2021 Update: IT WORKS! (see this post and the posts after it for more details)



________Original 2019 post________

In hopes of trying to run "AutoWiimmfiPatcher" on a completely unmodified Wii U, I had set everything up necessary for Smash Stack...only to discover that Smash Stack (at least the NTSC-U version) requires a .ELF file and does not at all work with .DOL - heck even renaming the .DOL to .ELF does not work!

I tried using "doltool" to convert the boot.dol into a boot.elf, but that still does not function via Smash Stack. I also tried using "loadmii" which does in fact come as a .ELF, but loading "AutoWiimmfiPatcher" through that did not work.


So as to make sure it's not a case of needing AHBPROT, I tested the boot.DOL via LetterBomb on a Wii and the boot.DOL worked perfectly (though my converted boot.elf did not). Heck I was even able to run AutoWiimmfiPatcher with an SSBB disc in, eject it at the screen that says "Waiting for game disk...", and put in my Mario Kart Wii disc, and it still worked flawlessly.



Therefore, from what I can gather, there should be no reason that a .ELF version of AutoWiimmfiPatcher shouldn't not only work via Smash Stack but also work on an unmodified Wii U.




For reference, I do not have a Wii U (I only have a Wii, and its power and video connections are buried behind an entertainment center), but my family and I will be visiting a friend that has both a Wii and a Wii U (as well as a copy of Mario Kart Wii), and I was hoping to bring my own Mario Kart Wii disc as well in order to have essentially a 4 player online session thanks to the Wii U's gamepad functioning as a second display (this is all assuming that we're able to get into the same online room that is - I've never actually used the friendcode functionality on MKW so I don't know if that would even help or not).

I asked about that in the past, but he said we wants to keep his vWii completely clean since his Wii is already softmodded and is a model with GameCube controller ports, and the guy isn't a videophile and therefore wouldn't care about the increase in visual fidelity of using a Wii U (I recently found out that his Wii was set to 480i even though he has component cables...).

(EDIT: on a less crucial note, according to the Homebrew Channel's github issue tracker, it seems that none of the HBC's official distribution methods include the vWii widescreen fix, so I if I were to do anything like installing HBC in the future, I'd want to make absolute sure that I only do it once and do it right)



He's definitely connected to Wiimmfi on his Wii, but obviously has not on his Wii U. However, it was my impression that 7-day wait thing got removed with the new massive update that allows auto-updating - am I in fact wrong on this?

While I don't have access to a Wii U (and won't for 10 more days), I can confirm that it definitely does work on a Wii via Smash Stack!

Keep in mind however that Smash Bros. Brawl does not support SDHC cards... (though, fun fact, the launch 3DS came with a non-SDHC 2GB card).

So assuming that this does in fact work on a Wii U, is there any chance of future versions of AutoWiimmfiPatcher being made available as a .elf as well as a .dol?


EDIT: Err, well unless there isn't ever a future version made I guess (considering the fact that Wiimmfi apparently supports auto-updating now), in which case the more accurate question would be: if it works on a Wii U, then is there any chance for making this .elf available for download alongside the .dol inside of the official AutoWiimmfiPatcher zip archive on wiimmfi.de?

Literally two years later and I finally got to try this... and it "just worked!"

Well... for Mario Kart Wii anyway.

It's also worth noting you've got to be quick on pressing the eject button right when Smash Stack activates, or else it'll try loading your Smash Bros Brawl disc.


The issue now is that the elf-formatted autopatcher is the version from 2 years ago which, AFAIK, now only works on Mario Kart Wii since that game is set up with an auto-updater for wiimmfi, while all other games need a newer version of the autopatcher.

This is unfortunate because Mario Kart Wii is exactly one of the few games that the new hackless DNS method works for, and it would be those games that the DNS method doesn't work for that would gain the most benefit from this Smash Stack + autopatcher boot.elf method, such as Tetris Party Deluxe (which is the game I tested with).

And unfortunately, it seems that the latest version of autopatcher is also only distributed as a .dol format, so outside of an elf version being made for that or an update to Smash Ttack allowing one to boot from .dol files, this whole idea of mine can't really be taken advantage of at this time.


BTW in case anybody wondered what took me so long, it turns out that when I last visited my friend back in early 2019, he also recently got a new modem/router which the Wii U didn't like (but he didn't know that as his Nintendo Switch was taking all of his attention). It wasn't until more recently that he wanted me to softmod his Wii U that I actually brought it home with me to work on it, but before doing any softmodding I just had to know if the autopatcher actually works on unmodded Wii U consoles via Smash Stack (which it does). And just to note, the plan is to give the console back this Sunday (2021-06-06).

BTW I forgot to mention that, on a Wii U, you have to insert the 2GB or less SD card into the console once Smash Bros. Brawl is already in-game, otherwise the vWii menu will prevent or delete Smash Stack.


Turns out that was indeed the only issue.

Using that 0.7.5A ELF combined with Smash Stack and the ol' quick-disc-swap, I was able to play an online match in Tetris Party Deluxe on my friend's unmodded Wii U against my soft-modded Wii in both random world matchmaking and friend code private room, and everything "just worked".

If you care, it was the match at 2021-06-02 21:30: wiimmfi.de/stats/login/game/35

So uh, I don't really know where to go from here. AFAICT it all "just works" though I've admittedly not tried many games (not that I really could - I've only like 5 online-enabled games), but I don't really see how it'd be any different since it's still the same method and homebrew app that it'd be launching regardless.


Oh BTW, I got something like an error code 60000 or 600000 on my personal soft-modded Wii when I tried to connect to wiimmfi using my decade-old pre-wiimmfi profile, so I instead had to use a newer profile that had never been online in order for actually connect to wiimmfi.