System-memory error occurs during factory reset

[Damian9303]

I am the original owner of the system, I did mod the system beforehand by installing PayloadLauncher to the Health & Safety app so that I could backup my old data however I knew not to set it to autoboot. Upon choosing to erase everything, it seemed to be working fine until it was interrupted with a message stating that "A system-memory error has occurred. Turn the console off, and then try again," do note that it isn't showing up as a black screen or with an error code but rather as a system message except there's no button to press we can only power off. Doing that, I quickly learn the GamePad is no longer synced to the system and turning on the TV shows it back at where it was before trying again until it grays out presumably to show that same message again. Am I done now? Is there no way to recover from this brick? I am aware of UDPIH's existence, I know it can help pair the GamePad while allowing to dump syslogs and install WUPs for any possibly corrupted system titles but I don't know how I should approach that or whether better options exist. I don't own a modded Switch or Raspberry Pi Pico, I don't mind buying the Pico however I am a little skeptical to just yet until my concerns are answered. I do have NAND dumps however not of the MLC storage because I foolishly did not think it'd be worth it from being told it wasn't as important as the rest.

 

[SDIO]

I home you are still active and I am not just digging up a dead thread.

There might be possibilities to reovery from this brick, but nothing is guaranteed without the MLC backup. The SLC backup is not worth much without the MLC. Things you could do without the pico would be a Hardmod to dump the current MLC and try to fix it with your otp.bin from your backup and wfs-tools. But wfs-tools are very limited and soldering is some effort.

Your best chance is UDPI and if I were in your place I would try that first. If you have that running you should first do a complete NAND backup. And after that is done it would give a door inside the Wii Us file system, so we could try to fix it.

Is your Wii U an ealry 32GB model? Did you get system memory errors before?

 

[Damian9303]

I home you are still active and I am not just digging up a dead thread.

There might be possibilities to reovery from this brick, but nothing is guaranteed without the MLC backup. The SLC backup is not worth much without the MLC. Things you could do without the pico would be a Hardmod to dump the current MLC and try to fix it with your otp.bin from your backup and wfs-tools. But wfs-tools are very limited and soldering is some effort.

Your best chance is UDPI and if I were in your place I would try that first. If you have that running you should first do a complete NAND backup. And after that is done it would give a door inside the Wii Us file system, so we could try to fix it.

Is your Wii U an ealry 32GB model? Did you get system memory errors before?

I just came back from watching a YouTube video in my feed of these systems dying due to not being powered for an excessive amount of time resulting in these NAND chips to corrupt themselves; indeed, it's an early black Deluxe 32GB model (the regular Nintendo Land bundle) that I received new as a Christmas gift in 2013. I think I remember being told of memory issues while trying to copy the saves off my Wii U, none of which were fatal enough to abort the process and result in the infamous black 160-0103 screen, so considering what I found from the few cases I was able to find online from searching select keyterms it would sound as though it might be unable to erase those saves.

Nonetheless, in my situation it does seem imperative to buy the Pico to inject the UDPIH even if not to fix the system immediately, to pair back the original GamePad and dump the MLC like I should have months months ago. Especially since I feel that luckily, the eMMC is in good enough health to where the corrupted bytes may be correctable but to know for sure we'd of course need to see the dumped contents. Either way I'll order it and keep you posted, I took a look at the thread you made on your own experiences and it sounds you dealt a lot worse than I am currently so I appreciate you for taking the time to help out. You mention that Nintendo has replaced these faulty systems as recently as 2020, but unfortunately I remember them discontinuing repairs for their Wii U & 3DS lines of systems that same year (which is understable considering COVID was the same year and the bans on all travel at the time including importation hence chip shortage) so I sadly don't think they'll do it anymore.

 

[SDIO]

For me it started exactly how you describe your case. It all begbun with a corrupted save and from there it was all downhill...
So yes first thing to do is to finally get the NAND Dumps. Then I have to see if we can launch ftpiuu everywhere through UDPIH. I currently don't have access to my Wii U, so I can't try that right now.