Oh shit MattKC made a proper Wii U Gamepad software clone for Linux and now I wanna play on my Wii U using the Steam Deck as the Gamepad
Goo Truther 
@hazelnot this is life changing for me. I lost my Gamepad the last time I moved and I haven't had a way to boot it since it loads a homebrew bootloader select on the Gamepad screen. The actual gamepads keep getting more and more expensive!
@thufie I'm glad this helped! My GamePad is still technically functional but some of the buttons don't work anymore so I haven't really been able to use it in a while either
@hazelnot hmm. Not sure I can actually use this. If you installed the gamepad boot-up homebrew that lets you select what to boot into "WiiU Home" or "Wii Menu" or "Homebrew Channel", etc. That menu doesn't show on the TV, and requires something already paired. So I guess to use this I have to factory reset my WiiU (unmod it) and then sync the gamepad, and then remod it, without a Gamepad to actually boot it with...
Doesn't seem that great at saving these from ewaste if they ever had homebrew installed unfortunately. However I might bang my head at it for a while trying to make something work anyways.
@thufie that's also some terrible UX design, partially for this specific reason, partially cause like, why not just show it/make it interactible on the TV too!? I thought everyone hated Wii U stuff that *requires* the Gamepad while only providing menu navigation 😭
@hazelnot I've felt this all day. I will still try though.
@thufie good luck! I hope you can find a way around it!
@thufie ah shit I'm sorry to hear that :(