Wii U Update Eats Most of Basic's 8GB

Scars Unseen

^ ^ v v < > < > B A
May 7, 2009
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A lot of surprising responses in this thread. You do not make a program(and especially not something as vital as the system software) install an update until the download is complete. What if someone has slow internet? What if they have network issues? What if you have server issues? What if a kid trips over the power cord(because the shitty parents left the power cord out where it could be tripped on)? What if the significant other turns off the device while the customer stepped away to conserve electricity? There are dozens of things that could go wrong during an update process, and making that window of vulnerability as potentially large as it takes to download the update is just asking for trouble.

Say what you want about the journalist; this is Nintendo's fuck up.
 

GAunderrated

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Jul 9, 2012
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Mygaffer said:
If this guy was supposed to be a games journalist then he should have known you NEVER unplug a console that is in the middle of an update.

While there should be clear warnings not to unplug or power down the device he should have known it was not a smart thing to do.
As other posters have already said, this isn't about the guy unplugging his wiiU during an update, its about nintendo not having a fail safe after requiring a 5GB update release day to prevent the system from becoming a brick.

I had a friend who got a pre-order from her fiance and its having the same problem as moviebob being DOA (dead on arrival). With the lack of WiiU's available and all the failures that are resulting from them I can safely assume that the WiiU was severely rushed that it doesn't have a basic fail safe and a 5GB update at launch.

I am glad I missed the pre-order window.

captcha: hoity-toity

yes captcha most people defending nintendo's mistakes tend to act that way
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

Henchgoat Emperor
May 15, 2010
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Must not be much of a gamer or tech geek, he unplugged the damn thing before it finished updating.
#GotWhatHeDeserved

I bricked a few things when I was younger, mostly because I was *ahem* testing firmware that wasn't "stable" but I never unplugged it in the middle of updating, thats just dumb.
 

medv4380

The Crazy One
Feb 26, 2010
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Magichead said:
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?
LOL, I love the rantings of the ill informed.
There is a reason EVERY computer says
"DO NOT INTERRUPT WHILE PERFORMING SYSTEM UPDATES".
If you do that to Windows at the wrong moment you can fry it, and require it to be re-installed. You do that to the PS3 or 360 at the moment it's updating the firmware you'll fry them too. Their is almost certainly a way for him to Restore his Wii to working condition, but he'll ether need to download something, and boot it with a restore, or he'll have to send it to Nintendo so they can run it themselves. I'm not too sure if Nintendo would be eager to allow a functional restore too out of their service department since that would lead to wide spread hacking quickly. There is a reason people like me like to have their PS3 and other Firmware Updating devices hucked up to a UPS when we run updates. Unless you like the risk of breaking expensive equipment you should always follow the instructions.
 

Yopaz

Sarcastic overlord
Jun 3, 2009
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Scars Unseen said:
A lot of surprising responses in this thread. You do not make a program(and especially not something as vital as the system software) install an update until the download is complete. What if someone has slow internet? What if they have network issues? What if you have server issues? What if a kid trips over the power cord(because the shitty parents left the power cord out where it could be tripped on)? What if the significant other turns off the device while the customer stepped away to conserve electricity? There are dozens of things that could go wrong during an update process, and making that window of vulnerability as potentially large as it takes to download the update is just asking for trouble.

Say what you want about the journalist; this is Nintendo's fuck up.
Well, accidents and mishaps like you mentioned does happen, but still, you don't unplug your console during a system update. That is something we get constant reminders of during any update on any system. Still you are right, a lengthy update should be downloaded then installed, or better yet, the option to update by using USB drives and downloading on your computer should be there.
 

WouldYouKindly

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Apr 17, 2011
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VanQQisH said:
shintakie10 said:
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.
Seriously, if you don't have a failsafe where Microsoft has one, that's goddamn stupid. Nice job Nintendo.
 

theultimateend

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Nov 1, 2007
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DVS BSTrD said:
Well maybe now you'll learn to pay attention to that "super slow" progress bar. Too bad, looks like this Wii-U is...

*puts on sunglasses*

...on the Fritz

Shouldn't something this big have been installed prior to shipping?
I...the...

Where is Miyagi?

@OP: I wonder how much of the 5GBs is "failsafes" to stop their console from getting pirated.

I can't fathom anything being written so poorly that it takes up that much space. Considering how small entire OS's are these days.
 

Andrew_C

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Mar 1, 2011
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Mygaffer said:
Try updating the BIOS of any modern computer.
Actually my motherboard has a backup BIOS/EFI. Most higher end and quite a few mid-range motherboard have them these days. So it's quite possible to easily recover from a failed BIOS/EFI update
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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shintakie10 said:
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.
Better than you think, really. Same with most modern devices. I'm not defending simply unplugging it, but at the same time, when you do have to update your products, more than not seem to have failsafes.
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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Andrew_C said:
Actually my motherboard has a backup BIOS/EFI. Most higher end and quite a few mid-range motherboard have them these days. So it's quite possible to easily recover from a failed BIOS/EFI update
To be fair, The Wii U is boasting comparable power to the PS3 and 360, both over half a decade old. I don't think there's much high end in their system. Well, except maybe the gimmicky tablet thing.
 

RA92

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Jan 1, 2011
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I remember the days when Nintendo hardware used to be the cockroaches of gaming.


http://gadgethim.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bombed-out-gameboy.jpg

Bombed to hell and back? Like the Gameboy would care.

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/x-box-360-vs-n64.jpg

And the PC comparison is moot. My motherboard has backup BIOS, and no matter how fucked up or corrupted my OS files get, I get just boot up from an optical drive or flash drives with the OS install files, wipe a partition and do a clean install. Far from this bricking catastrophe.
 

nezroy

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Oct 3, 2008
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Mygaffer said:
Try updating the BIOS of any modern computer.
1) Only advanced users update their BIOS and, more importantly, a BIOS update is never forced on you. If you choose to update your BIOS, it's acknowledged to be at your own risk.

2) A BIOS update is typically a few KB and takes 20s at most. The window of potential corruption is very small. We can't say for certain how large the window was on the Wii U; maybe the guy just unplugged it at the very worst possible moment in the 15m update or maybe the danger window really was 15m or longer. If the latter, that is completely ridiculous.

3) Any "modern computer" worth building will have a backup BIOS for the express purpose of recovering your BIOS to factory state in case you happen to corrupt yours during an update. There's no reason you can't have something similar on a consumer console (though granted, it gets more tricky as you'd also need a small bootstraper that spins up the disk and network device to grab a digitally-signed factory OS image from a server somewhere).
 

Nathan Josephs

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Feb 10, 2012
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reading this thread makes me sad. hey has your internet ever gone out? what happens if it goes out while your updating? your screwed thats what. seriously. it still bricks while DOWNLOADING. that does not even make any kind of sense.