Homebrew Wii U is completely new territory for me!

[KilwaAston11]

Hey guys. I've got a general, decent amount of knowledge and time spent in the hacking game but the Wii U is completely new territory for me. Anyways, I recently picked up a Wind Waker edition Wii U on 5.5.3 and to my surprise--it's already exploited with what I'm assuming is CBHC/Haxchi. Has a 32gb sd card inside with apps/Haxchi/CBHC/Mocha, everything it seems like, even some vWii stuff. Brain Age is also purchased and on the internal NAND.

I'm not sure how outdated the contents of the SD card are, and being the kind of person that I am, I wanted to do this myself lol. Is it possible to start from scratch (leaving Brain Age there, obviously), or would it just be silly to do that?

Curious if anybody could shed some light on what the next step I need to take would be. I'd like to start over, if possible, so I can learn myself as I go along. But if it's easier to just update the apps and contents of the SD card, I'm open to that as well. I'd be happy to post any photos if I need to. Thanks so much for hearing me out!

 

[EmulateLife]

If you already have Haxchi or CBHC, there's not much to do.

The way to tell if you have CBHC if when you boot it says Autobooting, that's CBHC. But if it doesn't you have regular Haxchi. Also since you said you're on 5.5.1 you probably don't have CBHC because it changes the firmware to 99.99.99.

OTTH you said Brain Age was installed on the internal, that's a little concerning to me because if that's the game they used to hack the Wii U it should be called Haxchi or it should say Do Not Touch if it's CBHC. If it's just Brain Age, you will need to rerun the Haxchi installer over the game to have access to Homebrew Launcher which is where you install games and run other Homebrew.

Anyway, here is a guide https://wiiu.hacks.guide/

Any other questions just ask here and I'll be happy to help.

 

[Zense]

Hey guys. I've got a general, decent amount of knowledge and time spent in the hacking game but the Wii U is completely new territory for me. Anyways, I recently picked up a Wind Waker edition Wii U on 5.5.3 and to my surprise--it's already exploited with what I'm assuming is CBHC/Haxchi. Has a 32gb sd card inside with apps/Haxchi/CBHC/Mocha, everything it seems like, even some vWii stuff. Brain Age is also purchased and on the internal NAND.

I'm not sure how outdated the contents of the SD card are, and being the kind of person that I am, I wanted to do this myself lol. Is it possible to start from scratch (leaving Brain Age there, obviously), or would it just be silly to do that?

Curious if anybody could shed some light on what the next step I need to take would be. I'd like to start over, if possible, so I can learn myself as I go along. But if it's easier to just update the apps and contents of the SD card, I'm open to that as well. I'd be happy to post any photos if I need to. Thanks so much for hearing me out!

Also, before you do anything make sure not to do the many things described in the guide above that will effectively brick your WiiU, in case it has CBHC installed. I do not remember them atm since I do not use CBHC, only Haxchi, though I know there are certain actions like formatting your WiiU that you should not do without the proper preparations. As stated earlier read through the guide of how to mod it and I'm sure you'll understand what I'm talking about.

I agree with the above poster that it does not seem like you have CBHC installed when the firmware in system settings says 5.5.3 though I might be wrong since I've never used CBHC.

 

[EmulateLife]

That's a good point, do not format your Wii U until you know what hack you have. You may as well not format it anyway and take advantage of the free game (Brain Age) they've given you to have a proper hack. If you format, it's gone and you'd have to buy a game yourself unless you have access to the previous owners eshop username and password.

 

[Lacius]

As said above, if you format your system, you will lose your legitimate copy of Brain Age, which means you will have to do legitimately purchase it again if you want to use Haxchi or CHBC. I don't recommend formatting the system for this reason.

 

[KilwaAston11]

Thanks so much for the input guys.

Before reading these comments, I think I did clear Brain Age, as I'm not seeing it for on either users internal nand. Stupid on my part, but I'll happily buy it again if I need to

So here's what's going on. I powered off. When initially booting, it's reading "Autobooting CBHC 1.6", then boots into the home menu. Only thing on the home menu is a wad/channel saying "DON'T TOUCH ME" (also the only thing on the internal memory since I think I removed the user that had Brain Age). Firmware is showing 99.99.99 at the top right. After going back to the home menu it immediately asked me to update the system, I turned it off. I'm not sure if the update is safe or not.

Is CBHC the preferred method over Haxchi? I'm really not sure what to do, because I haven't done this myself like I would have liked to.

 

[Lacius]

Thanks so much for the input guys.

Before reading these comments, I think I did clear Brain Age, as I'm not seeing it for on either users internal nand. Stupid on my part, but I'll happily buy it again if I need to

So here's what's going on. I powered off. When initially booting, it's reading "Autobooting CBHC 1.6", then boots into the home menu. Only thing on the home menu is a wad/channel saying "DON'T TOUCH ME" (also the only thing on the internal memory since I think I removed the user that had Brain Age). Firmware is showing 99.99.99 at the top right. After going back to the home menu it immediately asked me to update the system, I turned it off. I'm not sure if the update is safe or not.

Is CBHC the preferred method over Haxchi? I'm really not sure what to do, because I haven't done this myself like I would have liked to.

It sounds like you still have CBHC installed, perhaps using a different DS game. If you format your system, you will likely brick unless you uninstall CBHC first. Also, if CBHC is installed, that means you have a DS VC game that still works, and you should not format unless you want to re-purchase a compatible VC game.

 

[KilwaAston11]

It sounds like you still have CBHC installed, perhaps using a different DS game. If you format your system, you will likely brick unless you uninstall CBHC first. Also, if CBHC is installed, that means you have a DS VC game that still works, and you should not format unless you want to re-purchase a compatible VC game.

That's exactly what I don't want to happen. So, basically I can use it as is? Should I update any of the contents of the SD card? Is CBHC 1.6 the latest? I was thinking about going through each app on the SD card, finding the github, and just replacing files with the latest versions.

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Now that I'm remembering... There is LoZ Phantom Hourglass on the SD card. But I figured it was a pirated NDS copy

 

[Lacius]

That's exactly what I don't want to happen. So, basically I can use it as is? Should I update any of the contents of the SD card? Is CBHC 1.6 the latest? I was thinking about going through each app on the SD card, finding the github, and just replacing files with the latest versions.

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Now that I'm remembering... There is LoZ Phantom Hourglass on the SD card. But I figured it was a pirated NDS copy

CBHC v1.6 is the latest. I would just use the Wii U as is. Do not delete any DS games unless you uninstall CBHC first. In fact, if you want to be safe, you can uninstall CBHC and just use Haxchi.

 

[KilwaAston11]

CBHC v1.6 is the latest.

Thank you. I appreciate the quick response.

If I wanted to also buy Brain Age (again) am I okay to do that? Or is CBHC good enough?

My main goals are backups, vWii, and emulation. Is one method better than the other? Haxchi vs CBHC? Apologies for the questions, I'm just trying to understand as much as I can!

 

[EmulateLife]

There is no reason to buy Brain Age again, and it is not even possible. You might can find a pirated version with a different title id if you play it.

While I usually agree with @Lacius I will disagree with him this time on uninstalling CBHC. No need to fix what's not broken. You are set you have CFW at boot, and you can proceed to just install games or do what you want. There's no need to worry about it anymore. If you want to understand it more, just read the guide I gave you. If you need help with anything ask here but don't mess up your Wii U just trying to understand it better!

 

[Lacius]

Thank you. I appreciate the quick response.

If I wanted to also buy Brain Age (again) am I okay to do that? Or is CBHC good enough?

My main goals are backups, vWii, and emulation. Is one method better than the other? Haxchi vs CBHC? Apologies for the questions, I'm just trying to understand as much as I can!

Haxchi and CBHC (ColdBoot HaxChi) are almost identical.

• Haxchi works in part by modifying a legitimate DS game.
• With CBHC, the Wii U has been modified to launch Haxchi on boot, which means the system has actually been modified to launch the DS game on boot.

If you format the system or remove that DS game, the Wii U is essentially bricked, since it cannot launch the DS game anymore but still wants to.

Haxchi is 100% safe because you launch it (the DS game) manually after your system has already booted.

There is no reason to buy another DS game, since you apparently still have a functional one on there somewhere that's being used for CBHC/Haxchi.

If it wasn't clear, pirated DS games don't work with CBHC and Haxchi, since a pirated DS game cannot run unless Haxchi or CBHC is already running.

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There is no reason to buy Brain Age again, and it is not even possible. You might can find a pirated version with a different title id if you play it.

While I usually agree with @Lacius I will disagree with him this time on uninstalling CBHC. No need to fix what's not broken. You are set you have CFW at boot, and you can proceed to just install games or do what you want. There's no need to worry about it anymore. If you want to understand it more, just read the guide I gave you. If you need help with anything ask here but don't mess up your Wii U just trying to understand it better!

The OP is worried. Emotional distress due to the potential for accidentally bricking a system one knows nothing about is a legitimately reason for this particular user to remove CBHC, at least temporarily.

 

[EmulateLife]

If he doesn't format or remove the DS game he's not going to brick. He's worried for nothing but he's going to cause more problems by changing things than just leaving them as is.

Curiosity killed the cat is the perfect saying here.

 

[Lacius]

If he doesn't format or remove the DS game he's not going to brick. He's worried for nothing but he's going to cause more problems by changing things than just leaving them as is.

It seems like he wants to tinker with the Wii U and make it his own, figure out how the Wii U actually works, etc. Uninstalling CBHC is what I would do in this situation while I figured out, for starters, which DS games are legitimate titles that can be used with Haxchi/CBHC, etc.

 

[EmulateLife]

Thank you. I appreciate the quick response.

If I wanted to also buy Brain Age (again) am I okay to do that? Or is CBHC good enough?

My main goals are backups, vWii, and emulation. Is one method better than the other? Haxchi vs CBHC? Apologies for the questions, I'm just trying to understand as much as I can!

CBHC = CFW at boot. Nothing wrong with wanting to know as much as possible IMO you're already set as far as the hack, so it's just not something you should worry about it. There's other things to learn on the Wii U: installing Wii U games, injecting Wii/Gamecube games so that they're on the same menu as Wii U on the same hard drive, using a wireless controller or wired controller if you want. That should be your focus IMO.

 

[KilwaAston11]

This information is essential, thank you guys so much. I guess the only question I really have left regards that system update that's popping up? It doesn't give an option to cancel. I turned the console off as soon as it prompted me to update

Regarding the other user on the console (I created my own). Can I delete that user? The only thing on the internal memory is CBHC "don't touch me"

I can't thank you guys enough for the help and advice by the way.

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CBHC = CFW at boot. Nothing wrong with wanting to know as much as possible IMO you're already set as far as the hack, so it's just not something you should worry about it. There's other things to learn on the Wii U: installing Wii U games, injecting Wii/Gamecube games so that they're on the same menu as Wii U on the same hard drive, using a wireless controller or wired controller if you want. That should be your focus IMO.

This also a primary focus I mentioned my goals above in a previous comment

 

[EmulateLife]

I wouldn't delete that user no since it has the CBHC hack. You might brick. I'm not real sure but I wouldn't take the risk.

 

[Lacius]

This information is essential, thank you guys so much. I guess the only question I really have left regards that system update that's popping up? It doesn't give an option to cancel. I turned the console off as soon as it prompted me to update

Regarding the other user on the console (I created my own). Can I delete that user? The only thing on the internal memory is CBHC "don't touch me"

I can't thank you guys enough for the help and advice by the way.

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This also a primary focus I mentioned my goals above in a previous comment

It is safe to install the system update. I am surprised it wants to update, since you're already on 5.5.3 (unless it's a European Wii U). CBHC could be removed after the update, but it can always be reinstalled easily.

If you remove the user with CBHC installed, you will brick. This is why I recommend uninstalling CBHC before messing with anything. You will also remove any DS games that you can use for Haxchi/CBHC by removing the user, potentially requiring you to buy a new one.

 

[KilwaAston11]

It's a US console, for clarification. There are actually two users on the console, one with a ton more apps on the home menu than the other user so I can only assume that was the original owner who originally exploited it. It didn't ask for the update until I switched to his profile and checked data management.

I think I'm just going to leave the thing how it is, and not mess with it too much (although I'd love to see how everything works myself). There's gotta a method to block that system update prompt, yeah? DNS perhaps?

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And as far as the apps already on the SD card are concerned, can I check each apps github and replace the files myself? Wup installer, d2x cios, stuff like that? I'll leave CBHC alone.

 

[Zense]

It's a US console, for clarification. There are actually two users on the console, one with a ton more apps on the home menu than the other user so I can only assume that was the original owner who originally exploited it. It didn't ask for the update until I switched to his profile and checked data management.

I think I'm just going to leave the thing how it is, and not mess with it too much (although I'd love to see how everything works myself). There's gotta a method to block that system update prompt, yeah? DNS perhaps?

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And as far as the apps already on the SD card are concerned, can I check each apps github and replace the files myself? Wup installer, d2x cios, stuff like that? I'll leave CBHC alone.

Yes, there is a way to block it using DNS and I would assume from the fact that you get a notification of a system update in the download manager that you already have the DNS block in place. Getting notification about a (false) system update is one of the effects of having a DNS block in place. The way to check this is to go to internet settings and see what DNSs are set.