Topic: My Wii U may have bricked itself.

So before I send an email to Nintendo and have my Wii U sent off for repair, I'd like to know if anyone knows what the problem might be. I'd like to avoid sending it out if it's at all neccesary.

When I turn the console on, it takes a bit longer to present me with the log on screen. But on logging on to my user account, I'm faced with a message: "Please wait...", and the little wheel icon is spinning above the usb device icon.

It's been like this for 30 minutes now.

I was able to play on it last night, but we were hit by surprise gales (and maybe a small thunderstorm), which seemed to affect our lights (they flickered a bit). The Internet wen't down as well, and since I wasn't able to play the Challenges on Rayman Legends, I turned it off.

Another thing is that when I try to turn it off, the system fan is still going, and I have to hold down the power button until it powers down completely. I've tried removing my external hard drive and I've tried removing the SD card (before logging on, but after powering up the system).

Does anyone have any ideas? Even if I could, I'm weary about formatting the console because I have a lot of games purchased and tied to my console.

Was if working fine when you turned it off during the storm? If so, did you unplug it afterwards? Is it plugged into a surge protector? If you didn't answer yes to those last two questions then I"m about 99% certain it was affected by a power surge and you'll definitely need to send it in for repair.

I wouldn't format it before I call Nintendo and have them troubleshoot it. I know alot of people are weary about sending it in or dont want to but honestly thats the best suggestion so that way you dont mess something up yourself and end up costing you more in the end.

Well if it's bricked what other options are there? Send it to Nintendo

Try unplugging the AC adapter from the wall and your Wii U for a few minutes and then try firing it up again. If that doesn't work, call Nintendo, but I wouldn't mention the storm: if none of your other electronics were affected then it might be a defect with the system, and you don't want them jumping to conclusions and charging you when it might be something covered by the warranty.

• At the time, I didn't even notice, but the power supposedly went off. If only for a split second - a mains connected alarm clock was reset.
• I turned it off at the mains after I had finished. I would have unplugged it, but I wasn't planning to go on the computer that night, and I either have my WiiU plugged in or my computer at any one time.
• It's plugged into an extension strip, which in turn is plugged into the mains. The strip says "Surge Protected" on it.

Before, I was waiting for an hour before my WiiU automatically turned off (I can't even change the power settings to prevent it from doing this), but I've tried it again, and it still won't work.

I am open to sending it in for repair (even though the Warranty info has the gall to ask you to make a backup of all the data on the console) as I've survived a repair before with all my downloaded games intact. It's still in Warranty, but I don't have a receipt.

I do have a record of purchase on my debit card account, and I'm hoping that would be adequate. I've read a webpage that said that if you don't have a receipt, a cheque book stub or credit card statement should be accepted.

Crisis averted? I turned my console on without the HDD plugged in and after a short wait, I have access. I'll keep an eye on it, but I think my Wii U is going to be OK...

In that case the hard drive may have been ruined. You should make sure you unplug your electronics during a storm though, at least stuff like computers and other stuff that hold data, as surge protectors have their limits, and as long as something's plugged in it's receiving power, thus it can still get fried.

Kinda hard to do that if it was an unpredictable storm at least thats how the OP made it sound. Still you have a point there anytime the power surges you want to unplug your stuff. I remember we blew a fuse in our house and when we turned everything back on my mom's cell phone which was on the charger plugged in ended up getting fried.

When I was three or so lightning struck the antenna on our roof and the TV screen exploded,it was crazy.

so cool!!!! I wish I ever saw something so cool happening!!!

I don't think it would be as cool if you could have had glass shrapnel bulleted into you intestines.

@Gregor I said I'd love to see something like that happening not being dangerously close when it's happening and it's one of my personality problems I love explosions a little too much when no one's hurt by them

Yep.

I've just gone through the long and complicated process of re-formatting my hard-drive (first on the PC via a control panel function), then a quick reformat for the Wii U.

My Wii U starts up, no problem - even with the HDD attached now. I now have to redownload the games I lost.

Unfortunately, and some of you may have foreseen this, I lost all of my save data from my Mario no Super Picross progress to my Rayman Legends save file.

Also Monster Hunter, I presume. I was quite a way through that one...

Ugh, that makes me want to avoid ever hooking up a hard drive if possible, because I'm not sure if they're as reliable as the internal storage. I wish Nintendo offered a subscription service that allowed us to backup our game saves over the Internet.

Nice, I just had a power outage while playing Rayman Legends, but my Wii U is hooked up to a UPS and I was playing off the GamePad, so I was able to finish off the level no problem and power down. The power came back on like 2 minutes later, so I probably could have kept playing for the whole power outage if I wanted. I paid around $40-$50 for it a couple years ago for my Wii since it would flake out after every power outage, but I think that's the first time I've ever had a power outage while actually gaming since I got it. Totally awesome investment for the surge protection and ability to safely save your games and power down during an outage! Every gamer should have one.