UDPIH: USB Host Stack exploit + Recovery Menu

It's been a while without any major exploits in the Wii U scene, so I present to you:

USB Descriptor Parsing Is Hard (UDPIH)

An exploit for the Wii U's USB Host Stack. Pronounced like "mud pie" without the M.

The write-up can be found here!

What does this mean?​

Since the USB Stack is running before anything on the PPC side of the Wii U is booted, this allows unbricking things like CBHC bricks without any soldering!


Requirements​

  • A Wii U
  • One of the devices listed below
    Note: Any other linux device capable of USB device emulation should work as well.
    Prebuilt releases are only available for the Pico and Zero.
    I will add more devices below which are confirmed to work.

Supported devices:​

  • A Raspberry Pi Pico or Zero
  • A Nintendo Switch capable of running udpih_nxpayload

Instructions​

Pico​

  • Download the latest udpih.uf2 from the releases page.
  • Hold down the BOOTSEL button on the board and connect the Pico to your PC.
    Your PC will detect the Pi as a storage device.
  • Copy the .uf2 file to the Pico. It will disconnect after a few seconds.
The Pico is now flashed and can be used for udpih. Continue with "Booting the recovery_menu" below.

Raspberry Pi Zero (Linux)​

  • Install the required dependencies:
    Bash:
    sudo apt install build-essential raspberrypi-kernel-headers
  • Clone the repo:
  • Bash:
    git clone https://github.com/GaryOderNichts/udpih.git
    cd udpih
  • Download the latest arm_kernel.bin.h from the releases page and copy it to the arm_kernel directory.
  • Now build the kernel module:
  • Bash:
    cd linux
    make
  • You can now run sudo insmod udpih.ko to insert the kernel module into the kernel.
The Zero is now ready to be used for udpih.
Note that you'll need to insert the module again after rebooting the Zero. You will need 2 USB cables, one for powering the Zero and one which can be connected to the Wii U.

Continue with "Booting the recovery_menu" below.

Booting the recovery_menu​

warning
Important notes for this to work:
  • Make sure no other USB Devices are attached to the console.
  • Only use USB ports on the front of the console, the back ports will not work.
  • If your console has standby mode enabled, pull the power plug and turn it on from a full coldboot state.
  • Copy the latest release of the recovery_menu to the root of your FAT32 formatted SD Card.
  • Insert the SD Card into the console and power it on.
  • As soon as you see the "Wii U" logo on the TV or Gamepad plug in your Zero/Pico.
    This timing is important. If you're already in the menu, the exploit won't work..
  • After a few seconds you should be in the recovery menu.
So what's this recovery menu? The recovery menu allows you to fix several bricks:
screenshot

Wii U Recovery Menu

A simple recovery menu running on the IOSU for unbricking.

Options​

Set Coldboot Title
Allows changing the current title the console boots to.
Useful for unbricking CBHC bricks.
Possible options are:
  • Wii U Menu (JPN) - 00050010-10040000
  • Wii U Menu (USA) - 00050010-10040100
  • Wii U Menu (EUR) - 00050010-10040200
On non-retail systems the following additional options are available:
  • System Config Tool - 00050010-1F700500
  • DEVMENU (pre-2.09) - 00050010-1F7001FF
  • Kiosk Menu - 00050010-1FA81000
Dump Syslogs
Copies all system logs to a logs folder on the root of the SD Card.

Dump OTP + SEEPROM
Dumps the OTP and SEEPROM to otp.bin and seeprom.bin on the root of the SD Card.

Start wupserver
Starts wupserver which allows connecting to the console from a PC using wupclient.

Load Network Configuration
Loads a network configuration from the SD, and temporarily applies it to use wupserver.
The configurations will be loaded from a network.cfg file on the root of your SD.
For using the ethernet adapter, the file should look like this:
Code:
type=eth

For using wifi:
Code:
type=wifi
ssid=ssidhere
key=wifikeyhere
key_type=WPA2_PSK_AES

Pair Gamepad
Displays the Gamepad Pin and allows pairing a Gamepad to the system. Also bypasses any region checks while pairing.
The numeric values represent the following symbols: ♠ = 0, ♥ = 1, ♦ = 2, ♣ = 3.
Note that rebooting the system might be required to use the newly paired gamepad.

Install WUP
Installs a valid signed WUP from the install folder on the root of your SD Card.
Don't place the WUP into any subfolders.

Edit Parental Controls
Displays the current Parental Controls pin configuration.
Allows disabling Parental Controls.

Debug System Region
Fixes bricks caused by setting productArea and/or gameRegion to an invalid value. Symptoms include being unable to launch System Settings or other in-region titles.

System Information
Displays info about several parts of the system.
Including serial number, manufacturing date, console type, regions, memory devices...

Credits​

Special thanks to Maschell, rw-r-r-0644, QuarkTheAwesome, vgmoose, exjam, dimok789, and everyone else who contributed to the Wii U scene!
 
Last edited by GaryOderNichts,

BaamAlex

UDE GA NARU ZE!
Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2018
Messages
6,016
Trophies
1
Age
29
Location
Lampukistan
Website
hmpg.net
XP
6,122
Country
Germany
I have a 256GB, but I would agree that it's a major pain getting into the recovery menu. sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes black screen, sometimes a garbled message. I think you need to put it in when it says Nintendo on the gamepad, but it's hard to time when you don't really know when to put it in. when the wiiu text displays on the tv screen seems to be too late.
So it would theoretically better to use my 64gb again? With this it worked like a charm.
 
  • Like
Reactions: godreborn

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
So it would theoretically better to use my 64gb again? With this it worked like a charm.
I don't know. I didn't have difficulty the first time, but I had major difficulty the second. I just wanted to see if it worked, not use it, since I've never bricked a wiiu.
 

lolorlofl

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
192
Trophies
1
Website
Visit site
XP
753
Country
Canada
This is awesome! I'm going to try this on a Wii U I have in an odd state. When it boots up it immediately loads the System Update menu, then it crashes completely after a few seconds. When I try this out I will upload the logs to see what exactly is going on with it.

If you're taking feature suggestions, would it be possible to add the functionality to download and reinstall the system firmware from within the app instead of going through the system menu?
 
  • Like
Reactions: godreborn

kaputnik

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Messages
215
Trophies
1
XP
910
Country
Sweden
Wonderful to see the old Wii U still is getting some love. Ordered a Pi Pico just to try this out :D

If I could wish for a feature, it would be NAND dumping (writing is not possible, right?) from the recovery menu. Would be incredibly handy paired with an easy to use exploit like this :)
 

BaamAlex

UDE GA NARU ZE!
Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2018
Messages
6,016
Trophies
1
Age
29
Location
Lampukistan
Website
hmpg.net
XP
6,122
Country
Germany
Wonderful to see the old Wii U still is getting some love. Ordered a Pi Pico just to try this out :D

If I could wish for a feature, it would be NAND dumping (writing is not possible, right?) from the recovery menu. Would be incredibly handy paired with an easy to use exploit like this :)
You can already dump the nand? Not with the recovery menu, but possible.
 

MXRD4K1LL4

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2022
Messages
139
Trophies
0
XP
377
Country
Canada
Wonderful to see the old Wii U still is getting some love. Ordered a Pi Pico just to try this out :D

If I could wish for a feature, it would be NAND dumping (writing is not possible, right?) from the recovery menu. Would be incredibly handy paired with an easy to use exploit like this :)
You can with wupserver. But I don't know exactly how.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jiba

jacobsson

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2019
Messages
165
Trophies
0
Age
37
XP
759
Country
Sweden
The exploit seems to do it's thing (no errors) but it's stuck on the wiiu logo. Can't seem get it to display the menu.
I guess it's totally FUBAR?
 
Last edited by jacobsson,

abal1000x

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2022
Messages
1,042
Trophies
0
XP
1,329
Country
Gaza Strip
I have 2 Wiiu, one ok and one bricked.

I try to understand the error from the bricked log and compare it both.
But i realize the max is always 99.log. And the md5 is always same, means its the same file.

Does it means there are no further error,
or its just the cafe os doesn't record more than 99,
or recovery_menu only dump the first 99 log only?


In the menu there are the options to install Coldboot Title.
Is it safe to install US Coldboot Title in Japan console, and switch to it?

Is it also safe to reinstall other 'System Title' from the title downloaded from Nus Server?
 
Last edited by abal1000x,

GaryOderNichts

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2018
Messages
791
Trophies
1
XP
5,463
Country
Germany
The exploit seems to do it's thing (no errors) but it's stuck on the wiiu logo. Can't seem get it to display the menu.
I guess it's totally FUBAR?
Make sure all other USB devices are unplugged. Also try performing the exploit from a fully cold state, by removing the power plug first.
Does it means there are no further error,
or its just the cafe os doesn't record more than 99,
or recovery_menu only dump the first 99 log only?
After reaching 99.log the console starts again at 1. Open up the log files and check the date of the log.
In the menu there are the options to install Coldboot Title.
Is it safe to install US Coldboot Title in Japan console, and switch to it?
If you install a coldboot title the console will automatically switch to it.
You can't boot into a menu of a different region though.
 

abal1000x

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2022
Messages
1,042
Trophies
0
XP
1,329
Country
Gaza Strip
After reaching 99.log the console starts again at 1. Open up the log files and check the date of the log.
Thank you. Yes, i found the continuation of the log in number 1. Kind of confuse at first, i thought that the previous owner flash the NAND so the log record inside is not coherent.
 

jacobsson

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2019
Messages
165
Trophies
0
Age
37
XP
759
Country
Sweden
@GaryOderNichts
Thanks, I gave it some more tries from a cold boot state to no avail.
Have you ever encountered a system that can't reach the recovery menu?
I'll have to assume it's a bad NAND, which I presume is a RIP.
 
Last edited by jacobsson,

N7Kopper

Lest we forget... what Nazi stood for.
Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2014
Messages
975
Trophies
0
Age
30
XP
1,291
Country
United Kingdom
If you install a coldboot title the console will automatically switch to it.
You can't boot into a menu of a different region though.
It should go without saying, but some people don't understand things like this, so I'll say:

Don't set a coldboot title that your Wii U cannot boot without sigpatches and region-free! We don't have permanent exploits, you need to pwn it every boot. Just use Tiramisu.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    The fuuuuu---
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I thought it was an actual xBox at that price.
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    I wanna grab a 360 Slim and a 360 E one of these days. Missed the boat of getting them at their lowest though, once they were discontinued. Could've got them for cheap back when I was a broke 20 something working at Target, but then again, I was a broke 20 something working at Target
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Being broke is no fun.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    @Sicklyboy, $150 isn't that bad for a jtag slim on ebay
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I only wish it was actually playable.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    There's a guy on the Tube of You that makes playable mechanical arcade games out of Lego. This could work on the same principle.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Just a couple of guys taking their manatee out for some fresh air, why you have to molest them?
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Stupid Chinese shop switched their shipping company and this one is slooooooow.
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    STOP BUYING CHINESE CRAP THEN
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    SUPPORT LOCAL PRODUCTS, MAKE REVOLUTION
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    THEY KEEP REMOVING LOCAL SHIt AND REPLACING WItH INFERIOR CHINESE CRAP
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    THATS WHY MY PARTNER CANT GET A GOOTWEAR HIS SIZE ANYMORE
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    HE HAS BIG FOOT AND BIG DUCK
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    d*ck i mean*
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    lol
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Mkay.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I just ordered another package from China just to spite you.
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    Communism lol
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    OUR products
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    @LeoTCK actually good quality products are dying out because they can't compete with dropshipped chinese crap
    +1
    The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye: @LeoTCK actually good quality products are dying out because they can't compete with dropshipped... +1