NPLL

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The System Information screen

NPLL is the Nintendo PowerPC Linux Loader - a bootloader that functions as a universal PowerPC binary, executable on all 3 of Nintendo's PowerPC consoles: the GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. It was created by Techflash to replace the legacy Gumboot, due to its many shortcomings. It is currently the primary bootloader of the Wii-Linux project.

As of October 14th, 2026, NPLL is currently at version v0.6.

Features

• Console support
  • GameCube
  • Wii
  • Wii U
• Environment (what loaded NPLL) support
  • Notes
    • This is a non-exhaustive list, it is quite likely that other loaders work and are not mentioned here
    • Not all loaders support all output binary formats of NPLL, see the README on GitHub for more information
  • GameCube
    • Swiss
  • Wii
    • Homebrew Channel
    • MINI (via BootMii-as-boot2 or -as-IOS, or exploits which load it)
    • NDEV Boot Program
    • Priiloader
    • FOSS Apploader (via System Menu)
    • Installed as TitleID 1-2 (System Menu), loaded by IOS
  • Wii U
    • linux-loader
• Graphics support
  • Flipper/Hollywood Video Interface framebuffer
    • Mode autodetection (similar to libogc homebrew, and official SDK software) from:
      • GameCube:
        • Existing video state
        • IPL ROM
      • Wii:
        • Existing video state
        • SYSCONF and setting.txt from the SFFS
  • Latte R700 framebuffer (both TV and DRC)
• Text console output support
  • Framebuffer text console with multi-framebuffer output support
  • USB Gecko text console over EXI
• Block storage support
  • SD Cards over Hollywood/Latte SDHCI
  • eMMC over Latte SDHCI
  • SD Cards in an SD Gecko over EXI
  • NAND over Hollywood/Latte NAND Interface
  • NROM, DVD-ROM (in compatible drives), and DVD-R (in compatible drives), over DI on the Wii
  • NROM, miniDVD-ROM, and miniDVD-R over DI on the GameCube
  • USB Mass Storage
• Filesystem support
  • FAT + exFAT, via FatFs, on standard storage media
  • ext2/3/4, via lwext4, on standard storage media
  • ISO9660 on optical storage media
  • SFFS on NAND
  • WFS on Wii U eMMC/MLC
• Partition table support
  • MBR
    • Extended partitions
  • GPT
  • Statically defined (e.g. on NAND)
  • No partitions (use whole device)
• Input support
  • Wii front buttons via Hollywood GPIO and Processor Interface
  • Wii U front buttons via Wii U SMC
  • GameCube Controller, GameCube Keyboard, and N64 Controller, via Flipper/Hollywood Serial Interface
  • USB HID Keyboards, via Hollywood/Latte OHCI/EHCI
  • DRH (Wii U GamePad Host) via Latte EHCI
  • Wii Remotes via Hollywood/Latte OHCI
• Executable support
  • Standard ELF executable (incl. Linux zImage)
  • Linux vmlinux
  • Standard DOL executable
  • Wii channel
• Config format support
  • Legacy Gumboot config (gumboot.lst)
  • NPLL config (npll.cfg)
• Return-to-loader stub support
  • GameCube (Swiss-compatible)
  • Wii (HBC-compatible)