Easy Nintendo Wii U Homebrew Channel Hack Guide [5.3.2, 5.4, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4]

[InsaneNutter]

1. Yes you need the SD Card in the Wii U, when the exploit is triggered it will look for the Homebrew Launcher files on the SD card and load the Homebrew Launcher, if you don't have the SD Card in the Wii U their is nothing for it to load.

2. A visiting a few sites is fine, theirs no right or wrong answer here

3. You don't need any terminal commands to use this exploit, the process to launch it is exactly as i showed in the video. Essentially with the files on the SD Card, visit wiiu.insanenutter.com and that will trigger the exploit.

4. Yes it works as normal.

Just keep trying, as i think i mentioned before the first time I launched the exploit took what seemed like forever. However someone else got lucky and managed it first time. Once you have managed once it does become a lot more reliable however.

 

[stargmr]

Thanks, mate! I got it up and working! Now what I wanted to ask was how much knowledge you have on each app's functionality with 5.5.1. I personally found that only Loadiine and I think ddd worked for me. Any reason why the others such as hidtovpad or wupinstaller wouldn't work? Also, I was wondering where you recommend downloading game updates/ firware updates from.

 

[InsaneNutter]

HID to VPAD works, Nimrod tested that out on 5.5.1 for me. When you load it up it should kick you back to the Wii U home screen, you can then connect a PS3 or PS4 controller via a USB cable and use it. You can also use a USB keyboard or GameCube controller via the Smash Bros GameCube to Wii usb adapter.

I did a video showing how it works a while ago:

[video=youtube;k4DH2RPGvxY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4DH2RPGvxY[/video]

Wupinstaller also should work, you just need the update inside a folder called install on the SD card, you can only install one update at once. If i get chance when I have some time i might do a tutorial on downloading / installing game updates as that has been requested a few times.

The FTP server will also, however you need to connect to the Wii U's IP address from an FTP client on a PC such as FileZilla (which is free).

 

[barran]

thanks InsaneNutter for the tutorial, pretty good one! everything works, the only thing im wondering is that i need most of the time 2 tries to get into the homebrew launcher, the console freezes and i need to turn it off...

 

[InsaneNutter]

It's the nature of the exploit, it's not 100% reliable. Two attempts is not bad, it used to be a lot worse than that believe me.

 

[Skull Hat]

Hey, thanks for the tutorial. I have a few questions since I seem to be having the black screen problem that everyone else has. I have 5.5.1 by the way.
Does my SD card need to be empty besides the exploit?
Does it matter if I have a game in the console or not?
The first few times I tried it, it always did something different (like go white then freeze, show the loading circle then freeze, take a long time to go black then freeze) but it got to a point where it only started to go black. Is that whats supposed to happen? What does it usually look like, are there any signs of progress?
Thanks!

 

[InsaneNutter]

You can have anything you want on the SD Card, it just needs to be FAT32 formatted, a game been in the console doesn't matter for launching the exploit.

I'd suggest just browsing some websites on the Wii U browser, exiting out, of the browser so it saves the cache, then trying the exploit again.

The exploit is not the most reliable, it's a lot better than it was. Once you have got it to launch once it usually works first time. All you can do is keep trying, it will work eventually, some people have done it first time, others have not been so lucky and have taken a while.

 

[Skull Hat]

Thanks for the reply. So after re-reading the tutorial yet again, I've come to wonder if maybe blocking the Wii U updates have something to do with it. I went the DNS route, but since you said blocking the hostnames on the router would be better, do you think it might work if I did that instead?

 

[Technomancer]

So I'm having a bit of a problem with the exploit. I've got it to work once before, albeit with a lot of effort, but now i cannot seem to get it working at all. I'm using the wiiu.insanenutter.com exploit. This is after crashing from playing Minecraft through Loadiine if that makes a difference. I am also on 5.5.1 and my Wii U is the one that comes with Mario Kart 8 installed. Is there any reason why it won't work now and is there another way that is more reliable to launch the homebrew channel?

 

[InsaneNutter]

Thanks for the reply. So after re-reading the tutorial yet again, I've come to wonder if maybe blocking the Wii U updates have something to do with it. I went the DNS route, but since you said blocking the hostnames on the router would be better, do you think it might work if I did that instead?

It won't make any difference as the Wii U is not trying to reach Nintendo's servers to trigger the exploit.

So I'm having a bit of a problem with the exploit. I've got it to work once before, albeit with a lot of effort, but now i cannot seem to get it working at all. I'm using the wiiu.insanenutter.com exploit. This is after crashing from playing Minecraft through Loadiine if that makes a difference. I am also on 5.5.1 and my Wii U is the one that comes with Mario Kart 8 installed. Is there any reason why it won't work now and is there another way that is more reliable to launch the homebrew channel?

I have noticed that too, if i some how manage to crash the Wii U with a homebrew app it can take a lot of attempts for the exploit to trigger again. When it does I have no problems launching it first time, occasionally second until i some how crash the Wii U again, which to be honest is very rare.

It all comes down to the fact your exploiting a very unstable vulnerability in the web browser to write things to memory on the Wii U, essentially making the Mii Maker a homebrew launcher.

Generally i find once i have launched it I have no problems, just don't use the web browser for anything else except launching the exploit once you have managed to once.

I hope those tips help, the exploit can be quite reliable as i keep mentioning, however its far from perfect as you have experinced. Believe me compared to how reliable it used to be its great now in comparison.

 

[Miguelaz]

Hey there! Thanks for the tutorial. But i'm still having some problems with the hack...
I did everything as you said but when it's time to launch the homebrew launcher in the web browser, it doesn´t appear any bookmark of the homebrew launcher.
Can you please help?
Thanks in advance

 

[InsaneNutter]

When the web browser loads up close any web pages that might be open, you should see the favorite bookmarks page. Did you do that and go through the process of adding the wiiu.insanenutter.com bookmark?

 

[littlewingz]

Hi InsaneNutter,

I think I'm going back to the basics but I'm not sure if this is correct,

On your Image below, all those files listed beneath wiiu (boot.elf, controller, installer etc)
Do they also need to be there in order for me to launch the exploit?

I already have Homebrew working on the vWii (Wii U 5.5.1), but on a 2GB SD card + games on USB with WiiFlow
I recently purchased a 64 GB SanDisk SDXC UHS-I Card, as no Wii U games will fit on that 2GB SD Card
Is it fine to just follow the steps on top? Or must I also copy whats on the 2GB SD card to the root folder of the 64GB?

Thanks for your time!

 

[InsaneNutter]

You just need the files I provided in the wiiu folder.

I have also hacked the Virtual Wii to run homebrew, that is what the other files are from, nothing you need to worry about to follow this tutorial.

 

[okwtf]

You know.. this is honestly the first and only challenge I can't seem to overcome when it comes to modifying because I just don't get it. I have combed over more than fifteen articles and videos on how to accomplish this modification but nothing seems to add up.

MY PROGRESS

I verified the current software version of the Wii U is 5.5.1.
I performed a console reset shortly before the update to 5.5.1 was performed about one month ago.
I disabled software updates.
I changed the dns settings as many tutorials suggest to prevent the console from updating as much as possible.
I bought a memory card.
I formatted the memory card to FAT32.
I downloaded loadiine and hombrew launcher.
I moved both to the appropriate folder paths on the card wiiu/apps/.
I was able to access loadiine.ovh from the browser using my local sdcard and the homebrew menu appears with two options but neither seem to do anything.
And that's where my success ends.

Then I followed the instructions in this tutorial and formatted the memory card again using the attached starter pack here.
I tried connecting to wiiu.insanenutter.com.
All I receive is a black screen on the handheld unit and a frozen animated character on the curtain television output.
I have repeated the process of turning off the unit and trying to access wiiu.insanenutter.com at least ten times to no avail.

MY QUESTIONS

Are there different techniques or exploits available for installing the homebrew channel like miiboot vs loadiine?
Is there any prerequisite to this tutorial that I am missing like smashstack?
Why do some tutorials suggest you have to buy a physical copy of an exploitable game while other tutorials don't mention it?
What is the difference between loadiine and the homebrew launcher and the homebrew channel?
Some tutorials state you can not use a usb device to load games but I see in other tutorials usb devices are being accessed and used in some instances?
Why do some tutorials show the homebrew channel as permanently added and others seem to suggest you must mod the console each time you power on?
Is a wamp server absolutely required to accomplish the installation of homebrew?
What if I don't want to buy a physical copy of any game?


MY CONFIGURATION

Wii U
Software 5.5.1
Updates disabled
Auto DNS disabled
Memory card formatted to FAT32
Memory card contents include the path wiiu/apps/{homebrew2starterpack extracted here}

MY CONCLUSION

All I can say is I never liked Nintendo.
I don't think modifying these consoles are hard but it seems the steps to being successful are widely disorganized and incomplete leading to confusion.
There seem to be so many techniques and variables that just don't connect with each other.
And I just don't get it.
I'll read your responses here and hopefully be able to understand what I am missing.
At this point I see the homebrew channel as a foundation to running unofficial games and other custom software like emulators for the Wii U.
I would just like to understand how to install the homebrew channel correctly and with completion so I can take advantage of everything it has to offer.

UPDATE

I followed this video precisely and tried Super Mario Bros U from (removed)
Loadiine loads but there are no games visible.
I only see a black animated screen with a wrench in the lower left corner and some controller to screen display inverting icon in the lower right corner.
Again another tutorial that simply does not work.

OK

I got loadlinne.ovh working with the above youtube tutorial but some changes had to be made to his steps.
His folder structure is wrong.
However it seems when I power the Wii U off and then back on and run the browser url again sometimes the boot process will freeze at a white screen.
It seems I have to go back and format the sdcard and recopy the folder and file structure again from the source and then it works.
Almost seems like a cache problem somehow.

 

[InsaneNutter]

What you need to keep in mind is you can go about loading Homebrew on the Wii U in various different ways. Regardless of how you attempt to run Homebrew, currently any tutorial you find will use the same web browser exploit, however, what you need to keep in mind is that some tutorials are using older versions of the web browser exploit, some are launching a homebrew application directly and not the Homebrew Launcher.

I think more than anything your problem is your reading so many different tutorials and picking different bits out of each one. For example you mention USB loading of games, that is not possible for Wii U games, however that is possible for Wii games. For that you have to hack the virtual Wii on the Wii U, which is beyond the scope of this tutorial and does require a game to do.

You can follow this tutorial from start to finish and you have everything you need to launch the Homebrew Channel, you have to keep in mind the exploit is a bit unreliable. However usually once its launched once it becomes a lot more reliable. If you start mixing and matching different exploits you will find you have a lot of trouble trying to launch this exploit again, choose one tutorial to follow and stick to that would be my advice.

If you follow this tutorial and get the Homebrew Launcher working then you can load any other Homebrew from the SD card, return to the Homebrew Launcher and load something else without having to load any other web browser based exploit until you power the Wii U off. You can load Loadiine GX2 from the Homebrew Launcher, however if you have problems getting games to show up in that you would need to ask the programmers of Loadiine GX2, as this is not a piracy related tutorial.

 

[MarcuSeven]

Hi!

I have a problem with my Wii U... Or my SD card.
I followed step by step everything I found on the web to crack my console but it's always the same.
I have this screen
What should I do? *-)

 

[InsaneNutter]

Is the SD card FAT32 formatted? show me the contents of your SD card.

 

[MarcuSeven]

Yes it's FAT32 formatted. I already had the "SD mount failed" error.
Here are the contents

 

[okwtf]

I am starting to see there are multiple ways to exploit the console.
It looks like the majority of homebrew tutorials do require some kind of exploitable game.
I don't know how the exploit here differs or why no game is required with this exploit but I am wondering why it has to fail so many times before it succeeds.

Is there some kind of algorithm involved where it keeps trying to cycle through to identify a correct value and until it does the console will freeze?
Perhaps it remember that value thereafter which might explain why the exploit is more reliable once the initial exploit is applied?