[TUTORIAL] REINSTALL NINTENDO 64 GAMES WITHOUT DARK FILTER ON Wii U


REQUIREMENTS

WinSCP (Windows)
Wexos's Toolbox (Windows)
NUSPacker (Windows)
Java (Windows)
CFW (Wii U)
FTPiiU_Everywhere (Wii U Homebrew App Store)
WUP Installer GX2 (Wii U Homebrew App Store)


DISCLAIMER

I am the author of this how-to guide. I did not discover this method. Some users have posted how to nullify the dark filter, how to fill the screen and additional steps that are required for this method to work. You can learn more here. I did not develop any of the mentioned programmes that are absolutely necessary for this method to work, Wexos's Toolbox in particular. This is my first tutorial and I really hope that it will be found useful and easy to follow. However, there are potential risks, like a bricked console, when performing unofficial modifications.


INTRODUCTION

The games must be installed on Wii U because we are going to extract and insert files. The process is basically access the games on Wii U, modify them on a computer and insert them again in the console.

You will be using WinSCP, Wexos's Toolbox and NUSPacker on your PC and the following Wii U tools that you can download from the Wii U Homebrew App Store: FTPiiU_Everywhere and WUP Installer GX2. You need to install CFW on your console first of all, there is a great tutorial about installing CFW on this forum so just follow it if you have not yet.

WinSCP is a FTP client for PC and FTPiU_Everywhere is a FTP client for Wii U. With them you can access any files on your Wii U and PC so be careful and don't touch anything that you are not supposed to touch on your Wii U. Wexos's Toolbox allows you to edit the "FrameLayout.arc" file which sets the resolution and filters of Virtual Console games. NUSPacker is a Java script so check if you have Java installed on your Windows OS. Basically, if you see that the NUSPacker file has a coffee (or tea) cup icon then you are good to go.

WUP Installer GX2 is for installing software on Wii U. There are many reasons why you would want to do this. I buy games to support the industry but I wanted to install my physical games on NAND (internal memory) and on the USB device (use Disc2app for doing this) and I wanted to replace my official Virtual Console games with NTSC and fixed versions. Some N64 and SNES games are PAL (50Hz) on Wii U's European eShop: Donkey Kong 64, Paper Mario, Donkey Kong Country 2, Super Metroid, A Link to the Past...

Below are the steps that you need to follow to remove the heavy dark filter that Nintendo applied to all Nintendo 64 (and NES) Virtual Console games on Wii U. Donkey Kong 64 has a native widescreen option thus you may want to edit the resolution so you don't have to change the Wii U settings to display it properly. I also explain how to do that. I don't know if there are other Nintendo 64 games that have a native widescreen option so please comment if you know. I have not checked most Rare games since they are available in better form on Rare Replay collection (Xbox One). There are hacked ROMs with added proportioned widescreen support but I could not make them work (Majora's Mask) on my own so if you know more about it you can also comment.


PROCEDURE

1. Now that you have the tools installed on your PC and Wii U, go to the NUSPacker folder and change the "encrypted" and "decrypted" folders names to "input" and "output" so you don't get confused.

2. Create a Notepad file in the same folder, open it, paste the following text and save the file:

java -jar NUSPacker.jar -in "input" -out "output" -encryptKeyWith ***

This is the script we are going to use in a while. Note that the three asterisks must be replaced with the Wii U title key. You can use your keys or the Wii U Common Title Key but if you already have a legit eShop game and then use another key the system may freeze after the new game and new key are installed. This is exactly what happened to me. It's not a big deal because once you restart the system it will only read the new key. Obviously, you are using CFW at this point, otherwise you should not mess with title keys or with any installable files, really.

2b. Alternatively, create a Batch file with the same text. A Batch file automatically runs the Java script. I made one but I prefer to use Command Prompt to see what I am doing and read the results.

3. Run FTPiiU_Everywhere on Wii U and WinSCP on Windows so you can browse your Wii U files and obtain the game folders, "code", "content" and "meta" for each game, that you need for repacking an installable game. Games are found in "storage_usb" (USB games) or "storage_mlc" (NAND games). See annex for an easier navigation. Now copy those three folders to the folder "input" that we have created.

Note: If you can not access "storage_usb" or "storage_mlc", you have followed the CFW tutorial carefully and you have installed Mocha, load Mocha before FTPiiU_Everywhere to gain access to all folders.

4. With Wexos's Toolbox open "FrameLayout.arc" which is in the "content" folder that will be found in "input".

5. Double-click on "blyt/FrameLayout 1080.bflyt".

6. Open "frame_mask" on "RootPane" and change "scale" to 0;0. This step here is turning the dark filter designed by Nintendo for the Wii U Virtual Console games off.

6b. Optionally, open "frame" and change "size" if you want to change the resolution/aspect ratio. The resolution is 1440x1080 by default, which is 4:3 aspect ratio, the typical Nintendo 64 aspect ratio. You may want to change it to 1920x1080 for Donkey Kong 64 because it has native widescreen support.

6c. Optionally, if the game doesn't fill the screen vertically, you can make the video bigger and proportioned because you have free space in the vertical and horizontal axes. You do this by opening "frame" and changing "scale" to a value higher than 1;1. You can try 1.1;1.1 or higher. I used 1.2;1.2 for Wave Race 64, 1.1;1.1 for Super Mario 64 but the default 1;1 for Yoshi's Story. Please comment the values that worked best for you for other people to see.

7. Save using the "Save as" option, type "fix" as the name and save.

8. Right-click on "blyt/FrameLayout 1080.bflyt", select "Replace" and select the "fix" file.

9. Save the file using the "Save" option.

10. If you changed the title key in your script you will need to get rid of these files inside the "code" folder: "title.fst" and "title.tmd". In any case it's safe to delete them because new ones will be created. You can always skip this step and only do it if the Java script returns errors.

11. Go to your NUSPacker folder. Run Command Prompt on Windows (search the app on the task bar). You need to run the code on Command Prompt on the same folder where NUSPacker is (see annex if you need help with Command Prompt). Paste the script that we saved on a Notepad file and press enter. If you get an error go back to step 10.

11b. Alternatively, run the Batch file that you created in step 2b.

12. Congratulations! Your repacked game is in "output".

13. Now go to WinSCP. Create a folder in the "install" folder of your Wii U (create the "install" folder if you do not see it) and type the name of the game without unusual characters. Copy the contents in the "output" folder that I described above to the folder that you just created. This is the installable game without the dark filter.

14. Grab your GamePad and run WUP Installer GX2, look for the game and install it. Note that if you copy a game from USB to NAND or vice versa using the Wii U settings you overwrite the save file in the destination storage but if you install a game on the USB or NAND using WUP Installer GX2 the save files are not touched. This is because Wii U manages game and save file together while WUP Installer GX2 only manages software. You can always back your save files up before this with SaveMii.

ANNEX: Where to find installed N64 games folders on Wii U?

If you installed the game on the USB device look here:​

storage_usb/usr/title/00050000/

If you installed the game on the memory system (NAND) look here:
storage_mlc/usr/title/00050000

Below are the folders that you need to open. The folders have a different name depending on the region version of the game but you should be able to find them regardless because the difference is minimal. For instance, 10199300 is Donkey Kong 64 PAL and 10199200 is Donkey Kong 64 NTSC.

NINTENDO 64 VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAME FOLDERS (NTSC):
101a5b00 = 1080º Snowboarding
101fe800 = Bomberman 64
10199200 = Donkey Kong 64
101e6500 = Excitebike 64
101ebc00 = F-Zero X
101fea00 = Harvest Moon 64
101a0e00 = Kirby 64
101a5900 = Mario Golf
101b4600 = Mario Kart 64
101c5d00 = Mario Party 2
101a1000 = Mario Tennis
101e6700 = Ogre Battle 64
10199700 = Paper Mario
101da800 = Pokemon Snap
101b4800 = Sin & Punishment
101ac400 = Star Fox 64
10199500 = Super Mario 64
10199b00 = TLoZ Ocarina of Time
101baf00 = TLoZ Majora's Mask
101ac600 = Wave Race 64
01bb200 = Yoshi's Story

ANNEX: How to use Windows Command Prompt?

You need to run the script on the same folder where NUSPacker is. For example
E:\N64\NUSPacker>

To change to drive E:
>E: [enter]

To see folders:
> dir/p [enter]

To open folder:
> cd [name of the folder] [enter]

To go back one folder:
> cd.. [enter]

To run script on NUSPacker folder:
>java -jar NUSPacker.jar -in "input" -out "output" -encryptKeyWith [Wii U key] [enter]

In this example:
E:\N64\NUSPacker>java -jar NUSPacker.jar -in "input" -out "output" -encryptKeyWith [Wii U key] [enter]​

 

[the_randomizer]

Would it help to have all these programs downloadable in one place?

 

[Waveracer]

I am not sure if we are allowed to do that? That's why I skipped the links and title keys. If somebody wants to make a bundle download link I will post it on the OP.

EDIT: I added links.

 

[Zense]

Thanks! I've been planning to try this out myself, especially to see if I can get Paper Mario Multiplayer Mod to work. I'll be sure to check this tut out when I get back to my WiiU

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I am not sure if we are allowed to do that? That's why I skipped the links and title keys. If somebody wants to make a bundle download link I will post it on the OP.

No don't make a bundle, it will become outdated. Just add links to the required stuff, other than title keys since those aren't allowed here.

 

[Waveracer]

I added download links.

 

[Oby]

I'm trying to follow this, I have everything downloaded except the FTP client, I'm using FileZilla instead. Everything on the Wii U side is working, I am stuck at the NUSPacker on step #1. It says "go to the NUSPacker folder", I dont have this folder. I have the .jar file from the link above but nothing happens when I run it.


Edit: I seem to have figured it put. When you run the jar file, there is no prompt. I refreshed the folder I ran the jar file on and saw it created a folder named "tmp" and another named "output". I just created a folder "input". Will update as I go through.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I'm trying to follow this, I have everything downloaded except the FTP client, I'm using FileZilla instead. Everything on the Wii U side is working, I am stuck at the NUSPacker on step #1. It says "go to the NUSPacker folder", I dont have this folder. I have the .jar file from the link above but nothing happens when I run it.


Edit: I seem to have figured it put. When you run the jar file, there is no prompt. I refreshed the folder I ran the jar file on and saw it created a folder named "tmp" and another named "output". I just created a folder "input". Will update as I go through.

By NUSPacker folder it means the folder you put the jar in.
It clearly tells you to run a command, but you instead chose to ignore it and try to run the jar file directly.

 

[Oby]

By NUSPacker folder it means the folder you put the jar in.
It clearly tells you to run a command, but you instead chose to ignore it and try to run the jar file directly.

"1. Now that you have the tools installed on your PC and Wii U, go to the NUSPacker folder and change the encrypted and decrypted folders names to "input" and "output"."

Nowhere does it say to run a command on the first step. Clearly the instructions are either outdated, details are being skipped, or both.

Anyways, no need to be snarky. I figured it all out on my own.


Elaborating on the steps for anybody else who may get stuck since the instructions do not detail everything:

#1 - Make a folder on your desktop and name it NUSPacker. In this folder, put your .jar file and run it. It will create "output" and "tmp" folders. Create a new folder named "input".

#3 - It states to copy "code", "content" and "meta" from your Wii U into the newly created "input" folder.

If you are not familiar with the file structure of the Wii U (like I wasnt); when you are in either "storage_usb" folder (USB games) or "storage_mlc" folder (NAND games) you need to use Google to find the ID/ key of the VC game you want to edit. Once you find this ID (make sure you use the correct region) you can open the matching folder which will have the "code", "content" and "meta" folders you are looking for. You can open the xml file with notepad in the "meta" folder and if you read through the data you will find out what app/ game it is for.

#11 - Once you open the command prompt, you need to navigate to the NUSPacker folder on your desktop with the .jar file within Command Prompt or the script will not work. You can Google how to change directories on the Windows Command Prompt if you are not sure how.

Hope this helps anybody out there!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

"1. Now that you have the tools installed on your PC and Wii U, go to the NUSPacker folder and change the encrypted and decrypted folders names to "input" and "output"."

Nowhere does it say to run a command on the first step. Clearly the instructions are either outdated, details are being skipped, or both.

Anyways, no need to be snarky. I figured it all out on my own.


Elaborating on the steps for anybody else who may get stuck since the instructions do not detail everything:

#1 - Make a folder on your desktop and name it NUSPacker. In this folder, put your .jar file and run it. It will create "output" and "tmp" folders. Create a new folder named "input".

#3 - It states to copy "code", "content" and "meta" from your Wii U into the newly created "input" folder.

If you are not familiar with the file structure of the Wii U (like I wasnt); when you are in either "storage_usb" folder (USB games) or "storage_mlc" folder (NAND games) you need to use Google to find the ID/ key of the VC game you want to edit. Once you find this ID (make sure you use the correct region) you can open the matching folder which will have the "code", "content" and "meta" folders you are looking for. You can open the xml file with notepad in the "meta" folder and if you read through the data you will find out what app/ game it is for.

#11 - Once you open the command prompt, you need to navigate to the NUSPacker folder on your desktop with the .jar file within Command Prompt or the script will not work. You can Google how to change directories on the Windows Command Prompt if you are not sure how.

Hope this helps anybody out there!

I know that. But all you really had to do was continue with the guide. But I understand that for someone not experienced with command prompt that can be a bit confusing. Sorry if I was snarky.

Or alternatively, dump the game with a title dumper. But copying with ftpiiu_everywhere or similar might be faster, just a bit less intuitive.

 

[Waveracer]

"1. Now that you have the tools installed on your PC and Wii U, go to the NUSPacker folder and change the encrypted and decrypted folders names to "input" and "output"."

Nowhere does it say to run a command on the first step. Clearly the instructions are either outdated, details are being skipped, or both.

Anyways, no need to be snarky. I figured it all out on my own.


Elaborating on the steps for anybody else who may get stuck since the instructions do not detail everything:

#1 - Make a folder on your desktop and name it NUSPacker. In this folder, put your .jar file and run it. It will create "output" and "tmp" folders. Create a new folder named "input".

#3 - It states to copy "code", "content" and "meta" from your Wii U into the newly created "input" folder.

If you are not familiar with the file structure of the Wii U (like I wasnt); when you are in either "storage_usb" folder (USB games) or "storage_mlc" folder (NAND games) you need to use Google to find the ID/ key of the VC game you want to edit. Once you find this ID (make sure you use the correct region) you can open the matching folder which will have the "code", "content" and "meta" folders you are looking for. You can open the xml file with notepad in the "meta" folder and if you read through the data you will find out what app/ game it is for.

#11 - Once you open the command prompt, you need to navigate to the NUSPacker folder on your desktop with the .jar file within Command Prompt or the script will not work. You can Google how to change directories on the Windows Command Prompt if you are not sure how.

Hope this helps anybody out there!

Hi Oby, the guide is not outdated and there are no important details being skipped. I just followed it step by step and it worked. You don't need to run Windows Command Prompt until the guide says so, so honestly I don't know what you mean by that part being missing.

When you install NUSPacker you get two folders within the NUSPacker folder. One is named "encrypted" and the other one is named "decrypted": Since these names are confusing I recommended to change them to "input" and "output" respectively. You don't need to create any new folders for "input" like you said.

You are right about one thing, you need to navigate to the NUSPacker folder on your desktop before running Command Prompt but I said so on the original version of the guide: "Go to your NUSPacker folder. Run Command Prompt on Windows".

What I did today is add an annex with a Command Prompt mini tutorial and a list of the Virtual Console Nintendo 64 games folders to make things even easier for everybody because I want everybody to enjoy the N64 games on Wii U without the dark filter but I think that the guide is quite clear as it is and I made sure that it works. Sorry that you didn't like it.

 

[Gearface]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm having some issues that I'm hoping somebody more experienced can address. I get to step 13 without issues, but I'm not sure where the "install" folder on the Wii U would be. I have one on my SD card that I use with WUP Installer, but the directions make it seem like I should be looking for one on the Wii U itself. Am I reading it wrong? And also, if it IS the "install" folder on the SD card, would putting my SD card in my computer and copying the output that way work, or do I have to put the file back on the Wii U through FTP?

Thanks!

 

[britipino]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is the only tutorial on this.

I've run into a couple issues:

Firstly, when I try installing the games with WUP installer I keep getting messages that I need to replace my SD card or reformat it. I've tried both and nothing changed. What eventually worked was packing the games with the Wii U common key instead of the title key, but I'm not sure if that's the way i'm supposed to be doing it.

Secondly, after i got the games downloaded with the Wii U common key, the system freezes when trying to load the game. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong.

 

[ReveriePass]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is the only tutorial on this.

I've run into a couple issues:

Firstly, when I try installing the games with WUP installer I keep getting messages that I need to replace my SD card or reformat it. I've tried both and nothing changed. What eventually worked was packing the games with the Wii U common key instead of the title key, but I'm not sure if that's the way i'm supposed to be doing it.

Secondly, after i got the games downloaded with the Wii U common key, the system freezes when trying to load the game. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong.

I got you:


1.) Download NusPacker from https://bitbucket.org/timogus/nuspacker/downloads/ (Click "Download repository").

2.) Extract "timogus-nuspacker-4f8c20f57c0a.zip" to the Desktop and rename it "NusPacker"

3.) In the "NusPacker" folder, create 2 folders: "input" and "output"

4.) Open the "encryptKeyWith" file with a text editor. Replace "[PLACE COMMONKEY HERE WITHOUT [] AS HEX STRING]" with the Wii U Common Key.

5.) Put the "code," "content," and "meta" folders from your Loadiine format game inside the "input" folder.

6.) Open up CMD and run this script: java -jar NUSPacker.jar -in "input" -out "output" -encryptKeyWith [TitleID]

It should look something like this:
java -jar NUSPacker.jar -in "input" -out "output" -encryptKeyWith 0000000000000000

7.) The "output" folder should now include your WUP installable files. Enjoy!

 

[pIzspoonfeedme]

For anyone who wants scales:
1080 Snowboarding- 1;1
Custom Robo- 1;1
Bomberman 64- 1.1;1.1
Donkey Kong 64- 1.1;1.1 (1920x1080)
Excitebike 64- 1.1;1.1
F-Zero X- 1;1 (Changes from menus to in-game)
Harvest Moon- 1.1
Kirby 64- 1.2;1.2
Mario Golf- 1.1;1.1
Mario Kart 64- 1;1
Mario Party 2- 1;1
Mario Tennis- 1.1;1.1
Ogre Battle 64- 1;1
Paper Mario- 1;1
Pokemon Snap- 1;1
Sin & Punishment- 1.1;1.1
Star Fox 64- 1.1;1.1
Super Mario 64- 1.1;1.1
TLoZ Ocarina of Time- 1;1
TLoZ Majora's Mask- 1;1
Yoshi's Story- 1;1
Wave Race 64- 1.2;1.2
-----------------------------------------------
I'm getting a message that states "The folder 'scp28565' is empty. Please add a dummy file to it." Anyone know where that would be located? Thanks once again!

EDIT: I fixed it. I created a folder called scp28565 in the output folder and added a dummy file and now everything is working correctly

 

[stojan]

tried it but i seem not to be able to install the repackaged game to my haxchi modded wii u. Gx2 installer gives error wup file are not correct must have sigpatch or sth. Tried many times, even replaced the title and cert files with original from the wiiusbhelper downloaded content. Also tried avoiding signing with key, that also doesn't work. Region is right, i used title keys from the public ones that are found in databases. I followed all the procedures correctly. NUSPacker returns output with no error so that should be ok. Otherwise nonpatched games install with np. What could it be? And what is the wii u common key (contra to tittle key), the titleID itself or what? Also tried encrypting with titleID and in gives me the same error.

 

[protivakid]

I just went through this today. For some reason WUP Installer gave me a "Verify WUP files are correct & complete. DLC/E-Shop require Sig Patch" error when I tried building them via NUSPacker with the proper title keys. I had to use the Common title key which can be found by google-ing "wii u common title key pastebin". @stojan it looks like your error above might be not using the common key as well.

For those using a certain "Helper" application on their Windows PC you can skip the FTP part if you'd like and use the "Unpack (cemu)" menu option as an easier way to get the same data over to your computer. From there follow the rest of the tutorial.

This post has a good Noob NUSPacker tutorial: https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-nuspacker-for-noobs.454684/

Overall the whole thing took me maybe 30 mins to do my whole N64 library once I got rolling.

 

[stojan]

yes, indeed it was that, using title keys was the problem, found out yesterday. Now it works. thanks

 

[stojan]

PS.: if you change pixel size in the 'frame' section, you have to separate it with a , not a dot. Like this: 1,1;1,1

Games look and play really good with this filter off. But i noticed that with Fzero X the color palette stay very dark instead of disabling it. Can't really do nothing about it.

And be sure to use the webox tool for editing the layout file with administrative privileges (Run as Administrator)

 

[ML_bandit]

Sorry to revive an old thread but not sure where else I can go.
I'm trying to follow this but getting "The folder "scp10137" is emtpy. Please add a dummy file to it." when I run the script in the nuspacker folder. But there is no folder named that.