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Tutorial  Updated

Region Changing the Wii U

The way I used to do it was tedious and was quite complex, however with the v2.0 release of the wafel_setup_mlc plugin, region changing has become much simpler.

It is identical to just rebuilding the MLC, but this has region changing specific notes added.

This does not change the region of the Gamepad, however you can still use an out-of-region gamepad with Aroma, which can be loaded with the wafel_payloader Stroopwafel plugin, so you don't need to worry about getting a Gamepad from the region you are changing to. If you do want to change the Gamepad region, there is a section at the end of the guide with instructions.

It also does not change the vWii region. If you want to region change the vWii as well, use vWii Decaffeinator on Light Mode to region change. I think you also need to regenerate the setting.txt.

Following this guide will wipe the MLC. You should back up any saves you care about before following. Its possible to do it without wiping the MLC, but you're on your own should you ta

Keep an OTP and SEEPROM backup. Nothing should go wrong, but it is better to have the most important backups and not need them vs. need them and not have them.

DO NOT UNINSTALL ISFSHAX AFTER ERASING THE MLC AND DELETING THE SCFM UNTIL YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY REBUILT THE MLC AND CONFIRMED EVERYTHING IS WORKING.
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU FAIL TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS PROPERLY.
If you need support, you can join my server and ask in #help

What you need


  • Install isfshax. This is a requirement. You cannot region change without it. (You can also use de_Fuse, but at that point you probably already know what you are doing.)
    • Stop at the "Booting" section.
  • The release of the MLCRestorerDownloader for your OS.
  • The latest release of the MLC setup plugin.
  • The latest release of the Payloader plugin.
    • Get the 5payldr.ipx.
  • The latest Aroma files (If you have Aroma already, ignore this.)
    • Read and tick the 4 boxes -> Click on Download Payloads and Download Base Aroma

Downloading the MLC Titles


  1. Extract the MLCRestorerDownloader you downloaded.
  2. Copy the otp.bin into the extracted folder.
    1721326901000.png
  3. Open a command prompt / terminal (Linux/Mac only).
  4. cd into the directory with the MLCRestorerDownloader (ie. cd /Downloads/MLCRestorerDownloader) (Linux/Mac only).
  5. Run the application (ie .\MLCRestorerDownloader for Linux/Mac users). Windows users can just double click the .exe
  6. Type in 1 the for MLC titles.
  7. Type in the number for the region you want to change to (ie 2 for USA).
    1721326853774.png
  8. Wait for it to finish downloading. You can do part of the next section while you wait.

SD Setup


  1. Copy the wafel_setup_mlc.ipx to sd:/wiiu/ios_plugins.
  2. Copy the 5payldr.ipx to sd:/wiiu/ios_plugins.
    1747859617670.png
  3. Copy the two wiiu folders from the Aroma .zip files to the root of the SD.
  4. Make a folder called wafel_install on the root of the SD and copy all 52 MLC titles here.

Region Changing


  1. Boot the console.
    • If it does not automatically go into minute_minute, go install isfshax.
  2. Navigate to Backup and Restore.
  3. Select Erase MLC and then press EJECT to confirm.
    • If it tells you MLC Erase not allowed!, go install isfshax.
  4. Select Delete scfm.img and press EJECT to confirm.
    • If it tells you SCFM delete not allowed!, install isfshax and quit trying with no safety measures.
  5. Go back to the main menu and select Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc).
    • During the setup you won't use the screen and stay at the GO GO GO minute message. You have to go by the power led.
  6. Wait for the LED to start blinking blue, this means the setup has started. Wait for it to stop blinking, that is when the setup has finished.
  7. Shut off the console and put the SD back into your PC.
    • Almost everything should have returned 00000000.
    • SetInitialLaunch will have returned 1.
    • If Set Region to X returned error FFFBFFEE, ask for help. That should not happen.
    • Otherwise boot the console again (select Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc)), and you should be greeted with initial setup. Success!

Region Changing the Gamepad


  1. Download the latest release of DRXUtil and copy it to sd:/wiiu/apps.
  2. Launch DRXUtil from the Wii U Menu.
    • If it doesn't show up, press L + DPAD Down + Select on the Gamepad and set the "Hide all .rpx" configuration in the "Homebrew on Wii U Menu Plugin" to false.
  3. Select Flash firmware.
  4. Select Built-in Firmware Patches. Read the warning, then select Continue.
  5. Read the second warning, then select Continue.
    • With the patched firmware, the Gamepad will now show "Modified Firmware" while booting up.
  6. Select Set region and select the target region.
    • Note that Japan/Americas/Europe are the only regions that are actually used.
  7. Press A to confirm. Press B to go back to the main screen.
  8. Select Show DRC/DRH information and verify that the region under DRC info has been set to the one you selected.
  9. Press B to go back to the main screen and select Flash firmware.
  10. Select Original Firmware. Read the warning then select Continue.
  11. Read the second warning, then select Continue.
  12. Wait for the firmware to flash. Press B once finished and go back to the Wii U Menu.
  13. Launch System Settings, select Console Information (Icon with a red Console/Gamepad), select Set System Language, and select the target language. This will change the Gamepad language.
  14. Once it's finished, you're done!

After Region Changing


You can keep isfshax installed, or you can uninstall it. I would keep it, so you can load Aroma on boot without needing to install PayloadLoader, or as some form of 'brick protection'. You can set up autobooting in minute to have it automatically load IOSU. Instructions for that are on the isfshax guide.

Credits


@SDIO: isfshax setup guides, the wafel_setup_mlc plugin, help get the PoC to work, cleaning up my code, making the region fixer more sane...
@shinyquagsire23: de_Fuse, minute_minute, and stroopwafel
@GaryOderNichts: Also help me get the PoC working, DRXUtil
@rw-r-r_0644: Finding isfshax and implementing it
 
Last edited by Lazr1026,
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Click to expand...
AresNguyen said:
Too bad, do you think UDPIH Pico method should work?
Click to expand...
no, its crashing early in boot because of the now fucked up mlc
Post automatically merged:

I've added some notes under the Erase MLC and Delete scfm.img steps. Hopefully something like this doesnt happen again
 
Last edited by Lazr1026,
Thank you so much for this guide! I was able to change my White 32GB unit from JPN to USA. I would add however that the Quick menu should be disabled after doing this as trying to launch the Wii U Menu from the Quick Menu on the GamePad will crash the system. Also, while trying to Erase MLC, it returned an error saying erase failed, 0 bytes erased without any prior warnings. Despite this, I was able to delete scfm.img and continue on.
 
You corrupted the file system when you deleted scfm.img and because the erase didn't work the setup probably didn't create a new file system. So you can have all sorts of problems because if the corruption.

Did you still have the old region apps after the region change or only the new ones?
 
Lazr1026 said:
no, its crashing early in boot because of the now fucked up mlc
Post automatically merged:

I've added some notes under the Erase MLC and Delete scfm.img steps. Hopefully something like this doesnt happen again
Click to expand...
It's too late for me :( If i de_fuse, will i need to install isfshax or just erase mlc & scfm.img again and launch Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc)? Pico device is shipping and arrived next few days
 
SDIO said:
You corrupted the file system when you deleted scfm.img and because the erase didn't work the setup probably didn't create a new file system. So you can have all sorts of problems because if the corruption.

Did you still have the old region apps after the region change or only the new ones?
Click to expand...
You must've misread my original comment. I did not have any problems changing the region, only the Erase MLC step which I skipped. In the end, it all worked out well except I had to disable the quick menu on the GamePad.
 
AresNguyen said:
It's too late for me :( If i de_fuse, will i need to install isfshax or just erase mlc & scfm.img again and launch Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc)? Pico device is shipping and arrived next few days
Click to expand...
de_Fuse is already doing what isfshax would but with more brick protection. you would just do the erase and delete, then patch and boot
 
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WiiUguy said:
You must've misread my original comment. I did not have any problems changing the region, only the Erase MLC step which I skipped. In the end, it all worked out well except I had to disable the quick menu on the GamePad.
Click to expand...
Are you sure? It is extremly unlikely that it formatted the MLC, if you didn't erase it. Where all the old Apps gone, or were they still there after the setup?
 
Lazr1026 said:
de_Fuse is already doing what isfshax would but with more brick protection. you would just do the erase and delete, then patch and boot
Click to expand...
Pico is here. I will try UDPIH with isfshax first, if not working so try de_fuse, just drag and drop de_fuse uf2 file to pico to replace previous UDPIH uf2 firmware, right?
Post automatically merged:

AresNguyen said:
Too bad, do you think UDPIH Pico method should work?
Click to expand...
It does work, Wii U successfully region changed from JP to USA, everything is in English now. It came back to life without de_fuse, thank you!
 

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Last edited by AresNguyen,
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Hey @Lazr1026! Thank you so much for this guide!
I successfully changed the region, but strange things happen during the initial console setup.

When setting up a Wi-Fi network, I get an error that the network is busy. I click skip and it kicks me back to minute until, I launch it again and when I click “create a new user” the console freezes.

If I turn off the console and turn it on again, I get the error 155-0206

What do you think this could be?
 

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Before I attempt to do this:
Does using this method of region changing a PAL Wii U to an NTSC region solve that infamous issue with PAL vWii which refuses it boot in progressive scan?
 

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