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[Esque7]

I started receiving error 160-0103 last month, which was an internal memory error. The weird thing is that it was only affecting my games which were downloaded onto the system memory. VC games and eshop games worked fine, but the downloaded retail games were not working. So I contacted Nintendo to get it repaired but they sent it back saying I made hardware changes to my console and would not repair it (I've never made any hardware changes).

As a last measure, I decided to delete and re-download my games which seemed to work for a moment but now my Wii U is essentially bricked. It just freezes after a few seconds when I start it. I'm not sure if anyone else has had a similar issue, but any help would be welcome. The only thing I did with my Wii U was install homebrew on the vWii side but I can't imagine that would effect my Wii U memory so long after instalation (plus I never really used the homebrew channel anyways).

Edit: Apologies if the OP sounded as if I was complaining about Nintendo Customer Service. I was fully aware that they might not fix it when I sent it in, but other owners who had the same issue seemed to have luck. I'm looking for advice here, please don't do a drive by post about me voiding the warranty. Thanks for any help.

 

[Atheerios]

The only thing I did with my Wii U was install homebrew on the vWii side

Well, there's your problem. You should know well that installing any kind of homebrew on your consoles voids the warranty.

 

[Velcro Fly]

Yeah having homebrew on there means they aren't going to touch it. Probably out of luck =/

 

[BlitzBlake]

The only thing I did with my Wii U was install homebrew on the vWii side

You dun goofed

 

[Persona7]

If they notice homebrew they won't touch it. From what I understand once you install it there is no going back as it alters critical system files which are permanently altered even if you uninstall the hacked software. It's a risk you take when installing third party software.

 

[Skyzard]

Does homebrew void warranty?

Did you delete it before sending it in?

 

[chronic_archaic]

The NAND going bad is an unlikely failure but possible. Installing hacks to vWii is what made them not accept it. It didn't have anything to do with that. It just voided your warranty.

 

[Esque7]

Homebrew will void warranty if they notice it, sure, but the weird thing is they said I made HARDWARE alteration on the letter they sent back. The letter has 2 check boxes, one for hardware alterations and one for software (i.e. Homebrew).

Edit: And yes, I deleted the homebrew and took my SD card out. I'm sure they can still find it even after you deleted it if they really want to.

 

[MoogPaul]

I'm a little disappointed that the 'I didn't make hardware changes' and 'I installed homebrew' wasn't in the same sentence.

 

[Hasney]

Can you get into Wii mode by holding B on the gamepad on system boot up? From there, initialise the vWii portion and see if that helps. May have to reset to factory on the Wii U side too if you're quick enough before the lock up.

 

[Thatanas]

plus I never really used the homebrew channel anyway

This is just icing on the cake.

 

[Resistance100]

Try and find a independent store to fix it.

Can't complain that Nintendo won't fix it after putting homebrew on it.

 

[TyrantGuardian]

Well, there's your problem. You should know well that installing any kind of homebrew on your consoles voids the warranty.

This is, contrary to popular belief, legally false. Modifying either hardware and software does not legally void your warranty at all unless the modification is the reason behind the fault. The problem is that you would have to take the company to court over it (and you would most likely win) but legal fees and a very long judicial process prevent regular consumers from pursuing legal action.

These companies only do it because they know they can get away with it. Unless the OP actually bricked it due to said homebrew installation. Might be hard to prove otherwise, to be fair.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

So I contacted Nintendo to get it repaired but they sent it back saying I made hardware changes to my console and would not repair it (I've never made any hardware changes).

The only thing I did with my Wii U was install homebrew on the vWii side but I can't imagine that would effect my Wii U memory so long after instalation (plus I never really used the homebrew channel anyways).

Ho boy

 

[Matt]

Homebrew will void warranty if they notice it, sure, but the weird thing is they said I made HARDWARE alteration on the letter they sent back. The letter has 2 check boxes, one for hardware alterations and one for software (i.e. Homebrew).

Edit: And yes, I deleted the homebrew and took my SD card out. I'm sure they can still find it even after you deleted it if they really want to.

So they filled out the form wrong, but you still voided the warranty.

 

[cireza]

The only thing I did with my Wii U was install homebrew on the vWii

lol

 

[RichiRamjag]

So they filled out the form wrong, but you still voided the warranty.

In a nutshell.

 

[watershed]

Sorry our WiiU is bricked but you installed homebrew so I don't think you can fault Nintendo for not fixing your system. Who knows, maybe the homebrew software is responsible for the bricking.

 

[Skyzard]

This is, contrary to popular belief, legally false. Modifying either hardware and software does not legally void your warranty at all unless the modification is the reason behind the fault. The problem is that you would have to take the company to court over it (and you would most likely win) but legal fees and a very long judicial process prevent regular consumers from pursuing legal action.

These companies only do it because they know they can get away with it. Unless the OP actually bricked it due to said homebrew installation. Might be hard to prove otherwise, to be fair.

That's what I thought.

They probably loaded activity log and thought fuck op.

 

[ramparter]

I had the same problem I think, I unplugged the console and removed the sd card. After months I tried to connect it and it worked! Someone suggested that some internal memories used by hardware stuff like clocks etc, resetted after being unplugged all this time. Maybe try the same.

 

[TyrantGuardian]

That's what I thought.

They probably loaded activity log and thought fuck op.

Unfortunately the only advice to give OP in cases like these is "take them to court and sue their ass", but uh... yeah. Have fun!

Or consumers could wisen up to this behavior and have a lobby group file a class action lawsuit which essentially makes these practices illegal for companies like Nintendo. Probably hard to convince anyone to invest that kind of money into this issue though, especially since the people with money gain a lot from the status quo.

 

[Esque7]

Didnt mean to come off as if I was complaining, I understand that Nintendo won't fix it at this point. But does anyone have any advice on what to do from here? Is it just dead, or should I attempt a repair? I know there's a fairly big homebrew community here that might have some solutions.

 

[MCN]

This is, contrary to popular belief, legally false. Modifying either hardware and software does not legally void your warranty at all unless the modification is the reason behind the fault. The problem is that you would have to take the company to court over it (and you would most likely win) but legal fees and a very long judicial process prevent regular consumers from pursuing legal action.

These companies only do it because they know they can get away with it. Unless the OP actually bricked it due to said homebrew installation. Might be hard to prove otherwise, to be fair.

Somebody watches LinusTechTips...

 

[TyrantGuardian]

Somebody watches LinusTechTips...

You got me

 

[GankzyMcfly]

Not surprised they wouldn't repair it since it had the homebrew stuff on it, im not too knowledgeable with regards to the wii but i would imagine thats considered a soft mod in some complicity.

 

[chronic_archaic]

Didnt mean to come off as if I was complaining, I understand that Nintendo won't fix it at this point. But does anyone have any advice on what to do from here? Is it just dead, or should I attempt a repair? I know there's a fairly big homebrew community here that might have some solutions.

This sounds like your NAND flash chip is dying - if you looked into something like rednand before deleting games and such you probably could have gotten away with using that and keeping the system from fully dying.

At this point - it's dead. There's no saving your console. Buy a new one.

 

[Chao]

My advice is: that's what happens -sometimes- when modifying your console, even if it's software based modifications.

I don't fuck with no homebrew after having my Wii not loading my games through the disc channel anymore, had to use a separate homebrew loader to play them and made super mad.

Didn't play Wii that much that gen because of this, either have a second console just for this kind of fuckery or be prepared for unexpected problems, it's not like this 14 years old "RaDiK4L" hacker knows how not to fuck up your console in the long run

 

[witchedwiz]

This is, contrary to popular belief, legally false. Modifying either hardware and software does not legally void your warranty at all unless the modification is the reason behind the fault. The problem is that you would have to take the company to court over it (and you would most likely win) but legal fees and a very long judicial process prevent regular consumers from pursuing legal action.

These companies only do it because they know they can get away with it. Unless the OP actually bricked it due to said homebrew installation. Might be hard to prove otherwise, to be fair.

this over and over..
it's just money-inefficient, as a manifacturer can still the claim for a LONG LONG LONG time..
but yeah, at least in europe, they can't say "noboyno" technically
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0250:EN:HTML
so you know..
basically if you jailbreak a phone, unless apple can produce FACTUAL evidence that you've infringed the copyright, they are UNABLE to refuse repairing an iphone that was jailbroken...

just like blizzard claiming that you cannot sell an account or do a lot of other stuff...
sure in us? right-oh..
in europe? ahahan
Of course they can terminate your account, but as the tos in europe is NOT LEGALLY BINDING, if they terminate unidirectionally an account, if there's a legal action, the company must reimburse the money spent on the goods (say your b.net account is banned? at the very least all direct key tied to the account.. i don't know how it works for additional service like name change, etc) which is now no longer accessible not due to unavailability of the good itself (discontinued service) but due to unwillingness of the third party (blizzard) to let you access to the good itself..

you know the tos you "sign" to access software license or when you do for example first access on a new console?
according to eu coj (court of justice), you can ignore it, as whatever is there does not superceed the law.. it's just an informal message that you can take and throw in the trash bin..

but while this all seems "incredible" the harsh reality is difference..
when you can buy a new console for 200, does this warrant spending a large amount of money for a legal claim (you *will* get the money back most likely, but much later along the road)? usually no..
at that point even informed consumers, will just say "let it gooo, let it gooooooooooo"...
This is because while in us they have class action and lack of consumer protection, in eu we have consumer protection but lack of class action//consumer awareness.. because if a consumer could use a "default free" lawyer offered as a service for these type of claims, and not someone to be payed directly by the consumer, you would see a lot of stuff going quite differently..

 

[Nugg]

The only thing I did with my Wii U was install homebrew on the vWii side but I can't imagine that would effect my Wii U memory so long after instalation

Even if it isn't the source of your issues, that's why Nintendo won't fix it.

 

[meppi]

Advice?

 

[Starwolf_UK]

I thought NOA were supposed to the good customer service. Makes me wonder what happens if you do the repair by requesting a replacement system then you send your broken system in? You'll probably get charged full because they refuse to fix the other one.

this over and over..
it's just money-inefficient, as a manifacturer can still the claim for a LONG LONG LONG time..
but yeah, at least in europe, they can't say "noboyno" technically
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0250:EN:HTML
so you know..
basically if you jailbreak a phone, unless apple can produce FACTUAL evidence that you've infringed the copyright, they are UNABLE to refuse repairing an iphone that was jailbroken...

Due to this in Europe NOE will just charge you the full amount for the repair instead which is almost as much as buying the system new which is just as off putting really.

Regarding the OP. Wait for the NAND to die completely/take a sledgehammer to the Wii U so it won't even power on then there will be nothing for them to check. Or will NOA still refuse (weird as NOA used to have a reputation of bending over backwards for people...) because the record is set?

If you can properly uninstall the homebrew on the vWii side (remember vWii and Wii are different procedures) then it might be worth sending it back in and being "what hardware modification?"

By properly uninstall I mean remove the tickets, get rid of the cIOS etc etc or whatever you did.

 

[witchedwiz]

Due to this in Europe NOE will just charge you the full amount for the repair instead which is almost as much as buying the system new which is just as off putting really.

Not necessarily, though they can possibly..
but they CANNOT refuse to repair it... Which is instead what has happened to op...

 

[Platy]

Homebrew will void warranty if they notice it, sure, but the weird thing is they said I made HARDWARE alteration on the letter they sent back. The letter has 2 check boxes, one for hardware alterations and one for software (i.e. Homebrew).

Edit: And yes, I deleted the homebrew and took my SD card out. I'm sure they can still find it even after you deleted it if they really want to.

That is because you probably didn't unpatched the necessary IOS before deleting the homebrew.

Can you get into Wii mode by holding B on the gamepad on system boot up? From there, initialise the vWii portion and see if that helps. May have to reset to factory on the Wii U side too if you're quick enough before the lock up.

If this works, you can also try to unpatch the necessary ios and send it back as a different wiiu =P

 

[akashhhhh]

This is, contrary to popular belief, legally false. Modifying either hardware and software does not legally void your warranty at all unless the modification is the reason behind the fault. The problem is that you would have to take the company to court over it (and you would most likely win) but legal fees and a very long judicial process prevent regular consumers from pursuing legal action.

These companies only do it because they know they can get away with it. Unless the OP actually bricked it due to said homebrew installation. Might be hard to prove otherwise, to be fair.

Small claims is cheap and fast. Literally exists for the case described. They likely won't even want a judgement and will call to settle.

 

[Alchemist]

I started receiving error 160-0103 last month, which was an internal memory error. The weird thing is that it was only affecting my games which were downloaded onto the system memory. VC games and eshop games worked fine, but the downloaded retail games were not working. So I contacted Nintendo to get it repaired but they sent it back saying I made hardware changes to my console and would not repair it (I've never made any hardware changes).

As a last measure, I decided to delete and re-download my games which seemed to work for a moment but now my Wii U is essentially bricked. It just freezes after a few seconds when I start it. I'm not sure if anyone else has had a similar issue, but any help would be welcome. The only thing I did with my Wii U was install homebrew on the vWii side but I can't imagine that would effect my Wii U memory so long after instalation (plus I never really used the homebrew channel anyways).

lol

 

[RichiRamjag]

Small claims is cheap and fast. Literally exists for the case described. They likely won't even want a judgement and will call to settle.

It's a hassle and takes time out of your day better spent making cash. I've witnessed the process a few times and it isn't worth the effort imo. I can't stand going down to that courthouse area though lol.

 

[Ozigizo]

and will call to settle.

Lol.

 

[akashhhhh]

It's a hassle and takes time out of your day better spent making cash. I've witnessed the process a few times and it isn't worth the effort imo. I can't stand going down to that courthouse area though lol.

Hasn't been my experience, but fair enough.

Lol.

Do you have something useful to add based on your own experience? Nintendo would not want any judgement on this to be on record. They would either try to settle beforehand or give you whatever you want (within reason and within the small claims cap) during mandatory arbitration many small claims have you go through just before you see the judge.

 

[brawly]

advice?

Move on.

 

[Ozigizo]

Hasn't been my experience, but fair enough.



Do you have something useful to add based on your own experience? Nintendo would not want any judgement on this to be on record. They would either try to settle beforehand or give you whatever you want (within reason and within the small claims cap) during mandatory arbitration many small claims have you go through just before you see the judge.

Are you a lawyer?

 

[eggandI]

"Hi i voided my wii u's warranty why wont nintendo fix it??"

 

[ffdgh]

Yeah...You goofed.

 

[El Sabroso]

"Hi i voided my wii u's warranty why wont nintendo fix it??"

yup, that's it

 

[afternoon delight]

I started receiving error 160-0103 last month, which was an internal memory error. The weird thing is that it was only affecting my games which were downloaded onto the system memory.

As a last measure, I decided to delete and re-download my games which seemed to work for a moment but now my Wii U is essentially bricked. It just freezes after a few seconds when I start it.

Rough. The only advice I can give is rarely wipe wonky electronics unless as an absolute last resort because sometimes (as you've found) it's literally impossible to retrieve old data that worked perfectly somehow in its strange little electronic microcosm.

I thought NOA were supposed to the good customer service.

I think any console producer is going to largely laugh at anyone who sends them a once modded console.

 

[Diablohead]

I remember back in the DS days people would softmod then roll back, send it in and nintendo could still tell you had modded the system.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

If OP offered to pay for it would they fix it. Or is it just bad blood now?

 

[Seik]

OP, you installed homebrew.

That's basically it, Nintendo isn't at fault here.

I homebrewed my U as well and if it ever dies it will go straight to the garbage. You and I are responsible for voiding the warranty.

 

[Seth Enosh]

Use homebrew to back up the system and buy another Wii U, then copy your saves to the new Wii U?

Or just buy a new/used Wii U base unit off eBay if you don't care about your saves. Nintendo Support can transfer your Nintendo Id and then you can download your games to the new console.

 

[Esque7]

Use homebrew to back up the system and buy another Wii U, then copy your saves to the new Wii U?

Or just buy a new/used Wii U base unit off eBay if you don't care about your saves. Nintendo Support can transfer your Nintendo Id and then you can download your games to the new console.

I'm not sure I can even install homebrew at this point, the system locks up after 10 or so seconds at the Wii U menu. Unless there's a way to workaround way to get it installed.

I'm thinking I'll just buy a used console if nothing else is possible. I'm not too concerned about save data anymore besides Smash Bros.

 

[Justinh]

I always thought that doing homebrew stuff wasn't detectable by Nintendo. If this happened to me, I'd probably just buy a refurb Wii U from the Nintendo online store.