Hacking Extracting save data from bricked console

[rodpack]

Hello,

I am trying to recover my save data and miis from my WiiU, it's stuck on the logo screen because of a failing Hynix chip. I managed to install ISFShax and load minute, and dumped the otp and seeprom. I also used the format rednand option to create a backup on an sd card. I read that I could extract save data using wfs-extract and followed all the instructions but could not get it to work at all. I then tried wfs-extract --help and it said " 'wfs-extract' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file." I don't know what I'm doing wrong, any help would be appreciated.

 

[fate6]

You did have your terminal or cmd or whatever in the directory that has wfs-extract right? you cant just type it in and expect the OS to know where it is.
iirc on windows you can right click or hold shift then right click to open a terminal or cmd prompt in the location where you clicked.

if using cmd then as long as you are within the correct directory then it should just find it when you type its name but if using powershell or terminal i think you need to hit it with a "./", so "./wfs-extract --help"

 

[rodpack]

You did have your terminal or cmd or whatever in the directory that has wfs-extract right? you cant just type it in and expect the OS to know where it is.
iirc on windows you can right click or hold shift then right click to open a terminal or cmd prompt in the location where you clicked.

if using cmd then as long as you are within the correct directory then it should just find it when you type its name but if using powershell or terminal i think you need to hit it with a "./", so "./wfs-extract --help"

This worked! But now I realize I don't have an mlc.bin file to use as the input. I can't figure out how because I don't have the Dump MLC+SLC option on UDPIH. Where do I get this? Thanks for the help.

 

[SDIO]

The easies would probably be t just setup a clean redNAND and then use the sys mount option with SaveMii to dump the saves directly.
If you want to use the recovery menu, it would be this: https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/recovery_menu/releases

Post automatically merged: Feb 6, 2026

This worked! But now I realize I don't have an mlc.bin file to use as the input.

You woud specify the MLC partition on the sdcard there.

 

[rodpack]

The easies would probably be t just setup a clean redNAND and then use the sys mount option with SaveMii to dump the saves directly.
If you want to use the recovery menu, it would be this: https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/recovery_menu/releases

Post automatically merged: Feb 6, 2026

You woud specify the MLC partition on the sdcard there.

I was in the recovery menu dumping the MLC when the console froze and shut off. I had taken the heatsink off earlier so I could resolder the power jack and didn't put it back on, CPU was burning hot. Now it's blinking blue with no image. I assumed it's SLC corruption so I tried to use PTB but nothing is happening. No video, just blinks blue. Do I have to use de_fuse, or is it over?

 

[SDIO]

I guess something dram related died. Either the dram controller or solder connections going to the dram

 

[rodpack]

I guess something dram related died. Either the dram controller or solder connections going to the dram

So I tried to set up de_fuse and connected it to PuTTY, but when I try to turn it on the LED stays red and I get this output:

This just repeats over and over until I turn it off. I was also getting error code 00 and e1 alternating back and forth.

 

[SDIO]

Are you sure you are using a SDSC card (<=2GB)? SDHC cards will neither work for PTB nor defuse, as the boot0 doesn't support SDHC.

 

[rodpack]

Are you sure you are using a SDSC card (<=2GB)? SDHC cards will neither work for PTB nor defuse, as the boot0 doesn't support SDHC.

I bought this 2GB card from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DFQ3WZMQ
I created a 1GB partition on it and flashed boot1 to it, minitool says there’s un allocated space before and after the partition in use.

 

[SDIO]

looking at your output again, it seems like your debug port isn't wired correctly. It seems the line for forth bit is missing.

 

[rodpack]

Just tried out one of those 1GB SD cards for the Wii, as well as removing the TP122 wire, and I was able to access minute! Dumped the otp and sys crash logs for good measure. I have a few questions on where to go from here:

How do I install a redNAND to proceed with the fix you suggested earlier, and do I still need the 1GB card to access minute?
What is the debug port? Should I try dumping the full MLC again? Thanks so much for your help

 

[rodpack]

So I tried to setup a redNAND, but when I start installing the files I get a blinking orange LED that does not ever finish (left it on overnight). After that I used Format redNAND to make an mlc dump and tried to use wfs-extract again but I can’t get it to work. All I get is an ‘Error reading file’ message. Any ideas?

 

[SDIO]

Can you show where you get the error?

Post automatically merged: Feb 20, 2026

Also when doing the redNAND setup, did you make sure you were actually booting the redNAND option?

 

[rodpack]

Here’s what I get, and I’m choosing the second option “Patch (sd) and boot IOS redNAND”

 

[SDIO]

You can't specify the whole physical device, you would need to specify the mlc partitions. But I am not sure how to do that on windows. Maybe you can find it with:

Get-Partition | Select-Object DiskNumber, PartitionNumber, DriveLetter, AccessPaths

Else you would have to use linux.

Also you could try booting the cloned redNAND with this config:

[partitions]
slccmpt=false
slc=true
mlc=true

[scfm]
disable=false
allow_sys=false

[disable_encryption]
mlc=false

[sys_mount]
mlc=false

But make sure to remove the wafel setup plugin first before attempting that.

 

[rodpack]

Just to clarify, I have one 128GB card with the redNAND dump, and a 2nd 256gb card I want to use permanently that's set up with the fresh install.
I put the isfshax files on the 128 card and put the above rednand.ini on it's minute folder, but it only displayed this image and did nothing afterward. LED stayed purple.
I went on linux and was finally able to get wfs-extract to work! However..I don't know what to do with this now. It's only ~150MB and not sure if that's normal.

 

[SDIO]

Can you dump the syscrash logs form the redNAND, then rename the logs folder and try to boot again and then dumping the logs again.

Then diff the two folders to see if any of the log files was updated. If so sent me the logs.

Also can you show me what was extracted and what the output from wfs-extract was?

 

[rodpack]

Merged all the log files into one but it seems like nothing was changed. The wfs-extract dump is too large to post here so I DM'ed you a link to it.

 

[lukeio]

游戏机里存着好几个小时都没备份的存档，结果游戏机彻底坏了，这简直是我最害怕的事。真心希望你能安全地把它们提取出来。