Okay so you were able to get the console to power off after doing the blind steps, which means we can assume minute is installed.

If you remove the udpih (raspberry pi pico + usb cable) unplug the Wii U from AC Adapter, plug the AC Adapter back in and turn the Wii U on what does it display? If it displays nothing what is the LED on the front of the console doing?

Additional test: If you hit the power button 16 times and eject 1 time does the console power off? If it does that means minute is installed and functioning.

With the SD card in and Pico removed, the LED is purple and I get no display (even on the gamepad), and the power 16 + eject 1 times does in fact turn it off

Quote from: RollingBox on Sep 21, 2024, 04:41 PMWith the SD card in and Pico removed, the LED is purple and I get no display (even on the gamepad), and the power 16 + eject 1 times does in fact turn it off

LED is the correct color. You will not get a display on the gamepad, this is normal. The only video output that will work inside Minute is over HDMI @ 1080P resolution. This indicates that minute menu is installed. So ISFShax is installed successfully.

If you have the backup of your data you should be all set to move forward with installing the NAND-AID and rebuilding the MLC. There is a step you can try before doing this if you prefer to work on the Wii U with video output. The reason its not displaying is likely due to data corruption of the MLC/SLC. You could attempt to rebuild the MLC inside the console. You do not need video out to do this, you need the appropriate files on your SD Card, the guide is here.

Keep in mind rebuilding the MLC will format the internal memory of the Wii U and wipe all data. So this is a point of no return for any data on there if you do not have a backup.

Before doing this you should make a backup of SLC and SLCCMPT. This can be done blindly from the minute menu. The blind button combo is Power Button 9 times. This will move you down to the "Backup and Restore" menu. Push eject 1 time to enter it.

Backing up SLC is power button 3 times, eject button 1 time. Give it some time to finish as its going to dump the SLC.RAW to the SD Card. Without a display you will not see progress, so I recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes and walking away.

After 15 minutes passes, come back and press the power button 1 time. This will bring you back to the "Backup and Restore" menu. Now press the power button 4 times followed by the eject button 1 time. This will start the SLCCMPT backup. Wait another 15 minutes.

Press the power button 1 time. This will bring you back to the "Backup and Restore" menu and now you want to press the eject button 1 time. This will dump the SEEPROM & OTP. This dump is much faster than the others so wait 30 seconds and then press the eject button to return to the main menu


Now power off the console (pull the AC Adapter out) and access the SD Card with a computer, you should have 5 files on the SD Card called SLC.RAW, SLCCMPT.RAW, otp.bin, seeprom.bin and seeprom_decrypted.bin. See picture below:



For reference so you can validate if the dumping worked, the following file sizes are what your files should approximately be:

otp.bin = 1KB
seeprom.bin = 1KB
seeprom_decrypted.bin = 1KB
SLC.RAW= 540,672KB
SLCCMPT.RAW= 540,672KB

PUT THEM IN A SAFE LOCATION. YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THESE.

Just to be clear, what order do I need to go into for the options I'm selecting? From the video, it seems once an option finishes, it bounces you back to the top of the menu to start again?

>Backup and restore
>?
>Patch (sd) and boot sdmc : /ios_orig.img? (15 min wait)
>? (15 min wait)
>Interactive debug console?


I did the first step of 'Backup and restore' and attached what my folder looks like afterwards

Which video? Also is that picture something you took?

Are you trying to rebuild the MLC now? Just wanted to make sure that you did the backup of the SLC and SLCCMPT I described above before you move forward.

Edit: Okay so I see you got the SLC.RAW file, otp.bin, seeprom.bin. You still need the other files (seeprom_decrypted.bin & SLCCMPT.RAW). Although the seeprom_decrypted.bin should have dumped with the otp/seeprom files you do have.

As for the menu inside minute, when an operation completes it asks if you want to continue/exit by pressing power button. If you choose to do that it brings you back to the previous menu you were in and starts at the top of that menu. 

Image is from the video you posted, hopefully the versions match with what the menu displays so I can use it as a button map. I just need to know the exact options I'm selecting

Quote from: RollingBox on Sep 21, 2024, 10:10 PMImage is from the video you posted, hopefully the versions match with what the menu displays so I can use it as a button map. I just need to know the exact options I'm selecting

They will match, because I used the recovery menu/files I asked you to share to make that video.

What do you need to know how to do?

 

A simplified step by step guide of what options I'm tabbing down to press and how long-ish I wait for them to finish. I did the first step of backup and restore and I stopped there and shut the system down to check on the SD card to see if it in fact worked--which it did

Quote from: RollingBox on Sep 21, 2024, 10:34 PMA simplified step by step guide of what options I'm tabbing down to press and how long-ish I wait for them to finish. I did the first step of backup and restore and I stopped there and shut the system down to check on the SD card to see if it in fact worked--which it did

Maybe I am misunderstanding......I provided step by step instruction in a previous post for the backups, based on your situation. As I previously stated, you are missing the SLCCMPT.RAW file. You need that at a bear minimum before we can continue. I will copy and past the instructions again. The way I wrote these instructions means you can just follow them exactly as I have written them to do all the file backups you should have before proceeding.

Since you already have the SLC.RAW you can skip that part. ALL OF THESE BACKUPS are from the minute menu, in order to get back to where you need to be all you have to do is the first step that moves you to the "Backup and Restore" menu. 

QuoteThe blind button combo is Power Button 9 times. This will move you down to the "Backup and Restore" menu. Push eject 1 time to enter it.

Backing up SLC is power button 3 times, eject button 1 time. Give it some time to finish as its going to dump the SLC.RAW to the SD Card. Without a display you will not see progress, so I recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes and walking away.

After 15 minutes passes, come back and press the power button 1 time. This will bring you back to the "Backup and Restore" menu. Now press the power button 4 times followed by the eject button 1 time. This will start the SLCCMPT backup. Wait another 15 minutes.

Press the power button 1 time. This will bring you back to the "Backup and Restore" menu and now you want to press the eject button 1 time. This will dump the SEEPROM & OTP. This dump is much faster than the others so wait 30 seconds and then press the eject button to return to the main menu


Now power off the console (pull the AC Adapter out) and access the SD Card with a computer, you should have 5 files on the SD Card called SLC.RAW, SLCCMPT.RAW, otp.bin, seeprom.bin and seeprom_decrypted.bin. See picture below:

The main issue is that I'm a visual person and this is hell.

Other issue was solved by your other video that better demonstrates what the minute menu looks like and that the 'backup and recovery' provides a second menu, which I had no idea of knowing (seeing). So my mind was only working off those instructions for the first menu based on the initial button presses, thus my confusion.

And this was the kind of toddler proof instructions I was thinking of:
power 9 eject 1
power 3 eject 1 wait 15 and then hit power 1
power 4 eject 1 wait 15 and then hit power 1
eject 1 wait 30 seconds

In any case, I now have the five items needed to progress (tomorrow when I remember what tab has the next steps), thanks

I understand its hell going in blind. I am also a visual person. That being said NICE JOB! Take those files and store them on your computer in a safe location.

Now you can continue with the repair, so you have 2 options:

1. If you want to try to restore video output so you can visually navigate the menu you can attempt to rebuild the internal MLC. Keep in my mind even if this works and the Wii U console boots its only a temporary fix as the eMMC is bad and the data on it will become corrupt again.

2. Install a NAND-AID and rebuild the MLC for a permanent repair.

Regardless of which one you want to do you need to need to download the 52titles neccessary to do this. SDIO guide for this is here and you can go directly to the "Rebuilding the MLC" Section where step 1 is grabbing the MLCRestorerDownloader. You will need the otp.bin file you pulled from your console in this step.   

I planned on going the NAND-AID route since the start of all this and have already purchased everything I'd need. I'm downloading the MLC titles at the moment



I'm wondering at what point should I flash my other SD card and start soldering (very slowly)

You won't be flashing the other SD Card as you are going to rebuild a fresh MLC, so you can install the NAND-AID and install the SD Card into it. If you choose to go this route right now you will have to do a blind install using the minute menu.

On the other hand, if you attempt to rebuild the MLC in the Wii U currently and its successful it should fix the video output problem and then you will have an easier time with the NAND-AID. Personally its the route I would take because if you run into errors with the NAND-AID without a display some of it will be nearly impossible to diagnose without using defuse, which is something I would recommend avoiding.

Based on those instructions above, I'm still confused how to proceed with rebuilding the MLC before the soldering part to install the NAND-AID

alright so lets break this down into toddler steps (as you put it).

Lets first get the 52 titles onto your SD Card, this will be the same SD card you have been using with the Recovery Menu and other files on it. You can leave all the other files on there as you still need them.

Create a folder called "wafel_install" in the root directory of your SD Card. Place all 52 titles into this folder. It is important that you do not rename any of them just to be clear. Have a look at the picture below, this is what your SD Card should look like:

The root directory has wafel_install folder:


Inside the wafel_install folder you should have 52 titles, like in the picture below:


Inside your /wiiu/ios_plugin folder please download and place file wafel_setup_mlc file as well.