Warning

Use this at your own risk. Messing with the isfs superblocks is dangerous and can brick your Wii U. Make sure to make a SLC backup before installing isfshax. If something goes wrong, you will need defuse to restore this backup. The superblock linked here was tested and confirmed working. Installing an broken superblock will brick your Wii U.
Also while ISFShax is installed standby services and with that the quick start menu won't work. (Your Wii U will hang once you turn it off till you remove power if standby services are enabled).
Also keep in mind: if you are restoring an old SLC backup, which was taken before installing ISFShax, ISFShax will remove by restoring that backup.

To protect against Nintendo pushing a boot1 update (very unlikely, but you newer know), which would brick a console with ISFShax, system updates get blocked by the wafel_isfshax_patch.ipx plugin. If you need to do a system update, you can use the v1.0 of said plugin, which doesn't contain the update block. Game updates are not affected.

Update

04.04.2024 - Add Fastboot
13.03.2024 - System updates now get blocked by the wafel_isfshax_patch.ipx plugin.
29.12.2023 - Standby Services are now supported. For that to work you need to have the latests ISFShax superblock installed and need to use the latest minute fw.img and wafel_core.ipx. Also autoboot needs to be enabled.

What is this for?

ISFShax exploits boot1 with specially crafted ISFS (the filesystem of the SLC) superblock. Once it is installed ISFShax provides similar capabilities to defuse once it is installed. Since it launches before IOSU, so it can be used to apply early patches to IOSU and can be used to fix most bricks. But it won't protect you of bricks caused by: breaking boot1, seeprom bricks or installing a broken ISFShax superblock. ISFShax also doesn't help you if you already bricked the Wii U.
Usecases are:

• Rebuilding / upgrading the MLC
• Removing 64GB MLC limit and disabling SCFM
• Brick protection (e.g. before doing region change)
• Cold booting redNAND (useful when when the eMMC is failing)
• It gives a minimal CFW, which can launch old homebrew using the homebrew launcher (not sure how usefull since we have Aroma and Tiramisu)
• Stop the Wii U from turning the Tablet on during boot (using a stroopwafel plugin)

Choosing the Exploit

There are multiple ways to launch the ISFShax installer:
If you already have Tiramisu or Aroma installed and can launch it follow the Instructions for [Tiramisu]
If the Browser still works and you can launch the browser exploit u.wiidb.de follow the Instructions for [Browser]
If you can't access the Browser, but Settings still work follow Instructions for [DNSpresso]
If you your Wii U crashes in the initial setup on Mii creation follow Instructions for [DNSpresso]
If your Wii U can't launch the browser anymore or can't connect to the internet follow the Instructions for [UDPIH]
Steps without a prefix apply to all.

Preparing the SD card

Make sure the SD card is formatted FAT32 (already the case if you are using it for Tiramisu). You can use guiformat for that.

Get the following files and put them in the root of the SD. Choose the release tagged with "Latest" for each.

1. ISFShax installer (ios.img) from https://github.com/isfshax/isfshax_installer/releases
2. ISFShax superblock.img and superblock.img.sha from https://github.com/isfshax/isfshax/releases
3. Put the stroopwafel wafel_core.ipx from https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/stroopwafel/releases in wiiu/ios_plugins
4. Put the wafel_isfshax_patch.ipx stroopwafel plugin from https://github.com/isfshax/wafel_isfshax_patch/releases in wiiu/ios_plugins
5. [Tiramisu | Browser | DNSpresso] minute fw_encrypted.img from https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/minute_minute/releases and rename to fw.img
6. [Browser | DNSpresso] fw_img_payload from https://github.com/wiiu-env/fw_img_payload/releases extract the zip and put the wiiu folder, containing the payload.elf on the SD
7. [DNSpresso] Extract the root.rpx from https://github.com/wiiu-env/PayloadFromRPX/releases and rename it to launch.rpx and place it in the root of the SD card
8. [UDPIH] minute fw.img and boot1.img from https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/minute_minute/releases
9. [UDPIH] recovery_menu from https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/recovery_menu/releases

The structure on the SD should look like this:

boot1.img (only for UDPIH)
fw.img
ios.img
recovery_menu   (only for UDPIH)
superblock.img
superblock.img.sha
wiiu
    ios_plugins
         wafel_core.ipx
         wafel_isfshax_patch.ipx

Launching into minute

This step heavily depends on the used Exploit.

Spoiler: Tiramisu

1. Hold B on the Gamepad while booting (if coldboot is enabled) or launching the H&S app
2. A black and white menu should show up asking you to choose a payload.
3. Select fw_img_loader

Spoiler: Browser

1. Open the Browser and browse to u.wiidb.de
2. Click on "HAXX"

Spoiler: DNSpresso

If you can a access the settings just follow these instructions (you already have the right files on the SD): https://gbatemp.net/threads/dnspresso-a-wii-u-dns-exploit.642123/
If you are stuck on the Mii creation in the Inital setup:

1. If you already connected your Wii U to your AP / Router, turn the AP / Router or the Wifi on it off.
2. When the setup asks you if you already have a NNID, say yes (even if you don't have one)
3. Now it tries to connect to the Internet, but will fail and ask you to take you back to the Wifi settings, follow back to thge settings.
4. Turn your Router / AP on again and give it time to start.
5. If you don't already have your Wifi configured there, connect to it now, but enter a wrong password.
6. Edit your wifi connection and configure 85.215.57.182 as Primary DNS, if you entered a wrong password before set the right one now.
7. Press (B) Back and select Connection Test.

Spoiler: UDPIH

1. Load the recovery using UDPIH: https://gbatemp.net/threads/udpih-usb-host-stack-exploit-recovery-menu.613369/ (don't replace the recovery_menu)
2. Unplug the Pico
3. select the "Load BOOT1 payload" and proceed. (If you don't have screen output: 18x eject, 1x power, 1 eject, 1 power)

Now you should see the minute main menu. If not something went wrong, make sure you have the correct fw.img file on the SD.
In minute you move the cursor with the power button and enter with the eject button (swapped compared to the recovery menu).

Note minute only outputs 1080p through HDMI, no picture on the gamepad, and nothing on the analog outputs.
Some people reported that the screen output is not working for them when minute was loaded from the recovery. If you made sure nothing else is the problem (right fw.img, TV supports 1080p HDMI), you can still follow along blindly by pressing the approriate buttons. Make sure to wait long enough between the presses, so the system has time to load. Without display output skip the first backup and go directly to Installing ISFShax.

Backup

1. Navigate to Backup and Restore
2. Dump SEEPROM & OTP
3. Dump SLC.RAW
4. Return to Main Menu

Installing ISFShax

1. Choose Boot `ios.img` (5x Power, 1x Eject)
2. Now the ISFShax installer should launch (this takes a few seconds)
3. Follow the Instructions on the screen, the buttons are the same as in minute. (3x Eject, 1x Power, 3x Eject)
4. The console should now turn off.
5. [Tiramisu | Browser | DNSpresso] replace the (encrypted) fw.img on the SD with the fw.img (NOT the encrypted one) from https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/minute_minute/releases
6. If the install was successfull the Wii U should directly start into minute once you turn it on again.

Backup ISFShax

Dump the SLC.RAW again. This will overwrite the previous SLC.RAW file on the SD. This is required if you need to restore the SLC for unbricking, without loosing ISFShax. Keep that backup in a safe place.

Booting

If you came here from the redNAND or the MLC rebuild tutorial continue with that tutorial now.

For now your Wii U needs the SD card to boot. From there it loads minute (fw.img), which then applies the required patches from SD card. (IOSU needs to be patched, so it doesn't fall over the ISFShax superblock).
To boot into the Wii U OS select Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc)

Aroma / Tiramisu

1. To install Aroma or Tiramisu put the corresponding files on the SD.
   Tiramisu: https://tiramisu.foryour.cafe/
   Aroma: https://aroma.foryour.cafe/ (You don't need to have install Tiramisu to have Aroma, also the FTPiiU plugin will become handy later)
2. Put the wafel_payloader.ipx in the ios_plugins folder https://github.com/jan-hofmeier/wafel_payloader/releases
3. Put the root.rpx from PayloadFromRPX in the wiiu folder on the SD https://github.com/wiiu-env/PayloadFromRPX/releases

Note: if you are already coldbooting Tiramisu / Aroma via the PayloadLoaderInstaller, you have to disable the coldboot in the PayloaderLoaderInstaller first. For more detailed instructions on this, see this post by ZaMaster: https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-set-up-isfshax.642258/post-10343876

Booting without SD

This step is optional but highly recommended. Now the Wii U doesn't show anything on the screen without the SD. That could lead to confusion if the SD ever gets lost or corrupts.
To make it from the internal memory we need to install the minute fw.img and the ios_plugins to the SLC. This can be accomplished using FTPiiU Everywhere, which can be launched from Tiramisu and is already part of the Aroma Package (enable Everywhere in the settings) or you can use the haxcopy homebrew https://github.com/mackieks/haxcopy/releases
Using haxcopy is recommended for most users, but if you copy a wrong plugin to the slc or need to delete one for whatever reason you still have to use FTP for that.

Spoiler: haxcopy

1. create a folder hax on the SD card (this will be copied to the slc)
2. copy the fw.img to the hax folder
3. create a subfolder ios_plugins in the hax folder
4. rename the wafel_core.ipx to 0core.ipx and copy it to the hax/ios_plugins folder
5. rename the wafel_isfshax_patch.ipx to 6isfshax.ipx and copy it to the hax/ios_plugins folder
6. if you want to coldboot aroma or tiramisu, rename the wafel_payloader.ipx to 9payldr.ipx and copy it to the hax/ios_plugins folder
7. If you need any other plugins like the wafel_unlimit.ipx, you have to rename and copy it to the hax/ios_plugins folder
8. Copy the haxcopy app to the wiiu/apps folder (like you usually install homebrew)
9. Put the SD in the Wii U and run haxcopy to copy the hax folder to the slc.

Spoiler: FTP

On Aroma you have to make sure access to system files is enabled:

1. Open the Aroma Plugin Configuration Menu using L + Down + SELECT (-) on the GamePad or Pro Controller (or B + Down + Minus (-) for WiiMotes)
2. Open the FTPiiU option, then settings and set ‘Allow access to system files’ to ‘true’ by pressing A

Uploading the files:

1. (Tiramisu only) Make sure FTPiiU Everywhere is running on the Wii U
2. Using a FTP client on the PC browse to /storage_slc/
3. If you see a scfm.img file and sys folder go into the sys folder. If you see a bunch of folders (config import logs proc rights security title tmp) just go to the next step.
4. create a subfolder hax and enter it
5. Make sure your FTP client is in binary mode (not ASCII mode)
6. upload the minute fw.img to the /storage_slc/sys/hax folder
7. create another subfolder ios_plugins in /storage_slc/sys/hax
8. enter that /storage_slc/sys/hax/ios_plugins folder
9. rename the wafel_core.ipx to 0core.ipx and upload it
10. rename the wafel_isfshax_patch.ipx to 6isfshax.ipx and upload it
11. if you want to coldboot aroma or tiramisu, rename the wafel_payloader.ipx to 9payldr.ipx and upload it
12. If you need other plugins like the wafel_unlimit.ipx, you have to rename and upload them too

Now the Wii U should autoboot if no SD card is inserted.
If a SD card is inserted the minute menu should show up (even if the SD doesn't contain a fw.img). In that menu you can select the Patch (slc) and boot IOS (slc) to load the plugins from the slc and boot (no need to have them on the SD anymore).

The Wii U will first try to load the fw.img from the SLC and if that fails it falls back to the SD.
If you installed a broken fw.img which doesn't load, you can force isfshax to load the fw.img from sd by repeatly pressing power till the menu shows up.

Warning: A factory reset will delete the hax folder. Without the fw.img on the SD the Wii U will then just have a black screen with a orange LED

Optional Autobooting with SD

To make the Wii U autoboot with an SD card inserted you need to create the file sd:/minute/minute.ini with the following content:

[boot]
autoboot=1
autoboot_timeout=3

You can adjust the timeout (in seconds) to your liking. The autoboot option specifies which entry from the minute menu will be loaded. 1 corresponds to Patch (slc) and boot IOS (slc), which loads the ios_plugins from the SLC. If you haven't installed them to the SLC or want to load them from the sd for another reason you can change that value to 3 which corresponds to Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc)

As an Alternative check out the Fastboot option below.

Optional: Fastbooting (Advanced)

To make the Wii U boot as fast as possible, without showing minute, you can now use the fw_fastboot.img. This won't work with redNAND
It is hardcoded to go straight to the first option (booting the slc, with patches from SLC). It won't display anything and ignore any autoboot configuration in the minute.ini.

1. First make sure the system can boot using the first option in minute. (see booting without SD)
2. Replace the the fw.img in the hax folder on the SLC with the fw_fastboot.img (renamed to fw.img)

In case you ever get stuck and need to load the full minute from SD you can do this:

1. Place the minute fw.img on the SD card
2. repeatedly press the power button until the minute menu shows up on the screen.

Uninstalling ISFShax

DON'T just restore an older SLC backup, as that would break SCFM!

• Make sure your Wii U doesn't depend on any patches (linke wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx or redNAND). You can check that by booting with only the wafel_core.ipx and the wafel_isfshax_ipx plugins in the ios_plugins directory on the SD and using the Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc) option
• Delete the /storage_slc/sys/hax folder if you set up the slc booting
• run the ISFShax installer again from minute and follow the on screen instructions to uninstall.

Credits

• @rw-r-r_0644 for finding and implementing isfshax
• @GaryOderNichts and ashquarky for their direct contributions and help
• @vgmoose for all the support and for the Wii U that replaced the one Idestroyed during early isfshax testing
• @Maschell for his help and all other contributions to the Wii U scene
• hexkyz for the warmboot boot1 exploit which made all of this possible
• @shinyquagsire23 for de_Fuse, minute and stroopwafel
• Salt Team for the original minute CFW
• dimok789, FIX94 and others for the iosuhax CFW
• fail0verflow for mini
• and all other contributors to the Wii U scene!

 

[MoscoMon]

Sorry wrong thread.

 

[SDIO]

Each of them has their own sdio bus. I am not sure how much is shared inside on the host controllers. Could also be something that they don't get proper power something like that

 

[Yamathedestroyer]

Okay, Ill try that, but why is PRSHhax not working on the console anymore, definetly used it on there a few years ago I think to dump my boot1 (out of curiosity)

Edit: Also out of curiosity, isnt the purple/red LED blinking done by Minute? Like I get this Red/Purple flashing effect Ive seen on other consoles and then it goes over to purple blinking.

 

[ZaMaster]

I just installed isfshax and it seems to be working fine,but I did notice some error messages at boot.

Failed to open plugin:

slc:/sys/hax/ios_plugins/wafel_core.ipx

0core.ipx and 9isfshax.ipx are in that slc folder and load fine. I did try to copy wafel_core.ipx to that same folder but that failed (I assume because of the filename length). Could that be related?

Another message was >

Failed to open data:
sdmc:/wiiu/ios_plugins/config.ini

Why does it need that file on the sd-card? And what should be it’s contents?

 

[SDIO]

That is fine, it is just hardcoded to look for the wafel_core.ipx first and then go through the rest ordered by their name. Since it starts with 0 it gets still loaded first and everything is fine. Else it wouldn't boot

 

[ZaMaster]

That is fine, it is just hardcoded to look for the wafel_core.ipx first and then go through the rest ordered by their name. Since it starts with 0 it gets still loaded first and everything is fine. Else it wouldn't boot

Ok. Good to know. For the config.ini file can I just create an empty file so the error goes away?

Post automatically merged: Jan 17, 2024

The other thing I’m not sure about is the ‘Coldbooting Aroma/Tiramisu’ part.

1. If you enabled coldbooting in the PayloadLoaderInstaller, disable it there

I’m not sure how to get to the payloadinstaller now. Starting with B held brings me to the boot selector menu where you can choose if you want to start at the WiiU menu or vWii for example. Pressing X when starting H&S app tells me you can’t load the environment twice.

1. copy the wafel_payloader.ipx to the ios_plugins folder (for the slc you have to give it a shorter name like payldr.ipx)

Do I put the payldr.ipx in the slc hax folder? And do I prefix that with a number after 9 or between 0 and 9? Since I’ve got the wafel files already set up in slc as well .

Thanks for the help btw. Really appreciate it .

Edit: I forgot to mention Coldbooting Aroma/Tiramisu step 3:

1. extract PayloadFromRPX to the sdcard: https://github.com/wiiu-env/PayloadFromRPX/releases to the sd card.

Where do I put the root.rpx file? I have it in the sd:/wiiu folder now.

 

[Yamathedestroyer]

Ok. Good to know. For the config.ini file can I just create an empty file so the error goes away?

Post automatically merged: Jan 17, 2024

The other thing I’m not sure about is the ‘Coldbooting Aroma/Tiramisu’ part.

1. If you enabled coldbooting in the PayloadLoaderInstaller, disable it there

I’m not sure how to get to the payloadinstaller now. Starting with B held brings me to the boot selector menu where you can choose if you want to start at the WiiU menu or vWii for example. Pressing X when starting H&S app tells me you can’t load the environment twice.

1. copy the wafel_payloader.ipx to the ios_plugins folder (for the slc you have to give it a shorter name like payldr.ipx)

Do I put the payldr.ipx in the slc hax folder? And do I prefix that with a number after 9 or between 0 and 9? Since I’ve got the wafel files already set up in slc as well .

Thanks for the help btw. Really appreciate it .

Edit: I forgot to mention Coldbooting Aroma/Tiramisu step 3:

1. extract PayloadFromRPX to the sdcard: https://github.com/wiiu-env/PayloadFromRPX/releases to the sd card.

Where do I put the root.rpx file? I have it in the sd:/wiiu folder now.

Hold X to get to the other boot menu to get to the payload loader installer.

 

[SDIO]

Okay, Ill try that, but why is PRSHhax not working on the console anymore, definetly used it on there a few years ago I think to dump my boot1 (out of curiosity)

I don't know. You can also try preparing the SD fresh or to use the minute fw.img directly as boot1.img

For the config.ini file can I just create an empty file so the error goes away?

Probably, but I never cared to test it

I’m not sure how to get to the payloadinstaller now. Starting with B held brings me to the boot selector menu where you can choose if you want to start at the WiiU menu or vWii for example. Pressing X when starting H&S app tells me you can’t load the environment twice.

Hold X while booting

Do I put the payldr.ipx in the slc hax folder? And do I prefix that with a number after 9 or between 0 and 9? Since I’ve got the wafel files already set up in slc as well .

In this case it doesn't matter, it's only important that the core runs first, so it is prexied with 0. The others are not important. If you prefix it with 10 it would run before something prexied with 2. It's alphabetical order and numbers come before letters.
So even without a prefix it is fine, but you can also put a 9 before it.

1. extract PayloadFromRPX to the sdcard: https://github.com/wiiu-env/PayloadFromRPX/releases to the sd card.

Where do I put the root.rpx file? I have it in the sd:/wiiu folder now.

In the wiiu folder. If you extract the zip, the root.rpx is already in a wiiu folder

Post automatically merged: Jan 18, 2024

@Yamathedestroyer I just had another idea: you could change your Wii U to coldboot to the settings with the recovery linked here: https://lazr1026.github.io/regionchange/#/
Then from the recovery you could try to use DNSpresso to load the fw_img loader.

Also here are the instructions to install the PayloadLoader from the recovery, in case you still want to try that: https://lazr1026.github.io/tudpih/#/

 

[Elburro]

Hi. Trying to follow these instructions, but when I get to load boot1 payload in UDPIH, nothing happens. I have the fw.img, not the one with “encrypted” in the filename. It just sits at the load boot1 payload screen, but doesn’t respond.

Thoughts?

 

[SDIO]

Try to download and copy the boot1.img again. Elect the scarf safely and try again.
What does the led do?

 

[Elburro]

Try to download and copy the boot1.img again. Elect the scarf safely and try again.
What does the led do?

Looking further through the post history I seem to have the same issue as another person. The wiiu is outputting to the gamepad for the recovery menu, but sounds like minute needs hdmi. I have the wiiu hooked up to hdmi, but no video out put. Is there a way to force the output to hdmi? I had it go to the tv for UDPIH once when the gamepad was dead, so I am trying to run down the battery to try to duplicate.

LED is purple when I try to launch minute. I think it’s running just can’t see it.

 

[SDIO]

Minute always forces HDMI 1080p. The TV needs to support that.
If minute is running, but can't see anything, then you have to do the ISFShax install blind. You can skip the SLC backup for now, but I would recommend getting the OTP from the recovery

 

[Elburro]

ok will try a few things. Wiiu is currently going through an AV receiver. Works fine when the Wiiu boots up, but in recovery it goes to the gamepad. So again will try to duplicate the one time when I got it going to the tv. Will run down gamepad or pull battery and also try connecting direct to an hdmi on the tv.

If I had to do blind is there somewhere where the minute button press counts are listed like they are for the boot1 launch for idpih?

 

[SDIO]

I posted it here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/udpih-usb-host-stack-exploit-recovery-menu.613369/post-10333251

 

[Elburro]

So I got the video back to the tv by bypassing the AVR. Progress. However when I do load boot1 in the recovery menu the led flashes the goes purple and I still get no minute menu. The tv doesn’t detect a signal. I tried the blind button combination linked to launch the installer and it didn’t appear to do anything except when I pressed eject the drive motor would actuate audibly like when starting up or ejecting a disc.

I re-downloaded and replaced the fw.img and boot1.img and the result appears the same.

Thoughts?

 

[SDIO]

You could try placing the installer (ios.img) directly as boot1.img on the card and den you only need to press the buttons for the installer

 

[Elburro]

Sorry not following you. I have the ios.img, fw.img, superblock.img, superblock.img.sha and boot1.img all on the root as per the isfshax instructions.

 

[SDIO]

yes you can rename the ios.img to boot1.img so prshhax will load the installer directly

 

[Elburro]

Ok so if i do that you are then saying that installs isfshax from the recovery menu instead of minute? Dont i need minute for the rest of the install beyond isfshax (rednand / mlc rebuild etc)? How to do that if I can’t get minute going?

 

[SDIO]

After ISFShax is installed, you will use minute. But that is still there, it is in the fw.img. boot1.img is only for loading it from the recovery. ISFShax will load minute directly from the fw.img