How to get Nintendo TVii icon back without downgrading + extras

1715212512509.png

Credits go to JustMLC for creating this mod!

Important Details

Before starting the tutorial, it's important to know that you need a jailbroken Wii U (it may also work on emulator, but I haven't tested) with either Aroma or Tiramisu (you can use Legacy [aka as Haxchi, CBHC or Mocha] too, but will be only able to get the OG switch GamePad/TV button, not the Nintendo TVii nor the OG applet bar jumping animation). You don't need any extra plugins or apps to get the TVii, but if you want to also/only get the OG switch GamePad/TV button and/or the OG applet bar jumping animation without changing the files permanently via FTP, you need to have the SDCafiine Plugin (for Aroma) or the SDCafiine (HBL version) (for Tiramisu or Legacy).

Also, I did some tests (which may be a little inaccurate as the Wii U boot time varies a bit each boot), and I came to the conclusion that when installing men.rpx (Nintendo TVii icon) there should be little to no delay in boot time, but when installing Men.pack and/or Men2.pack (OG switch GamePad/TV button and/or OG applet bar jumping animation) it may delay around three seconds or less in boot time. If you try to use FTP to change the system files, probably there will be no boot delay, but it's risky, only do that if you know what you are doing.

This guide isn't supposed to brick your console and there has never been any bricking confirmed by someone doing this tutorial, as it does not change system files, only applies a mod each time you boot, which in the worst case can cause a soft brick. But if anything happens, I'm not responsible for the damage, follow this guide at your own risk.


This guide has been only confirmed to work in 5.5.5/5.5.6 versions, so I cannot guarantee it will work in older versions.


I. Getting the files

To get the patch files go to the creator's video description, you will see two links, the first one is where you download the files and the second one is the website where you can patch the files (which will be talked about later). Go to the first link, you'll be redirected to a Google Drive page where there will be two files and three folders:

men.bps will be inside the folders, choose one of them corresponding to your men.rpx file (will appear soon in the guide) region (USA - American file; EUR - European file; JPN - Japanese file).


[Aroma and Tiramisu only] Download men.bps if you want the TVii icon back;
[Aroma, Tiramisu and Legacy] Download Men.bps if you want the OG switch GamePad/TV button  back;
[Aroma and Tiramisu only] Download Men2.bps if you want the OG applet bar jumping animation back (if you decide to download Men2.bps you'll also need to download men.bps or it won't work later).

You can download more than one, they work together.


If you want to understand what each one means, you can watch these videos: (showing the TVii icon and the OG applet bar jumping animation) and (showing the OG switch GamePad/TV button), he explains each one of the features.


Then, you'll need to get the any region men.rpx (needs to be the same region as your men.bps file)/any region Men.pack/any region Men2.pack file(s) depending on what you chose earlier. You can either get them by dumping from your Wii U via FTP apps or plugins (JUST DON'T MESS WITH YOUR WII U FILES OR YOU CAN BRICK IT), by downloading them online or by using JNUSTool or other similar tools. I got part of them by dumping from my Wii U and the other part online.


II. Patching the files

This step is easier, just go to the second link of the video, then you'll see two options, ROM file and Patch file, on the first one, choose the men.rpx/Men.pack/Men2.pack file(s), and on the second one, choose, respectively, the men.bps/Men.bps/Men2.bps file(s). Next you need to press Apply patch.

You should get the men (patched).rpx/Men (patched).pack/Men2 (patched).pack file(s), then you need to rename it/them by removing the (patched). You should end up with men.rpx/Men.pack/Men2.pack file(s), but patched (they can't have (patched) in the name or they won't work).

In steps III and IV, I'll teach where to put the files without making it permanent, as I have done that way and it's riskier to make it permanent. But if you want to make it permanent, you'll need a FTP app/plugin for the Wii U like FTPiiU and one for PC like WinSCP. I wouldn't recommend doing that way because of a hard brick chance, but if you want, you can search online how to do it, only do this if you really know what you are doing.


III. Placing men.rpx

(if you didn't download men.rpx skip this section)


Put your SD Card in your PC (or you can also access your SD Card via FTP) and place men.rpx in sd:/wiiu/environments/[ENVIRONMENT]/. It should look like the image below.

1715209030575.png


If you are using Tiramisu probably there will be no plugins folder, it's okay, you don't need to create one.


IV. Placing Men.pack/Men2.pack

(if you didn't download Men.pack/Men2.pack skip this section)

• If you are in Aroma, put your SD Card in your PC (or you can also access your SD Card via FTP), then inside the wiiu folder, if you don't see the sdcafiine folder, create one, then inside the sdcafiine folder, create a folder with the name:
• If you are in Tiramisu or Legacy, put your SD Card in your PC (or you can also access your SD Card via FTP), if you don't see the sdcafiine folder inside, create one, then inside the sdcafiine folder, create a folder with the name:


0005001010040100 for American Wii Us;

0005001010040200 for European Wii Us;
0005001010040000 for Japanese Wii Us.

Next, inside this folder, create a folder with any name, it doesn't matter, but if you want to put the mod's name, it's Old Swap Icon And Old Icon Animation Wii U Menu Mod, then inside this one create a folder called content, then inside content create a folder called Common, then inside Common create a folder called Package, and to finish it off, place Men.pack and/or Men2.pack inside the Package folder. It should look like this.




Ignore all the other folders and files, they are not part of this tutorial.


If you are using Tiramisu or Legacy, the sdcafiine folder should be outside the wiiu folder, so ignore that part from the video.


V. Activating the files

The men.rpx file will automatically work when you load Aroma/Tiramisu, so you don't need to do anything. But for the Men.pack/Men2.pack files:

If you are in Aroma, you need to activate the Plugins Menu (L + Down + SELECT (-) for GamePad or B + Down + Minus (-) for WiiMotes), then go to SDCafiine, next Settings and set Enable SDCafiine to true (you'll need to restart the Wii U afterwards).
If you are in Tiramisu, launch the Mii Maker app (or the Homebrew Launcher forwarder if you have it), then search for SDCafiine, click on it, then click Load.
If you are in Legacy, launch the Homebrew Launcher (it's different depending if you are in Haxchi, CBHC or Mocha), then search for SDCafiine, click on it, then click Load.

After those steps, a screen should pop up, you just need to press A (I recommend pressing - first to activate the autostart, that means you won't need to press A everytime you boot SDCafiine). Then everything should be working, the TVii icon, the OG button and the OG animation. Any further questions just ask me (and if you see a typo or find something confusing tell me). Happy modding! :yayu:

In Aroma you can easily autoboot SDCafiine as it is a plugin, but in Tiramisu or Legacy, you need to manually open the app in the HBL every boot, but after some research I found out there are ways of autobooting SDCafiine with Tiramisu/Legacy, I personally don't know how to do it, but some threads you might be interested in are Autobooting SDCafiine Using Tiramisu To Load Themes (idea by u/tehrzky), Autoboot Themes + Tiramisu and CBHC Mod - ColdBoot HaxChi CFW mod. In one of those, I saw OP saying that he "did a workaround by renaming some files" and linking a comment and image, but both links are dead. :/


Changelog

- Fixed the incorrect appearance of the old swap icon;
- Added support for the men.rpx files from other regions that aren't Europe.

- The mod just released!

Credits

@JustMLC for creating this mod;
@KirbyBot
for creating this guide;
@Maschell for creating Aroma, Tiramisu, SDCafiine and JNUSTool;
@FIX94
for creating Haxchi and CBHC;

@dimok for creating Mocha CFW;
To everyone else that contributed to the Wii U modding scene :yayu: .
 
Last edited by KirbyBot,

NO111ONE

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No idea if JustMLC is actually in Theme Cafe. Seems to be, can't guarantee, so won't try my luck on pinging whoever is inside of that server...

but looks like that someone forgot that the screen switch icon requires replacing 3 files, not 2, which made his arrows look shifted (oops)... probably forgot to replace `BtnSwapTv`.
It's a thing I ran into as well, and here are 2 images - you'll find the issue pretty quickly.
1715457686087.png
1715457692214.png


However seeing the applet bar jump up is nice :D
 
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KirbyBot

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No idea if JustMLC is actually in Theme Cafe. Seems to be, can't guarantee, so won't try my luck on pinging whoever is inside of that server...

but looks like that someone forgot that the screen switch icon requires replacing 3 files, not 2, which made his arrows look shifted (oops)... probably forgot to replace `BtnSwapTv`.
It's a thing I ran into as well, and here are 2 images - you'll find the issue pretty quickly.
View attachment 436619View attachment 436620

However seeing the applet bar jump up is nice :D
I didn't even notice that the arrows were switched, but looking closer I think I see, that's a good atention to detail, I think I would never notice that lol, thanks for telling me, I will try to contact him somehow :). Anyways, I also don't know if it's him either, I just found the video of the mod in YouTube, and getting the TVii back was something that me and many others wanted for years, so I decided to make a guide so anyone who wanted it back could also get it! :D
 
Last edited by KirbyBot,

JustMLC

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No idea if JustMLC is actually in Theme Cafe. Seems to be, can't guarantee, so won't try my luck on pinging whoever is inside of that server...

but looks like that someone forgot that the screen switch icon requires replacing 3 files, not 2, which made his arrows look shifted (oops)... probably forgot to replace `BtnSwapTv`.
It's a thing I ran into as well, and here are 2 images - you'll find the issue pretty quickly.
View attachment 436619View attachment 436620

However seeing the applet bar jump up is nice :D
This issue is fixed with my latest update now and I also added support for men.rpx files from other regions. However, the USA and JPN menu.rpx files aren't tested, so I can't say with 100% certainty that those files properly work.

Edit:
The USA men.rpx has been tested and confirmed to work by @KirbyBot.
 
Last edited by JustMLC,

KirbyBot

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For someone like me who missed this TVii stuff altogether, what's the benefit?
Just to have an icon back since (as I read here) there's no functionality now?
I'm not the creator of the mod, but in my opinion, there are actually a few reasons. First one is that every now and then I see a thread talking about how the OP bricked their Wii U by downgrading it to get the TVii icon back or just asking if it's possible to get the TVii back, so the mod should make less Wii Us brick. Second one is that this mod is not just about the TVii, it also brings other OG icons and animations back. Third one is that if anything like Project Espresso (revival project) appears, getting the icon back step would be already done.
 
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CatmanFan

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This sounds pretty cool. : ) My guess is this is only meant for the latest firmware (5.5.5/6) so far, or I might be doing something wrong on my part, since applying the patch to dumped 5.5.1 menu files causes a softbrick on Aroma
 
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This sounds pretty cool. : ) My guess is this is only meant for the latest firmware (5.5.5/6) so far, or I might be doing something wrong on my part, since applying the patch to dumped 5.5.1 menu files causes a softbrick on Aroma
I can't really say for sure, but my Wii U is at 5.5.6U and it's working fine, maybe it doesn't work in older versions, I'll add this detail to the tutorial, thx for the info :) Also, did you patch using your own files or files from the newest version?
 
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CatmanFan

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I can't really say for sure, but my Wii U is at 5.5.6U and it's working fine, maybe it doesn't work in older versions, I'll add this detail to the tutorial, thx for the info :) Also, did you patch using your own files or files from the newest version?
I used the files from my own console via FTP; not sure if using the latest version of the files might work due to the firmware mismatch, so I haven't tried those ones
 
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KirbyBot

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I used the files from my own console via FTP; not sure if using the latest version of the files might work due to the firmware mismatch, so I haven't tried those ones
The patch files were made to the newest version, so maybe if you get those you can use them, if you want I can send you mine so we can try it out and update the guide
 

MikaDubbz

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Is there any way we can direct the TVii icon to open a different app or program given that the TVii app itself is still useless? Like if we can make that the button to bring you to the vWii menu, that would actually be amazing.
 
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JustMLC

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Is there any way we can direct the TVii icon to open a different app or program given that the TVii app itself is still useless? Like if we can make that the button to bring you to the vWii menu, that would actually be amazing.
I can probably do that, but I'm not sure what the benefit would be
 
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KirbyBot

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Is there any way we can direct the TVii icon to open a different app or program given that the TVii app itself is still useless? Like if we can make that the button to bring you to the vWii menu, that would actually be amazing.
That's actually a pretty cool idea, like having a button to redirect to something important, like the vWii as you said, Homebrew Channel in Tiramisu or anything else important, then change the icon to match the function :) So, honestly I think there may be a way, just like Pretendo made Miiverse and the friends list redirect to their servers for example, but I still don't know much about this part of the Wii U modding :/
 

MikaDubbz

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I can probably do that, but I'm not sure what the benefit would be
You could jump to the vWii from anywhere. If you hit menu in the middle of a Wii U screen including within a Wii U game, if TVii is still on that Wii U, the icon will appear in the menu that pops up. That means you can quickly jump from a Wii U game to the vWii instead of first having to go back to the Wii U menu. Look it's not a huge feature, but it's a hell of a lot more useful than what the TVii icon will do for us in it's current state of trying to pull up a dead and useless app.
 
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JustMLC

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I used the files from my own console via FTP; not sure if using the latest version of the files might work due to the firmware mismatch, so I haven't tried those ones
The patch is made for the latest US/EUR/JPN versions of the Wii U Menu. It might work on some older versions, but my focus is on getting it to work on the latest versions of the Wii U Menu.
Post automatically merged:

You could jump to the vWii from anywhere. If you hit menu in the middle of a Wii U screen including within a Wii U game, if TVii is still on that Wii U, the icon will appear in the menu that pops up. That means you can quickly jump from a Wii U game to the vWii instead of first having to go back to the Wii U menu. Look it's not a huge feature, but it's a hell of a lot more useful than what the TVii icon will do for us in it's current state of trying to pull up a dead and useless app.
You're talking about the Pause Menu (which is a separate menu btw ;P. The Wii U has a really clunky OS). My mod only modifies the Wii U Menu (for now). The Pause Menu is a whole different menu and doesn't relate to the Wii U Menu at all.
 
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You're talking about the Pause Menu (which is a separate menu btw ;P. The Wii U has a really clunky OS). My mod only modifies the Wii U Menu (for now). The Pause Menu is a whole different menu and doesn't relate to the Wii U Menu at all.

Alright, well if you one day add it to the Pause Menu, big benefit there. But even from the wii U menu, it would be helpful (for me anyway), I have 300 titles filling the menu, which means pages of stuff. Not the biggest of deals to go all the way to the last page where I hide the jump to the vWii Menu, or go to the first page where I can jump immediately into USBLoaderGX which is the main thing I go to the vWii for anyway. But still, just for the convenience (and again to give that icon something to load instead of a dead app) to load from any of the many pages between the first and last and go right to the vWii would still offer me the smallest extra amount of convenience, and it would appease me for having each icon have some sort of functionality.
 
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