# First Bricked Wii U Reported



## Gahars (Nov 18, 2012)

*The More U Know*​ 
The Wii U, a brand new console, launched last night in the United States... and so here come the inevitable launch day headaches.


> *The Wii U will brick if you shut it down during an ongoing firmware update.*
> 
> Ben Fritz, Film business reporter for Latimes, has bricked his Wii U without playing a single game. The reason? Shutting down the system during an update.
> 
> ...The Wii U firmware update is 5 GB in size and adds the Nintendo Network to the console. Weird way to install a required service, but hey, it’s Nintendo.







Gaming Vogue

So yeah. That firmware update may be ridiculously huge and long, but you'll have to make the commitment; otherwise, you're going to being spending a lot of time with Nintendo's Customer Service.

Believe me, it will make all the difference between having a console, and being consoled.


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## Foxi4 (Nov 18, 2012)

*> Console bricks when shut down during a firmware update*

In other news, the sun rises in the east, everybody!


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## raulpica (Nov 18, 2012)

Not turning off during an update is a thing which has been known for years, and I'm sure the system also warns you massively against doing it (the Wii did that).

How can someone be so foolish to still do it? This guy totally deserved it.


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## Dork (Nov 18, 2012)

Who the fuck shuts their console down during a firmware update, especially one as important as that? He probably deserved that brick anyway.


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## emmanu888 (Nov 18, 2012)

What the heck ?! A 5GB update ?! I mean just for the PS3 its not that big, oh my god 5GB that's just crazy !


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## chinboogie (Nov 18, 2012)

And when did it became a good move to turn it of during a update?


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

I saw someone else saying it crashed and he had the ability to continue where it left off, so maybe he just got unlucky? Ah, I found it in a comment on Kotaku:


> I've got my retail Wii U a few hours ago, Guam time. Looks like a really long download. It failed once, but resumed where it was before the crash


http://kotaku.com/5961522/wii-us-firmware-update-hitting-right-now?post=54395312


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## Foxi4 (Nov 18, 2012)

Arras said:


> I saw someone else saying it crashed and he had the ability to continue where it left off, so maybe he just got unlucky? Ah, I found it in a comment on Kotaku:
> 
> http://kotaku.com/5961522/wii-us-firmware-update-hitting-right-now?post=54395312


A failed download does not equal a failed update - this guy had its update downloaded and shut down the console, which is inexcusable unless he just suffered from a power shortage.


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## porkiewpyne (Nov 18, 2012)

LOL Sometimes common sense just isn't all that common anymore :S


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## Armadillo (Nov 18, 2012)

I don't understand why they don't put some kind of  fail-safe on the console. Nice bit of code tucked away that doesn't get written to, failed firmware update and it falls back and asks for usb stick or similar with the update on it. Something like bootmii, but automatic. Sure turning off during an update is stupid, but people do stupid things.


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## Snailface (Nov 18, 2012)

He must have unplugged during the installation of the firmware, not the long download part. This guy also quotes the silly Geff Keighley "5 Gig update" claim.

Mainstream game media for the lol.


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

Armadillo said:


> I don't understand why they don't put some kind of fail-safe on the console. Nice bit of code tucked away that doesn't get written to, failed firmware update and it falls back and asks for usb stick or similar with the update on it. Something like bootmii, but automatic. Sure turning off during an update is stupid, but people do stupid things.


Security. If you can update your boot code you can fix flaws, That being said, they could've implemented a system where it stores the recovery section twice or thrice and overwrites them one by one, but whatever. There might even be a special way to recover it that only Ninty knows about.


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## Foxi4 (Nov 18, 2012)

Armadillo said:


> I don't understand why they don't put some kind of fail-safe on the console. Nice bit of code tucked away that doesn't get written to, failed firmware update and it falls back and asks for usb stick or similar with the update on it. Something like bootmii, but automatic. Sure turning off during an update is stupid, but people do stupid things.


Everything depends on how much you can cut down the firmware - the "fail safe" would have to take a minimal amount of space while not restricting update functionality. If that portion of the OS is huge or for some reason cannot work by itself, this may or may not be feasable.


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## indask8 (Nov 18, 2012)

Did the brick happened once the upgrade finished downloading and actually started to be applied.

Or does it starts as soon as it start downloading? If so, that's quite stupid from nintendo, what about a power outage? And still no user friendly recovery?


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## Fear Zoa (Nov 18, 2012)

And here I was thinking someone tried something really stupid while trying to hack the thing, but nope just a guy who wasn't very smart. I know the wii tells you to do a lot of stupid things but when it tells you not to turn it off you best listen.


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## Deleted_171835 (Nov 18, 2012)

well no shit.

If you shut down your system while it's downloading an update, you're going to mess something up. And the update isn't 5GB. This isn't really notable enough news.


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 18, 2012)

If you read what he said the guys an idiot

"I only waited 15 mins but that's the pace it was going at on the progress bar. And there was no "cancel" option."

so he powered it off LOL
what a retard

also hes claiming it was 5GB
really 5GB in 15min is impressive because I'm sure the Nintendo servers aren't busy at the moment and it would have had to have actively been flashing to console if it's now bricked

now he's complaining that the signal on them is bad because his remote pad won't connect




WELL DUH! if the firmware is dud then it has got corrupted files


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## Clarky (Nov 18, 2012)

muppets at large I see


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## Rockhoundhigh (Nov 18, 2012)

Well, no shit. I bet someone got a little too impatient.


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## Snailface (Nov 18, 2012)

soulx said:


> well no shit.
> 
> If you shut down your system while it's downloading an update, you're going to mess something up. And the update isn't 5GB. This isn't really notable enough news.


I don't know of any device that can brick during a firmware *download* , unless the thing is installing while its downloading -- which would be stupid of Nintendo (not unprecedented).

Seriously, the download can be an entire afternoon for someone with DSL. A simultaneous download/install is just too risky for a process that drawn out.


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## Gahars (Nov 18, 2012)

soulx said:


> And the update isn't 5GB.


 
All the sites I've seen discussing the Wii U mention that the size of the update is 5 GB. Is there some confusion on the matter or what?

Also, I suggest we use this for all Wii U-related technical threads:


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## loco365 (Nov 18, 2012)

Well, if the update is 5GB, you'd better pray to god you don't have a data cap.


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

Someone should just use a PC/router to check the amount of traffic actually going through while downloading the update. I highly doubt it's actually 5GB considering the 8GB internal memory of the Basic version.


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## Snailface (Nov 18, 2012)

Gahars said:


> All the sites I've seen discussing the Wii U mention that the size of the update is 5 GB. Is their some confusion on the matter or what?
> 
> Also, I suggest we use this for all Wii U-related technical threads:


That rumor was probably started because the WiiU 8gig only has 3 GB free after update installation.

Of course the unpacked download could actually be around 5 GB(a Nintendo direct did say it was 4.2GB), but it is actually only around 1.5 GBs packed during the download. That's still an enormous update.


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## weavile001 (Nov 18, 2012)

I turned off my wii 3 times while doing an update and it never had any problems.


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## Guild McCommunist (Nov 18, 2012)

The download files could be 5GB but perhaps the actual install is smaller.

Also welcome to the world of horrible internal storage capacity.


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## emigre (Nov 18, 2012)

I laughed when I read the thread title.


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## Foxi4 (Nov 18, 2012)

Gahars said:


> _...the more U know..._


_...and knowing is half the battle! _


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 18, 2012)

heres the current top WiiU played game


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## PizzaPino (Nov 18, 2012)

on some stream 2 guys just turned it off during the update and it turned back on just fine. probably during the download and not while the update was applied.


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

It probably doesn't really say whether it's currently downloading or applying like the 3DS, which is annoying.


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## Guild McCommunist (Nov 18, 2012)

The "U" in Wii U stands for "Updating..."


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## Deleted_171835 (Nov 18, 2012)

Snailface said:


> I don't know of any device that can brick during a firmware *download* , unless the thing is installing while its downloading -- which would be stupid.
> 
> Seriously, the download can be an entire afternoon for someone with DSL. A simultaneous download/install is just too risky for a process that drawn out.


Perhaps it already finished downloading and was installing. It won't specify between the two. Regardless, shutting down a system while it's in the process of updating is fucking stupid.


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## Bladexdsl (Nov 18, 2012)

> Ben Fritz, Film business reporter for Latimes, has bricked his Wii U without playing a single game. The reason? Shutting down the system during an update.
> 
> *The Wii U will brick if you shut it down during an ongoing firmware update.*


 





what a dumbass that guy is!


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## gamefan5 (Nov 18, 2012)

Most retarded move I've ever heard in gamingdom. 
Bricked wiiu because he shut down while updating, well no shit sherlock.


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## Cyan (Nov 18, 2012)

1GB packed (3h download for me), is really big for a console's update.

If it's using the same Wii and 3DS system, it's not really downloading a full big firmware file but multiple files to replace only the modified ones. (but it doesn't change anything for the end user).

Edit:
They could have made a background download.
For three hours, you'll see a progress bar while eagerly waiting to play your game. at least, they could make a mini game on the gamepad while downloading.


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 18, 2012)

I've decided to make this thread for system updates 
http://gbatemp.net/threads/firmware-update-compilation-thread-wiiu.337700/


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## Satangel (Nov 18, 2012)

Dumbass doesn't deserve better I reckon. It's a bit of a shame, but this is just something that happens every day, every where. People shut down their consoles/PC's every day during updates.


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## Clarky (Nov 18, 2012)

right, so who wants to issue this to the ex-wii u owner?


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## Fluto (Nov 18, 2012)

Wait.... 
5 Gb for the first update? 
That leaves 3Gb to the people with an 8gb wii u. 
That could mean that all of the updates put together must be under 8gb.


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## wrettcaughn (Nov 18, 2012)

soulx said:


> well no shit.  This isn't really notable enough news.


irony.

and not the Alanis Morrisette kind...


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## Foxi4 (Nov 18, 2012)

mezut360 said:


> Wait....
> 5 Gb for the first update?
> That leaves 3Gb to the people with an 8gb wii u.
> That could mean that all of the updates put together must be under 8gb.


_-snip!-_

Nevermind - you were right. Damn, that's one big firmware.


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## Guild McCommunist (Nov 18, 2012)

Old8oy said:


> irony.
> 
> and not the Alanis Morrisette kind...


 
Well I'm sure there's some good advice that he just didn't take.


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## MelodieOctavia (Nov 18, 2012)

Well, I didn't know they were selling Wii-Us to trained chimps, but I suppose anything is possible this day and age.


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## Gnargle (Nov 18, 2012)

He turned his console off during a firmware update? I'm just going to put that in his terms
HURR DURR I DONT EVN COMPUTE HURR KILL ME I AM RETARD


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 18, 2012)

I made this for you guys so you would understand


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## wrettcaughn (Nov 18, 2012)

Pong20302000 said:


> I made this for you guys so you would understand


 
you left out an apostraphe in "Twitter's"
completely ruined the moment...


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 18, 2012)

Old8oy said:


> you left out an apostraphe in "Twitter's"
> completely ruined the moment...


 
lol, edits picture to make your comment invalid


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

Pong20302000 said:


> lol, edits picture to make your comment invalid


A 5GB *file* to download or "a 5GB download". Ruined the moment.


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 18, 2012)

Arras said:


> A 5GB *file* to download or "a 5GB download". Ruined the moment.


 
It's not a file tho  it's multiple things


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

Pong20302000 said:


> It's not a file tho  it's multiple things


Well whatever it is it certainly isn't a "5GB".


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## wrettcaughn (Nov 18, 2012)

Arras said:


> Well whatever it is it certainly isn't a "5GB".


I think we may have another edit incoming...


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

Old8oy said:


> I think we may have another edit incoming...


Actually there's a third (obvious) mistake I'm keeping quiet about just because I'm a dick and want to see a third edit 
Or is there...?


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## emigre (Nov 18, 2012)

Pong20302000 said:


> I made this for you guys so you would understand
> STAR WARS IS 5GB


 
The humour just flows naturally and not at all forced.


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## wrettcaughn (Nov 18, 2012)

emigre said:


> The humour just flows naturally and not at all forced.


aren't there enough hate threads about you trolling, emigre? you're a glutton for punishment...


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## Arras (Nov 18, 2012)

emigre said:


> The humour just flows naturally and not at all forced.


Totally fits the source material as well.


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## emigre (Nov 18, 2012)

Old8oy said:


> aren't there enough hate threads about you trolling, emigre? you're a glutton for punishment...


 
I'm not trolling, I'm telling the truth. Albeit a artificially constructed truth based on fiction but that doesn't stop it being the truth.


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## Guild McCommunist (Nov 18, 2012)

emigre said:


> The humour just flows naturally and not at all *forced.*


 
Not sure if pun or just coincidence.


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## the_randomizer (Nov 18, 2012)

And I thought I was impatient.


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## jakeyjake (Nov 19, 2012)

What if someone had a power outage while downloading it?  Maybe this guy is an idiot, but sometimes it's inevitable that something will turn off.  With hand held systems, at least you have a battery that you can back up with a power plug.  On consoles, there is no battery.


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## ComeTurismO (Nov 19, 2012)

I thought this was in the EoF, so I was going to post it a .gif.
Well LOL! That guy deserved it for sure.


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## GameWinner (Nov 19, 2012)

Wow, now the thing is an expensive paperweight!
And he only had it for what, like a few hours maybe?


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## kirbymaster101 (Nov 19, 2012)

I don't get it. If ps3 has a fail safe why cant the wii u have one? Also does the WiiU support firmware off usb?


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## Clarky (Nov 19, 2012)

kirbymaster101 said:


> I don't get it. If ps3 has a fail safe why cant the wii u have one? Also does the WiiU support firmware off usb?


nobody knows if there is or isnt one yet. we are all just laughing at the muppet who ruined his toy and cried to the internet about it. as for the firmware off usb, that doesn't sound like the nintendo I know, if anything they would rather do updates for the console on games discs than allow you to do it via usb.


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## ShadowSoldier (Nov 19, 2012)

Weird, I thought I was having troubles or something because nothing was downloading. I tried shutting it off and holding in buttons but nothing was working. This guy must have completely unplugged his WiiU.


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## DSGamer64 (Nov 19, 2012)

No wonder that fucking update took so god damn long. 5GB? Thanks for raping my bandwidth use Nintendo!


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## Pleng (Nov 19, 2012)

For all you people calling the guy a dumbarse and he deserves what he has coming to him then, yea, while it's not the smartest thing to do, and theoretically you shouldn't turn your console off during an update, the console still should be built to generally survive the process.

I'm sure you all live in places where power is relatively stable, but even then you can never be guaranteed you wont have a power outage, or something trip your circuit breaker while an update is happening. And this sounds like a pretty big update, so I'm guessing it takes a while to apply.


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## Zetta_x (Nov 19, 2012)

Hey guys, I bricked my wii U, I only smashed it to pieces but it won't turn on anymore.


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## FireGrey (Nov 19, 2012)

Armadillo said:


> I don't understand why they don't put some kind of fail-safe on the console. Nice bit of code tucked away that doesn't get written to, failed firmware update and it falls back and asks for usb stick or similar with the update on it. Something like bootmii, but automatic. Sure turning off during an update is stupid, but people do stupid things.


If people find an exploit and Nintendo make an update to stop that exploit, what's not to say that people will just us that feature then?


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## Vampire Lied (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh, first recorded moron with a self made Wii u brick.
More will follow, I'm sure. Nothing to see here.


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## air2004 (Nov 19, 2012)

porkiewpyne said:


> LOL Sometimes common sense just isn't all that common anymore :S


 
Sadly , His sense is all to common 



Foxi4 said:


> _...and knowing is half the battle! _


G.I. JOE



Guild McCommunist said:


> Well I'm sure there's some good advice that he just didn't take.


 
Who would've thought, it figures



Pong20302000 said:


> I made this for you guys so you would understand


 

Use the The *Schwartz *


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## mori123 (Nov 19, 2012)

I had no problem waiting but the Wii U was not precisely clear on its update and I could see the uninitiated totally not understanding. I imagine Nintendo will Just repair it inhouse and ship it back. It is not hard for them to flash the system even " bricked"; they have the equipment and access.. we do not.


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## Bladexdsl (Nov 19, 2012)

glad I'm getting mine later, the update will be pre-installed by then


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## SickPuppy (Nov 19, 2012)

What about the 5GB update, won't that eat up just about all the internal memory of the basic edition Wii U 8GB, not leaving very much memory for other stuff like downloads, game saves, game updates, and worst of all, mandatory system updates.


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 19, 2012)

SickPuppy said:


> What about the 5GB update, won't that eat up just about all the internal memory of the basic edition Wii U 8GB, not leaving very much memory for other stuff like downloads, game saves, game updates, and worst of all, mandatory system updates.


 
it was already 5GB due to its the allocated space for it
its not using all of it currently but it saves to space for later

the idea is on the basic the 3GB left is for saves
and you plug in up to a 2TB drive for downloaded games


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## SickPuppy (Nov 19, 2012)

Pong20302000 said:


> it was already 5GB due to its the allocated space for it
> its not using all of it currently but it saves to space for later
> 
> the idea is on the basic the 3GB left is for saves
> and you plug in up to a 2TB drive for downloaded games


 
I hope that Wii U games aren't like that for PS3, I know I've installed a lot of stuff to my internal HDD just from game discs alone installing game data, and my 360 internal 4GB is nearly used up too. Internal memory is cheap anymore, there is no reason there isn't at least 64GB or 128GB internal. Two years ago I paid $38 for a brand spanking new 320GB usb hdd. For Nintendo to use up more than half the internal memory of a Wii U for a system update is not good, what are future updates going to be like?


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## DiscostewSM (Nov 19, 2012)

Pong20302000 said:


> it was already 5GB due to its the allocated space for it
> its not using all of it currently but it saves to space for later
> 
> the idea is on the basic the 3GB left is for saves
> and you plug in up to a 2TB drive for downloaded games


 

That sounds about right, just because if there had not been a day 1 update, and people had downloaded stuff into the internal storage to fill it up, then any updates could not be done without deleting some content. Basically, the system reserves a set amount, and reuses that allocated storage for all system updates, never to be used for anything else but the system.


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## Qtis (Nov 19, 2012)

jakeyjake said:


> What if someone had a power outage while downloading it? Maybe this guy is an idiot, but sometimes it's inevitable that something will turn off. With hand held systems, at least you have a batter that you can back up with a power plug. On consoles, there is no battery.


Obvious solution would be an UPS, but as some have said before, it's odd that there is no protection for power outages regarding the console à la BootMii.


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## Taleweaver (Nov 19, 2012)

5 Gigabytes? What the hell is in that firmware update that it takes* ten times the TOTAL storage of the wii*? 


This is totally ripping off everyone with a basic wiiu. Either all the other firmware updates will be small patches that barely exceed a couple megabytes, which means that nintendo deliberately stripped the firmware to make it look like the storage of the things were higher than they were (ouch).
...or this next-gen thing means that all the firmware updates will be a sort of bloatware, which means that the basic version will be pretty useless in a couple months (ouch again).


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## Rydian (Nov 19, 2012)

Pleng said:


> the console still should be built to generally survive the process.


The PSP doesn't, the DS doesn't, most computer motherboards don't...


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## Engert (Nov 19, 2012)

5GB update?
WTF?


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## BORTZ (Nov 19, 2012)

This reminds me of the whole "xbox 360 scratches disks if the console is moved while reading the disk" No friggin duh.


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## ferofax (Nov 20, 2012)

Pleng said:


> For all you people calling the guy a dumbarse and he deserves what he has coming to him then, yea, while it's not the smartest thing to do, and theoretically you shouldn't turn your console off during an update, the console still should be built to generally survive the process.
> 
> I'm sure you all live in places where power is relatively stable, but even then you can never be guaranteed you wont have a power outage, or something trip your circuit breaker while an update is happening. And this sounds like a pretty big update, so I'm guessing it takes a while to apply.


From what I know and currently remember, there is no device that exists that can survive a firmware update/flashing interruption, especially if it's the power that's interrupted (unless there's a device out there I do not know of that has some sort of sub-firmware that can take over while the main is being updated/flashed). I could totally be wrong though, so feel free to correct me. 

Anyways, this is why firmware updates come with tons of warning messages and popups that tell you to connect to AC. It just so happens that most people don't actally pay any attention to these messages and just mash the button.


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## Rydian (Nov 20, 2012)

ferofax said:


> From what I know and currently remember, there is no device that exists that can survive a firmware update/flashing interruption, especially if it's the power that's interrupted (unless there's a device out there I do not know of that has some sort of sub-firmware that can take over while the main is being updated/flashed). I could totally be wrong though, so feel free to correct me.
> 
> Anyways, this is why firmware updates come with tons of warning messages and popups that tell you to connect to AC. It just so happens that most people don't actally pay any attention to these messages and just mash the button.


Higher-end devices (read: more expensive motherboard designs) can have two NVRAM segments and only one is updated at a time, if the motherboard detects that it won't boot properly (won't boot at all, or the proper return code isn't sent within a time) it overwrites that one that tried to boot with the backup.

That's the basic idea, at least.  The actual implementation varies.


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## Valwin (Nov 20, 2012)

really really ? are we this desperate for bad news about the wiiu that we would take anything ? i mean cmon


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## Rydian (Nov 20, 2012)

Valwin said:


> really really ? are we this desperate for bat news about the wiiu that we would take anything ? i mean cmon


... coming from _you_?

Jesus christ, did somebody put LSD in my water bowl or something?  Am I reading that right?


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## Guild McCommunist (Nov 20, 2012)

Rydian said:


> ... coming from _you_?
> 
> Jesus christ, did somebody put LSD in my water bowl or something? Am I reading that right?


 
Why do you have a bowl of water.

oh god really. really.


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## Valwin (Nov 20, 2012)

Rydian said:


> ... coming from _you_?
> 
> Jesus christ, did somebody put LSD in my water bowl or something? Am I reading that right?


 
I know; there's a limit even for me. Anyway why is this news?


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## Rydian (Nov 20, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Why do you have a bowl of water.
> 
> oh god really. really.


Considering I accused somebody on _an online forum_ of giving me _LSD_, that's obviously a joke.


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 20, 2012)

Engert said:


> 5GB update?
> WTF?


 
because people fail to read it's not a 5GB update -_-
it's that size expanded because that's the OS portion taken up
it's already allocated even before the update also

I said it was 1GB, but its more close to 1.5gb than 1GB, dam MB maths and closeness
but yeah 1.5GB inst that much these days, its about 2 movies being streamed


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## crediar (Nov 20, 2012)

The update is around 1GB, we can see what tiles were updated and how large they are.

Also nintendo's .wad system doesn't support any kind of compression, so it can't expand to 5GB either.

Many people say you are stupid for turning your console off during an update and that OBVIOUSLY it bricks but actually I think Nintendo is at fault here too.
You pay a heft sum of money and you can expect some kind of solid system and it really isn't that hard to make not brick during an update, but iirc Nintendo already made mistakes in the Wii update progress and maybe just ported them over.

http://hackmii.com/2009/11/updates-and-bricking/


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## Rydian (Nov 20, 2012)

crediar said:


> The update is around 1GB, we can see what tiles were updated and how large they are.
> 
> Also nintendo's .wad system doesn't support any kind of compression, so it can't expand to 5GB either.
> 
> ...


You haven't tried turning off the power on many devices during a firmware update, have you?

The PSP, the DSi, most phones and portable android devices, iOS devices, *most laptops and desktops*...

NOT bricking if power is cut during a firmware flash is THE EXCEPTION.


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