Modding my WiiU

Recently, i turned back on my old WiiU, since, well i wanted to use it again.

So, i thought of modding it, to take full control of it and do whatever i want, which could also allow me to play online since Nintendo killed the Nintendo Network (WiiU and 3DS online).

Sadly i had to reset it in the process, because there was like 11 accounts i couldn't delete and some stuff was corrupted, so goodbye old same data, but at least now i had a clean WiiU to use.

So i opened the WiiU modding guide, took a 32gb microSD card and an SD card adapter (i didnt have any SD card except a 8 gb one), and started doing the things.

Wii U Hacks Guide

I noticed something funny about the WiiU, is that its all about Cafe x3
The CPU is named the Espresso CPU, the OS is named Cafe OS, the security chip is named the Starbuck, and the custom firmware is named Aroma (with that you can understand the post description).

Other Nintendo consoles are like that i think, like the Switch's OS is named Horizon, and the custom firmware is named Atmosphère (which is funny because i'm posting this on the ATmosphere)

After i was done putting everything on the SD card, i had to actually install the mods, and its pretty simple actually!

It uses an exploit in the web browser and uses like, an MP4 file or smth, to break out of the sandbox and run code directly in the OS, to then load the EnvironmentLoader on the SD card, which will then finally boot Aroma.

It would be pretty annoying doing that every time i wanted to play, but thankfully its possible to configure auto boot!

Basically, the way a WiiU boots is that the bootloader checks the file at /vol/system/config/system.xml, which contains the boot Title ID (on WiiU and 3DS, a "Title" is an app).
By default this file points to 00050010-10040X00, which is the WiiU menu.

What the PayloadLoader installer do is that it replaces the code of the Health and safety app with the EnvironmentLoader, and then edits system.xml so that the WiiU boots Health and safety and not the WiiU menu. This thing will then load Aroma, and send us to the WiiU menu.

After that i started installing some apps and plugins on it, including the HB App store, which, like its name says, an app store, to install apps and plugins without needing to remove the SD card and put it in my pc every time i wanted to add something.

And i found a plugin to take screenshots!

Screenshot - WUPS by Maschell

Here's screenshots of my WiiU menu (the plugin saves TV and gamepad) :

As well as ftpiiu, a plugin to access the SD card via FTP (File Transfer Protocol) over the network, which is pretty useful

I also installed Inkay, which is the WiiU plugin for Pretendo.

Inkay by Pretendo Network

Pretendo is a replacement for the Nintendo Network on both the 3DS and the WiiU, so that we can play online again, and use Miiverse again, as they have their own Miiverse named Juxtaposition, or Juxt.

I've also installed other apps, like a file explorer, a save data manager, etc.

If you ever mod your WiiU, just check the HB App store, there's a lot of stuff :3

There was also the WiiUIdent app, which allows seeing system info, such as storage, RAM, etc

WiiUIdent by GaryOderNichts

It has a feature to upload your WiiU's info to their public database, so i've uploaded mine too!

You can find mine here, it's number 10283 :

Wii U System Database

Sadly i have the model with 8gb of storage and not 32gb TwT

Well that's all i had to say about modding my WiiU :3

If you wanna mod your WiiU too, go check the tutorial on WiiU Hacks guide, and make sure to follow steps correctly or you might brick your WiiU.

Open the WiiU Hacks Guide