It is now possible to mod the Wii U without SD and PC
You can now use a USB flash drive or HDD instead of an SD card for homebrew. Since the entire setup happens on the Wii U, you don't need to download files or format your storage on a PC first.
How to do it
Make sure the date is set correctly on your console. Then just go to https://wafel.xyz in the Wii U web browser and click Launch. The wafel installer will guide you through the process, including:
- Formatting the USB or SD (if needed)
- Downloading Aroma + Homebrew App Store
- Downloading Stroopwafel CFW
- Installing ISFShax to load Stroopwafel and Aroma
NOTE: This also gives you the option to partition your drive so you can use it for Homebrew, vWii, and Wii U games all at the same time.
Things to keep in mind
- Skip the PC formatting: Don't pre-format your USB / SD on a PC; the wafel installer creates a better layout than PC tools do. The only reason to use a PC is if you want to use the SD / USB for Wii U games and it already have a FAT32 partition with data on it that you want to keep. In that case, just shrink the partition and let the installer handle the rest.
- Brick Protection: If you want to use ISFShax for brick protection, you’ll still need an SD card to actually perform an unbrick (but you can just grab one if that ever happens).
Other Guides
If you don't want to use the automated wafel installer or don't need ISFShax, you can still use the old manual guides:
- Standard Aroma Guide: wiiu.hacks.guide
- ISFShax + Stroopwafel: GBATemp Thread
The backstory: This tech has been around for a while, but setting up ISFShax to use a USB as an SD replacement used to require an actual SD card for the initial steps. The wafel installer finally brings it all together into one unofficial, semi-automated installer.
Thanks
Massive thanks to YveltalGriffin for wafel.xyz, Crementif, Emily for dumpling and the weblauncher, which this is based on and all of the other awesome people in the homebrew community.