Homebrew Wii U Linux

[Archerite]

I know it's not that difficult to mod the wii U...it's just that I did not get arround to it with all my other crazy projects. I need to read a lot more about it but from what I know most are browser based or need a VC game. And every one still wonders why Nintendo did not include either on on the switch
?? Hahaha

The pecompiled binaries for devkitpro just need to be recompiled for powerpc, in theory at least. Since it's basically a very nicely packed GCC compiler with a bunch of libraries inclided it should be possible.

I had no idea the WiiU os was called CafeOS...but I see where it comes from. I have been testing different linux virtualization projects like Vagrant and Docker and how easy they are to configure, that's why the idea popped in my head I guess

I want to complete a few other projects before I start playing with this too though

 

[CompuCat]

Yeah, we've got two main exploits: browser-based exploits (which can be....erm...unreliable depending on software version) and Haxchi (which takes over a DS VC game and can optionally be loaded from a cold boot).

I'm a fan of Docker myself; we use it to simplify a lot of the annoying build processes for linux-wiiu and linux-loader.

 

[CompuCat]

UPDATE: Users of Debian Sid on linux-wiiu, debian-ports has updated their public keys for the new year. To keep your packages up to date, you'll need to install the new key. Simply run

sudo -s; wget -O- ports.debian.org/archive_2019.key | apt-key add -; apt update; apt -y install debian-ports-archive-keyring

. (Reinstalling the keyring package might not be strictly necessary, but it doesn't hurt.)

 

[Gunstorm]

\o/ some news here \o/

 

[KitsumiTheFox]

Its always exciting when theres some progress in this thread \o/

 

[Gunstorm]

Where we can donate do help the developers of that project?
The best way is just donate free or create bounty to each item of the to-do list?

 

[CompuCat]

Hey, thanks for your support! We aren't accepting donations, as development of linux-wiiu is currently on hold due to the developers' real-life responsibilities. We'll consider opening a tip jar of some sort when linux-wiiu is back in active development.

--CompuCat (linux-wiiu Dev Team)

 

[Gunstorm]

guys, a question about someting on readme
"- in the example above, we set the rootfs to /dev/mmcblk0p2 (the SD card [mmcblk0] partition 2 [p2]) allowing us to boot from the SD card!"
how can I put the lubuntu image there?!

edit: new question, im trying setup the wiimote as mouse over bluetooth but i'm brick when I try load the uinput module(modprobe uinput), searching on the web, it occours because the uinput module isnt present on compiled kernel, is possible addit by default on lubuntu?

hot stuff:
http://www.winko-erades.nl/use-the-wiimote-as-a-mouse-in-linux/
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CWiiD


modprobe uinput output

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=QS1TMUdZY3RVZzJGbi12ZWdKUmdUdU0wT1ZSbFBB


more tests: there are some emulators like pcsxr, desmume, nintendo 8bit, snes, mame, mess, mupen64, doom, quake and few more compiled to powerpc lubuntu but.. i cant run anyone i think is due to no 3d hardware emulation xD

i tryed too install ubuntu-gnome-desktop but.. i dont know why it doesnt work after install the packages

 

[Gunstorm]

its friday... let be fun running windows games with linux on ubuntu of wiiu trhougth rdesktop a rdp client xD

Spoiler

 

[smileyhead]

its friday... let be fun running windows games with linux on ubuntu of wiiu trhougth rdesktop a rdp client xD

Spoiler

Yeah, but does it run Crysis?

 

[KitsumiTheFox]

We still don't have a proper video driver, so emulation is still out of the question. We also don't have any audio. But that doesn't mean we won't!

 

[Gunstorm]

Yeah, but does it run Crysis?

If you mean just run... yes xD but the wifi shared over Bluetooth with the server over wifi too.... the framerate will be very... freak.. but will run xD

 

[CompuCat]

@Gunstorm re: rootfs on SD card, it's easiest done using fdisk or gparted in Linux. We don't have uinput compiled in right now; if you built the module yourself or compiled the kernel yourself you could likely get it to work. Emulation will pretty much fail entirely - we don't even have 2D hardware acceleration without GPU drivers. Same thing for GNOME.

 

[Resident Stevil]

I hope that development will continue to grow on this. Ultimately I'd love to be able to set up Kodi on my Wii U and turn it into a media center.

 

[CompuCat]

Besides the fact that Kodi dropped PPC support, the biggest issue is the lack of GPU support. The GPU is our ticket for so many things: HDMI audio, hardware-accelerated rendering, hardware-accelerated video decoding, 3D...the works. You'd still have CPU bottlenecking issues (no SMP), but hardware video decode would be *lovely* in terms of performance.

 

[Resident Stevil]

Besides the fact that Kodi dropped PPC support, the biggest issue is the lack of GPU support. The GPU is our ticket for so many things: HDMI audio, hardware-accelerated rendering, hardware-accelerated video decoding, 3D...the works. You'd still have CPU bottlenecking issues (no SMP), but hardware video decode would be *lovely* in terms of performance.

I remember being able to use WiiMC on the Wii to play videos at 480p. Surely the Wii U can at least do 720p.

 

[CompuCat]

So, here's the scoop on playback. The PowerPC isn't great for software video decoding....but because Nintendo went with a Radeon GPU, we also get AMD's UVD video decoder as part of that. This is *huge* - it'll likely allow 1080p playback, and definitely at least 720p. I'm honestly going to take a crack at implementing a basic playback tool in CafeOS when I get a minute - there's some documentation of the API for it IIRC. (Again, we can't do it in linux-wiiu until we modify the driver with MMIO support...but once we do, it should be plug and play.)

 

[lordelan]

So, here's the scoop on playback. The PowerPC isn't great for software video decoding....but because Nintendo went with a Radeon GPU, we also get AMD's UVD video decoder as part of that. This is *huge* - it'll likely allow 1080p playback, and definitely at least 720p. I'm honestly going to take a crack at implementing a basic playback tool in CafeOS when I get a minute - there's some documentation of the API for it IIRC. (Again, we can't do it in linux-wiiu until we modify the driver with MMIO support...but once we do, it should be plug and play.)

That would be huge and something the community has been waiting for for years.

 

[Zhongtiao1]

Just out of curiosity, is there any updates on the GPU end? It would be great to run GNOME 3 or KDE instead of xfce

 

[SuperDan]

I remember being able to use WiiMC on the Wii to play videos at 480p. Surely the Wii U can at least do 720p.

I remember WiiMC on WII1 & watching some DragonBall Z episodes.. I didn't know I could have played movies tho . & of course WII1 was stuck at 480p.. I have a large SD card for WIIU I wish I could fill it with movies for my kids.. They still love the WIIU and I'm still trying to finish fast racing neo atm . Lol & I'm getting tempted to try BOTW on hard mode .. As it's been a long time since I've finished it .