Hacking Wii U Homebrew Situation and FAQ

[KoMar]

I was wondering... now that modders can mess around with a game's RAM (like they demonstrated in Mario Kart 8),
maybe they could force titles rendered in 720p to render at 1080p instead - one just has to find the right memory
area to tweak... I know some games might lag then but it's worth a shot at least. Anyone know if someone is doing this?

 

[filfat]

I was wondering... now that modders can mess around with a game's RAM (like they demonstrated in Mario Kart 8),
maybe they could force titles rendered in 720p to render at 1080p instead - one just has to find the right memory
area to tweak... I know some games might lag then but it's worth a shot at least. Anyone know if someone is doing this?

If it's not too "tied-in" into the engine so _might_ that be possible, however we would need a Kernel exploit first

 

[WulfyStylez]

I was wondering... now that modders can mess around with a game's RAM (like they demonstrated in Mario Kart 8),
maybe they could force titles rendered in 720p to render at 1080p instead - one just has to find the right memory
area to tweak... I know some games might lag then but it's worth a shot at least. Anyone know if someone is doing this?

Based on my experiences forcing other consoles to run at different resolutions, it's doubtable. Expect instant crashes at the worst, and awful corruption and framebuffer glitches at the best.

 

[Goku Junior]

I was wondering... now that modders can mess around with a game's RAM (like they demonstrated in Mario Kart 8),
maybe they could force titles rendered in 720p to render at 1080p instead - one just has to find the right memory
area to tweak... I know some games might lag then but it's worth a shot at least. Anyone know if someone is doing this?

Not saying that is impossible, because this could work in vWii, Wii U have potential to render Wii games in 1080p, we need to unlock all the hardware in vWii mode, then modify some IOSU that use backward compatibility and I think it could go, but think about it, the games like Mario Kart 8 aren't 1080p for some reason, if we put Mario Kart 8 at 1080p, I don't think it will run at 1080p in grand prix race, we need to modify all the ISO, and make some optimizing in the ISO, and it won't be easy, if Shin'en is right, using eDRAM can work to render at more resolution, 16MB of eDRAM are needed to get 1080p without anti aliasing, so we can use all the 32MB to get 1080p with some anti aliasing, but here comes the problems, it will cause fps drops, I know, the 59fps bug in Mario Kart it's a CPU bug, but if we put Anti aliasing + 1080p Mario Kart 8 could go in 29FPS or in the worst case 15FPS, for me, that will need a lot of optimization.

 

[EthralSSB]

Is the new Wii U update okay to install if I have my vWii Homebrewed?

 

[NWPlayer123]

Is the new Wii U update okay to install if I have my vWii Homebrewed?

Yes http://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-system-update-5-1-2-is-out-now.370253/#post-5075150

 

[EthralSSB]

Yes http://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-system-update-5-1-2-is-out-now.370253/#post-5075150

Okay thank you haha i turned my Wii U on saw an update turned it off instantly

 

[Eamon]

Hi, I just wanted to ask.

I recently purchased a Wii U and have updated to the firmware that came on Mario Kart 8 which I assume is 4.1.0.
I want to update to 5.1.0 but as of now, if I connect to the internet and update that way, I'm guessing it'll update to 5.1.2 instead.

Is there any way to update to 5.1.0 offline? Similar to PSP and PS3 where you can grab the update file and put it onto a USB then update manually.

 

[Goku Junior]

Hi, I just wanted to ask.

I recently purchased a Wii U and have updated to the firmware that came on Mario Kart 8 which I assume is 4.1.0.
I want to update to 5.1.0 but as of now, if I connect to the internet and update that way, I'm guessing it'll update to 5.1.2 instead.

Is there any way to update to 5.1.0 offline? Similar to PSP and PS3 where you can grab the update file and put it onto a USB then update manually.

No, it isn't possible, but if you know a gamethat have that system version you can use it, but don't care about the System version 5.1.0, it's better having 4.1.0 instead 5.0.0 or 5.1.0, it has PowerPC exploit, I don't know if a version up to 4.1.0 can have a Power exploit, I recommend you keeping in 4.1.0, and yes, if you update using Nintendo updater, you will get a 5.1.2 Wii U...

 

[Eamon]

Thanks for the reply. Another noob question, if you don't mind - I've been reading about what is currently modable and not and I see it is possible to install the Homebrew Channel in Wii mode.

But I've come across this term: vWii. At first I presumed people were using it interchangeably with Wii U's "Wii Mode" but then i've seen different. Could you explain what exactly is vWii?

 

[Goku Junior]

Thanks for the reply. Another noob question, if you don't mind - I've been reading about what is currently modable and not and I see it is possible to install the Homebrew Channel in Wii mode.

But I've come across this term: vWii. At first I presumed people were using it interchangeably with Wii U's "Wii Mode" but then i've seen different. Could you explain what exactly is vWii?

vWii is know as "Virtual Wii", why? because it's not a real Wii, it uses a new System, the IOS are different and some apps don't work well (Wii Old Syscheck for example), so to don't make any mistake about Wii apps in Wii Mode we use vWii to say Wii U Wii Mode, to be a real Wii, Wii U should have all the Wii processors like Broadway CPU and Hollywood GPU, but Wii U have it owns processor designed for backwars compatibility via "sandbox", so The Wii U CPU acts like Wii CPU, Wii U GPU like Wii GPU, etc.

I hope you understand it, if not, ask me

 

[Eamon]

I see. So the "Wii Mode" on the Wii U is actually a sandbox and not the same system as the original Wii - thus why it's called vWii. Thanks for the explanation

I will take up your offer and ask 2 more noob questions:
a) Is there any way possible to go online on Wii U (to play multiplayer, update MK8) without updating to 5.1.2?
b) I see that some Wii U exploits have been around for a month or so. Any progress on the state of backup managers?

 

[Goku Junior]

I see. So the "Wii Mode" on the Wii U is actually a sandbox and not the same system as the original Wii - thus why it's called vWii. Thanks for the explanation

I will take up your offer and ask 2 more noob questions:
a) Is there any way possible to go online on Wii U (to play multiplayer, update MK8) without updating to 5.1.2?
b) I see that some Wii U exploits have been around for a month or so. Any progress on the state of backup managers?

OK, I will ask your questions:
a) No, is not possible because Nintendo updated Nintendo Network server, now the server knows what version of Wii U you have, I was thinking it could be possible to edit the System version to fool Nintendo Network server and play thinkinig we are in 5.1.2 when the reality is we are in lower version.
b)No, if you want to play backups your option is getting Wiikeu or Cobra Ude (when they be relased), now we need to have a exploit kernel and IOSU exploit to install these things.

 

[Alitos2007]

Okay...im either thoroughly confused or just overthinking. to my understanding homebrew (hackmii) is working up to firmware 5.0. I bought a wiiU last year with 5.1.2. I was able to get the homebrew channel in the vwii, but obviously hackmii didnt work. Howeverrrr, ive seen people say that they have homebrew on 5.1.1 and have updated to 5.1.2 without problems. SOOOO is homebrew possible on 5.1.2 or not cuz everywhere i look theres nothing yet.

 

[NWPlayer123]

Okay...im either thoroughly confused or just overthinking. to my understanding homebrew (hackmii) is working up to firmware 5.0. I bought a wiiU last year with 5.1.2. I was able to get the homebrew channel in the vwii, but obviously hackmii didnt work. Howeverrrr, ive seen people say that they have homebrew on 5.1.1 and have updated to 5.1.2 without problems. SOOOO is homebrew possible on 5.1.2 or not cuz everywhere i look theres nothing yet.

Are you wanting vWii homebrew or Wii U homebrew? If vWii, kindly go over to this thread. If Wii U, no, Nintendo patched the WebKit bug we're using and we have no idea if our ROP chain broke or any exploits were patched. Though in all honestly you're fine updating to the latest version anyways, regardless of if it works, simply because we have nothing useable anyways and we'd need to get it working on the latest version anyways to make it accessible for developers to develop homebrew.

 

[MikeyTaylorGaming]

I'm appalled at myself for allowing the auto-updates. I never expected an exploit so soon so figured I was safe (being out of the scene for so long...) and I may have completely screwed myself here by letting the system update itself to 5.1.2... DAMNIT.

I still have faith, we all know how much the Wii was customized!

 

[Deleted User]

Is it possible to block all Nintendo services ?
This would be helpful so I don't get asked to update everytime I turn on my Wii U or when I want to play DK tropical freeze or use YouTube.

 

[NWPlayer123]

Not in that way, no. You're screwed until you actually update.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

I'm a bit disappointed that the Wii U is region locked because now I wanted to purchase the Japanese Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate which is really cheap but I couldn't play it on mine (I'd assume it comes with English translation too).

*sigh* Nintendo for fuck sake make your next home console region free. I'd hate to resource to hacking it just to be able to play games of JP/US.

 

[GorTesK]

I'm a bit disappointed that the Wii U is region locked because now I wanted to purchase the Japanese Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate which is really cheap but I couldn't play it on mine (I'd assume it comes with English translation too).

*sigh* Nintendo for fuck sake make your next home console region free. I'd hate to resource to hacking it just to be able to play games of JP/US.

well there is still the EU version, that you can buy... or if you really want it to be in japanese, you can use the japanese 3DS version with a gateway
but yeah, I think everyone here agrees on region lock to be complete bullsh*t