Hacking Feedback Hardware Homebrew Paid the Beak- What do I do?

PC64 · Apr 6, 2026

Hi everyone, I have a question about the “Paid the Beak” exploit for Wii U.
So, recently, I asked on here about a Wii U I bought and it got bricked after an update, that I bought that day. (I’ll link the old thread from a couple weeks ago down below)

On that thread, a couple people mentioned the ‘Paid the Beak’ exploit, which I’m willing to try as I supposedly “can’t return the Wii U” that I bought THE DAY IT FAILED…

So how does it work? I’m really want an explanation of how it works, so I can understand what I’m going to be doing to the console.
In addition, How do I make the jig with a raspberry pi pico? I have one I can test stuff on, and I’m learning to solder, so I could do some basic soldering.
Thank you everyone for your help!

(Here’s the link to the old thread—- Wii U older thread1)

neverendsDull · Apr 7, 2026

There is no video guide for this yet so you have to be creative. In fact you can use a CR2032 battery + some wires connected to your pico to achieve the same

the "critical" file and some extra background info can be found here

PC64 · Apr 7, 2026

So, does it matter if I use solid core or stranded core wire? I’m using the soldering stations in the engineering lab in my school, and just want to make sure if there’s a certain type of wire needed to do the connection from pico to the board.

Post automatically merged: Apr 8, 2026

I made the jig, but does it look ok? Not sure if I soldered it properly! I was worried cause it wouldn’t read the pico from my MacBook, so I tried a windows laptop, and it worked. (Same laptop I flashed the .uf2 files onto just a bit before). I don’t want to accidentally short out the pico!

PC64 · Apr 9, 2026

neverendsDull said:
There is no video guide for this yet so you have to be creative. In fact you can use a CR2032 battery + some wires connected to your pico to achieve the same

the "critical" file and some extra background info can be found here

This good?

lightwo · Apr 9, 2026

neverendsDull said:
There is no video guide for this yet so you have to be creative. In fact you can use a CR2032 battery + some wires connected to your pico to achieve the same

the "critical" file and some extra background info can be found here

There's no video guide, but there is a text guide in another thread...

PC64 said:
I was worried cause it wouldn’t read the pico from my MacBook, so I tried a windows laptop, and it worked.

That sounds like a random software issue. Your Pico is fine, and don't worry about your Pico, what you really don't want to break is your Wii U, remember? Don't forget the Pico is very affordable

PC64 said:
So, does it matter if I use solid core or stranded core wire? I’m using the soldering stations in the engineering lab in my school, and just want to make sure if there’s a certain type of wire needed to do the connection from pico to the board.

Post automatically merged: Apr 8, 2026

I made the jig, but does it look ok? Not sure if I soldered it properly! I was worried cause it wouldn’t read the pico from my MacBook, so I tried a windows laptop, and it worked. (Same laptop I flashed the .uf2 files onto just a bit before). I don’t want to accidentally short out the pico!

I'm a novice, but the solder joint looks good to me. The linked guide also recommends taping SWDIO and SWCLK, so don't forget to do that just in case.

PC64 · Apr 9, 2026

lightwo said:
There's no video guide, but there is a text guide…

Thank you! I found that though earlier, and was following it the whole time.

lightwo said:
That sounds like a random software issue. Your Pico is fine….

Ok, but do you think the Wii U is recoverable? Because when I used UDPIH, recovery mode would freeze. Normally it’ll be on the boot loop.

lightwo said:
I'm a novice, but the solder joint looks good to me. The linked guide also recommends taping SWDIO and SWCLK, so don't forget to do that just in case.

Ok! Yeah, I’m a beginner with soldering, but just wanted to see if anything bridged that I couldn’t tell.
Thanks again for your help!

lightwo · Apr 9, 2026

PC64 said:
Ok, but do you think the Wii U is recoverable? Because when I used UDPIH, recovery mode would freeze. Normally it’ll be on the boot loop.

If you ask me, I don't know. But it's definitely worth trying, especially if you already have a Pico to try PtB with.

PC64 · Apr 10, 2026

lightwo said:
If you ask me, I don't know. But it's definitely worth trying, especially if you already have a Pico to try PtB with.

Ok, I’m gonna try PTB later tonight and see if it works!

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2026

UPDATE- WAS ABLE TO GET TO NORMAL WII U MENU- didn’t freeze! Able to play smash bros and connected to internet! I’m gonna do the mods then install ifhshax to help if it happens.

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2026

Here’s a photo

Hacking Feedback Hardware Homebrew Paid the Beak- What do I do?

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