Nintendo Wii U consoles are dying due to memory-related issues, but there's a fix

Facepalm: When Nintendo released nan Wii U successful 2012, gamers weren't precisely lining up to acquisition nan caller console. Now, aft 12 years, nan instrumentality is exhibiting signs of hardware unreliability that could perchance origin galore systems to efficaciously go unusable.

According to retro-focused podcaster "Retro Blast," Wii U consoles are "literally dying" owed to unreliable representation chips utilized arsenic strategy memory. If nan instrumentality is near without powerfulness for excessively long, nan inexpensive eMMC Flash representation soldered onto nan motherboard tin go corrupted, preventing nan console from booting normally.

Wii U consoles are fundamentally self-bricking, displaying a generic strategy representation correction during startup. Retro Blast noted that Nintendo collaborated pinch representation manufacturers specified arsenic Toshiba, Samsung, and Hynix to nutrient nan console's eMMC chips. Among these, Hynix's flash representation units are reportedly nan astir failure-prone, though nan bricking rumor appears to beryllium a "lottery" astatine this point.

Retro Blast is not nan first Wii U proprietor to brushwood nan issue. Many Nintendo fans person reported similar problems complete nan past fewer months, highlighting that nan low-quality manufacturing choices made by nan Japanese institution are now negatively impacting retro gaming enthusiasts and hardware preservationists.

Once affected, a Wii U console tin nary longer footwear utilizing normal methods. The Wii U was hacked a fewer years aft its release, allowing resourceful users to take from various methods to effort to revive their consoles aft nan soul eMMC spot becomes corrupted.

The astir analyzable solutions for addressing correction 160-0103 impact utilizing a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller connected to nan Wii U's USB port, on pinch a NAND betterment kit that requires soldering. However, nan cheapest and apt easiest measurement to revive a self-bricked Wii U is done nan ISFShax exploit, which tin redirect nan console's strategy representation to a decently formatted and pre-configured outer SD paper during boot.

While Nintendo could theoretically connection an charismatic repair work to switch nan failing eMMC unit, it is highly improbable that nan Japanese institution would judge specified support requests. The basal Wii U exemplary was discontinued successful 2015, and Nintendo formally announced nan extremity of accumulation successful January 2017. Although fans are still trying to support nan troubled Wii successor alive aft nan cessation of charismatic support, nan ticking clip explosive of nan eMMC nonaccomplishment could time off galore console collectors very unhappy.