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NH Wii U Guide

A guide collaboration between Nintendo Homebrew's Helpers and Staff, from stock to CBHC custom firmware.

?> Discord Help For live support with this guide please visit us in #wiiu-assistance on Nintendo Homebrew Discord.

Homebrew

Homebrew applications are custom, user-made software, which haven’t been authorised by Nintendo. This can include save editing tools, games, emulators, and more.

Homebrew can be run on your Wii U as long as you have a way to put files on an SD Card regardless of version or region.

Custom Firmware

Custom Firmware (“CFW”) enables you to use more advanced hacks that userland homebrew can’t easily do. For instance, installing game modifications with ease.

Among other things, it allows you to do the following:

Use “ROM hacks” for games that you own

Backup, edit, and restore saves for many games

Play games for older systems with various emulators, using RetroArch or other standalone emulators

Play out-of-region games

CFW can be set up on any console on any version (but will require additional software).

End Goal

This guide has the end goal of taking a completely unmodified Wii U from Stock to Custom Firmware.

Before starting

!> Before beginning the guide, you must know the risks of Wii U hacking: EVERY time you modify your system, there is always the potential for an UNRECOVERABLE brick. They’re rare but still a possibility so make sure you follow ALL directions EXACTLY.

This guide will work on all Wii U consoles in all regions on firmware 5.5.4 or below.

You will need one of the following in order to successfully follow this guide:

An SD Card

A device such as a Computer to place files onto the SD Card

A Wii U with internet access

Your SD card should preferably be 32 gigabytes large, as a full NAND backup for the console will take up around 8 or 30 gigabytes depending on your model.

If everything goes according to plan, you will lose no data and end up with everything that you started with (games, NNID, saves, etc will be preserved).

Keep your device plugged in and charged throughout the entire process to avoid data loss or damage from an unexpected power-off.

Custom Firmware is not permanent with current methods, and will be unloaded upon rebooting the system.

It is advised that you read the entire guide from start to finish one or more times before actually running through the guide with your system.