Ok so I totally drained my Switch battery playing a few nights ago.
Put it on the dock and saw the green light flashing. After about an hour I noticed it was still totally dead.
I looked up the problem and saw some common solutions and tried them, i.e. cleaning the port, testing the a/c adapter to make sure it's working, unplugging everything for several hours, charging directly from the adapter and holding on for 20 seconds to a minute, etc.
Finally I saw a video that said to take off the joycons as they use up power, and to take out any physical games and sd cards. So I did that.
Plugged it in overnight and it will now turn on (only if the joycons aren't attached) but the power will only show a tiny sliver of red. Tried charging overnight but no change. The Nintendo logo comes up, but it won't go any farther than that.
I tried booting into recovery mode but it wouldn't do anything.
Anyone got any ideas? Is the battery fried? My Switch is 4 or 5 years old now.
I'm thinking of getting an OLED model, but then I'd want to sell this one. In that case I'd like to wipe it before selling but that isn't possible if I can't even turn it on!
If you're sure the charging cable works fine, then logically either the battery is F.A.Q.d or the connection between the charging cable and the battery is.
I've not replaced a Switch battery, but I imagine it's easier than changing the connecting electronics. Check out the battery replacement guide ifixit provides.
You guys had me at blood and semen.
What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?
@mikesalami I think recovery mode may only work for handheld mode, attached joycons - that's the default mode. Disregard if you know this already.
I think I also recall nintendo support had a troubleshooting page for charge display not displaying correctly, but if you can't boot up the switch, maybe this isn't relevant.
@mikesalami Firstly, my sympathies, I know how frustrating and PITA these types of issues can be.
Secondly, disclaimer: I have no specific expertise on the problem you're having.
If you're sure the charging cable works fine, then logically either the battery is F.A.Q.d or the connection between the charging cable and the battery is.
I've not replaced a Switch battery, but I imagine it's easier than changing the connecting electronics. Check out the battery replacement guide ifixit provides.
Yes a battery replacement is possible. I've read that any AC adapter that's not officially Nintendo can cause problems... I'm not sure if that goes for batteries too?
@mikesalami I think recovery mode may only work for handheld mode, attached joycons - that's the default mode. Disregard if you know this already.
I think I also recall nintendo support had a troubleshooting page for charge display not displaying correctly, but if you can't boot up the switch, maybe this isn't relevant.
Ya can't boot it at all. I may end up just sending it to Nintendo and get them to fix it.
@mikesalami At the beginning of the Switches' life, some third party AC adapters+docks bricked some switch consoles. Even though those problems appear to have been resolved for a few years, if you're ever troublshooting the switch, you should be use official Nintendo branded AC adapter & dock to rule out third party accessories as the source of the problem.
I haven't heard of batteries creating problems. Although, if you can get a new Nintendo brand Switch battery, their batteries have been high quality, long life. I dont know if, or how, available they are - haven't shopped for one.
@mikesalami At the beginning of the Switches' life, some third party AC adapters+docks bricked some switch consoles. Even though those problems appear to have been resolved for a few years, if you're ever troublshooting the switch, you should be use official Nintendo branded AC adapter & dock to rule out third party accessories as the source of the problem.
I haven't heard of batteries creating problems. Although, if you can get a new Nintendo brand Switch battery, their batteries have been high quality, long life. I dont know if, or how, available they are - haven't shopped for one.
Well I just got a new OLED model cause I kinda wanted one anyway.
The question now is whether my old data will transfer over from my account (I'll find that out soon).
And second, is there a way to wipe a Switch without turning it on? Seems doubtful.
I'd like to sell my old one... I figure someone would buy it at a cheap price for parts or know how to fix it... but I don't want all my games and data on there if I do so.
@mikesalami Things I learned when I transferred to an OLED🤔
You can only transfer switch user profiles that are linked to a nintendo account. If you have switch user profiles that aren't linked to a nintendo account, you can create nintendo accounts for them, then link the switch user profile to the nintendo account to perform the transfer.
You'll have to perform the transfer for each switch user individually.
You need both consoles present for the transfer.
You will need wifi connection to do a transfer. The console requires wifi autorization in order to perform the transfer. After that online check, the actual data transfer is done via switch bluetooth, aka switch local wireless.
After you're done with the transfers,
Nintendo has a video for preparing a used switch for sale/trade-in, which will wipe/factory reset the console. And yeah, the Switch has to be on, since this task is performed from within Switch menus/settings. I believe nintendo support site should have directions too - they have directions for everything.
Well I can't transfer my data without turning it on. It's ok... I don't really mind losing it other than my Mario Kart data since I had some decent records and will now have to pass every tournament on every setting again, lol. But that could be kinda fun.
As for fixing the Switch I'll probably send it back to Nintendo for repairs and then just wipe it and sell it.
@mikesalami Oh, there is still a way to download your backed up cloud save data when you only have the new console. So, you can still get your Mario Kart save data. But there are some games that don't have NSO cloud save backup support, like Pokemon (requires an eshop app to transfer between consoles), and Splatoon?.... Since this method isn't compatible with all games, it rarely gets mentioned in the forum. Here's the list of games that do have NSO cloud save support: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a...
How to trasnfer... https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a...
The how-to-transfer page (the link above) points to the link below for how to transfer & download cloud save data for when you only have the new console (the old console doesn't work or was stolen).
@mikesalami Oh, there is still a way to download your backed up cloud save data when you only have the new console. So, you can still get your Mario Kart save data. But there are some games that don't have NSO cloud save backup support, like Pokemon (requires an eshop app to transfer between consoles), and Splatoon?.... Since this method isn't compatible with all games, it rarely gets mentioned in the forum. Here's the list of games that do have NSO cloud save support: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a...
How to trasnfer... https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a...
The how-to-transfer page (the link above) points to the link below for how to transfer & download cloud save data for when you only have the new console (the old console doesn't work or was stolen).
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