Hacking Wii U CFW: broken SD reader

[AppaStyle]

Hello. My brother has purchased a Wii U with a broken sd reader. Are there any options to move forward? It seems that there is no hack from USB, is that correct?

How realistic is replacing the reader?

 

[godreborn]

unfortunately, no. you need an sd card for pretty much everything.

 

[ber71]

That's why having haxchi around is always a good idea, as it doesn't require any sdcard once installed. So you can use tiramisu or aroma as main cfw keeping haxchi just in case.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Hello. My brother has purchased a Wii U with a broken sd reader. Are there any options to move forward? It seems that there is no hack from USB, is that correct?

How realistic is replacing the reader?

Look into the slot with a bright light to see if there is any corrosion and/or bent pins. You might get lucky and be able to bent something back and/or remove corrosion.

For the case that the reader is beyond repair: It might be a standard SD slot – should be possible to obtain one of these without harvesting a fully dead Wii U motherboard.

As can be seen on a photo (ifixit.com, Wii U teardown), the slot is soldered on – unlike the N3DS(XL) and the O3DS which have the SD reader plugged into a connector. Desoldering of so many points isn't easy (even more since everything is lead free with higher melting point nowadays).
Be careful and patient. Do not pull on the slot while desoldering. It will most likely rip off solder pads!

Spoiler: embedded picture

Good luck!