLC and OTP.

Also, for how long that guy had his Wii U in that state? I can only remember seeing people reporting these very specific issues you described when updating to system version 2.0.0 (which was that infamous 5gb launch update) and powering off the console in the process.

i think some months ago even cbhc brick also has a single possible solution that is hard mod its true but recent development in this unbricking scene totally opened up the possibilities especially that gary method of recovery menu of unbricking cbhc wii u brick..im hoping some how if recovery menu is accessed like in cbhc brick it can be unbricked but issue is since display dosent appear nor gamepad connects so im not sure if this particular method using sd card recovery menu will work or not ..

im not sure how long the unit was lying with him like this only sure is it happened during some update...the console is not modded at all and there is non hardware related issue in it ... i tried the lan adaptor recovery mode as well (using particular lan adaptor for wii u off course) but lan adaptor isnt detecting in red light mode

Post automatically merged: Dec 11, 2022

@GaryOderNichts buddy any suggesion??? only you are a guy who can solve this

rtthrow · Jan 21, 2023

Using this method worked for me! I had error code: 160-0103 that would pop up at random times. Then, I happened to turn off my Wii U during a big update (it appeared to be frozen since I left the Wii U alone for days and no progess). So, of course it would power on and have no display or connect to my gamepad. I used the Raspberry Pico method along with following the cold boot option. The Wii U's power LED turned purple and I had to do the Recovery menu blind, but its on and working. I am now terrified to turn it off ever again. lol

I also bought it used years ago. There's an account I can't access and I never modded it and don't know if the old owner did. I
doubt it, though.

edit: I'm still getting the 160-0103 error but I still have a display on my tv.
2nd edit: I think I fixed the 160-0103 error by doing the recovery menu steps again.

tiger1234 · Jan 25, 2023

rtthrow said:
Using this method worked for me! I had error code: 160-0103 that would pop up at random times. Then, I happened to turn off my Wii U during a big update (it appeared to be frozen since I left the Wii U alone for days and no progess). So, of course it would power on and have no display or connect to my gamepad. I used the Raspberry Pico method along with following the cold boot option. The Wii U's power LED turned purple and I had to do the Recovery menu blind, but its on and working. I am now terrified to turn it off ever again. lol

I also bought it used years ago. There's an account I can't access and I never modded it and don't know if the old owner did. I
doubt it, though.

edit: I'm still getting the 160-0103 error but I still have a display on my tv.
2nd edit: I think I fixed the 160-0103 error by doing the recovery menu steps again.

in my case the led dosent turn purple in recovery mode

rtthrow · Feb 7, 2023

tiger1234 said:
in my case the led dosent turn purple in recovery mode

I forgot to add, you need to wait about 12 to 14 seconds after turning on your Wii U before plugging in the raspberry pi pico. Hope that helps.

edit: I also downloaded the recover_menu_dc_unit on to my sd card and renamed it recovery_menu. Its on the same page as the recovery_menu. Which one did you use?

tiger1234 · Feb 28, 2023

rtthrow said:
I forgot to add, you need to wait about 12 to 14 seconds after turning on your Wii U before plugging in the raspberry pi pico. Hope that helps.

edit: I also downloaded the recover_menu_dc_unit on to my sd card and renamed it recovery_menu. Its on the same page as the recovery_menu. Which one did you use?

thanks for the reply buddy ive used exactly same recovery menu file and renamed it accordingly still no display ive tried many times the display dosent appear nor led colour changes

SDIO · Mar 1, 2023

did he saw any errors in the time before it bricked?

tiger1234 · Mar 2, 2023

SDIO said:
did he saw any errors in the time before it bricked?

actually i bought it from a guy very cheap full set...just for around 20 dollars..including fully working power adaptors and gamepad as well .i already own 2 wii u full working hence i took this deal since i also got the power adaptors and fully working gamepad as well which i can use as back up ..... the console obviously wasnt showing a display that guy who sold me thought its display chip issue but its purely software issue while power off during updates

no error before going blank it was right after the update as far as i know !!!!

Post automatically merged: Mar 2, 2023

SDIO said:
did he saw any errors in the time before it bricked?

this issue with no display on tv nor gamepad connected is very popular among wii u owners any breakthough regarding this will be very helpful to many guys out there having same issue unfortunately the latest gary method dosent seem to be working over here

JackTheFroster · Mar 2, 2023

Some things i've gathered for now, correct me if im wrong:
1. No HDMI signal
2. System won't boot into Gary's recovery menu
3. Gamepad not synced with the console
4. Lan adapter in standby mode isn't helping

I don't know what exactly was tried else and what was said on other threads. I still researched a bit to understand this problem better since i have a wii u myself and might help others. Probably what i ask and write here is nothing new but since i don't see much on this thread i might want to try.

I have read that you can sync your gamepad with a bruteforce method that might take time, but could at least work. I still think its not important in this case since its mostly helpful for dead hdmi ports. But that gave me the idea of a possible broken hdmi port or cable, and any possibility to somehow switch to AV output. Those are still the options i would consider as less helpful.

I think the lan adapter method is probably the best try for an unmodded wii u but might also help for modded ones, but if its sure that the method is not working, its either because its a not working lan adapter or the console cannot get into standby mode. The last thing that is available is Gary's recovery menu. If The Rasperry Pi Pico/Zero or Nintendo Switch is plugged in at the wrong time, which seems like a very tight timing, it wont boot to the menu. Trying different timings is the only thing you could try. And another (not yet available) project which might lead to a new way to fix a "dead" wii u is developed by EyeKey, but haven't found any update on that.

I think its hard to say what the problem is on a "black screen of death" wii u. from the sounds of the console you might determine if it potentially still boots up with the Wii U logo not being seen (meaning recovery menu should work). That is at least my thought because if the console isn't booting at all, it should at least not power other things up (like the fan or the disc drive, but i'm not really sure about it). Otherwise the only other options are probably some hardmods but without a backup its unlikely to go further into that. So far, i don't think there is a coldboot brick protection like the Priiloader for the Wii. I really would like to see updates on this. Hopefully there might be a way in the future to protect the wii u from bricks. One last thing that got my eye was a boot1 coldboot exploit, but unsure if it's helpful since there isn't any update or i don't know if it's already in use...

tiger1234 · Mar 2, 2023

JackTheFroster said:
Some things i've gathered for now, correct me if im wrong:
1. No HDMI signal
2. System won't boot into Gary's recovery menu
3. Gamepad not synced with the console
4. Lan adapter in standby mode isn't helping

I don't know what exactly was tried else and what was said on other threads. I still researched a bit to understand this problem better since i have a wii u myself and might help others. Probably what i ask and write here is nothing new but since i don't see much on this thread i might want to try.

I have read that you can sync your gamepad with a bruteforce method that might take time, but could at least work. I still think its not important in this case since its mostly helpful for dead hdmi ports. But that gave me the idea of a possible broken hdmi port or cable, and any possibility to somehow switch to AV output. Those are still the options i would consider as less helpful.

I think the lan adapter method is probably the best try for an unmodded wii u but might also help for modded ones, but if its sure that the method is not working, its either because its a not working lan adapter or the console cannot get into standby mode. The last thing that is available is Gary's recovery menu. If The Rasperry Pi Pico/Zero or Nintendo Switch is plugged in at the wrong time, which seems like a very tight timing, it wont boot to the menu. Trying different timings is the only thing you could try. And another (not yet available) project which might lead to a new way to fix a "dead" wii u is developed by EyeKey, but haven't found any update on that.

I think its hard to say what the problem is on a "black screen of death" wii u. from the sounds of the console you might determine if it potentially still boots up with the Wii U logo not being seen (meaning recovery menu should work). That is at least my thought because if the console isn't booting at all, it should at least not power other things up (like the fan or the disc drive, but i'm not really sure about it). Otherwise the only other options are probably some hardmods but without a backup its unlikely to go further into that. So far, i don't think there is a coldboot brick protection like the Priiloader for the Wii. I really would like to see updates on this. Hopefully there might be a way in the future to protect the wii u from bricks. One last thing that got my eye was a boot1 coldboot exploit, but unsure if it's helpful since there isn't any update or i don't know if it's already in use...

yes buddy you explained almost all possible scenarios ...brute force method has 256 probabilities going through permutations and combination ive tried that as well i tried it before lan method ....out of 256 probabilities nothing matched for syncing since the console aint booting screen hdmi etc all good this method is good of hdmi chip is broken and one have to switch to av

i think cold boot mentioned by you over here is something related to exploit tiramisu method which is much safer method of mod a wii u eliminating the need of purchasing a ds game...

JackTheFroster · Mar 2, 2023

tiger1234 said:
yes buddy you explained almost all possible scenarios ...brute force method has 256 probabilities going through permutations and combination ive tried that as well i tried it before lan method ....out of 256 probabilities nothing matched for syncing since the console aint booting screen hdmi etc all good this method is good of hdmi chip is broken and one have to switch to av

i think cold boot mentioned by you over here is something related to exploit tiramisu method which is much safer method of mod a wii u eliminating the need of purchasing a ds game...

the problem of "coldbooting" in this scenario is, that it's just loading a bit later in the bootchain as far as i understood. Tiramisu or Aroma are just "environments" which can be coldbooted with several exploits, just like CBHC but for that one you indeed needed a DS game which has become obsolete. still, these exploits rely on later parts of the bootchain which means no full control over the system in a coldboot state right at the beginning of the bootchain. the only "brick protection" that i find is Gary's recovery menu, but as you can tell, its right between the wii u boot logo and the home menu which is hard to access without video signal or if the console is just not booting that far. Something like Priiloader on the Wii that can boot directly from the coldboot state even when the console is bricked would be the dream for every console...

if anything is wrong what i have said, please correct me ^^'

tiger1234 · Mar 4, 2023

you are apsolutely right in every aspect buddy..im only hoping in future a method like gary might appear which might helpful in unbricking wiiu with no display ..i hope that guy eyekey succeeds in bringing some breakthrough since he claimed he is working on this issue

herze · Mar 13, 2023

Hi all,
I'm new here and having the same issue. Had an error (don't remember the number) and the wii u finally hung up during an update. Since then: Black screen, now pad sync.

I tried the LAN adapter with a compatible third party one on different USB ports. I tried the recovery menu by Gary. All with no success.

In the meantime, I bought an used wii u, which is working. There the recovery menu works. So I was thinking it would be easy to time plugging ing the pico/zero. But my broken wii u's cd drives checks twice for CD. The working one only once. Also the sound is a different. Anyone realized this? Does this has to mean something? Or is it just different hardware revision?

SDIO · Mar 13, 2023

did the recoery menu load? Did the Power LED turn purple, when you tried udpih?
Do you have a NAND Backup?

herze · Mar 15, 2023

SDIO said:
did the recoery menu load? Did the Power LED turn purple, when you tried udpih?
Do you have a NAND Backup?

No, it didn't load. I tried many timings, before after and in the middle of CD drive sounds.
I also watched the LED, but no color change.

Unlucky I've no backup and Nintendo is no longer repairing Wii U in my region.

Any other possibility?

Danook28 · Mar 15, 2023

herze said:
No, it didn't load. I tried many timings, before after and in the middle of CD drive sounds.
I also watched the LED, but no color change.

Unlucky I've no backup and Nintendo is no longer repairing Wii U in my region.

Any other possibility?

Can load recovery mod from cd or dvd????

SDIO · Mar 15, 2023

herze said:
No, it didn't load. I tried many timings, before after and in the middle of CD drive sounds.
I also watched the LED, but no color change.

Unlucky I've no backup and Nintendo is no longer repairing Wii U in my region.

Any other possibility?

There is a very slim chance that your eMMC failed the same way mine did and went to a read only mode. You could do the hardmod, dump the eMMC a few times and then try writing it back. That got my console from completely dead to booting to an error message. But it would be huge coincidence if that were really your problem.
But besides that you can just wait for another exploit.

Danook28 said:
Can load recovery mod from cd or dvd????

No, the dvd drive is only relevant for the timing. You plug in the pico when you hear the drive.

rtthrow · Mar 17, 2023

herze said:
No, it didn't load. I tried many timings, before after and in the middle of CD drive sounds.
I also watched the LED, but no color change.

Unlucky I've no backup and Nintendo is no longer repairing Wii U in my region.

Any other possibility?

What's your actual timings? I sat with a stopwatch and timed mines for about 12 seconds before plugging it in and it worked. Are you timing it or just listening out for it to start up?

V10lator · Mar 18, 2023

The black screen can have multiple causes. When the recovery menu won't boot (no purple LED) it's most likely a IOSU brick, so it crashes before the USB driver loads. This is fixable with a NAND backup and hardmod only.

unbricking wii u black screen of death

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