Android ‐ Nexus 6 - vanilla-wiiu/vanilla GitHub Wiki

The Nexus 6 (shamu) is an Android phone released in November 2014.

It can be used as a standalone Vanilla device (i.e. no additional hardware required to connect to the Wii U) because it shares the same Wi-Fi chipset as the Nintendo Switch (BCM4356) which had a firmware patch written for it in March 2025.

In order to use Vanilla standalone, your device must be rooted and you must install the firmware patch.

Setup

This tutorial assumes familiarity with the terminal/command prompt.

1. Root your device. This is not a rooting tutorial, but you can follow instructions to root with Magisk here.

2. Patch your device's Wi-Fi firmware:

   • Magisk Module: Assuming you're using Magisk, this is the easiest method.

     1. Download the Magisk BCM4356 module.
     2. Place the .zip file onto the phone.
     3. Open the Magisk app.
     4. Navigate to the "Modules" tab.
     5. Tap "Install from storage".
     6. Browse to where you placed the .zip file.
     7. Long-tap on it until it selects (so the file manager doesn't try to open the .zip file itself) and tap "OPEN" in the top-right corner.
     8. After Magisk has finished installing the module, tap the "Reboot" button.
     9. OPTIONAL: Delete the .zip file on the phone, it is no longer necessary.

     NOTE: The firmware should remain compatible with regular Wi-Fi connections, but if you need to revert the patch for whatever reason, you can disable the module in the Magisk app (don't forget to reboot).

   • Manual: If you aren't using Magisk (or for some reason the module doesn't work), you can replace the system firmware by hand:

     1. Download the patched BCM4356 firmware.
     2. Place the .bin file onto the phone. This tutorial will assume you placed it in /sdcard (the root directory of the internal storage), however you should change the paths in the upcoming commands if you placed it elsewhere.
     3. Using either adb shell or Termux, run the following commands:

        su
        mount -o rw,remount /system
        cp /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin.bak
        mv /sdcard/brcmfmac4356-pcie.bin /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin
        chown root:root /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin
        chmod 0644 /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin
        restorecon /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin
        

     4. Reboot the phone.

     NOTE: The firmware should remain compatible with regular Wi-Fi connections, but if you need to revert the patch for whatever reason, run the following commands (again with either adb shell or Termux) and reboot:

     su
     mount -o rw,remount /system
     mv /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin.bak /system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin
     

3. The phone should now be ready to use Vanilla. Download the .apk from the Releases section and install it.