Hardware WiiU red flashing light...

[Tokiopop]

In that case you narrowed it down successfully - the HDMI port is shorting or the cable is shot. Do you have a replacement cable? Does it short no matter what cable/which end is in? That, and would you mind trying out the composite connector instead of the HDMI, just for testing purposes?

Composite worked fine with the HDMI cable disconnected. Even with the console set to outputting through composite, if I try turn it on with a HDMI cable connected it wont boot.

 

[Foxi4]

What I don't understand is, why does it work fine if I plug a cable in after the console has booted?

At that point it probably passes the boot time tests and doesn't care anymore or it's just dumb luck and the system doesn't care that some pins are shorting. It is something to worry about though, as HDMI does carry current and shorts like this can cause damage to hardware.

Composite worked fine with the HDMI cable disconnected. Even with the console set to outputting through composite, if I try turn it on with a HDMI cable connected it wont boot.

Well, you know what's broken now. Sad to hear that it is indeed hardware damage. The only thing you can do right now is trying to clean the pins on both the male connector and the socket and hoping that it'll "get better". I doubt this would happen during travel, it's probably a factory defect of the socket itself or accumulated dust.

 

[Tokiopop]

At that point it probably passes the boot time tests and doesn't care anymore or it's just dumb luck and the system doesn't care that some pins are shorting. It is something to worry about though, as HDMI does carry current and shorts like this can cause damage to hardware.

I think he was right. If I hold the HDMI cable upwards whilst it boots, there's no issue. If I don't touch it, red flashing light.

 

[Foxi4]

I think he was right. If I hold the HDMI cable upwards whilst it boots, there's no issue. If I don't touch it, red flashing light.

Uh-huh - it's shorting on the pins then. Fiddle around with the pins, gently (gently!) bend them to shape or use an HDMI cable that fits more snuggly (new ones tend to fit in tightly, used ones are usually flimsy), that's your best bet that doesn't involve soldering in a new port.

 

[Tokiopop]

Uh-huh - it's shorting on the pins then. Fiddle around with the pins, gently (gently!) bend them to shape or use an HDMI cable that fits more snuggly (new ones tend to fit in tightly, used ones are usually flimsy), that's your best bet that doesn't involve soldering in a new port.

About 20s of holding it with a bit of pressure the other way seems to have fixed it. I might wedge something under the cable to stop it from pulling downwards (the console is laid flat at the moment, before it was on the side and I think having the cable run to the TV left of the console did the damage).

Thanks guys! If it fully breaks one day I think I'll just open it up and see how difficult the soldering would be to replace the HDMI port. If it's how I imagine it I'll just give it ago myself rather than sending it off for costly repairs

 

[Foxi4]

About 20s of holding it with a bit of pressure the other way seems to have fixed it. I might wedge something under the cable to stop it from pulling downwards (the console is laid flat at the moment, before it was on the side and I think having the cable run to the TV left of the console did the damage).

Thanks guys! If it fully breaks one day I think I'll just open it up and see how difficult the soldering would be to replace the HDMI port. If it's how I imagine it I'll just give it ago myself rather than sending it off for costly repairs

Using the HDMI port in the console's current state can (in the very rare event) lead to further damage and wedging anything into the port can cause it to bend even more then it's already bent, but do as you please. The safest solution would be to use composite for now, but it looks like ass these days, so I understand your choice. Take care and replace the cable as soon as you can, maybe a brand new one (even a cheap one!) will "fit" better than this one. Best of luck!

 

[Tokiopop]

Using the HDMI port in the console's current state can (in the very rare event) lead to further damage and wedging anything into the port can cause it to bend even more then it's already bent, but do as you please. The safest solution would be to use composite for now, but it looks like ass these days, so I understand your choice. Take care and replace the cable as soon as you can, maybe a brand new one (even a cheap one!) will "fit" better than this one. Best of luck!

I put a bit of blu tac between the table and the HDMI just to keep it where it should be, it's not forcing/bending it as such, just stopping it from hanging down and bending it further

 

[Foxi4]

I put a bit of blu tac between the table and the HDMI just to keep it where it should be, it's not forcing/bending it as such, just stopping it from hanging down and bending it further

Good, good! Here's for hoping that the issue doesn't pop up again. Glad to hear that we could help somehow, even if we didn't really "fix" the problem.

 

[steveroo]

I haven't used my WII U for a couple weeks. Turned on the console and the system shut off after 10minutes of it being on. A red light was flashing off and on and I couldn't power the console back on. I unplugged the console's power and plugged it back in and the system worked for 5-10minutes and same blinking red light appeared. I noticed the WII U was kind of hot. I have my console laying on top of my old WII, un-sure if that is a problem. After googling about the problem I read to use a vacuum http://www.nintendo.com.au/support/files/WiiU_Manuals/Wii_U_Operations_Manual_112013.pdf (page 16) on the air vents. I tried sucking and dust out and the WII U is working. I'll keep the system on for a couple of hours and see if all is better again.

The WII U is used by kids prior to I buying it from the original owner.

 

[Pippin666]

It happened to a friend 2 weeks ago. I went to his house with a screwdriver and open his console, removed to clock battery and voila. But steveroo, your console is over heating for some reason. Find out why.

Pip'

 

[Romag]

Just wanted to add that I've just repaired a 32GB console that was suffering the intermittent flashing red light fault (bought for a few quid off ebay). This one seemed to have a few issues, the HDMI port was quite sensitive, sometimes it would boot fine with a clear image but if you tapped the HDMI cable the colors would distort or the picture would cut out. Powering off an on would trigger the flashing red light fault and it would then need to be unplugged and left for a bit before powering up again (the port looked fine to the naked eye). I re-soldered the HDMI port pins to the board and used a small needle file and isopropyl alcohol to clean each contact pin inside the port (make sure your console is unplugged before doing this!) This solved the dodgy HDMI port issue but I was still getting the flashing red LED fault although it seemed to occur less often.

After swapping out several of the tiny components that sit between the HDMI port and the HDMI IC chip I went for the usual suspect...capacitors. I replaced a row of 4 x 470uf 6.3V capacitors (locations C58, C60, C63 & C66) that sit behind the rear ports and I also replaced a 390uf 2.5V capacitor located at Q1016 (it looked a bit iffy). Since swapping these out it's booted every time and I often unplug/replug the HDMI and power cables in between boot ups. These are surface mount caps so are a bit tricky to replace (depending on your soldering skills) but only cost a few quid for decent Panasonic ones (RS Components) . If it does fail again I'll report back but so far so good :-).

I hope this helps someone anyway, now I have a spare console to test the dodgy stuff that I was too scared to try on my main console ;-).