WiiU:Dumping Wii U Games

To run your own games on your computer, install your disc games onto your console, or create mods, a dump of your games will be needed.

File Formats
There are a variety of file formats that Wii U games can be dumped as, each with their own uses, and each with their own method of being dumped. Most can be converted between each other, although some are one-way conversions. Before beginning to dump games, read about which file format will be most compatible with the desired use.

Raw/Compressed Disc Images
The disc images are simply raw dumps of the entire disc, with no modifications, making them the best formats for pure preservation, as they are the most accurate. They can be acquires by using disc dumper app such as wudump from method 1. These come in the WUD format, and are 23.3 GB in size. However, WUD files can be compressed into WUX files using WudCompress. A WUX file is significantly smaller, saving a large amount of storage space. This process is also reversible, and the same WudCompress program can decompress the WUX back into a WUD, maintaining the same benefits.

WUD/WUX files can be extracted into encrypted NUS files using a Wii U disc extractor such as wud2app. To use, WUX files must first be decompressed back into WUD format. However, once WUD files are extracted, the resulting files can no longer be placed back into the WUD format. To keep the disc image, its recommended to compress into a WUX and store it, decompressing as needed. When using an emulator such as Cemu, WUD files can also be used, although they require the title's individual title key as well as the Wii U's keys. Since WUD files are so large, this method is not recommended.

Encrypted NUS Files
These files are extracted versions of the disc images from WUD or WUX files. Encrypted NUS files can be acquired by either using disc2app from method 2, extracting the files from a WUD, or by using an NUS encrypter such as NUSPacker on the raw game files. This file format is fairly versatile and can be used for most things that one would want to do with backups. It consists of a folder with a set of files within it:,  ,  , and a set of   and   files.

They can be installed using a WUP installer such as WUP Installer GX2 on the Wii U console, or decrypted using NUS content decrypters like cdecrypt.

Raw Game Files
These files come in the form of three folders, labelled,  , and  , which directly contain game assets and code. They can be acquired using a dumper like dumpling from method 3, or by decrypting NUS files from using cdecrypt.

These files can be run using Loadiine GX2, as well as installed on the Cemu emulator on computers. Also, raw game files can be edited and repacked to create modded versions of games.

Method 1: wudump
This method will dump the entire Wii U disc as a WUD file. This file contains all of the contents of the game disc, including blank space, and will need 23.3 GB of storage free in the device you are dumping to. WUD files are the most complete versions of a dump, although they are the largest in size.

Requirements:
 * A homebrewed Wii U with the Homebrew Launcher installed
 * The latest version of wudump
 * A FAT32 SD card/USB drive or NTFS USB drive with at least 23.3 GB of storage free
 * Using a FAT32 SD card will add an extra step to combine files

Steps:
 * 1) Copy   into your SD card in the   folder
 * 2) Take out any disc currently in your Wii U console
 * 3) On the console, open the Homebrew Launcher and launch wudump
 * 4) Once loaded, press the A or B button to choose your destination device. A for SD, B for USB
 * 5) Wait for the prompt to insert the disc you want to dump, then do so. This step will take about an hour to complete

If you used an NTFS device, you should now have a completed WUD file. If you used a FAT32 device (which has a maximum individual file size limit of 4GB), the dump will be split into multiple files that you'll need to combine. To do so, copy the folder containing the part files to a file system with large file support (eg NTFS), open a command prompt there, then copy the following command:

copy /b game_part1.wud + game_part2.wud + game_part3.wud + game_part4.wud + game_part5.wud + game_part6.wud + game_part7.wud + game_part8.wud + game_part9.wud + game_part10.wud + game_part11.wud + game_part12.wud game.wud

This will create the full  file within the same directory. You can then rename and move it as you please, as well as delete the part files in the folder.

From here, you can either compress to a WUX file using JWUDTool, extract it for installing onto your console using wud2app, or used with an emulator such as Cemu.

Method 2: disc2app
This method was made combining wud2app and wudump into one app, directly giving you the encrypted NUS files. These will be significantly smaller, only containing the actual game files and no empty space. They can be installed onto your console or used with an NUS content decrypter to view and modify the game's files.

Requirements:
 * A homebrewed Wii U with the Homebrew Launcher installed
 * The latest version of disc2app
 * A FAT32 SD card/USB drive or NTFS USB drive with at least 23.3 GB of storage free. Note that a USB drive formatted by a Wii U to store games / saves / updates / DLCs is not using these file systems: you'll be able to install your dump to such a disk later, but disc2app can't dump to one directly
 * The file size will be smaller that 23.3 GB for almost all games. Some titles, such as Xenoblade Chronicles X, do almost reach the limit

Steps:
 * 1) Extract the   folder from   to the root of your SD card
 * 2) Remove the SD card from your computer and place it back into the console
 * 3) Take out any disc currently in your Wii U console
 * 4) On the console, open the Homebrew Launcher and launch disc2app
 * 5) Once loaded, press the A or B button to choose your destination device. A for SD, B for USB
 * 6) Wait for the prompt to insert the disc you want to dump, then do so. The time for this step will vary depending upon the size of the game

After this finishes, you should have a folder in your destination drive's  directory named after the game's product code (WUP-X-XXXX). This content can then be directly installed onto the console's storage or external memory using a WUP installer, or decrypted using a content decrypter to view the game's files.

Method 3: dumpling
This method directly dumps the raw game files. Using dumpling, digital download games, as well as DLC, updates, and system files for online play with Cemu can be ripped from the console.


 * A homebrewed Wii U with the Homebrew Launcher installed
 * The latest version of dumpling
 * A FAT32 SD card/USB drive or NTFS USB drive with at least 23.3 GB of storage free

Steps:
 * 1) Extract the   folder from   to the root of your SD card
 * 2) Remove the SD card from your computer and place it back into the console
 * 3) Insert the game disc you want to dump into the console
 * 4) * If the game is a digital download, skip this step
 * 5) Open the Homebrew Launcher and launch dumpling
 * 6) Choose the desired type of game to dump from the list
 * 7) * If digital, choose all the games and software to dump
 * 8) Select the location to dump to between USB and SD
 * 9) Optionally, check the file size of the dump for the benefits listed on screen

The dump will take some time. Once finished, there will be a folder named, with multiple folders named after what they contain. Games will be located in the  folder. Each folder will contain decrypted NUS files, which can now be installed onto Cemu, played from a USB loader on console, or encrypted back into NUS files.