Dumping Wii U kiosk systems without hardmods

wiiu-kiosk-dump.v2.txt

The current method for dumping a Wii U kiosk system (CAT-I, CAT-SES) requires
using a hardmod to dump the eMMC, then using Recovery Mode to install 2.13.01
and dumping the keys. It turns out that, if the kiosk system has a recent
enough firmware, it's possible to dump the eMMC (and SLC, etc) without any
hardware modifications.

The Wii U operating system (IOSU) includes a debug logging facility (enabled on
devkits only) that logs debug output to two places:

* Ethernet (CAT-DEV only)
* USB Serial (CAT-DEV, CAT-R, CAT-I, CAT-SES)

In addition to simply logging debug information, the serial console can be
used to run a limited set of commands in the CafeOS (cos) shell, as long as
the system is in Development (not Production) mode. All of the CAT-I and
CAT-SES systems I've tested have been set to Development mode.

It turns out that, on recent enough firmware versions, there's a cos command
to launch a title, and this can be used to launch System Config Tool.

Devkit Models: (in case readers are unfamiliar)
* CAT-DEV: High-end debugging system in a metal case. This system has PC
  connectivity over Ethernet.
* CAT-R Reader: Standard debugging and test system. Looks like a white
  Wii U with a green faceplate.
* CAT-I: Disc-based kiosk system. Usually has a white Wii U chassis.
* CAT-SES: HDD-based kiosk system. Usually has a black Wii U chassis.
  The two front USB ports are used by the internal HDD.

This guide is generally not needed for CAT-DEV or CAT-R units, but it should
work with them regardless.

## Preparations

You will need the following:
* Wii U development console (CAT-DEV, CAT-R, CAT-I, CAT-SES)
* SD card (64 GB or larger, formatted as FAT32)
* USB serial cable with FTDI FT232 chipset
* [Debug-signed version of Homebrew Launcher for Wii U](https://archive.org/details/wiiu_hbl_testsigned)
* [Wii U NAND Dumper](https://github.com/koolkdev/wiiu-nanddumper/releases)
* [TeraTerm Pro](https://ttssh2.osdn.jp/index.html.en), or similar serial terminal program

Serial cables known to work with Wii U's debug logging:
* If you do not have a serial port on your PC:
  * FTDI USB-NMC-2.5M: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HKJSSQ2
* If you do have a serial port on your PC:
  * Digitus DA-70156 USB to Serial adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030IT780
  * Delock null-modem serial cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077969OS

## Instructions

### Serial Cable Setup

1. Connect the USB serial cable to the Wii U and to the PC.
2. On the PC, open TeraTerm. Select Serial and select the COM port that
   corresponds to the serial cable, then click OK.
3. In TeraTerm, click the Setup menu, then Terminal. Set New-line for both
   Receive and Transmit to CR+LF, then click OK.
4. In teraTerm, click the Setup menu, then Serial port. Select the COM port
   that corresponds to the serial cable, set the speed to 57600, then click
   the "New setting" button.
5. Turn on the Wii U devkit. In 5-10 seconds, you should start seeing debug
   messages printed on the console.

### COS Shell

To determine if the COS Shell is working, type the following in the serial
terminal, then press Enter:

cos sdkversion

If COS Shell is working, and Development mode is enabled, a message similar
to the following will be printed:

cos sdkversion
# 00;01;55;243:
---- COS Debugging Shell Command: sdkversion ----
00;01;55;243: SDKVer:21301

In this example, the system has SDK version 2.13.01 installed. This is the
latest version of the system software, which corresponds to Wii U menu 5.5.0.

### Launch Title

To launch the System Config Tool, run the following command:

cos launch 0x00050010 0x1F700500

This will result in one of the following:

1. Nothing (just a '#') - the SDK version may be too old, in which case it
   doesn't have a launch command. Unfortunately there's no known workaround
   for this at the moment, other than dumping eMMC manually.
2. Errcode -6: The specified title ID was not found. Make sure you entered
   it correctly. Note that some older firmware versions might have a different
   menu called DEVMENU installed, and DEVMENU has a different title ID.
3. System Config Tool will load. This is what we want!

If either #1 or #2 happens, stop here and contact GerbilSoft for support.

### System Config Tool

TODO: Add screenshots

Set the default title to System Config Tool:

1. Select Boot Configuration.
2. Select Default Title.
3. In the Default Title menu, select System Config Tool, press A to view
   title information, then press A to select.
4. Power-cycle the system. It should boot to System Config Tool instead
   of the Kiosk Menu.

Install Homebrew Launcher:

1. On PC, extract the debug-signed version of Homebrew Launcher to the SD card.
2. Also extract Wii U NAND Dumper to the SD card. This will be used later.
3. Put the SD card in the Wii U.
4. In System Config Tool, select Data Manager, Title Manager, Install.
5. Select SD Card, then browse to where Homebrew Launcher was copied.
6. Homebrew Launcher will be detected as an Install Image. Highlight it and
   press A to select the title for installation.
7. Press R to install. Follow the prompts to continue installation.

### Wii U NAND Dumper

Set the system to Production Mode:

*** WARNING: After setting Production Mode, DO NOT RUN ANY KIOSK TITLES.
Doing so may result in Kiosk Menu being set as the default title, and
the COS Shell won't allow any commands to be run anymore since the system
is in Production Mode.

1. In the System Config Tool main menu, select Boot Configuration.
2. Set System Mode to Production Mode and save changes.
3. Power-cycle the system. System Config Tool should load.

Run the Wii U NAND Dumper:

1. In System Config Tool, select Title Launcher.
2. Select Homebrew Launcher, press A to view details, then press A twice
   to load it.
3. In Homebrew Launcher, load Wii U NAND Dumper.
4. In Wii U NAND Dumper, enable dumping of everything, including slc,
   slccmpt, mlc, otp, and seeprom.
5. Dump everything. The system will look like it's rebooting, but a progress
   indicator will be printed on the gamepad screen. If it crashes instead of
   showing progress, make sure you set the system to Production Mode.

### Switch Back to Development Mode

After dumping the system's NAND, put the system back in Development Mode
to re-enable commands on the serial port:

1. In the System Config Tool main menu, select Boot Configuration.
2. Set System Mode to Development Mode and save changes.
3. Power-cycle the system. System Config Tool should load.

## Final Steps

Save the NAND dumps in a safe place for later use. You can use
[wfslib](https://github.com/koolkdev/wfslib) to browse the MLC dump and
extract titles.

As an optional step, you can flash 2.13.01 and Wii U Menu Changer. This
requires recovery image files that cannot be linked here and are beyond
the scope of this guide.