Recommended way to backup Nand flash with aroma

[bedwyr]

Hello, After finding that my Nand is Samsung, I'd like to backup the Nand.

I already installed Aroma and Tiramisu. When I launch Nand Dumper, just after I press the button to backup, Wiiu reboots and nothing has been written to the SD.

Am I missing something or should I use another tool ?

 

[V10lator]

What worked for me: Hold R while booting the console. Open the web browser and navigate to wiiuexploit.xyz. Click on "Run Exploit!" and right after that press B untill you see a menu. Select nanddumper...

 

[AmandaRose]

Also worth noting is that if you have a 8gb WiiU you need a 16gb or higher sd card for the dump. And for a 32gb WiiU you need 64gb sd or higher.

This is because the WiiU nand is exactly the size it says it is and SD cards are slightly lower than the actual advertised size. Thus a 8gb nand dump won't fit on a 8gb sd card.

 

[bedwyr]

Thanks for your answers, it works well with the web browser exploit!

 

[SDIO]

If you hold B while the Aroma Payload is started (either through the browser Exploit or the Health and Safety App, it should bring up a menu where you can select the nanddumper.

Also Samsung eMMCs don't seem to have a problem in Wii Us. Theearly Hynix ones (2012 and first half 2013) are prone to fail. But it is still a good Idea to have a backup.

 

[Jayro]

Also Samsung eMMCs don't seem to have a problem in Wii Us. Theearly Hynix ones (2012 and first half 2013) are prone to fail. But it is still a good Idea to have a backup.

I have an early 2015 Wii U, because I bought it in May of 2015 for Splatoon. So I should have a good NAND chip, yeah?

 

[V10lator]

So I should have a good NAND chip, yeah?

We can't tell it from that little information. 2012/2013 Hynix chips where found in ~2015 consoles already. Also nobody can tell how long your Wii U was at the store before you purchased it.

Just run https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiuident-a-wii-u-identification-homebrew.630023/ and look what NAND you have excactly.

 

[Jayro]

We can't tell it from that little information. 2012/2013 Hynix chips where found in ~2015 consoles already. Also nobody can tell how long your Wii U was at the store before you purchased it.

Just run https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiuident-a-wii-u-identification-homebrew.630023/ and look what NAND you have excactly.

Thanks, I'll have to run that later to find out. I replaced the CR2032 cell under my Wii U, to avoid that one other common error that's been popping up lately, and I'm glad I did. The cell was down to just 2.2 volts. Probably about half dead or more.

 

[SDIO]

Which error should that the Battery prevent? My Wii U doesn't have a battery at the moment and just works fine.

 

[V10lator]

Which error should that the Battery prevent?

160-0103 fake news once again I guess?

@Jayro All that happens with an empty battery is that your Wii U will loose date and time settings when disconnected from wall power. Really: All the clock battery is for is, well, the clock.
I used a Wii U for years without any battery inserted and it still runs just fine today.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Also worth noting is that if you have a 8gb WiiU you need a 16gb or higher sd card for the dump. And for a 32gb WiiU you need 64gb sd or higher.

This is because the WiiU nand is exactly the size it says it is and SD cards are slightly lower than the actual advertised size. Thus a 8gb nand dump won't fit on a 8gb sd card.

They're actually the same raw size but the partition table on the SD takes up some space so you end up with slightly less usable space.

 

[V10lator]

the partition table

It's not only the table (and aligning). We see different raw (unformatted) sizes on different SD cards. That's cause firmware also needs some space to save wear leveling infos and stuff.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

It's not only the table (and aligning). We see different raw (unformatted) sizes on different SD cards. That's cause firmware also needs some space to save wear leveling infos and stuff.

SD cards don't have wear leveling. But you are kinda right, I've seen 32GB SD cards from the same brand with different sizes. Usually they're the same size though.

 

[SDIO]

Most 32GB sdcards have a smaller "raw" size then the eMMC.And by raw I mean the size advertised to the host and not the internal size of the flash, which would also include RAS information and spare blocks. Also you are not just saving the eMMC but also the SLC

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2023

SD cards don't have wear leveling. But you are kinda right, I've seen 32GB SD cards from the same brand with different sizes. Usually they're the same size though.

How do you know that they don't have it? The flash is abstracted away from you, you only see logical blocks. The firmware of the card manages the wear leveling, if it implements such a feature. And the better ones sure do.

 

[V10lator]

SD cards don't have wear leveling.

Of course they have. Maybe not the cheapest, shittiest card one could find but big brand cards do have it. When you go to high endurance or even industrial grade cards you can be sure they have top-notch wear leveling.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Most 32GB sdcards have a smaller "raw" size then the eMMC.And by raw I mean the size advertised to the host and not the internal size of the flash, which would also include RAS information and spare blocks. Also you are not just saving the eMMC but also the SLC

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2023

How do you know that they don't have it? The flash is abstracted away from you, you only see logical blocks. The firmware of the card manages the wear leveling, if it implements such a feature. And the better ones sure do.

They wouldn't wear out nearly so quickly if they had wear leveling. They don't have intelligent controllers like SSDs, it's a single chip. I can't say for sure if there is any wear leveling built in to the eMMC chip itself but based on the lifetime of a MicroSD card, if there is, then it's so poor that it's nearly useless.

 

[SDIO]

I don't se a higher failure rate on my SD card than my SSDs. Maybe just don't get the cheapest garbage. I basically ran my phones OS of a sdcard for years

 

[xXSoulGeoXx]

What worked for me: Hold R while booting the console. Open the web browser and navigate to wiiuexploit.xyz. Click on "Run Exploit!" and right after that press B untill you see a menu. Select nanddumper...

Doesn't this work fine by just pressing B upon turning on the Wii U before Aroma loads? ( if you got Aroma to autoboot )
did this myself instead of dealing with the browser that seems to freeze constantly