Random brainstorming thought:
Of course, this idea won't go anywhere until we have the private key(s) for the drive encryption (or somehow figure out how to reverse engineer it), but I was thinking.... What if say either of those two things happen. Wouldn't it be possible to attach a microcontroller to the drive in some way to patch the region info on-the-fly (like any other traditional modchip would). I mean now that we can successfully decrypt Wii U isos (thanks to
crediar) We could start looking into where the region info is stored on the disc at least, once its located, we can develop a microcontroller program that injects the appropriate region coding info for your console regardless of what the disc inserted is.
Of course this method wouldn't enable the booting of backups (unless used in conjunction with some sort of soft mod, which doesn't exist yet, or an ODE, which still isn't out in the wild yet....), because of the proprietary blu-ray knockoff disc format the Wii U uses (how would you even burn a Wii U iso and have it readable XD not to mention that the game would need a legit signature ), but this could be used for playing legitimate games imported from other countries.
I realize such a device, would easily be detectable by nintendo and could lead to the banhammer if you use your console online, but it could be rigged with a switch to power it off whenever you're online
. Where the Wii U doesn't have a true hypervisor (the IOSU kernel serves as a weak pseudo-hypervisor) I can't imagine it would be able to log any suspicious activity done offline to flag you for a ban (like the 360) as soon as you go back online.
Not to mention, I think Nintendo will be more concerned about blocking and banning people for using ODE'S anyways, then a simple region free chip. This could be released as an open source DIY modchip. For people who aren't savvy enough to flash the chip themselves, someone who's kind enough could sell them a pre-flashed chip (just to cover the cost of materials and maybe tack on a couple extra bucks for labor +shipping)
Allegedly, Team Wiikey has already reverse engineered the drive encryption. If they ever release their ODE, I already have one pre-ordered for myself. I can try and look into what they did exactly and see if I can recreate it so I can interface a microcontroller with the disc drive for this purpose.
OR alternatively, is someone is able to retrieve the necessary private keys prior to that, we could work off that.
Again, I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but this idea came to me so I'm just throwing it out there.
UPDATE: We could potentially use some of the 16 and 32 bit microcontrollers made my Microchip Inc found here:
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2680&dDocName=en537998
I'm already familiar with Microchip's IDE (MPLAB)
. that gives me an advantage here
. Microchip's 16 and 32 bit PIC's support AES encryption right out of the box, which is what the Wii U
drive uses
Random side note: While not very practical, in the mean time before the private keys for the drive encryption are retrievable or w/e it might be possible to invent a makeshift "swap mod" for ejecting the disc stealthily. Now, a traditional swap trick IS NOT POSSIBLE as we know that the Wii U has signature checks so the minute you pop in a different game (even stealthily) the console knows it and spits out an error code. Swapping for another game was debunked long ago in an ancient thread that's now dead and buried (not to mention locked by a mod/admin). However, again this is NOT practical, but might be something cool to just play around with. Assuming that two copies of the exact game (from different regions) have the exact same signature (I have no idea if this holds true, never tested this theory), we could stealth eject in the imported copy (if timing is right) for the domestic copy. Again, if you already have the domestic copy there's no real point in doing this, unless there is some bonus content that only the foreign version has that you are willing to pay for two copies of the game just to access lol.
This would be more of a "hey that's cool" kind of thing, if it can be pulled off. Not meant to be a "real" solution for loading imports by any means.
I just so happen to have the US copy of Mario Kart 8 AND the japanese version (which is currently unusable for obvious reasons). I'd be willing to experiment with this and see if its even possible, just for the fun of it....
UPDATE 2: EPIC FAIL! "
So i took apart my wii u last night to take a look at the disc drive, as i want to develop an opensource DIY region free modchip (for playing original imports only) and i accidently snapped the clips that hold the ribbon cable for the drive in place so my console is temporarliy a paperweight XD.
Its a fairly easy fix, i just dont have enough hands to hold everything in place to resecure the cable XD. Luckily ************ is going to help me fix it " (copied from my facebook) Apparently facebook is being stupid at the moment and won't let me link directly to the post even though its set to public view, thanks Zuckerberg! *sighs*