Wii U Update Eats Most of Basic's 8GB

[Karloff]

Wii U Update Eats Most of Basic's 8GB

LA Times journalist Ben Fritz managed to kill his Wii U when he interrupted the 5GB download.

With all new hardware comes teething issues, but spare a thought for LA Times journalist Ben Fritz, who killed the initial update and therefore his Wii U. "As far as I can tell it's unusable [now]," Fritz Tweeted. According to some estimates [https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/270037562339500033] the update contained up to 5GB worth of data.

Leaving aside the wisdom - or otherwise - of interrupting a console update, should it prove to be 5GB this will be unwelcome news for owners of the Basic device. That only has 8GB worth of space in its brain, as opposed to the 32GB Deluxe device. Technically the Basic device doesn't even have 8GB [http://kotaku.com/5960438/nintendo-explains-the-wii-us-storage-options-in-the-strangest-way-possible], since the firmware eats a chunk of that even before the updates; it's looking as though the Basic Wii U will have a very small brain indeed.

Fritz unplugged the device after 15 minutes, only to discover that this meant he now had an expensive paperweight. The update came late in the cycle - it had been meant to arrive earlier, allowing reviewers more time to experience the online environment before writing up their reviews.

"There was no warning and no cancel button," Fritz Tweeted [https://twitter.com/benfritz/status/270035885272219648]. "Just a super slow progress bar. No explanation beside 'system update.'" This may or may not have been an early adopter issue, as Nintendo's servers were bound to be busy so close to launch; another reason why reviewers needed their updates earlier.


Source: VG24/7 [http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/19/wii-u-quitting-day-one-update-could-kill-consoles-report/]


Permalink

 

[saleem]

Lol I get it that every new piece of hardware comes with teething problems but you cant blame everything on it. This article is just illustrates user stupidity kicking in, you know off the bat that you dont have much in the way of storage. That being the case your first action should be to stick an external drive or high capacity pen drive into the machine. Honestly its not like this issue hasnt been discussed in length by everyone who is involved in games. Additionally anyone who has used a console in the last 7 years or so knows that you dont interrupt updates or game saves/loads or it could lead to data corruption.

Finally the article title is misleading - instead it is regaling us with stories about the incompetence of someone and tries to lay the blame at ninty's feet.

 

[shintakie10]

Two things here.

1. It amuses me that even consoles can't get away from day 1 updates.

2. How retarded do you have to be to unplug a console in the middle of a system update? There's always a big ass warnin "Dont unplug or power down the console during this update." I haven't tested this myself, but I suspect if you unplugged say...a 360 when they did their new dashboard update halfway through you'd also end up with a lovely paperweight as well.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

A 5gb update? I'll never moan about a PS3 firmware update again.

So I guess a large external drive is a must if you got the basic Wii U.

 

[Ranorak]

"Fritz unplugged the device after 15 minutes, only to discover that this meant he now had an expensive paperweight"

I'm sorry Fritz, but you must be an idiot.
I suppose a warning should have been handy, but C'mon unplugging during a system update is like chopping down your apple tree and wondering why the apples won't grow anymore.

Okay, that analogy sucked but you get the point!

 

[Fasckira]

2. How retarded do you have to be to unplug a console in the middle of a system update? There's always a big ass warnin "Dont unplug or power down the console during this update." I haven't tested this myself, but I suspect if you unplugged say...a 360 when they did their new dashboard update halfway through you'd also end up with a lovely paperweight as well.

Yeah, I mean its pretty much standard for any system update. Its altering system files, so killing that process incorrectly is hardly going to be beneficial. Dont get me wrong, I agree this "baby" wii-u is pretty pointless machine with such a small storage capacity, but this is simply a case of a reviewer being a bit of an impatient pillock.

 

[Rainboq]

One thing that's notable, the update never gave any indication as to what part of the system update, the reviewer might have assumed that the update was still only downloading, rather than installing, and thought it was safe.

 

[VanQ]

um it doesnt sound like nintendo thought this out very well. you are going to have quite a few pissed off people not to mention the negative review are going to hurt sales.. LA times though.. ouch

A negative review hurting Nintendo sales? Not in a million years. People will buy it regardless, it's bloody Nintendo.

Snip.

Snip.

Not true at all. Most systems save the patch data to a file and execute it when the file has been completely downloaded. In this case it appears that Nintendo begins altering files while the download is still in progress.

This is not just bad, it's outright stupid. Even had he not unplugged it manually, it means that a power outage or the cable being knocked out or any kind of situation like that will brick people's systems.

That's aside from the memory issue. What the hell kind of firmware update requires more than 5gb of data? Just what kind of stuff was in that file? That's the size of most modern games! Unless they're giving away inbuilt games with their firmware a la Sega Megadrive, it's not acceptable.

Snip.

I honestly can not fathom the fact that there are people defending a 5gb patch on a system whose basic package includes only 8gb of data. Have we as consumers finally become content with game companies shitting down our metaphorical throats? You should not have to stick an external hard drive or thumb drive into your console for firmware updates! That's fucking ridiculous and you damn well know it.

 

[shintakie10]

Lol I get it that every new piece of hardware comes with teething problems but you cant blame everything on it. This article is just illustrates user stupidity kicking in, you know off the bat that you dont have much in the way of storage. That being the case your first action should be to stick an external drive or high capacity pen drive into the machine. Honestly its not like this issue hasnt been discussed in length by everyone who is involved in games. Additionally anyone who has used a console in the last 7 years or so knows that you dont interrupt updates or game saves/loads or it could lead to data corruption.

Finally the article title is misleading - instead it is regaling us with stories about the incompetence of someone and tries to lay the blame at ninty's feet.

Sorry, but there is no excuse whatsoever for designing a modern computing device which can be totally bricked by something as simple as an update being interrupted. There are any number of scenarios in which such a thing could happen which require no "user stupidity" at all, and other companies are evidently capable of designing systems capable of withstanding such mundane errors; why is Nintendo's inability to do so anyone's fault but Nintendo's?

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Oh oh, also. Next time Sony or Microsoft do a new dashboard update, or whatever the hell Sony uses, unplug the system halfway through the update. Tell me how nice your paperweights are after.

This guy is a grade A idiot. Every single system update has a chance to royally fuck you over if you're a massive idiot. Why would you unplug durin a system update? At all? If the system forced an update when he loaded it up, even if it didn't brick the console, what part of his brain thought it wouldn't just restart the forced update?

 

[Ranorak]

um it doesnt sound like nintendo thought this out very well. you are going to have quite a few pissed off people not to mention the negative review are going to hurt sales.. LA times though.. ouch

A negative review hurting Nintendo sales? Not in a million years. People will buy it regardless, it's bloody Nintendo.

Snip.

Snip.

Not true at all. Most systems save the patch data to a file and execute it when the file has been completely downloaded. In this case it appears that Nintendo begins altering files while the download is still in progress.

This is not just bad, it's outright stupid. Even had he not unplugged it manually, it means that a power outage or the cable being knocked out or any kind of situation like that will brick people's systems.

That's aside from the memory issue. What the hell kind of firmware update requires more than 5gb of data? Just what kind of stuff was in that file? That's the size of most modern games! Unless they're giving away inbuilt games with their firmware a la Sega Megadrive, it's not acceptable.

I agree, Nintendo could have inserted a fool proof, but if the guy wasn't a fool to begin with, this wouldn't have happened.
In the end, a bit of logic would have informed Fritz that this might not be one of his best ideas. (I hope).

To me, it's like the Drying The Cat in the Microwave story.
It didn't say I couldn't!
But logic should have smacked you in the face.

 

[VanQ]

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Actually, with Windows, it makes temporary backup files of everything before it begins to apply new service pack data and automatically reverts to that backup data if the main folder it should look into is corrupt or incomplete.

It means you move back one service pack but it sure as hell beats owning a paperweight.

 

[shintakie10]

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Actually, with Windows, it makes temporary backup files of everything before it begins to apply new service pack data and automatically reverts to that backup data if the main folder it should look into is corrupt or incomplete.

It means you move back one service pack but it sure as hell beats owning a paperweight.

Huh, I stand corrected.

 

[Nihlus2]

Unplugging during a system update... Oh yes, that surely won't have any negative repercussions.

Sounds a bit overwhelming if it takes up that much space but... sadly I cannot be serious when something that monumentally stupid is done and he treats it like he had no clue at all that it would happen. Reap as you have sown and all that.

 

[LordLundar]

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Actually, with Windows, it makes temporary backup files of everything before it begins to apply new service pack data and automatically reverts to that backup data if the main folder it should look into is corrupt or incomplete.

It means you move back one service pack but it sure as hell beats owning a paperweight.

Yeah, the Windows update is a bad example. A better one would be unplugging the machine on a BIOS firmware update. THAT will brick your computer quite nicely.

And this surprises me as the Wii is actually pretty difficult to brick. You have to be actively TRYING to turn it into a paperweight and even then it's no small feat. The fact that the Wii-U can be bricked so easily is not a good sign.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Actually, with Windows, it makes temporary backup files of everything before it begins to apply new service pack data and automatically reverts to that backup data if the main folder it should look into is corrupt or incomplete.

It means you move back one service pack but it sure as hell beats owning a paperweight.

Huh, I stand corrected.

Yes, you do. And the fact that the PS3 and 360 are equally badly designed when it comes to updating software is no excuse for a brand new device to brick because of an interruption.

At least on my PS3 I could concievably fix it by cleaning out the HDD and installing an older version of the software. And if I can't, then the PS3 is equally stupid.