How to Import the Wii U's vWii NAND into Dolphin Emulator

This guide will walk you through the process of importing the NAND from the Wii U's vWii (Virtual Wii) mode into the Dolphin Emulator on PC. This process is useful for those looking to emulate their vWii experience on Dolphin, including the ability to connect to Wiimmfi and WiiConnect24 services.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have a modded vWii with access to the Homebrew Channel. If you haven't installed the Homebrew Channel on your vWii yet, follow the instructions here.

Required Tools and Resources

• Dump Mii NAND — For the initial NAND dump.
• NAND Dump Fixer — A tool by the Wiimmfi developer to enable Wiimmfi and WiiConnect24 connections from Dolphin.
• FAT32 formatted SD Card — Ensure your SD card has enough space for the NAND backup and required files.

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare Your SD Card

• Download the necessary tools (Dump Mii NAND and NAND Dump Fixer).
• Place these homebrew tools onto your Wii U's SD card:
  • Create an apps folder in the root of your SD card if it doesn't already exist.
  • Place the downloaded tools inside the apps folder.

Step 2: Boot into vWii

• Insert the SD card into your Wii U.
• Boot your Wii U into your custom firmware or directly into vWii mode.

Step 3: Dump the NAND

• Launch the Homebrew Channel from vWii.
• Select and launch Dump Mii NAND.
• Press A to start dumping the NAND to your SD card.
• Wait for the process to complete. The console will return to the Wii U menu when finished.

Step 4: Fix the NAND Dump

• Turn off your Wii U and reinsert the SD card.
• Boot back into vWii and launch the Homebrew Channel again.
• This time, launch NAND Dump Fixer.
• The tool will add files that Dump Mii NAND may have missed — particularly those needed for Wiimmfi or WiiConnect24.
• Once the tool displays FIXED, you can turn off your Wii U.

Step 5: Import NAND into Dolphin Emulator

• Insert the SD card back into your computer.
• Open Dolphin Emulator.
• On the top bar, select File > Open User Folder. This opens the Dolphin user directory in your file explorer.
• Navigate to the Wii subdirectory and delete all existing files. This removes the current NAND used by Dolphin.
• In Dolphin, go to Tools > Manage NAND > Import BootMii NAND Backup.
• Select the nand.bin file at the root of your SD card and confirm the import. Allow Dolphin to merge this with the current NAND.
• Once Dolphin has successfully loaded the NAND (this may take a few seconds), your NAND is imported.

Step 6: Access the vWii System Menu

To access the vWii System Menu in Dolphin:

• Go to Tools > Load vWii System Menu {current Wii version} from the top bar in Dolphin.

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