Wii U Permanent Homebrew Channel / Launcher Exploit Tutorial [5.5.1 to 5.5.3 Haxch Wii U Hack]

In later versions i believe you can configure it to boot certain things depending on a button press.

 

You can follow my old tutorial here, this will teach you how to edit the icon during the process: https://digiex.net/threads/wii-u-pe...ncher-hack-haxchi-exploit-always-loads.14857/
It's a lot more complex than this tutorial however.

If the icons are in the correct place on the SD card then they should be copied over when installing.

 

My web browser exploit mirror for the Wii U is updated to hopefully detect a 5.5.2 Wii U: http://wiiu.insanenutter.com

I don't have a 5.5.2 Wii U, however it should detect the console and redirect you to the following exploit page: http://wiiu.insanenutter.com/payload552.html

From there you can attempt to exploit the Wii U the same as people on lower firmware versions, if successful the Homebrew Channel should load from the SD card if you have followed this tutorial.

Others seem to say it's possible to exploit 5.5.2 with this updatex exploit, it will just take many many attempts. This is why I would have a DS Virtual Console game purchased and the files to hack it ready for when you do have success, which you will have if you follow this tutorial first.

Feedback from anyone on 5.5.2 is most welcome so we can try and make things as easy as possible for others in the future.

 

I've just realised the exploit for that version was never released, you really do need to update the Wii U if you wish to play modern games though.

These games should have firmware 5.1.1 on disc:

• Paper Mario Color Splash
• Skylanders: Imaginators
• Just Dance 2017
• Minecraft: Story Mode - The Complete Adventure
• Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Darksiders: Warmastered Edition
• Cars 3: Driven to Win

I would recommend updating to 5.1.1 and not 5.5.2 as 5.1.1 is much easier to hack.

 

You need to spoof to Wii U firmware version 5.5.2, then use NNU-Patcher to gain access to the Eshop and purchase an exploitable DS VC game.

It is possible to hack 5.5.2 however the exploit is a lot more unreliable.

 

You can edit the config.txt and set mocha to boot by default when you load the DS game you hacked from the home screen, only allowing the Homebrew Launcher to load when you hold A.

For example:

a=wiiu/apps/homebrew_launcher/homebrew_launcher.elf
default=wiiu/apps/mocha/mocha.elf

You need to spoof to Wii U firmware version 5.5.2, then use NNU-Patcher to gain access to the Eshop and purchase an exploitable DS VC game.

 

A much more reliable exploit has been released for Wii U's on firmware 5.5.2 (the latest at the time of writing) so this tutorial and my wiiu.insanenutter.com exploit mirror have been updated to reflect this.

@Gunz4Hire was able to follow this tutorial yesterday on his 5.5.2 Wii U and launch the exploit on his second attempt. Hopefully anyone else looking to get in to the world of homebrew on a 5.5.2 Wii U will now have a much easier time.