Injecting WiiWare wad into Wii U menu

[singles]

Have done hours of Google search and the question has been asked here before in the past years but I hope progress has been made somehow in that direction: As many of us here, I have some fine WiiWare (Contra Rebirth, Bomberman Blast, World of Goo etc.) I would like to start - it it is possible without too much hassle - from the Wii U menu of my homebrewed Wii U.

I went down different roads already. I tried installing them into the vWii menu, but after I had installed about 8-10 games (and I have about 20), the vWii memory was full and I could not start any Wii injects at all anymore from the Wii U menu.

By now, the easiest way to start (and exit!) WiiWare comfortably ist to sell the Wii U, buy a mini PC and emulate the thing. But this is not what I have in mind. Any new ideas on this issue in May 2024?

 

[neverendsDull]

the vWii memory was full

You should try use a USB loader's emunand function instead of install directly to the physical Wii nand.

 

[singles]

You should try use a USB loader's emunand function instead of install directly to the physical Wii nand.

Thank you for your reply. But with USB Loader I still have to go through the vWii menu thing. No way to start playing this stuff from Wii U menu still?

 

[neverendsDull]

AFAIK, no way to play wads directly under wiiu, but I may be wrong, be patient and let others answer.

 

[vrda]

Thank you for your reply. But with USB Loader I still have to go through the vWii menu thing. No way to start playing this stuff from Wii U menu still?

You can also launch your favorite Wii loader from WiiU menu by using hbl2hbc, take a look at this thread:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-wiiu2hbc-a-hbl2hbc-forwarder-channel.455991/

 

[MikaDubbz]

I went down different roads already. I tried installing them into the vWii menu, but after I had installed about 8-10 games (and I have about 20), the vWii memory was full and I could not start any Wii injects at all anymore from the Wii U menu.

This is the only way to launch Wiiware from the Wii U menu. You have to install the wad to vWii menu and then make a forwarder channel from the Wii U side. With the right tool you can implement Wii U GamePad controls optionally where applicable (obviously not useful for a game like World of Goo). The size of the vWii menu restriction is indeed very real, so choose your favorite few Wiiware games and implement them this way. Then put the rest in USBLoaderGX via its emunand settings and you can play all the Wiiware you want on your Wii U, though only a handful of your favorites can be launched directly from the Wii U menu. You can create a channel for USBLoaderGX directly from your Wii U menu, so it's not that big of an inconvenience to have to first go to that channel and then launch any other Wiiware games from there, that's what I do and I really can't complain.

 

[lordelan]

This is the only way to launch Wiiware from the Wii U menu. You have to install the wad to vWii menu and then make a forwarder channel from the Wii U side. With the right tool you can implement Wii U GamePad controls optionally where applicable (obviously not useful for a game like World of Goo). The size of the vWii menu restriction is indeed very real, so choose your favorite few Wiiware games and implement them this way. Then put the rest in USBLoaderGX via its emunand settings and you can play all the Wiiware you want on your Wii U, though only a handful of your favorites can be launched directly from the Wii U menu. You can create a channel for USBLoaderGX directly from your Wii U menu, so it's not that big of an inconvenience to have to first go to that channel and then launch any other Wiiware games from there, that's what I do and I really can't complain.

I just remembered... couldn't we also install WADs officially onto an SD card on a (v)Wii?
And if so, are forwarders from Wii U to vWii SD channels possible?
Only one downside remains: Since no emuNAND is involved, the save data would still be on the Wii's (very limited) internal memory, right?

 

[Nzoro]

This is the only way to launch Wiiware from the Wii U menu. You have to install the wad to vWii menu and then make a forwarder channel from the Wii U side. With the right tool you can implement Wii U GamePad controls optionally where applicable (obviously not useful for a game like World of Goo). The size of the vWii menu restriction is indeed very real, so choose your favorite few Wiiware games and implement them this way. Then put the rest in USBLoaderGX via its emunand settings and you can play all the Wiiware you want on your Wii U, though only a handful of your favorites can be launched directly from the Wii U menu. You can create a channel for USBLoaderGX directly from your Wii U menu, so it's not that big of an inconvenience to have to first go to that channel and then launch any other Wiiware games from there, that's what I do and I really can't complain.

I did what you describe for Final Fantasy My Life as a King and and My Life as a Darklord but I couldn't get the wii cursor hand to work with the gamepad.
Did I do something wrong with the forwarder using TeconMoon's?

 

[Technician]

With the right tool you can implement Wii U GamePad controls optionally where applicable

Sorry for bringing this old thread up, but what tool did you mean exactly? I tried to inject a few wads to the wii u menu (Rotozoa, Dracula Awakening, Pirates key of dreams), which already support classic controller, but unfortunately they all don't respond to the gamepad. I can launch them with the wiimote though. So what tool did you mean to make the gamepad work? I also tried the option to force classic controller on uwuvci. Thanks for your help

 

[MikaDubbz]

Sorry for bringing this old thread up, but what tool did you mean exactly? I tried to inject a few wads to the wii u menu (Rotozoa, Dracula Awakening, Pirates key of dreams), which already support classic controller, but unfortunately they all don't respond to the gamepad. I can launch them with the wiimote though. So what tool did you mean to make the gamepad work? I also tried the option to force classic controller on uwuvci. Thanks for your help

For Wiiware, you both need to install the .wad tot he vWii side, and additionally, you gotta use the WiiVC Injector for creating a Wii U side forwarder to the wad installed to the vWii. under the GamePad/Meta Options of the injector you can try implementing GamePad controls, there are a few options for how the GamePad may control the game as I recall, and not every Wiiware game will work properly with controls implemented, even those that weren't motion based to begin with.

I have a few Wiiware games installed to my Wii with GamePad controls, including Megaman 9 and 10, as well as I think Castlevania Rebirth, and maybe a couple others that I can't recall off-hand.

 

[Technician]

For Wiiware, you both need to install the .wad tot he vWii side, and additionally, you gotta use the WiiVC Injector for creating a Wii U side forwarder to the wad installed to the vWii. under the GamePad/Meta Options of the injector you can try implementing GamePad controls, there are a few options for how the GamePad may control the game as I recall, and not every Wiiware game will work properly with controls implemented, even those that weren't motion based to begin with.

I have a few Wiiware games installed to my Wii with GamePad controls, including Megaman 9 and 10, as well as I think Castlevania Rebirth, and maybe a couple others that I can't recall off-hand.

Thanks. I will try Megaman 9. Though I did all the things you mentioned above for the game Rotozoa, it still didn't work with the gamepad injected through uwuvci. Maybe the good old tecoonmoon is the answer here

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I did what you describe for Final Fantasy My Life as a King and and My Life as a Darklord but I couldn't get the wii cursor hand to work with the gamepad.
Did I do something wrong with the forwarder using TeconMoon's?

I don't think gamepad control supports the IR pointer.

I just remembered... couldn't we also install WADs officially onto an SD card on a (v)Wii?
And if so, are forwarders from Wii U to vWii SD channels possible?
Only one downside remains: Since no emuNAND is involved, the save data would still be on the Wii's (very limited) internal memory, right?

No, it won't work like that because the SD card menu copies the channel into NAND before launching. But with forwarders, the Wii Menu is bypassed so the copying doesn't happen. There would need to be a homebrew that replicates this same step of copying/moving data between SD and NAND and launches it. And that could be used in place of a normal forwarder. The closest thing we have to that is Savegame Manager GX, but as the name implies, it's only intended for save data. But the code could probably be adapted fairly easily to do this.

Thank you for your reply. But with USB Loader I still have to go through the vWii menu thing. No way to start playing this stuff from Wii U menu still?

WiiGSC (https://github.com/modmii/WiiGSC/releases) can make (Wii/vWii) forwarders to launch NAND channels, I see no reason it would not work with emuNAND channels since it's still using the USB loader to do it. Select any of the (WAD) options for the loader. When you have a working forwarder channel on vWii it should simply be a matter of using the Wii VC injector to make a Wii VC forwarder that launches said channel (https://github.com/piratesephiroth/TeconmoonWiiVCInjector/releases)
I would not do it for every game as it will be time consuming and you will eventually run into the title limits on both Wii U and vWii.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Thanks. I will try Megaman 9. Though I did all the things you mentioned above for the game Rotozoa, it still didn't work with the gamepad injected through uwuvci. Maybe the good old tecoonmoon is the answer here

Again, motion and pointer controls will not be supported, and even some games that don't have motion control yield issues with GamePad control.

Having said that, you absolutely can get Mega Man 9 and 10 working perfectly with the GamePad.

 

[Technician]

I've finally found the culprit: uwuvci. Don't inject wiiware wads with uwuvci. Just use tecoonmoon. I don't know what tecoonmoon makes different, but the wiiware injects work perfectly with the wii u gamepad. Now, here are the games that you can inject in the wii u menu and use the gamepad as a controller:

https://ultimatepopculture.fandom.c...ames_with_traditional_control_schemes#WiiWare

If you encounter problems, I could make a detailed tutorial for the whole process. Just make sure that you install the wad to the vwii first and then you can install the forwarder to the wii u menu

 

[IceBlueLugia]

Was wondering if anyone knows if there’s any way to enable some kind of setting to automatically start a certain game when you load into USB Loader GX? There’s this SRL thread: https://gbatemp.net/threads/my-coll...-for-some-best-wii-homebrew-emulators.591509/ where you can essentially make forwarders to Wii emulators that automatically load a specific rom so you can essentially have a whole channel icon just for that game. And you can turn that into a Wii U icon too with TeconMoon. Just curious if anything like this might be possible with USB Loader GX. Then at that point you’d just need to make the custom icon and banner art which shouldn’t be too bad

 

[neverendsDull]

Was wondering if anyone knows if there’s any way to do enable kind of setting to automatically start a certain game when you load into USB Loader GX? There’s this SRL thread: https://gbatemp.net/threads/my-coll...-for-some-best-wii-homebrew-emulators.591509/ where you can essentially make forwarders to Wii emulators that automatically load a specific rom so you can essentially have a whole channel icon just for that game. And you can turn that into a Wii U icon too with TeconMoon. Just curious if anything like this might be possible with USB Loader GX. Then at that point you’d just need to make the custom icon and banner art which shouldn’t be too bad

I see you point, which makes sense as this might be a way to in some degree replace the Wii VC as it can customize individual game settings ans use cheat codes. But maybe you should ask USB loader GX's author?

 

[juandiego1986]

For Wiiware, you both need to install the .wad tot he vWii side, and additionally, you gotta use the WiiVC Injector for creating a Wii U side forwarder to the wad installed to the vWii. under the GamePad/Meta Options of the injector you can try implementing GamePad controls, there are a few options for how the GamePad may control the game as I recall, and not every Wiiware game will work properly with controls implemented, even those that weren't motion based to begin with.

I have a few Wiiware games installed to my Wii with GamePad controls, including Megaman 9 and 10, as well as I think Castlevania Rebirth, and maybe a couple others that I can't recall off-hand.

Hi: How you managed to run castlevania rebirth properly? I already made the wad and it works, the problem is that once the game starts, the controls dont work properly (when you push a button, the command stays and repeats for a time) I used teconmoon to make the wad. What did you do in order for the wad to work properly?

Thanks for your time

Post automatically merged: Oct 5, 2025

I've finally found the culprit: uwuvci. Don't inject wiiware wads with uwuvci. Just use tecoonmoon. I don't know what tecoonmoon makes different, but the wiiware injects work perfectly with the wii u gamepad. Now, here are the games that you can inject in the wii u menu and use the gamepad as a controller:

https://ultimatepopculture.fandom.c...ames_with_traditional_control_schemes#WiiWare

If you encounter problems, I could make a detailed tutorial for the whole process. Just make sure that you install the wad to the vwii first and then you can install the forwarder to the wii u menu

Hi:

I used teconmoon to make wads for contra and castlevania rebirth, the game works but when you push a button, the command stays and repeats for a time. The issue is with the controller. Could you please make a tutorial or something like that?

Thanks for your time

 

[MikaDubbz]

Hi: How you managed to run castlevania rebirth properly? I already made the wad and it works, the problem is that once the game starts, the controls dont work properly (when you push a button, the command stays and repeats for a time) I used teconmoon to make the wad. What did you do in order for the wad to work properly?

Thanks for your time

Unfortunately I didn't perform the inject of that particular wiiware wad, I downloaded it from the now long defunct wiiuisos forum. Whatever that user did though did get the game to function properly with the controls when launched from the Wii U menu. Sorry I can't be off more help.

 

[juandiego1986]

For Wiiware, you both need to install the .wad tot he vWii side, and additionally, you gotta use the WiiVC Injector for creating a Wii U side forwarder to the wad installed to the vWii. under the GamePad/Meta Options of the injector you can try implementing GamePad controls, there are a few options for how the GamePad may control the game as I recall, and not every Wiiware game will work properly with controls implemented, even those that weren't motion based to begin with.

I have a few Wiiware games installed to my Wii with GamePad controls, including Megaman 9 and 10, as well as I think Castlevania Rebirth, and maybe a couple others that I can't recall off-hand.

Hi: How do I do the fowarder properly, I have used teconmoon and the fowarder works but the controller has problems, I have tryed using al the emulator control options (classic controller, force classic controller, etc.)

Post automatically merged: May 23, 2026

Unfortunately I didn't perform the inject of that particular wiiware wad, I downloaded it from the now long defunct wiiuisos forum. Whatever that user did though did get the game to function properly with the controls when launched from the Wii U menu. Sorry I can't be off more help.

Hi:

Maybe do you have the wad and the fowarder?