Wii U
Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension

Update [Wed 12th Apr, 2023 21:35 BST]: Voultar has revealed the final form and name of his Wii U NAND-fixing tool.

Called NAND-AID (get it?), the device will allow you to replace your defective NAND with a MicroSD card.


Original Story [Thu 30th Mar, 2023 10:05 BST]: A short while back, we reported that some Wii U owners were finding their consoles had apparently given up the ghost. A NAND corruption was eventually shown to be the culprit.

Thankfully, experienced electronics engineer and modding specialist Voultar has decided to devote his considerable talents to finding a solution and has created the Wii-U NAND Rebuilder – a relatively simple mod that allows users to both dump/write to the Wii U's dead NAND and replace the defective NAND with a Micro-SD card.

The borked NAND isn't removed using this mod, which makes for a much easier installation. It is pulled off the bus by cutting a simple trace.

"My goal when designing this was to make it as easy to install as possible while accommodating the Wii U main-board revisions that I own," explains Voultar. "Anyone with very basic soldering skills should find this easy to install. The software will have to catch up, but we now have good hardware."

Since revealing the Wii U NAND Rebuilder, Voultar reveals that he's been quizzed on the suitability of MicroSD cards as a replacement – some users are concerned it won't be as fast as the NAND. "An eMMC and SD-Card are 'almost' the same thing," he points out. "Theoretically, the eMMC SHOULD be a little faster. BUT, the eNAND on the WIi-U operates in 4-bit mode. Meaning that just about any SD-Card made in the past decade will be more than fast enough."

The best part of all of this? Voultar isn't asking for a single penny for his efforts. Once he's sure everything is 100% as it should be, he's going to release the files for the Rebuilder so you can create your own.

"That means that you can build your own and also that modders will be able to install these for people who don't have the soldering expertise so you can get your Wii-U back up and going," he adds.