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Wii U HOMEBREW Discussion Thread [exploits/apps/games/stuff]

Robin64

Member
  • Warning: Don't update from 5.5.1 if you want to do this! - Important Note: This is the current latest firmware, so you are safe to update right now, but avoid any future updates unless you are told it's safe.

Update Dec 12th:

So Wii U homebrew has had a massive boost lately, and it's probably also the easiest setup from a user perspective that there has ever been.

http://loadiine.ovh/

That is literally all you need.

Another option is this Android app, which lets you host your own server.

How to set it up!

First you want to download the Homebrew Launcher from here.

This goes on the root of your SD card, so you should end up with /wiiu/apps/homebrew_launcher and then the three files it uses within that.

Once you have this on your SD card and inserted into your Wii U, you browse to the aforementioned http://loadiine.ovh/ and hit go. That's it, you're done! Welcome to the HBC on Wii U.

Set any two of the following to the 'Primary DNS' and 'Secondary DNS'.

035.164.240.189 (DNS-U)
168.235.092.108 (ns3.titledb.com, hosted in LA)
081.004.127.020 (ns2.titledb.com, hosted in Netherlands)


What else can I do?

Well first off, you can use DDD to dump your own games. This includes discs, eShop titles, and Virtual Console games.

Then you can use Loadiine GX2 to launch your backups from your SD card.

A tool called HID to Vpad will allow you to use any USB compliant controller to play Wii U games. Want to play NSMBU with a Dualshock 4? No problem!

Anything else cool?

Eventually we should see emulators such as Retroarch running in Wii U mode, as well as all the neat little homebrew things that always crop up.

One thing you can do right now is inject your own ROMs into Virtual Console titles. This is especially easy for DS titles which are simply a zip file containing the ROM you want to run. Getting Final Fantasy IV up and running was a doddle, and you can even force a higher internal resolution which is not an option Nintendo normally give us access to. Check out the difference in these shots!

0o7Rude.jpg
H8T4fGq.jpg

So how do I do that DS thing?

Once you haved dumped one of your existing DS VC titles using DDD, you will find it contains a file called rom.zip in the folder \vol\content\xxxx. You can simple replace the file inside this with a DS ROM of your choice and it will function, but you must ensure you keep the name the same. WUP-N-DAAP.nds was the one in the Brain Training I dumped, so I renamed FFIV to that and copied that in there in its place.

Also in this folder is a file called configuration_cafe.json. In there you will have, right near the end, "RenderScale": 1 and changing that 1 to a 2 is all you need to do to enable 2x internal rendering.

When you are done, create a folder in the /wiiu/games directory on your SD card with the format "Name of Game [xxxx01]". Make up anythingfor the four xes, but 01 must be present. So my FFIV is "/wiiu/games/Final Fantasy IV [DMSK01]"

Click the banner for a more detailed guide which now includes GBA too.



Update 25th May: A new tool. GBA2VC, has been released. This will make injecting GBA a lot easier.

[This post will be updated as new things come along or people like Rich correct anything here]


Update 15th August:

This will print your console's OTP region to the screen. Do not share it. The readout contains console-specific encryption data, which is property of Nintendo. It has NAND keys, the Ancast key, the common key, and others.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/otp-access-via-iosu-kernel.445063/



Download the file, place it in the a wii u/apps/iosu folder on your Wii U SD card and boot up the .elf from the Homebrew Loader. I can confirm that it works (after a few tries). Also...

DON'T POST YOUR OTP ONLINE. It's copyrighted material.
 

Rich!

Member
set your DNS (wii u network connection settings) to this to stop updates:

107.211.140.065

Otherwise Nintendo will take care of homebrew automatically for you.
 

Fularu

Banned
This is confusing, Wii or WiiU? :p

I'm guessing WiiU since you're talking about the DS emulator for VC files :)
 

Rich!

Member
How is the DS emulation? Any emunand news?

DS emulation is perfect. Flawless with every game I've tried. It's incredibly easy to play your own games on - just a matter of swapping the ROM in the zip file with your own - and it even supports 2x scaling. You can fix the brightness too in the ini file. It requires absolutely no technical knowhow to sort out at all.

Same for N64. Injecting roms unlike DS, is patchier - but Banjo Kazooie for example runs flawlessly:

dsc_0015cdkq1.jpg


Another app worthy of mention - this app enables USB HID support for all Wii U games. Including Keyboard and Mouse and Dualshock 3. And Gamecube.

Want to play an FPS with kb+m? Wind Waker with a GameCube controller? Now you can.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/hid-to-vpad.424127/

GC-Adapter:
You can plug in the controller in any port, if mutiple pads are connected only one pad is used.
Mapping is the same as gc-to-vpad by FIX94. To quote him:
"It just works like you would expect for the most part except for Z, holding down Z will switch L to gamepad L, R to gamepad R and start to gamepad minus, A to gamepad left stick pressed and , B to gamepad right stick pressed. This is done for convenience purposes."

Playstation 3/4
Works as aspected, button layout is the same as on the gamepad (Circle is A, Cross is B etc.)
Rumble is currently not working.

Mouse support:
Currently mice are supported in two different modes. Pressing F1 on a connected keyboard will change the mode
- Touch mode (Touchscreen emulation) (default)
- Aim mode (Right stick emulation) (Left click is ZR, left click R)

Keyboard mapping:
LStick = WSAD
DPad = Arrowkeys
A = E
B = Q
X = Space
Y(Z) = R
Plus = Enter
Minus = Minus (Numpad)
L = V
R = B
ZL = Shift
ZR = N

Other devices
Some other devices are implemented but not fully tested yet.
- Saitek P2600
- A PS1/2 to USB-converter (Analog mode only) (Image)

It's also worth mentioning that as soon as you run the loadiine.ovh hack, miimaker is turned into the entrypoint. Once you quit a game or app, simply go back into mii maker to launch homebrew again. Don't run loadiine via the web exploit again until you reboot.
 

CengizMan

Member
I have no idea why Nintendo limit the capability of the DS emulator.

Because according to NERD, it was quite a challenge getting the DS emulator running on Wii U architecture as is.

NERD creates a high speed, high quality Nintendo DS emulator for Wii U

The Nintendo DS platform, thanks to its vast game catalog and variety of gameplays, is a prime choice for Virtual Console.

However, emulating the Nintendo DS poses a considerable challenge in terms of speed and accuracy, due to the difference in architecture with the Wii U.

Adopting a fresh approach, NERD created a novel way to overcome this challenge, relying on state of the art technologies including JIT, multicore architecture, GPGPU etc.

NERD also developed a large array of reverse engineering tools in order to speed up emulator development.

In close collaboration with Japan headquarters, the NERD team in Paris has created an industrial-grade emulator that successfully meets Nintendo's high quality standards.
 

Kouriozan

Member
Thanks for this thread, personally I injected FF XII Revenant Wings into Dr. Kawashima with success, currently trying to do the same with Golden Sun with my French version, looks like GBA injection is not permanent for >8mo games (for now?) but I'll do it once to get the hang of it.
 

n64coder

Member
So do the Wii games play on the controller screen? I'll have to try this out. I find myself being mostly a handheld gamer now. Not really interested in playing on the big screen. So my 3DS has been my console of choice.
 
you can even force a higher internal resolution which is not an option Nintendo normally give us access to.

Huh? So you are saying that Nintendo DS VC emulator/wrapper actually supports native upscaling, right?

Because according to NERD, it was quite a challenge getting the DS emulator running on Wii U architecture as is.

Man, lots of respect to NERD. I hope their efforts will not be in vain once NX comes.
 

Neku89

Member
I'm gonna ask the same question that I posted in the other thread, since this one seems more appropriate:

Rich, what base game are you using to "inject" DS titles? I am using Mario Kart DS, but I've read that later games (like Advance Wars) have better DS emulators. I've tried injecting Elite Beat Agents and it seems to work flawlessly (only did a couple of songs though), but The World Ends With You hangs after the first battle... Do you suggest to try with a more recent version of the emulator?
 
I'm gonna ask the same question that I posted in the other thread, since this one seems more appropriate:

Hmm just thinking out loud but maybe you can delete the game and try to download it again? it is possible that Nintendo will update the game with the newest emulator?

If you get a .nds dumping Kawashima, it means you have the old version (switching between 2 display with right analog click), you should delete and redownload it to get the one with the RZ menu and 6 display options.

I guested right !
 
Yep. I mean, look at those pics. You can finally see the detail on the faces of those enemies.

Now I wonder why was it left unused... any slowdowns or glitches when running games in hi-res mode?

If there aren't, then I am going to be very confused.
 

Robin64

Member
Now I wonder why was it left unused... any slowdowns or glitches when running games in hi-res mode?

If there aren't, then I am going to be very confused.

Well FFIV seems the same as running in native resolution, performance wise, but I can't speak for other DS games yet. Going any higher than 2x makes the emulator display garbage, too.
 

Boney

Banned
is there a way to play SNES StarFox?
Or other SNES games for that matter like hacks? 'Cause I've been having a blast playing Super Metroid hacks and moving that to Wii U could be cool.

Shamefully plugging my Super Metroid hacks thread.
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1214975

Are we gonna need to wait for Retroarch?
 

CengizMan

Member
Huh? So you are saying that Nintendo DS VC emulator/wrapper actually supports native upscaling, right?

Man, lots of respect to NERD. I hope their efforts will not be in vain once NX comes.

They should be credited better for some of the awesome engineering feats. Ever since Mobiclip they have been pushing Nintendo's hardware. Thanks to them we also have the New Nintendo 3DS's super-stable 3D and Wii games on the Wii U Virtual Console.

But upscale is already built in , why don't they include an option to select 2x upscale ?

Probably better be safe than sorry. The upscale seems experimental and acts weird if you touch other settings.
 

Kadin

Member
Windows Defender is throwing a malware warning at me for the loadiine _gx2_XXX.zip files. Tried a few of them. I assume this is a false positive but wanted to verify first.
 

Rich!

Member
Windows Defender is throwing a malware warning at me for the loadiine _gx2_XXX.zip files. Tried a few of them. I assume this is a false positive but wanted to verify first.

I got that too. Scanned it in ubuntu though and got no issues.
 

Rich!

Member
I would suggest just sticking to the loadiine elf file. you don't need the rest.

maybe someone could share it in the op via a mega link or something? then there's no malware warnings at all.
 

Kouriozan

Member
For EU peeps, if you get a rom.nds dumping the Kawashima DS game Nintendo gave for free, it means you have the old version (you can check if ZR bring up a menu or not), you should delete and redownload it to get the updated one with the RZ menu and 6 display options.
 

Rich!

Member
Subbed.

Can we remove the Dark Filter that NES and N64 games have?

Yeah, but it requires decrypting the VC loader. Some guys on GBAtemp are working on it. Wouldnt be surprised to see a tool released soon.

By contrast, the NDS emulator contains all of its settings in an ini file and the ROM in a zip file. lol

For example, Chrono Trigger with 100% brightness and 2x scaling:

tmp_9078-_20160507_15snsls.jpg
 

Rich!

Member
Scaling should not matter much with Chrono Trigger though since it seems to mostly affect the triangle engine IIRC.

The sprites are definitely crisper.

There's a specific sprite scaling option and a specific 3D scaling option in the emulator ini. I used the former for Chrono Trigger.
 
Yeah, but it requires decrypting the VC loader. Some guys on GBAtemp are working on it. Wouldnt be surprised to see a tool released soon.

By contrast, the NDS emulator contains all of its settings in an ini file and the ROM in a zip file. lol

For example, Chrono Trigger with 100% brightness and 2x scaling:

tmp_9078-_20160507_15snsls.jpg

Suddenly i want to play SMT:SJ on this .
 

Robin64

Member
Do we need to put the games under a specific path on the SD card?

They need to be in /wiiu/games/ and that folder needs to be in the format "Title [titleID]"

So my FFIV VC is "/wiiu/games/Final Fantasy IV [DMSK01]"

Make up the title ID if you are doing your own VC injection, but it must be four letters and then 01.
 

Rich!

Member
Do we need to put the games under a specific path on the SD card?

Yes. They follow this structure:

SD:/wiiu/games/game title [XXXXXX]

the [XXXXXX] is the games code. For legit games, use its real code. For your own DS injects, make one up - just make sure it ends in 01. Eg: [DSCT01]

In the meta folder you can view and edit the loading screen and icon graphics (tga format).


Edit: lol beaten
 

KingWool

Banned
Yes. They follow this structure:

SD:/wiiu/games/game title [XXXXXX]

the [XXXXXX] is the games code. For legit games, use its real code. For your own DS injects, make one up - just make sure it ends in 01. Eg: [DSCT01]

In the meta folder you can view and edit the loading screen and icon graphics (tga format).


Edit: lol beaten

Where does one find the proper naming of games?
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
Cool Robin!
I was actually doing a search just to check if this thread existed, otherwise I would've done it myself!
Thanks for keeping some consistency with the title of the 3DS thread, for search purposes and the likes. :)
 
set your DNS (wii u network connection settings) to this to stop updates:

107.211.140.065

Otherwise Nintendo will take care of homebrew automatically for you.

Thanks ! Right now i'm having an error (112-1006) when i try to go on Loadline.ovh with that DNS.
 
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