Tutorial  Updated

How To: Upgrading / Rebuilding Wii U Internal Memory (MLC)

Warning


This tutorial is only for advanced users and has a serious risk of bricking the console. Make sure you read it completely before executing any step and that you understand every step and its implications. With de_Fuse everything should be unbrickable if you know how.

You should at least have a backup of SLC and SLCCMPT, as we can’t rebuild them at the moment. (can be done in minute_minute, so there is no excuse). We had two cases where the SLC corrupted for an unknown reason, so a backup is essential.

What is this for?


This tutorial goes into rebuilding the MLC from scratch on a clean media. This can become useful, if
  • the MLC (eMMC) chip died or corrupted the filesystem
  • the SCFM (SLC cache for MLC) became inconsistent
  • you want to upgrade the capacity of the internal storage.
  • you want to set up a redNAND without SCFM
If you have a bad eMMC chip, but the recovery still works (which is most likely), then there are also ways to fix it without a complete reformat.
If the LED is blinking blue, you have a SLC problem and not a MLC problem, so this tutorial won't help with that.

It will format your MLC, so all data on the internal Wii U memory will be lost.

Update


13.03.2024 - The wafel_setup_mlc.ipx now uses a built in IOSU function to create system folders, that should make sure the permissions are right, which caused problems with game updates in the past. It will also recreate the update folder (so system updates won't be blocked by that)

Prerequisites


Backing up save games



Do a backup of what you want to preserve, like savegames and Miis.
For Backing up Save games, it is recommended to use SaveMii. That requires that you have Tiramisu or Aroma running.
You can also move your savgames (or whole games) to USB, which should still be readable. When recreating the users after the rebuild, you just have to be carefull to create the users in the right order, to make the ID’s match. A backup by other means (Like savemii) is still recommended.
If you are using this tutorial to fix a failing eMMC you might not be able to use the other Backup options. In that case use the Dump MLC option in the Recovery. You can extract your data from there using wfs-extract.

Storage Options


The Wii U has two ways of connecting internal memory, each with its own drawbacks:
  • SDIO – On retail consoles the internal memory is a eMMC chip connected through an internal SDIO bus to the Latte chip. This SDIO bus can also use SD cards (hence the name SD IO). Access to media connected on the SDIO is cached through a file on the SLC, presumably to reduce writes on the MLC. This cache is called SCFM and it is the reason why you always need to backup / restore SLC and MLC together and doesn’t allow easy swapping of multiple SDs.
    IOSU also only supports 3 sizes of media on this bus: <=8GB, 32GB and 64GB. The size will be limited to the biggest it fits, the rest is unusable. This bus is limited to 26MB/s (4bit@52Mhz). For replacing the eMMC with an micro SD you can use MLC2SD or a similar Interposer. Soldering and micro SD adapter using wires, works too.
    It is recommended to use a 64GB Sandisk Max Endurance card (But similar card should also be fine), since the Wii U is known for writing much.

  • SATA – The Disc drive is connected through SATA, the connectors are different but the electrical signals are still the same. Some Kiosk consoles used this Interface to connect to a HDD. The type of the SATA device can be configured in the SEEPROM, so we can configure our retail consoles to also use a SATA HDD / SSD.
    NOTE: @QuarkTheAwesome is building an SATA adapter for that purpose, available soon™.

    The advantage of using this interface is, that the size isn’t limited (well WFS is limited to 2TB) and it doesn’t use SCFM, which makes some things easier and improves performance in some circumstances. The obvious disadvantage is that you can’t use your disc drive anymore. Without the Disc Drive vWii System Menu doesn't work. vWii Injectes / Wii VC from the eShop can still be used, but only when installed to USB. Also you still might need to disable the MLC on the SDIO bus, or else the wii u might still use the SDIO one if the SATA device takes too long to init.

  • redNAND – redirects the read / writes to one or more of the internal storage devices to paritions on the SD card. You can create an arbitrary size MLC partition on the SD card and set it up using this tutorial. SCFM can be easily disabled for the redNAND. The 64GB limit does not exist for redNAND if the SCFM is disabled. For redNAND we have a dedicated Tutorial here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/fixing-...-soldering-using-rednand-with-isfshax.642268/

Does that mean we can’t get more than 64GB on the SDIO bus? No, BUT it requires ISFShax / defuse to boot the console every time. @GaryOderNichts created a patch to remove the limits and always use the maximum size of the SDIO media and it also disables SCFM, because SCFM doesn’t work with more than 64GB and disabling SCFM improves performance and reduces wear on the SLC, at the cost of increasing wear of the MLC media. I packaged this patch in wafel_unlimit_mlc.

Rebuilding the MLC


Now that you decided what media you want to use as MLC, we can start with the actual process:
  1. Download all the mlc system titles for your region from NUS. This can be done conveniently with MLCRestorerDownloader by @Xpl0itU. Copy the otp.bin from the SD to the folder with the MLCRestorer Downloader so it can get the common key from there.

    You will get the output/MLC/{region} directory, which then contains a directory for each title. In total there should be 52 titles totaling ~1.1GiB.

    If your console has an old firmware it might also be necessary to get the latest SLC titles.

  2. On the root of your SD card (the one that will go in the front slot, not the MLC replacement) create a folder wafel_install. Then copy all 52 titles to the wafel_install folder, so it now contains the 52 subfolders, one for each title. If you want to reinstall / update SLC titles, you would also put them there.

  3. Attach your MLC media of choice. (If you are using SATA got to Backup and Restore, then at Set SATA Device in SEEPROM select GEN2-HDD (Kiosk CAT-I with HDD)).
    For installing MLC2SD look here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/using-n...emmc-fix-160-0103-system-memory-error.636361/ at the Soldering section.

  4. If you install to eMMC / MLC2SD, got to Backup and Restore and select Erase MLC and Delete scfm.img. If the Erase MLC fails, you can ignore that if it wasn't formatted as MLC before (from a failed install or so).

  5. Put the wafel_setup_mlc.ipx on the SD card in /wiiu/ios_plugins. If you want more than 64GB on SDIO you also need to put the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx there. If you install with wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx, it will be permanently required and therefore also permanently requires ISFShax or defuse.

  6. [Optional, only when using defuse] Open the serial monitor on the PC (Putty / minicom) for defuse to see the setup progress. There will be no display output in the Wii U itself. I attached the whole serial log of a successfull install as a reference.

  7. Select Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc) in minute to start the setup of your fresh MLC.During the setup you won't see anything on the screen. You have to go by the power led.
    The power LED will flash blue, while it is installing the titles.
    if something goes wrong the LED will turn orange, but it will continue as long as it is blinking.
    The LED will become static once it finished. You can now power off the console.
    If the led is blinking red, something fatal happend. Ask for help.
    During the setup a short log gets written to the SD: wafel_setup_mlc.log.
    In the end it will enable the initial setup on the next boot.

  8. Remove the wafel_setup_mlc.ipx from /wiiu/ios_plugins on the SD.

  9. Boot the console. Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc)

  10. If everything worked, the initial setup should launch.

  11. (Optional) delete the wafel_install folder to free up space

ISFShax only: Finalizing


If you are using the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx you need to keep ISFShax installed. If you haven't done already complete the "Booting without SD" step form the ISFShax tutorial but also add the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx renamed to 9unlimit.ipx to the /storage_slc/sys/hax/ios_plugins directory.
If you are not using the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx you can either uninstall ISFShax or keep it as a brick protection. If you keep it complete the "Booting without SD" step form the ISFShax tutorial.
The Wii U should now boot automatically if you don't have an SD in.
You probably also want to enable the autobooting now.

See Also


https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-internal-storage-upgrades-are-possible.635629/

Pictures


512 GB SD card:
img_20230702_021647-jpg.381270


@QuarkTheAwesome 120 GB SSD:
img_2709-jpg.381271


Thanks


 

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SDIO

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yes, a 2GB card should work, sinceit is still SDSC. What do you see on the Serial Terminal on the PC from the Pico?
But what's happening sounds wrong... check your soldering and check for shorts.
 

zal16

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Hmmm so i bought a silicon power ssd, not the blue label one like in the photo from @QuarkTheAwesome, but the gold ones you can buy. Didnt work..

@SDIO you said you used a kingston a400 and had it work correct? do you remember what size of ssd you used?

I brought a Silicon Power SSD, same model of @QuarkTheAwesome's, but with 2TB. Don't work with any config, GEN1 or GEN2, don't matters. I'm sending back to seller and buy a a400 960gb. I hope it works.
Post automatically merged:

Someone tried the Samsung 850 or 860 evo SSDs on WiiU?
 
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benpo

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If i turn on the wii u the light didn't change and stays red. On the computer i see error c3.

Error code: c3
Starting... 3192
Results:
01
02
03
04
05
08
09
0a
0b
0c
0d
0e
c3
01
00
00

Maybe it is the sd card?
 

benpo

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Error code: c3
Starting... 3151:1
Results:
01
02
03
04
05
08
09
0a
0b
0c
0d
0e
c3
01
00
00
Error code: c3
Starting... 3150:0
Results:
01
02
03
04
05
08
09
0a
0b
0c
0d
0e
c3
01
00
00
Error code: c3
Starting... 3150:1
Results:
01
02
 

shinyquagsire23

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C3 can mean it's overshooting the reset sweep, loading too many OTP bytes and hitting SEEPROM CRC32 errors. Which could mean a few things:
- The nRST wire is too long
- The SD card isn't actually working and it swept past the right reset offsets (try watching the output from first power-on to see if it has any other errors before C3)
- The SD card isn't flashed correctly (same as above)
- The EXI lines aren't triggering an SD card boot, so it's just booting a bad-decrypted boot1
 
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benpo

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Sometimes i get error code 00, but after that just the c3 error. If i flash the class 4 sandisk 2gb sd card, i have 3 partiton: 64mb unallocated, 954mb raw and 960mb unallocated. I've tried to just format the raw partition and copy the files on that. I've tried to merge the 954mb raw and 960mb unallocated partiton, and copy the files on that. Didn't working. I have ordered 3 different 1gb sd card from aliexpress, maybe i have success with one. I am trying to shorten the tp144 wire then, maybe i have better luck.
 

shinyquagsire23

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Sometimes i get error code 00, but after that just the c3 error. If i flash the class 4 sandisk 2gb sd card, i have 3 partiton: 64mb unallocated, 954mb raw and 960mb unallocated. I've tried to just format the raw partition and copy the files on that. I've tried to merge the 954mb raw and 960mb unallocated partiton, and copy the files on that. Didn't working. I have ordered 3 different 1gb sd card from aliexpress, maybe i have success with one. I am trying to shorten the tp144 wire then, maybe i have better luck.
Personally, I'd guess it's the EXI wires, make sure you have the 4 pins bridged well because the Wii U EXI lines sink a lot of current and sre hard to override to get the SD boot to trigger. If you have one of those 00 error number sequences, that'd also tell you if it's running any of the SD boot stages at all.
 

zal16

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I finally installed the Kingiston A400 960 GB SSD in my console and it worked (woohoo)...... but the console only recognizes 683GB, I've tried formatting three times, I've used h2testw and crystal disk info to find out if the SSD was fake, but it is original. There's just one question left: has anyone here in this thread tested it with any storage (SSD or HDD) above 500GB?
Post automatically merged:

Converting from GiB to GB, we have that 683 GiB becomes ~733GB and the closest common HDD size would be 750GB, which makes me think that the Wii U is not capable of recognize spaces larger than 750GB.
 
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