Topic: MY WII IS DEAD (Also, Nintendo customer service sucks.)

[vudu]

It appears as if my Wii is beginning to die. 

There are several lines/pixels that don't display the picture right.  It's most notable on a solid background color.  Here's a couple pictures I took of my TV tonight.



Notice the vertical lines on either side of the area directly below the A.



Another vertical line directly above the left side of the E and some more random pixels to the right of the R.

I'll probably give Nintendo a call this week to see what they can do to help me out.  Any advice?

I remember this happening to a couple other people on this forum when the system first came out.  My question to you is, did Nintendo repair your console or give you a new one?  If they gave you a new system, did they do any of the following for you?

- Transfer your console's friend code
- Transfer friend codes for your games
- Transfer your saves (I'm particularly worried about GH3 and Brawl, because those can't be copied to an SD card)
- Transfer your VC games

Thanks for any and all help!

[EasyCure]

aren't you glad i lent you EB? now when you send your wii out to be fixed/replaced you'll have something to play!

seriously though, this really sucks for you. I don't know about your friend code and save files, but i'm sure they'll transfer your VC account to your new wii (if you do get it replaced that is) so no worries there..

[shammack]

The same thing happened to my first Wii, and I sent it back to Nintendo.  A couple of weeks later, I got it back, but it was actually a new one.  They included a little checkbox-form thing where they had checked the box saying that they couldn't replicate the problem, so they just gave me a new one.

If this happens:
They don't transfer your console's Wii code (you will have to distribute the new one to everyone again).
I THINK friend codes for individual games stay the same, but I'm not sure because I don't think I had any online games at that time.
They do transfer your saves and channels.  (I wouldn't worry about the ones that you can't copy to an SD card; I'm pretty sure they just copy the entire contents of the flash (or whatever it is) directly.)
You have to re-download your VC games.  (Presumably because of the console-specific encryption.)

Another thing you should keep in mind that I didn't know about is Miis.  They get transferred over to the new system, but it won't recognize that you created them, which means that you won't be able to edit them or send them to anyone.  So if you care about your Miis you'll probably want to store them on your Wiimote or something.

By the way, after I got my new Wii, a little while later I started having the same problem again.  But then I stopped playing for a few weeks, and the next time I tried, it was back to normal.  I don't know why, and I haven't been able to get an explanation from Nintendo about what actually causes this (so I could try to avoid having it happen again).

[EasyCure]

i'd like to clarify on what Shammack said about  VC downloads, you do have to download them all again but you won't have to pay for them*

*i'm almost positive they say something about this in the user agreements. If you decide to get a new system for whatever reason you can have nintendo transfer the VC account you set up, so you can re-download any VC games you purchased on the new system (presumably locking up the last system so you cant just share those games with whoever gets your original system). Not sure how this works with gifted games, but it shouldnt be any different.

[vudu]

I'm not too worried about VC games.  I was almost positive they'd transfer over somehow.

My biggest concern is my Brawl save.  Second biggest is friend codes.

[Dasmos]

Yeah this happened to my Wii, but I didn't do anything about it and now it's fixed.

[DAaaMan64]

Yeah this happened to my Wii, but I didn't do anything about it and now it's fixed.

It just went away?

[MarioAllStar]

Could it be a product of overheating? Is the Wii properly ventilated? Clogged with dust?

Try turning it off (unplugging) for a night.

[Dasmos]

Yeah this happened to my Wii, but I didn't do anything about it and now it's fixed.

It just went away?

Yeah, it was getting pretty severe too. Far greater and widespread than vudu's example. I was almost going to ring up and go through the process of possibly getting a replacement or something from NAL, but it fixed itself.

[shammack]

Yeah, same here (about it being more severe -- you can see some examples here).  My techy friend said that it looked like my VRAM was overheating and corrupting the framebuffer.  I'm guessing it was just getting too hot because I was playing for hours at a time, and once I turned it off for a while and let it cool down, it went back to normal.  But I do find it odd that it was overheating since I try never to let my apartment get above 72 degrees.

I also switched the console's orientation from vertical to horizontal because I was suspicious that it might not be getting enough air flowing through the stand.  I don't know if that had any effect.

It hasn't happened again yet, but the weather is heating up again, so we'll see...

[vudu]

Could it be a product of overheating? Is the Wii properly ventilated? Clogged with dust?

Try turning it off (unplugging) for a night.

The vents are clean.  I unplugged my system last night.  Just turned it back on and the problem remains. 

[IceCold]

Isn't it the GPU overheating or something?

[vudu]

The problem has gotten worse.



You can't tell from this screen shot, but now the artifacts pop in and out in large quantities whenever something graphically intense is happening on the screen.

I called Nintendo about a repair.  Bastards wouldn't fix it under warranty because it expired in February (launch system + 3 extra months for registering).  I have to pay $82 to get it fixed.

Screw you, UncleBob.  Screw you and all your "Nintendo's customer service is the best" threads.

[NWR_insanolord]

Nintendo's customer service IS the best, and I say that as someone who is on his 4th DS and the first was out of the warranty period and the next two's problems weren't covered by the warranty.

[vudu]

In that case, Nintendo is just prejudice against middle class white American males who spend too much money on their products every year.

[ShyGuy]

In that case, Nintendo is just prejudice against middle class white American males who spend too much money on their products every year.

I think that's what the latest podcast was all about.

[Ceric]

I have a vented base on mine because I swear that in standy mode it turns off the but the processor keeps heating things up.

[EasyCure]

wait wait what? vudu's White?

[GoldenPhoenix]

I've had artifacts show up but it turned out it was because of the TV not the Wii.

[decoyman]

Based on the evidence, I wouldn't say it's dead, vudu... more like "sickly" or "ailing."

There's life in the ol' girl* yet!

* Sorry if your system isn't female. Mine is,** so I made a guess.

** I call her Bess.

[Morari]

Man, I just sent in a repair ticket myself.

It seems as though my Wii crashes while playing GameCube games. It doesn't matter what game, but only GameCube ames have this problem. At some point or another during play, I'll get an "An error has occurred. Turn the Power Off and check the Nintendo GameCube Instruction Booklet for further instructions." and the only way to handle it is to restart the entire system. It's definitely very odd, considering all of my games are in pristine condition. I've tried playing them with the console sitting flat, I've tried loading them in differently, etc. Nothing works. I just never thought much of the problem until recently as I've gone back to play a bunch of GameCube games that I never had time for back when.

[vudu]

If you're going to have to pay to get your system repaired you're better off just buying a new (used) 'Cube.  You can get one for significantly cheaper than the cost to repair your Wii.

[Morari]

Nah, my system is still well under warranty. Otherwise, your suggestion might just be the way to go.

[ShyGuy]

I think Call of Duty Black Ops killed my Wii. I am getting a disc error every time I put in any disc. How much does Nintendo Charge?

[Mop it up]

A repair is $75 + $10 shipping.

Call them up and tell them how big of a fan you are, and they might give you a discount, or they might tell you it's hopeless and there's nothing they can do. It's pretty hit or miss with them.