Get Started

Get Started

Required Reading

These steps will prepare your SD card for installing Coldboot Haxchi custom firmware.

Before beginning, you should make sure your Wii U is currently on firmware version 5.5.0, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, or 5.5.3. Older versions are not currently supported.

Your SD card is recommended to be at least 16GB or 32GB to have enough space for dumping and installing games. If you want to make a backup of your Wii U’s system in case it needs to be restored in the future, you will need an SD card at least twice the size of your Wii U’s system memory (16GB SD card for an 8GB white console; 64GB SD card for a 32GB black console).

Your SD card must be formatted as FAT32 (Allocation Unit Size of 32K (32768)). Most SD cards will be formatted this way by default.

If you need to format an SD card on Windows, do not use the built in formatter or it may cause issues. Use guiformat instead and set to an Allocation Unit Size of 32K (32768).

Your SD card cannot be named wiiu, or it will cause problems.

Before starting, you may want to check your SD card for errors using H2testw (Windows), or F3X (Mac)!

What You Need

• config.txt 
• config.ini 
• The latest release of Homebrew App Store 
• The latest release of Homebrew Launcher Installer (the payload .zip file)
• The latest release of WUP Installer GX2 
• The latest release of disc2app 
• The latest release of hid_to_vpad 
• The latest release of Mocha CFW 
• The latest release of savemii_mod 
• The latest release of the Homebrew Launcher Channel (the channel .zip file)
• A previous release (v1.4) of the Homebrew Launcher (the homebrew_launcher.v1.4 .zip file)
• The latest release of Wii U NAND Dumper 
• The latest release of Haxchi and CBHC (both .zip files)
• The latest release of NNU-Patcher

Instructions

Section I - Prep Work

For all steps in this section, overwrite any existing files on your SD card.

1. Power off your device
2. Insert your SD card into your computer
3. Create a folder named wiiu on the root of your SD card
4. Create a folder named install on the root of your SD card
5. Copy the apps folder from the Homebrew App Store .zip to the /wiiu/ folder on your SD card
6. Copy the contents of the payload .zip to the wiiu folder on your SD card
7. Copy the contents of the Homebrew Launcher (v1.4) .zip to the root of your SD card
8. Copy the contents of the Haxchi .zip to the root of your SD card
9. Copy the contents of the CBHC .zip to the root of your SD card
10. Copy config.txt to the /haxchi/ folder on your SD card (overwrite the existing config.txt file)
11. Create a folder named hbc in the /install/ folder on your SD card
12. Copy the contents of the Homebrew Launcher Channel .zip to the /install/hbc/ folder on your SD card
13. Copy the savemii_mod folder from the savemii_mod .zip to the /wiiu/apps/ folder on your SD card
14. Copy the contents of the WUP Installer GX2 .zip to the root of your SD card
15. Copy the contents of the disc2app .zip to the root of your SD card
16. Copy the contents of the hid_to_vpad .zip to the root of your SD card
17. Copy the contents of the NNU-Patcher .zip to the root of your SD card
18. Copy the contents of the Wii U NAND Dumper .zip to the root of your SD card
19. Copy the contents of the Mocha CFW .zip to the root of your SD card
20. Copy config.ini to the /wiiu/apps/mocha/ folder on your SD card
21. Reinsert your SD card into your device
22. Power on your device

Section II - DS Virtual Console Game

There are two methods for using Wii U custom firmware.

The first method is to run a browser exploit through the browser which will patch the system. Unfortunately, the nature of this exploit is that this must be run after every reboot.

The second method is to purchase a very cheap exploitable DS Virtual Console game to launch your Custom Firmware automatically at boot.

The DS Virtual Console game must be a legitimately purchased copy of the game installed to the internal memory of your device. You cannot install this DS Virtual Console game to a USB drive.

If you want to use the DS Virtual Console method, you should purchase the game before proceeding to the next section.

The following DS Virtual Console games are compatible:
Compatible Haxchi Games

• Animal Crossing: Wild World
• Big Brain Academy
• Brain Age
• DK: Jungle Climber
• Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training
• Kirby: Canvas Curse
• Kirby: Mass Attack
• Kirby: Squeak Squad / Kirby: Mouse Attack
• Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
• Mario Kart DS
• New Super Mario Bros.
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky
• Pokemon Ranger
• Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs
• Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
• Starfox Command
• Super Mario 64 DS
• Wario: Master of Disguise
• WarioWare: Touched
• Yoshi’s Island DS
• Yoshi’s Touch & Go

Currently, Brain Age is the cheapest of these titles on the eShop ($6.99 USD).

If already own Brain Age or Brain Training and have had it installed on your Wii U for a while, try deleting it and redownloading the game from the eShop. Older versions of the game are not compatible with the exploit.

Continue to Homebrew Launcher