Hardware Wii U Blue Light of Death (BLOD)?

[Romag]

Hi,
I was recently given a Wii U black 32GB console which seems to have the BLOD. When powered on the DVD drive cycles and the fan spins, the red light turns blue but it just flashes constantly and there is no video output to HDMI or component. I've searched several forums and can see many people have had this problem and the answer was always to return to Nintendo for service. A local console repairer claims to be able to fix it so I assume it's repairable but cannot find any clear info. I don't have a gamepad with it, just the console, can anyone help?

 

[drewby]

What's wrong with sending it in to Nintendo? If people are suggesting it, I would go ahead and just send it. They will probably back up your data too if your issue isn't your hard drive.

Also wondering, is your Wii U homebrewed? If so, could be an issue with a title you tried to install.

 

[EmanueleBGN]

Also, if it has an Homebrew (on Wii or Wii U menu) Nintendo will not repair it

 

[drewby]

Also, if it has an Homebrew (on Wii or Wii U menu) Nintendo will not repair it

They repaired mine when I broke it using Homebrew. Just had to send it in twice

 

[EmanueleBGN]

They repaired mine when I broke it using Homebrew. Just had to send it in twice

Oh wow... strange...
Good for you, but with its recent "war against piracy" (I mean: 3DS bans, 11.4 fw...) I don't know if he will be as lucky as you

 

[Romag]

I have no idea if it has Homebrew installed, it was given to me faulty. I doubt Nintendo would touch this console anyway as it looks like it's already been opened. I appreciate the replies but what I'm trying to find out is if anyone knows about the root cause of this fault and a possible diy fix. I've seen a few posts on other sites from people living in countries that don't have nintendo service centers and with the console now being end of life I'm guessing not many would want to pay to have it repaired out of warranty and would probably put the money towards a new Switch. If a diy fix is possible I'm sure it would help squeeze more life out of a lot of these consoles and save them from landfill for a bit longer. I've been trouble-shooting mine as time permits, if I have any luck I'd be happy to share my findings but would prefer not to 're-invent the wheel' if someone already knows about this problem. Cheers

 

[testerfan]

it's an APU failure, the same problem as on PS4 (BLOD), you would have to reball and reflow the APU, not sure if anyone does that for Wii U, because you can't get stencils for the Wii U chip to do the proper reballing

 

[Romag]

I have no idea if it has Homebrew installed, it was given to me faulty. I doubt Nintendo would touch this console anyway as it looks like it's already been opened. I appreciate the replies but what I'm trying to find out is if anyone knows about the root cause of this fault and a possible diy fix. I've seen a few posts on other sites from people living in countries that don't have nintendo service centers and with the console now being end of life I'm guessing not many would want to pay to have it repaired out of warranty and would probably put the money towards a new Switch. If a diy fix is possible I'm sure it would help squeeze more life out of a lot of these consoles and save them from landfill for a bit longer. I've been trouble-shooting mine as time permits, if I have any luck I'd be happy to share my findings but would prefer not to 're-invent the wheel' if someone already knows about this problem. Cheers

it's an APU failure, the same problem as on PS4 (BLOD), you would have to reball and reflow the APU, not sure if anyone does that for Wii U, because you can't get stencils for the Wii U chip to do the proper reballing

Thanks for the info, have you managed to successfully revive any yourself with a reflow? I have two other dead consoles that came to me in a batch that looked like someone had attempted to reflow (probably with a heat gun), there were small bubbles in the silicone of the actual APU chip.

 

[Razor83]

it's an APU failure, the same problem as on PS4 (BLOD), you would have to reball and reflow the APU, not sure if anyone does that for Wii U, because you can't get stencils for the Wii U chip to do the proper reballing

Whilst it could be an APU failure, a blinking blue LED can also be a bootloader/software issue. According to the Wii U SDK, the CAT-R (Dev version of a retail Wii U) can have the following LED status:-

Its a shame there's no way to retrieve a secondary error code (Like the Xbox 360) to get a more specific fault diagnosis.

 

[Romag]

Thanks Razor83, that's very useful info, are you aware of any way to repair this without nand backups? Am I right in assuming that the bootloader resides on the TSOP NAND?

 

[Razor83]

Thanks Razor83, that's very useful info, are you aware of any way to repair this without nand backups? Am I right in assuming that the bootloader resides on the TSOP NAND?

Well boot1 resides on the SLC NAND:-
http://wiiubrew.org/wiki/Boot1
Its possible to dump the SLC with a hardmod:-
http://wiiubrew.org/wiki/Hardware/TSOP_NAND
However unless you have already obtained the OTP before the error occured, I dont think there is any way you could decrypt the image

Other than attempting to reflow the APU/NAND etc and hoping for the best, I think your best hope of being able to repair it (Or at least identifying the actual issue) is if Wii U boot1hax is ever finished/released:-
http://gbatemp.net/threads/whats-th...ent-cfw-os-editing.482413/page-2#post-7545453
*Hopefully* this would give us full hardware access right after boot, much like NTRboot hax for 3DS (However its also possible it could only be installed to a working system, in which case it probably wont help)

 

[Romag]

Thanks again Razor83, i might try a reflow first just to rule that out, if that doesn't work I'll moth ball it until boot1hax is released (if ever). You mentioned reflowing APU/NAND, is the eMMC NAND also prone to failure and/or in need of reflow?

 

[Razor83]

Thanks again Razor83, i might try a reflow first just to rule that out, if that doesn't work I'll moth ball it until boot1hax is released (if ever). You mentioned reflowing APU/NAND, is the eMMC NAND also prone to failure and/or in need of reflow?

I dont know for sure that the NAND needs to be reflowed - its just a guess based on the the way Nintendo describes the error as a "failure in the bootloader", which suggests to me that there must be a problem somewhere in the boot process, which is likely similar to the Wii's:-
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Boot_process
Since there are so many points at which the boot process could potentially fail, its hard to know exactly what this means. It could be a software issue (e.g. Vital system files are missing/corrupted) but it could also potentially display the same symptoms if the NAND cant be physically read (e.g. Broken solder connections or damaged/faulty chip) which would also prevent the software from being loaded. I hope that makes sense?

If you have the tools and experience and really want to try and repair this Wii U I would probably first try what @testerfan suggested and reflow the APU (Its actually an MCM, but its not really important) preferably with an infrared rework station. Alternatively just moth ball this Wii U in the hope that at some point in the future boot1hax is released (Or just use it for spare parts to repair other Wii U's!) I'm in a similar situation myself, having a Wii U console with the 160-0103 error code:-
http://gbatemp.net/threads/possible-to-repair-wii-u-system-memory-error-code-160-0103.460359/

 

[Romag]

I dont know for sure that the NAND needs to be reflowed - its just a guess based on the the way Nintendo describes the error as a "failure in the bootloader", which suggests to me that there must be a problem somewhere in the boot process, which is likely similar to the Wii's:-
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Boot_process
Since there are so many points at which the boot process could potentially fail, its hard to know exactly what this means. It could be a software issue (e.g. Vital system files are missing/corrupted) but it could also potentially display the same symtoms if the NAND cant be physically read (e.g. Broken solder connections or damaged/faulty chip) which would also prevent the software from being loaded. I hope that makes sense?

If you have the tools and experience and really want to try and repair this Wii U I would probably first try what @testerfan suggested and reflow the APU (Its actually an MCM, but its not really important) preferably with an infrared rework station. Alternatively just moth ball this Wii U in the hope that at some point in the future boot1hax is released (Or just use it for spare parts to repair other Wii U's!) I'm in a similar situation myself, having a Wii U console with the 160-0103 error code:-
http://gbatemp.net/threads/possible-to-repair-wii-u-system-memory-error-code-160-0103.460359/

Thanks again, I know a local console repairer that has an infrared rework station (he resurrected my PS4 with a reflow and it ran happily until I sold it a year later). I wanted to try and narrow down the potential causes before going down this route (especially after seeing the bubbled chips on the other dead consoles!) He works on a no fix no fee basis so I might ask him to try a reflow... As you said it seems like the only real option at the moment. I asked him about Wii U reflows last week and he said he's only ever done a few Wii Us and it was mainly to replace the gamepad screens. He hasn't tried reflowing one yet so I guess this could be his first chance Cheers for all the help, I'll report back in few days.

 

[daniel26150]

Any news on the reflow? I think I have the same problem

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

I once had a problem of my wii u shutting off on me when i was playing games, the light would flash. I didn't know what was wrong until I inspected it. I noticed that the fan vent in the back was filthy, so i got a duster and dusted it out, then used a electronic air compressor to blow inside the vent a bit, it worked like normal again, no problems since. Maybe you could try that.

 

[Romag]

Any news on the reflow? I think I have the same problem

Not yet, sorry. I left it with a console repairer before going on holidays and haven't had time to pick it up yet, will post back as soon as I do. Cheers

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I once had a problem of my wii u shutting off on me when i was playing games, the light would flash. I didn't know what was wrong until I inspected it. I noticed that the fan vent in the back was filthy, so i got a duster and dusted it out, then used a electronic air compressor to blow inside the vent a bit, it worked like normal again, no problems since. Maybe you could try that.

I clean the whole system inside and out, defo not a dust/heat related problem, thanks anyway.

 

[H0ppus]

Hi dude,

Did you have any luck with your Wii U ?

I'm with a unit showing the same problems as yours and I'm wondering if it is a matter of software or hardware issue.

Thanks.

 

[BattlingNebula]

Not yet, sorry. I left it with a console repairer before going on holidays and haven't had time to pick it up yet, will post back as soon as I do. Cheers

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


I clean the whole system inside and out, defo not a dust/heat related problem, thanks anyway.

Sorry for wayyy late reply, I'm curious
Can you give us any update on your situation?

 

[celioazevedo]

Same issue. Is this a software or a hardware problem?