Wii U's bricking if shut down during update.

[Exius Xavarus]

Boop.

I knew someone was going to say exactly as you did. And I shall repeat myself just for you:

It's a stupid feature as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Xariat]

Honestly this is really stupid. stupid people making stupid statements so Nintendo will look stupid.

Firmware updates will kill any system if you interrupt it by turning of the power during the process, there are no exceptions to this.

sure a 5gb(citation needed) day 1 update should not happen but the worst thing that can happen is that you get a power outage(I'll get back to this one) or you/someone else unplugs the console. otherwise it's just a minor drawback that requires some patience, i mean it's just been launched and there will be plenty of time to play with it after the update.

now as for power outages this is unlikely, sure it can happen and i feel bad for those that it has happened to. but unless you live in an area where power outages are frequent this shouldn't be a problem. If you happen to live in such an area then i assume gaming is already very inconvenient and you have invested in some form of safety mechanism.

also the auto-shutdown thing is just bullshit, just watch this video (you only need to watch for a second)


now look at the top for the first 2 seconds "the auto power-down function has been temporarily disabled."

 

[TheComfyChair]

If this was an issue we'd have seen 'real news' about it and you'd hear the rage all over the internet. A few people screwed up or were screwed over when updating. This happens to anything, nothing to see here.

 

[Frezzato]

5 GB?!

So, if you get the base model, you only get 3 GB of memory?

Great job Nintendo, assuming that's the case ¬_¬

From what I have seen of my Neighbor's Wii U he still had a good six Gigs out of his eight from the firmware update. A Large Download doesn't necessarily mean it will be taking up the extra space, it could replace or fix or add to the existing data already on the HDD.

So you don't actually get 8 GB of space, it's more like 6?

Genius.

Don't be a smartalec.

Again, I don't have the console so I am unsure of the exact details, it is just what they had told me. They aren't exactly the most brilliant with technology either, you know how frat boys are.

I wasn't criticising you

Ninty advertised the consoles would have X amount of memory, but it turns out they don't have separate drives for the OS, so if you get an 8GB console, it's more like a 6GB console.

PS3 are about the same way they advertise the full size space but actually remove about 5gbs for system info so you're short about 5gb compared to what it says on the side of the box.

Just you know they never sold a model that only had less than half of it's memory empty for multiple purpose use.

Actually, years ago Microsoft had the 20GB 360 which, after starting up brand new, had a about 10.1GB of free space left. I know this because I bought it. I had to dig in there and start deleting stuff. Thankfully a few gigs were just game demos and crap I didn't want.

And I knew I was going to upgrade my PS3 HDD about a month after I bought it. I've seen PS3 users use Swissknife to get at least 1TB internal drives working. Frankly, pulling the HDD and replacing it myself was just about the most eye opening experience this generation.

So the issue remains: manufacturers are still getting people to pay a premium amount for more memory (looking at you too, Apple), but at least there's a built-in capability to expand the capability. Unfortunately, until more WiiU's start circulating, we won't be able to verify these questions ourselves and will have to rely on--well, rhetoric really.

 

[lacktheknack]

Uhhh...

Guys?

Bricking is EXACTLY what will happen in a firmware update power cut.

Like, with ANYTHING.

The Wii U will.

A PS3 would.

My computer would.

Your phone would.

The motherboard I use in school projects will.

That's why all these things have a message saying "Do Not Turn This Device Off" during firmware updates! This isn't rocket surgery! D:<

Seriously, unless the auto-turn-off happens during firmware updates (which I bet a million bucks it doesn't), this is the biggest non-story I've seen all month.

And to everyone saying "What if there's a power outage?"

Well, what if there's an outage while the firmware of your phone/PC/other console/other electronics update? Well, you pull out your shiny warranty and get another one for the cost of shipping. Or, do what the guy above me said, and invest in an uninterruptible power supply.

Seriously, this thread consists of nothing but a bizarrely specific attempt to smear the Wii U, in a manner that is comparable to mocking the kettle for being black when the pot, the cauldron, the stove and the pans are ALSO black.

How many Firmware updates are over 5gigs? Even with a fairly decent internet connection, you're looking at at least an hour to download all that + the install time. Not to mention, the Wii-U itself is programmed to shut down if left idle DURING THE UPDATE. They basically programmed the Wii-U to commit suicide.

You can try to paint it as a smear campaign all you want, but the fact exists that there's a non-negligible number of bricked Wii-Us sitting out there because Nintendo released a giant update on day 1 for a system that, by default, will shut itself off during a long update.

Additionally, your stance is one that is paving the way for the exploitative, anti-consumer practices and poor quality that we're seeing in the gaming industry. Oh the machine doesn't work through no fault of your own? Well just pay for shipping to replace it. So a $350 console now becomes about $400 because the developer did something stupid, but we don't blame their obvious bad development choice, it's the users fault that their power/internet went down or something else went wrong - they should have been prepared for such contingencies by having a back-up generator or hard-line internet connection straight to the source instead of the machine having a fail-safe.

5 Gigs: I've heard reports of everything from 1 GB to 5GB, and no one seems to make up their mind. At any rate, it's really not that much, considering that your average download nowadays is significantly more than that.

Auto Turn Off: I've only heard that in speculation. I've been told by a Wii U owner that their Wii U said "We won't turn off mid-update". So that's false, as are all your statements based on it. ie. Most of your post.

Power Outages: Welcome to electronics. All of them. You cannot fix this any more than you can make all elephants naturally fly. Saying it's "anti-consumer" just makes you look completely ignorant of all electronics ever.

EDIT: If you're saying that you shouldn't have to pay shipping, then good for you! Maybe you can convince them to pay it for you, as it's been for the past few decades. Not-being-anti-corporation doesn't make me anti-consumer, as much as you want it to.

 

[Aarowbeatsdragon]

seems the person who started this thread forgot to mention one important thing, you can turn off the auto shutdown.

 

[lacktheknack]

In that case, then shouldn't this be common knowledge of "don't touch crap when it's updating important stuff"?

There IS no common knowledge anymore. Not while the internet allows dumb people doing dumb things to get an audience.

 

[D Moness]

seems the person who started this thread forgot to mention one important thing, you can turn off the auto shutdown.

As that the auto shut of is disabled while updating (like many vids posted here prove.

 

[lacktheknack]

also the auto-shutdown thing is just bullshit, just watch this video (you only need to watch for a second)


now look at the top for the first 2 seconds "the auto power-down function has been temporarily disabled."

There. That right there.

Seriously, unless the auto-turn-off happens during firmware updates (which I bet a million bucks it doesn't), this is the biggest non-story I've seen all month.

Where's my million bucks?

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Someone humor me here:

Why would the system brick during the download phase? Doesn't the entire thing need to finish downloading before installation, or is it divided into packets that are loaded and dumped to compensate for the tiny harddrive sizes?

 

[Souplex]

I can see the PSA now...

Spoiler

PS3: This yours?

WiiU: What?

PS3: The press found out about it.

WiiU: One of the programmers must have...

PS3: Must have what?

Wii: But, PS3...

PS3: Where did you get it? Who taught you to use an update to brick a console?

WiiU: You! Alright? I learned by watching you!

You forgot the part where PS3 accuses WiiU of hanging out with that 360 boy who had a huge bricking problem back in the day.
He claims he's mostly over it, but you never know with him.

 

[Quaidis]

Well, there you have it.


I'm still waiting for my WiiU. Going to get the black one with the charging station for the tablet controller.

By the time I do get it, even if that ends up being January, I'm sure this problem will have figured itself out. Maybe the Wii developers will make a small update to the systems so the auto shutdown feature turns itself off when an update is in process. Simple bit of code.


As for people that shut down their own system just because they're sick of the update screen? Sucks to be them, hope they got a warranty.

 

[Woodsey]

5 GB?!

So, if you get the base model, you only get 3 GB of memory?

Great job Nintendo, assuming that's the case ¬_¬

HDD space. And yeah, that is the case. Not sure if it's a con or sheer stupidity just yet.

 

[zehydra]

Never buy Anything on day one.

Remember when the Xbox (or was it the Xbox 360?) that was bricking all over the place during its initial release?

The problem will be fixed soon I'm sure

 

[Aarowbeatsdragon]

seems the person who started this thread forgot to mention one important thing, you can turn off the auto shutdown.

As that the auto shut of is disabled while updating (like many vids posted here prove.

Ah okay, my apologies, feel like a dick now XD yes that is quite stupid, coming from a nintendo fan thats getting the WiiU as soon as i have money, but as people have said above, just dont leave the console area for too long!

 

[zehydra]

Never buy Anything on day one.

Remember when the Xbox (or was it the Xbox 360?) that was bricking all over the place during its initial release?

The problem will be fixed soon I'm sure

What fixed? There is really no issue right now... Every system bricks if you shut it off during a firmware update. And the auto-shutdown is deactivated during firmware updates (there is actual video proof for that unlike the assumption that it isn't).

Ah. Sorry, I was misinformed then.

I don't have a WiiU, but I saw this thread and it reminded it me of how consoles tend to face bizarre problems on release.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Anything shut down in the middle of a firmware update will get bricked. Anyone who doesn't realise this already shouldn't be messing with technology. It doesn't matter if it's a console, a motherboard, a phone...interrupting a firmware flash will almost always brick the device being flashed. Unless there's a low-level erase/re-flash feature accessible outside the fancy GUI/OS, it will need to be sent back to the manufacturer.

Though if the update in this case is 5gigs as suggested, and there's a 1hour shutdown feature then that's pretty appalling. Why on earth does it start "flashing" before the update is downloaded in its entirety and therefore able to execute off-line, in an "update mode" that disables any form of auto-shutdown.

 

[Quaidis]

Well, there you have it.


I'm still waiting for my WiiU. Going to get the black one with the charging station for the tablet controller.

By the time I do get it, even if that ends up being January, I'm sure this problem will have figured itself out. Maybe the Wii developers will make a small update to the systems so the auto shutdown feature turns itself off when an update is in process. Simple bit of code.

They already do. People have already posted links to youtube videos showing that during the update, the Wii U automatically turns off the auto-shutdown feature. They even post a little notice saying "The auto-shutdown feature has been temporarily disabled." Meaning, despite what people on this thread are saying, the Wii U won't automatically shutdown halfway through your update.

This issue, this entire fucking issue, comes down to nothing more than certain gamers jumping to conclusions based on anecdotal evidence, and completely ignoring the actual reality of events.

Electronics fuck up if you shut them down during updates. That's why everything from a computer to a smartphone will tell you not to shut down during an update. If you do, you're going to fuck up your machine.

This is part-and-parcel of practically every electronic device out there, yet for some reason people act like Nintendo are the only ones whose electronics do this, and that they should be hung, drawn and quartered because of it. Next thing you know, people will be raging at the Wii U because it doesn't play games if you unplug it from the power, or it won't connect to the internet if your modem's not working. That's the level of stupid that is getting aired here.

I mean, I've seen the Escapist rag on Nintendo for some pretty petty reasons, but this is just taking the piss.

Couldn't agree more. This isn't like a RROD or YLoD (Beware the yellow light of DOOM). I thought there was something more to this than people being stupid, but your quote definitely backs up my suspicions. People are really stupid, and prone to freaking out at the drop of a hat. Gamers need to take a chill pill, go play HarvestMoon or something, don't find the end of the world because other people are being retarded by killing their system halfway through an update. That's what I'd say to them.

Reminds me of the wiimote through the tele issue. One guy with going crazy with bowling and one kid playing with their nunchuck like it was a real one doesn't mean everyone is breaking their tele.

 

[darron13]

Uhhh...

Guys?

Bricking is EXACTLY what will happen in a firmware update power cut.

Like, with ANYTHING.

The Wii U will.

A PS3 would.

My computer would.

Your phone would.

The motherboard I use in school projects will.

That's why all these things have a message saying "Do Not Turn This Device Off" during firmware updates! This isn't rocket surgery! D:<

Seriously, unless the auto-turn-off happens during firmware updates (which I bet a million bucks it doesn't), this is the biggest non-story I've seen all month.

And to everyone saying "What if there's a power outage?"

Well, what if there's an outage while the firmware of your phone/PC/other console/other electronics update? Well, you pull out your shiny warranty and get another one for the cost of shipping. Or, do what the guy above me said, and invest in an uninterruptible power supply.

Seriously, this thread consists of nothing but a bizarrely specific attempt to smear the Wii U, in a manner that is comparable to mocking the kettle for being black when the pot, the cauldron, the stove and the pans are ALSO black.

I think your DP just gave me nightmares. On-topic, really, it should be obvious that you shouldn't EVER turn something off while it's flashing the firmware, that's the one sure fire way to brick your device.

 

[Frezzato]

Someone humor me here:

Why would the system brick during the download phase? Doesn't the entire thing need to finish downloading before installation, or is it divided into packets that are loaded and dumped to compensate for the tiny harddrive sizes?

Recent news shows a bit of hope:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/379680/wii-u-can-update-firmware-in-the-background/

Apparently, if you opt out when the update initially pops up, it will download in the background, so an interruption would just start the download again. It's not readily apparent if the opt-out option is made obvious to people in clear language. Maybe they felt it was mandatory, despite the message.