Shutting Off Wii U During Massive Update Bricks Console
Don't turn off the Wii U during its massive update...
Though the Wii U's only been out for mere days, owners are already reporting problems with bricking their console.
This issue's caused by turning off the Wii U during the middle of a massive update—reported 5 GB according to GTTV's Geoff Keighley—required to access all of the Wii U's online content. Considering that this update would take most anywhere from an hour to five hours to download, it's understandable as to why some users would apply the update, see that it's taking longer than expected to apply, and decide to ignore the warnings of not shutting off their console during an update. After all, shutting off most consoles during an update is usually harmless, since the changes can usually be rolled back and the update can be re-applied.
LA Times's Ben Fritz was apparently one of the victims of Wii U bricking. After shutting off his console in the middle of the massive update, he found that he was unable to reset or reverse the damage.
"So is there some secret way to hard reset a Wii U? Cause mine is totally busted," he tweeted.
"Warning: don't unplug your Wii U during the 2 hour plus software update or the console stops working," he added, later complaining that the Wii U never warns the user of the long update.
For now, it doesn't seem like there's a way to reverse the issue. According to Venturebeat, the issue isn't something that Nintendo can resolve remotely. Bricking your console means that you'll be forced to send it into Nintendo for repair.
So if you recently grabbed up the Wii U, but haven't applied the update just yet, be sure to apply the update when you're absolutely certain you won't shut off the console or lose power to the console. Otherwise, you may just end up with a glorified paperweight.
Beyond that all I have to say is I am happy I haven't gave my family member wifi to their Wii U yet or else were probably be one of these people with a bricked Wii U. Little kid + probably 7 hour update on our connection, yeah I can guarantee you he would probably turn off the console thinking it was broken. Heck I would if it didn't tell me how much was being downloaded i would assume it just froze.
Those who bought the 8GB version because they though it was the cheaper option are up to some serious butthurt LMAO
There is no such thing, even on the grid.
And removing the power from any device while installing a firmware update can render them bricked. This is not a Wii U problem but an electronics device problem.
That's why they have warnings on all of them.
Worse. Apparently it's a report based on one twits tweet about how he ignored the warning and bricked his device. (and I am sure plagiarized like all Toms news articles)
Yes it's a bad design but why on earth would you shut it off? And i am sure it.was installing something at the time not just downloading. That's his own fault
I'd expect that from something made in Detroit, but not from a Japanese company.
Let's hope this is only a single mishap and not a sign of declining engineering quality.