Aroma Wii U

Aroma
General
Author	Maschell
Type	Custom Firmwares
Version	Beta-26
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2026/04/19
Links
Download
Website
Source

Aroma is a Wii U homebrew environment developed to improve user and developer experiences. It originates from an effort to run multiple homebrews simultaneously, and evolved into a major project with the discovery of the FailST exploit. Aroma introduces Aroma Modules, functional entities similar to .rpl files, and a revamped Wii U Plugin System with features like runtime reloading. Some notable plugins include direct homebrew launching from the Wii U Menu and a background FTP server.

Aroma shares a foundation with Tiramisu which can be easily migrated, it also introduces the Wii U Homebrew Bundle (WUHB) format for streamlined distribution.

Features

• Compatibility with the latest firmware (5.5.5/5.5.6).
• Free and persistent entrypoint (including an installer + coldboot option)
• Compatible with existing entrypoints (browser exploit)
• Easy setup and update: Just copy the files to the SD card.
• Built-in support for modules
• Built-in integration of the Wii U Plugin System
• All modules and plugins use a seperate memory heap to improve stability
• Plugins and homebrew applications can be used at the same time.
• Some enhanced features with plugins:
  • homebrew_on_menu_plugin: Load homebrew directly from the Wii U Menu instead of using a dedicated homebrew launcher.
  • ftpiiu_plugin: Run a FTP server in the background.
  • wiiload_plugin: Wiiload support: Launch homebrew/plugin via the network at any time.
  • drc_region_free_plugin: Pair game pads from different regions.
  • region_free_plugin: Launch games from different regions.

Installation

Please follow the instructions on Wii U Hacks Guide.

Changelog

Beta-27 2026/05/06

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed softlocks that could happen when opening titles from the Wii U Menu.
  • Fixed softlocks that could happen when unloading/loading plugins.
  • Fixed crashing when using IO during plugin deinitialization.
• Features and improvements
  • Added support for holding down navigation buttons to scroll through the configuration menu.
  • Improved performance of config menu to make it more responsive.
  • Added automatic name truncation for long item names in config menu.
  • Empty button combos are now valid combos.

Beta-26 2026/04/19

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed heap corruption when compiling with devkitPPC r49.
    • Affected plugins will be disabled when booting into Aroma Beta 26.
    • Developers of affected plugins are informed with a solution.
    • Compiling plugins with WUPS 0.9.1 or higher and modules with WUMS 0.3.6 will fix this.
    • Recompiled all modules and plugins with the latest devkitPPC/wut/WUMS/WUPS.
  • Fixed crash when loading incompatible plugins.
  • Fixed crashing when exiting Assassin's Creed III.
  • Fixed booting into TNT Racers.
  • Disabled Aroma while playing Mass Effect 3 to fix exiting the game.
  • Fixed potential crashes when redirecting files in certain games (e.g., Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze).
  • Disabled mDNS support for ftpiiu to avoid potential crashes.
  • Fixed resolving symbol names while cleaning up plugins.
  • Fixed a small memory leak in the screenshot plugin.
  • Fixed calling FINI on exit for plugins.
  • Fixed crashes when patching certain kernel functions.
• Features
  • Implemented a TCP server that redirects syslogs and injects commands.
    • Can be toggled ON/OFF in the AromaBasePlugin config menu.
    • Use this Python script to connect to the server: tcp_log_server.py
  • Added "IOPShellModule," which allows running commands via TCP syslogs or serial logging.
    • Check "cos help" for built-in commands from Cafe OS.
    • Check "iosu help" for IOSU-related commands.
    • Check "aroma help" for aroma related commands.
  • Added initial support for tracking plugin heap usage and detecting double frees or memory leaks.
  • Disabled Mocha's wupserver.
  • Updated the SplashscreenModule to support JPEG and WebP, and load splashscreens from more paths (thanks DanielKO).
  • Enabled WebSocket support for CURLWrapperModule.

Beta-25 2025/01/27

• Update WUMSLoader and WiiUPluginLoaderBackend to support modules/plugins built with latest devkitPPC/wut.

Beta-24 2025/02/19

• Fixed "Failed to MemoryAllocEX"-error which could occur when starting certain games or homebrew apps when a lot a 3rd party Aroma Modules where used.

Beta-23 2025/02/16

• General:
  • Added a ButtonComboModule to provide a API for plugins and modules to easily register button combos and detected combo conflicts
  • Added an "Aroma safe mode" to disable 3rd party plugin when pressing (L+DPAD UP+Minus) on boot on the Gamepad
  • Updated the SplashscreenModule to add support for showing a random splash-screen (by @dkosmari)
  • Plugins can now be completely deactivated and reactivated in the WUPS config menu
• ContentRedirectionModule:
  • Add support for single file replacements
• WiiUPluginLoaderBackend:
  • Use left/right to jump a full page on the toplevel menu.
  • Update plugin (un)loading logic to keep plugins loaded if possible
  • Add WUPSConfigAPI_Menu_GetStatus() function
  • Add support disabling plugins via the config menu, add "safe mode"
  • ConfigMenu: Show wiimote button when the last input was on a wiimote
  • Remove the global trampoline table and add a small trampoline table next to each .text section instead
  • Block on VPADRead() while the plugin menu is open by @dkosmari
  • Fake VPADResult when pressing the config menu button combo to avoid error message in some games

Beta-22 2024/07/16

• Fix potential crashs when selecting a quick start title takes more than 30 seconds.
• Add patches to allow usage of /dev/dlp (thanks @DaniElectra).

Beta-21 2024/07/07

• Avoid/reduce screen corruption when booting into Aroma.
• Close the quick start menu on the gamepad if not autobooting into an environment.
• Make quick starting titles more consistent if selecting the titles takes longer than 5-10 seconds.
• Launching title via the quick start menu will now show the correct splash screen and play the transition audio.
• Add option to show a custom splash screen on boot. It will be loaded from sd:/wiiu/environments/aroma/splash.png. Recommended resolution is 1280x720 or 1920x1080
• Make config menu opening a bit more stable.
• Fix opening the config menu with Motion Plus controllers in certain scenarios (thanks @Andrew1Hawes).
• Use steady/monotonic clock for the timers in NotificationModule (thanks @dkosmari).
• Mocha: add DLP permission group to homebrew titles.
• Fix booting into vWII HBC from AutobootModule.

Beta-20 2024/05/11

• Fix displaying the config menu when using 480i + 4:3 or 576i as output resolution.
• Add "saving config" screen to the config menu.
• Actually save the OTP to otp.bin instead of opt.bin.
• Never show region free language select screen for Health and Safety Information, this avoids the splash screen when booting the console with disabled auto-detection.

Beta-10 2024/05/09

• Avoid loading the modules/plugins twice after a IOSU reload.
• Fix save game redirection for certain persistent ids (fixes Wii U icons order for these users).
• Automatically save a OTP and SEEPROM dump to the sd card at the first launch
• Fixed potential crashes that could rarely happen when loading a setup module.

Beta-18 2024/05/08

• Fixed loading Nanddumper via the PayloadLoaderPayload.
• The Plugins in the config menu will now be sorted by name.

Beta-17 2024/05/07

• Recompiled almost everything with latest wut, devkitppc, wums/wups.
• Refactored the EnvironmentLoader and CustomRPXLoader to initialize the WUMS module earlier.
  • This means we have access to all modules/plugins in other setup modules.
• Add option to (un)block updates from the boot selector or update block warning screen.
• Aroma now bundles the payload loader installer.
• It's now possible to use the Health & Safety application.
• Patch the Cafe OS FAT32 driver to improve readdir and stat performance. (Thanks: @GaryOderNichts)
• Disable access to some raw devices for unlocked clients to avoid sd corruption.
• Rewrote config and storage API (existing plugins are still compatible)
  • All Aroma plugins have been updated to use the new config and storage api.
• Rewrote the plugin config menu.
  • Plugins can now have nested categories.
  • Plugins without configuration are shown in the config menu.
• Display error notifications when plugin loading fails.
• Corrupt configs are now automatically detected and deleted.
  • Only redirect the save directory of the current user to keep the IconDatabase synced with the console.
• Plugin configs are only written to the sd card if they have actually changed.
• Fix config menu control with Wiimote/Pro controller in certain games (e.g. Shovel Knight).
• Implement RL_GetPathOfSaveRedirection for the RPXLoadingModule to get the current homebrew /vol/save redirection directory.
• Notifications will be queued until they can be rendered.
• Added support for notifications that can survive application changes until they are rendered.
• Fixed quitting the software transfer application.
• Fixed content redirection for titles that use "wb" mode to open files.
• Refactored RPX loading logic to be more robust.
• Abort the Quick Start menu after ~120 seconds.
• Fixed replacement function that used r11 in its first instruction.
• By default patch loader.elf to spit out less warnings when loading .rpx built with wut.
• Improve the button combo detection in the PayloadLoaderPayload.
• Avoid exploiting the iosu when mocha is already running.
• Fixed launch of quickstart settings from the quickstart menu.
• Added initial support for loading homebrew from the Quick Start Menu.
  • Note: Currently there is no way to actually set homebrew titles to the Quick Start Menu.

Beta-16 2023/07/31

• Fixed booting:
  • DuckTales: Remastered.
  • Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.
  • Shantae: Risky's Revenge Director's Cut.
  • Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know!.
  • The Smurfs™ 2.
• Fixed a bug which made exiting Othello extremely slow.

Beta-15 2023/07/24

• Recompiled everything with latest wut, devkitppc, wums/wups to improve stability and stop softlocking on FS errors.
• Implemented support for pairing controller and GamePads in Autoboot Module.
• Implemented support for using a Wiimote or Pro Controller in Autoboot Module (Button combos for opening these menus only works on the GamePad).
• Fixed loading .rpl files from the sd card.
• Always avoid "close app" confirmation when launching homebrew.
• CURLWrapperModule is now using curl 8.0.1.
• Log the module version for more modules at each application start.

Beta-14 2023/04/03

• Fixed loading the correct account when selecting the Wii U Menu or an applet in quick start menu.
• Adjusted behaviour when booting discs from the quick start menu to match the Wii U Menu.
• Fixed Wii U Menu save redirection for other accounts than the main account.
• Changed Wii U Menu save redirection path to include the consoles serial number.

Beta-13 2023/03/29

• Fixed starting several games/apps via the quick start menu (e.g. Rayman Legend, Star Fox Zero, Minecraft and Youtube).
• Stopped displaying the "write lock" error when no sd card was inserted.

Beta-12 2023/03/23

Fixes:

• Fixed some rare cases where exiting an application would result in a crash.
• Fixed joining games via the Friendlist.
• Fixed possible crashes which could happen when navigating the WUPS Config Menu.
• Fixed displaying all titles in the Daily Log. (The Wii U Menu save redirection is now supported in all apps, not just the Wii U Menu).
• Fixed crashing when inserting/removing the sd card in applets while the Wii U Menu is running.
• Fixed connecting to a 3DS in Mii Maker.

New features:

• Added support for loading .rpl files via OSDynload_Acquire from the sd card. OSDynload_Acquire("~/wiiu/libs/test.rpl", &handle) will try to load sd:/wiiu/libs/test.rpl.
• Added an option to hide all .rpx from the Wii U Menu.
• Added support for sd:/wiiu/apps/.ignore which can be used to hide homebrew apps from the Wii U Menu.
• Added a error notification when Aroma is booted with an write-locked sd card.

Other:

• Renamed the config item to "Hide all homebrew" if no homebrew_launcher.wuhb exists on the sd card to avoid confusion about the existence of a homebrew launcher for Aroma.

Beta 11 2023/02/20

• Updated Mocha to add DK_PCHAR support to /dev/iosuhax, which is needed for the gdbstub plugin (thanks @GaryOderNichts ).
• Updated the RPXLoadingModule API to support getting the path of the currently running executable.
• Updated the WiiUPluginBackend API to support getting more information about the running plugins.
• Fixed a few small bugs in the MemoryMappingModule.

Beta-10b 2023/01/27

• Updated the Aroma Updater to fix updating itself and selecting packages on page 2.
• To update to this version you have to copy paste the files manually. The Aroma Updater won't work < Aroma Beta 10b.

Beta-10 2023/01/27

• Updated the Aroma Updater to provide more information on error, support updating when not running in "aroma" environment.
• Added the Notification Module to add support for simple Notifications.
• Added the CURLWrapperModule to provide a way to use curl with latest CA Carts without bloating binary sizes.
• Added the Aroma Base Plugin which checks for updates on each boot and provides basic patches for the Wii U Menu.

Beta-9 2023/01/18

• Added the Aroma Updater to Aroma.

Beta-8 2023/1/14

• Fixed a crash that happened when "Don't show this again" on the update warning was selected.
• Fixed a disc error that appeared when opening the electronic manual of an out-of-region title.

Release notes.

External links

• Official website - https://aroma.foryour.cafe/
• Author's website - https://maschell.github.io/homebrew/2022/09/05/aroma.html
• Wii U Hacks Guide - https://wiiu.hacks.guide/
• GitHub - https://github.com/wiiu-env/Aroma/
• GBAtemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-aroma-environment-for-wii-u.618474/
• GBAtemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/boot2vwii-channel-tutorial-wii-u-aroma.658045/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/MaschellDev