Warning

This tutorial is only for advanced users and has a serious risk of bricking the console. Make sure you read it completely before executing any step and that you understand every step and its implications.

While not strictly required, it is still recommended to install ISFShax, before soldering NAND-AID. In case something goes wrong, this then gives more options to troubleshoot the problem.

What is this for?

If you are encountering Error Code 160-0103 "There is a Problem with the system memory" or your Wii U is freezing at bootup it is likely that the eMMC Chip is failing.
This tutorial goes into fixing this Error 160-0103, by cloning your MLC to a SD card and fixing corruptions while doing so. This can become useful if the MLC (eMMC) chip is hardware damaged.

Please note: There are other possible causes for the 160-0103 error (like a CBHC brick).
Also we found other ways to fix this problem. To find the the procedure which is right for you follow the Ultimate Wii U Troubleshooting Guide
In short the other options are:

• Reinstalling the system on a clean SD card. It works without dumping the MLC and spares you the manual process of fixing all the errors by hand and gives you a 100% clean system: https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-upgrading-rebuilding-wii-u-internal-memory-mlc.636309/ (You need to install ISFShax first, before you solder NAND-AID! Also you'll loose all data)
• Using the front SD slot as a replacment, so you don't even have to solder: https://gbatemp.net/threads/fixing-...-soldering-using-rednand-with-isfshax.642268/

NOTE: In case you can't boot the recovery menu anymore, there is the option of dumping the eMMC using a Cardreader connected to the big pads on the NAND-AID. Else you can use defuse to rebuild a completely fresh MLC instead, so head over to https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-upgrading-rebuilding-wii-u-internal-memory-mlc.636309/

NOTE²: In case you get a purple LED but no screen output you might still be able to use the recovery menu blindly. TODO: Give exact steps for this.

Prerequisites

Use this fork of the recovery menu.
Use this fork of wupclient.

Before beginning use the recovery menu to dump the syslogs, then search all the .log files for MEDIA ERROR and DATA CORRUPTION.

Only errors concerning the dev:mlc01 are relevant. Here the example for such an error:

10:48:16:325: FSA: ### MEDIA ERROR ###, dev:mlc01, err:-2228230, cmd:11, path:(null)

Errors concerning the optical disc drive (dev:odd01) can be ignored. Here is such an example, that can be ignored:

10:48:16:325: FSA: ### MEDIA ERROR ###, dev:odd01, err:-2228230, cmd:11, path:(null)

A media error on mlc01 means the eMMC itself noticed it can no longer retrieve the data error free and indicates a failure of the eMMC.

In case you find a MEDIA ERROR show us the log file, please, so we can add it to https://hackmd.io/d12Fq9g-QlCjN2HJp7Yvew. It's fine to DM the log to @SDIO, @Lazr1026 or me in case you're concerned about the serial number.

In case you find DATA CORRUPTION only this might or might not be a damaged eMMC. It's recommended to show us the logs, too, so we can analyze them more deep. DATA CORRUPTION means the file system of the Wii U detected that a file is corrupted. That could be caused by either a bad eMMC chip or if a write got interrupted (e. g. power loss during save)

Required Knowledge

WARNING: Before you begin, doing anything to mlc/emmc, you need to understand a few core concepts. Make sure to read carfully and be aware of the implications, or you can seriously mess things up, loosing all data. If that happens you need defuse as descibed here.

The Wii U has not just one internal storage, but it has 3:

• SLCCMPT: Holds all the vWii stuff, the system, the saves, the WiiWare tiles, we don't care for it in this tutorial.
• MLC: Is where all your userdata goes, like games, saves, your accounts and it also hold the system applications. It's also called eMMC and what this tutorial is about.
• SLC: Holds the second stage bootloader (boot1), the core Operating Systems (IOSU and CafeOS), the tickets for the installed titles (eShop and system apps), and some config files. Besides that it holds a file "scfm.img".
  This file is used as a block level write cache for the MLC. This means part of the MLC state resides in this file. They need always to be treated as one, if you restore one, you need also to restore the other. If they don't match, because you restored an older version of the mlc for example, the filesystem on top of them will become inconsistent and there will be no way of fixing that. You would either have to restore an older backup of both the SLC and the MLC or you would need to format the MLC. Both are things we try to avoid here.

You always have to carry the current state of the MLC forward.

What you can do: Read the dying eMMC to an Image, then clone it to a SD card and then use the SD card in place of the eMMC, without turning the console on in between.
You could then also read back the state of the current state of the SD card and flash it back to the eMMC and then run off the eMMC again. But only if you don't turn on the Wii U between the read and the swap.

What you can not do: Read the eMMC to an image, then use the console and then replace the eMMC by an SD card with that older image. Because then the SD won't have the current state.
You also can't flash an Image to the SD, use it for a while and then flash the image back a second time.

Where to get a NAND-AID from?

It's always a good idea to ask if someone near you has one. They might be willing to sell it for cheap.
Else here are some available for 3 € : https://gbatemp.net/threads/637225/

If that doesn't work for you you can also go to some PCB manufacturer like https://jlcpcb.com and let them do the printing. This is around $30 for 5 PCBs, so you could resell 4 to other users. The gerber file is available here and the important options are a thickness of 0.6 mm and castellated holes.

Dumping old MLC

Now that you confirmed it's really a hardware damaged MLC it's time to replace and fix it:

1. Use the recovery menu to dump OTP + SEEPROM.
   
   
2. Dump MLC + SLC from within the recovery menu. Turn your Wii U off by pulling the power cable and don't turn it back on until you replaced the eMMC with the SD card.
   
   
   
   Note: Errors while dumping SLC are harmless and I would be surprised if you get no errors on MLC as it's hardware damages after all.
   
   
3. Merge the dump on the PC, for Windows use copy /b mlc.bin.part01 + mlc.bin.part02 + (...) + mlc.bin.part15 mlc.bin. For linux or mac os x use cat mlc.bin.part* > mlc.bin
4. Write the MLC dump onto a SD card with the same size of your MLC. So for a 8 GB unit use a 8 GB card and for a 32 GB console use a 32GB card (64GB won't work). 8 GB units can also use 16GB cards, but only 8GB will be usable.
   We currently recommend SanDisk Max Endurance cards for this but other cards have been used, too. Choice is yours.
   On Windows you can use Win32DiskImager or Etcher to write the mlc.bin to the SD card.
   On Linux you can use: dd if=mlc.bin of=/dev/XXX bs=1M status=progress Replace XXX with the name of the block device if the sdcard. You can use lsblk to figure out the name. Also make sure the sd card isn't mounted. Optionally to improve the performance, you can try to run blkdiscard -f first (before the dd) on the SD and then add the conv=sparse option to the dd command.

Soldering NAND-AID

1. Cut the CLK line (R26) - using a scalpel or an x-acto knife - to disable the eMMC.
   
   
   
   
2. Install the NAND-AID and insert the SD. For soldering the NAND-AID it's recommend to first solder the big GND VIA. Since v3.0 you'll see a uncovered VIA on the Wii Us motherboard through this GND hole. This VIA is GND, too, so it doesn't matter if you short with it. Also since v3.0 there's a GND arm right nex to the hole in case you want to solder an alternative GND connection instead.
   
   The board will suck lots of the heat away, so you need some patience and really need to make sure the solder properly flows. Check that the connections really holds, before you move on to the rest. To make soldering easier, you should first tin the GND pad on the board, so it has fresh solder and preheating the board also helps.
   
   After GND solder the data connections to the pads/resistors on the board.
   
   Add the wire for 3V3. Then add the SD slot and after that the capacitor. Also short the DSB pads, which shorts the eMMC CLK to GND. If you ever want to access the eMMC again, you need to open the DSB jumper again.
   
   
   
   
   
   NOTE: On some old board revisions there's a capacitor in the way. It's save to just remove it.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   NOTE²: In case you're kind of a patchwork person you can also use a microSD to SD adapter and a capacitor instead of the NAND-AID. How to do this is out of scope of this tutorial through, so you are a bit on your own. See this post for more details: https://gbatemp.net/threads/using-n...0103-system-memory-error.636361/post-10213230
   
   
   
   
   
   
   TODO: Show adapter installed into a Wii U.

Repairing the corruption

1. Boot to the recovery menu again, then start the network and wupserver.
   
   
   
   TODO: Add how to add network config to the SD card
   
   
2. Run MLC Checker from recovery and inspect your mlcchecker.txt log.
   • For corrupted files inside of /vol/storage_mlc01/usr/title/ use wupservers delete_title() option, so for example delete_title("/vol/storage_mlc01/usr/title/00050000/1010ED00").
   • For corrupted files inside of /vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/ use the Install WUP option to reinstall the corresponding system title. It's recommended to do this as a last step. Also some titles might not interrupt the boot, so you could even reinstall them with NUSspli as a very last step.
   • For corrupted folders: These can't be deleted but we have to move them. Even if moved, these still crash a factory reset (so don't do one) The only way to get rid of them is a reformat (see https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-upgrading-rebuilding-wii-u-internal-memory-mlc.636309/ ) TODO: Add how to move them while keeping quotas in mind. In case these folders where in /vol/storage_mlc01/sys/ the corresponding title needs to get reinstalled afterwards.
   • For corrupted files at other subfolders in /vol/storage_mlc01/usr/ it should be save to delete the files (with wupclients w.rm()], so for example w.rm("/vol/storage_mlc01/usr/save/00050000/1010ed00/user/80000002/userdata.dat"). This might damage savefiles and stuff through, so always make sure that you know what you're deleting and how to fix the result then (for example by deleting the games save from data management). In case you are unsure ask before doing something stupid!
   • For other corrupted files in /vol/storage_mlc01/sys/ ask us what to do!
   Lastly run flush_mlc() in wupclient.
   
   
3. Run the MLC Checker again to see if you missed anything.

Your Wii U should now work normally again.

Bonus: Work around factory reset crash loop

There are some rare cases where users tried a factory reset while having corrupted folders. This results in a crash loop.

To break out of this loop you first have to install NAND-AID and fix the corruptions as told above. After that use wupclients delete_title() function to remove all titles from /vol/storage_mlc01/usr/title/. Lastly select Set Initial Launch from the recovery menu and then select 0 - Initial Setup.

See also

https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-i-fixed-160-0103-system-memory-error.626448/
https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058305084/my-wii-u-it-met-with-a-terrible-fate
https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-upgrading-rebuilding-wii-u-internal-memory-mlc.636309/

Thanks

@SDIO For figuring anything out, doing all of the hard puzzling and coding night and day to make this possible
@GaryOderNichts For the recovery menu
@Nandster For the pictures as well as for documenting the whole process over at boards.ie
@Voultar For the NAND-AID PCB design
@skawo For providing an earlier Tutorial, we take some passages from

 

[V10lator]

@Hanrua23 Does the Wii U boot currently? If so try using NUSspli to reinstall the friends list.
The save file might be a bit more compilcated as it looks like these are folders, not files. Am I right? In case it's just files try to delete the save from settings -> data management. In case these are folders you'll have to move them where they won't crash the Wii U (except when doing a factory reset). Your other option would be to reformat the filesystem, that will remove the folders but also all other data (save games and stuff).

In case your Wii U won't boot try reinstalling the friends list through the recovery menu. It might or might not work. After that the Wii U should boot again, so we can use FTP or data management to handle the save file.

 

[Hanrua23]

@Hanrua23 Does the Wii U boot currently? If so try using NUSspli to reinstall the friends list.
The save file might be a bit more compilcated as it looks like these are folders, not files. Am I right? In case it's just files try to delete the save from settings -> data management. In case these are folders you'll have to move them where they won't crash the Wii U (except when doing a factory reset). Your other option would be to reformat the filesystem, that will remove the folders but also all other data (save games and stuff).

In case your Wii U won't boot try reinstalling the friends list through the recovery menu. It might or might not work. After that the Wii U should boot again, so we can use FTP or data management to handle the save file.

Not it doesn't boot. Wii U logo starts, it acts as if it is booting then goes to the factory reset page. I tried to reinstall friends list from recovery menu. It don't install, throws an error message: fffcffe5. A reformat works for me. How do I start that?

 

[V10lator]

Okay, so try deleting the following files with UDPIH / WUPServer / WUPClient:

/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/code/frd.rpx
/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/code/title.fst
/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/content/Common/Package/Frd.pack
/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/content/Common/Package/Frd2.pack
/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/content/UsEnglish/Message/AllMessage.szs
/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/content/UsFrench/Message/AllMessage.szs
/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/meta/bootLogoTex.tga

Don't forget a flush_mlc() after you removed all the files.
After that (without rebooting) try reinstalling the friends list again. If that doesn't work use WUPClients delete_title() function to delete the friends list before reinstalling, like this: delete_title("/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a", true) (no need to manually flush the MLC after this).

 

[Hanrua23]

I have WUPClient connected and working from windows or atleast I think I do. The command to remove files is it w.rm?

 

[V10lator]

The command to remove files is it w.rm?

Correct.

 

[Hanrua23]

I am either running the command incorrect or I have the python environment setup wrong in windows.

If I try to run w.rm("/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a/code/frd.rpx")

I get the following message returned to me:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
AttributeError: 'wupclient' object has no attribute 'rm'

Edit: Nevermind, apparently the wupclient.py file downloaded and was corrupt. I redownloaded it and its working now

Okay deleting files manually resulted in the same error when trying to install friendslist. "failed to install: fffcffe9:

I ran delete_title("/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a", True) and removed the friends list and tried to reinstall and it has the same error.

Post automatically merged: Jan 26, 2024

I am not wrong in thinking that package 00050030-1001510a from the MLCdownloader is the Friends List am I?

 

[V10lator]

Yes it's the friends list... Really unsure what's going on here but maybe it's meta data corruption. Try the following:
w.mv("/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/1001510a", "/vol/storage_mlc01/sys/title/00050030/corrupt") (do a flush_mlc() afterwards) and try installing it one more time.

 

[Hanrua23]

okay, I moved it and using install wup the friends list was successfully installed. I restarted the console and it does the same thing. Wii U logo, sits there then goes into factory reset menu. Any idea?

 

[V10lator]

See "Bonus: Work around factory reset crash loop" at the first post here.

 

[SDIO]

Why don't you just format the mlc and rebuild it from scratch. That should be easier than bothering with the old broken dump.

 

[Hanrua23]

Why don't you just format the mlc and rebuild it from scratch. That should be easier than bothering with the old broken dump.

As I said in my initial response to V10lator. Format works for me. How do I start that?

Post automatically merged: Jan 26, 2024

I see the bonus section in first post. I will give a try.

Thanks V10lator. Bonus section did the trick.

 

[SDIO]

Ypu would first install ISFShax and then follow this: https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-upgrading-rebuilding-wii-u-internal-memory-mlc.636309/

Instead of using the wafel_destroy, you can try the mlc erase option in the attached minute fw.img to erase the sdcard and then also delete scfm.img.
That will give you a fresh clean system, and you can even upgrade to 64gb if you want

 

[Hanrua23]

So bonus section from V10lator guide got the system booting again. Curiosity got me. I did a factory reset and it went into the factory reset crash loop. Will a format of the MLC fix this?

 

[SDIO]

yes formatting the MLC will fix it. It hangs because it tries to delete the damaged folders, which it can't.
Formatting creates a completly new and clean filesystem, without any of the corruption on it

 

[Hanrua23]

yes formatting the MLC will fix it. It hangs because it tries to delete the damaged folders, which it can't.
Formatting creates a completly new and clean filesystem, without any of the corruption on it

Thank you. I will do this instead. I don't know why I thought I had to fix corruption manually. Suppose thats only for those who don't want to give up save data.

 

[SDIO]

Save data could also have been recovered from a mlc dump. Fixing the corruption is only if the corruption is very mild and you really want to keep your old setup exactly for nostalgia reasons. In all other cases I would recommend the format.

 

[Hanrua23]

Save data could also have been recovered from a mlc dump. Fixing the corruption is only if the corruption is very mild and you really want to keep your old setup exactly for nostalgia reasons. In all other cases I would recommend the format.

I agree. Rather start fresh with no issues and I can replay the games to create the save data again.

Post automatically merged: Jan 26, 2024

Ran the MLC erase and it comes back with a bunch of resetting due to error interrupt MMC erase group start failed with 1. Then it stopped and said MLC erase complete! Is this normal behavior? or has something gone wrong?

 

[SDIO]

no there shouldn't be a error. But the code for erasing SD cards as MLC is new, so might not work correctly for your case.
What model of card did you use?
You can try to just delete the scfm.img. And then start the setup. If the LED flashes blue, then it formatted, if it flashes yellow, then it didn't format

Post automatically merged: Jan 27, 2024

Also just do be sure: you have ISFShax already installed and booted the minute I sent you through ISFShax?

 

[Hanrua23]

no there shouldn't be a error. But the code for erasing SD cards as MLC is new, so might not work correctly for your case.
What model of card did you use?
You can try to just delete the scfm.img. And then start the setup. If the LED flashes blue, then it formatted, if it flashes yellow, then it didn't format

Post automatically merged: Jan 27, 2024

Also just do be sure: you have ISFShax already installed and booted the minute I sent you through ISFShax?

Yes I installed ISFShax and booted fw you shared. Samsung Endurance 32GB Card. I followed the ISFShax guide. Do I use your FW in that guide or only after it? Want to be sure I did correctly

 

[SDIO]

you can use the fw.img I shared all the time. The only difference is that it should support the SD erase, but it seems to have a problem with your card.

Probably even the init of the card failed. Maybe try again after power cycling the console. Did you close it up again, or is it still open, so that you could also just erase it in a PC?