Decaying Hardware

YouTube · PostDecaying Hardware by **Jezo** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:28 am

Had a craving for some Guitar Hero. Unfortunately lost my 360 guitar, but still have it on Wii, so I whipped it out, plugged it in, and got the ol' black screen "The System Files are Corrupted". Rip. Had the Wii since launch. It did me good. In an attempt to potentially troubleshoot, I turn off the Wii, turn it back on, and... Well it just worked. Un-rip. I then remembered it started doing this a couple years back. Sometimes when I turn it on it says the system files are corrupt, but will eventually work just fine with restarts. I've heard stories from family and friends before of their older consoles just dying one day unexpectedly. Never had this happen to me, but I guess all things must decay eventually, like my Wii has apparently started doing. Anyone else ever had to go through the death of a beloved console? Or one that started acting up as time went on?

Also got 90% through Through the Fire and Flames. These fingers just aren't as fast as they used to be. Smh.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Preezy** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:43 am

Come on Jezo, don't fear the (hardware) reaper
Jezo take my hand, don't fear the (hardware) reaper
We'll be able to fly, don't fear the (hardware) reaper
Jezo I'm your man

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Edd** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:06 am

Saw something on Twitter recently about bulging PSP batteries so checked and I had swollen batteries in my brother's PSP, his original 3DS and my DS Lite so can only play them plugged in now unless we buy new batteries.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **KjGarly** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:33 am

Edd wrote:Saw something on Twitter recently about bulging PSP batteries so checked and I had swollen batteries in my brother's PSP, his original 3DS and my DS Lite so can only play them plugged in now unless we buy new batteries.

Saw that myself, luckily mines fine (PSP Original model) and the battery was usually removed when not in use.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Drumstick** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:52 am

The laser on my launch day GameCube died some years back. That's the only instance of hardware failure that I can recall experiencing.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **KjGarly** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:31 am

Surprised at that, old Nintendo hardware was tough as strawberry float. My dad recently found both an OG Game Boy and Game Boy Colour in his shed and they must have been in there 15 years or more, damp conditions etc and both work perfect.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **rinks** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:47 pm

It’s my original Xbox I’m worried about. Given the reports of leaky capacitors (or something like that), I’m not optimistic it would start up again.

Corazon de Leon · PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Corazon de Leon** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:41 pm

XBox 360 has to be the points leader on hardware that didn't last for the long term.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Green Gecko** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:07 pm

Jezo wrote:Had a craving for some Guitar Hero. Unfortunately lost my 360 guitar, but still have it on Wii, so I whipped it out, plugged it in, and got the ol' black screen "The System Files are Corrupted". Rip. Had the Wii since launch. It did me good. In an attempt to potentially troubleshoot, I turn off the Wii, turn it back on, and... Well it just worked. Un-rip. I then remembered it started doing this a couple years back. Sometimes when I turn it on it says the system files are corrupt, but will eventually work just fine with restarts. I've heard stories from family and friends before of their older consoles just dying one day unexpectedly. Never had this happen to me, but I guess all things must decay eventually, like my Wii has apparently started doing. Anyone else ever had to go through the death of a beloved console? Or one that started acting up as time went on?

Also got 90% through Through the Fire and Flames. These fingers just aren't as fast as they used to be. Smh.

Sounds like there might be something wrong with the EEPROM I..e where the firmware is flashed and/or the writable flash memory for storing games etc. It can probably be fixed with homebrew tools and overwriting it again.

Weirdly I haven't had any lasers fail or, well, any console ever for that matter - a faulty laser that had to be turned at an angle on my brother's PS but that wasn't mine.

The only hardware I've sold is my original DS.

Faulty capacitors aren't especially difficult to get fixed so, worst comes to worse, these aren't the worst scenarios. Vintage 80s computers are far more likely to have problems.

That said, launch Xbox 360 models and the original phat PS3 (I have one that works but my god is it loud) are probably the worst examples of any "mainstream" games console in terms of catastrophic hardware failure, that I'm aware of.

My Wii U has stopped reading random Wii discs, it just chucked you out backs to the WIi menu, which is annoying as I have Wii saves on that console. Works fine on original Wii though. It might be starting to have some laser/lens issues...

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Jenuall** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:58 pm

Only consoles I've had die on me were my PS2 (bought 2001, died in 2004 from drive failure) and my 360 (bought 2006, died 2009 from RROD)

Fished out my old GBA SP not long ago and it still works like a charm, good old Nintendium!

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Ironhide** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:08 pm

This is exactly the reason why emulation is such a valuable tool for preserving (and playing) old games as all old electronics will eventually fail.

Over the years I've had the following hardware failures

32X - stopped working after six months
Dreamcast - psu failed after 3 years use
PS2 - died after getting knocked onto the floor
Xbox 360 - no RRoD but the disc drive started scratching discs
DSLite - broken hinges after being dropped
PSP - cracked screen (dropped it)

I think most of my other consoles still work but the rechargeable batteries in my remaining DS and PSP are probably knackered by now.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Drumstick** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:20 pm

Corazon de Leon wrote:XBox 360 has to be the points leader on hardware that didn't last for the long term.

Folks around our way still refer to UPS as The Xbox 360 Transport Service.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Victor Mildew** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:29 pm

The disc drive on my Amstrad cpc 6128 has given up the ghost thanks to the drive belt perishing. I did replace it, but the fix didn't last long.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Garth** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:29 pm

I had a Dreamcast and 360 die after a few years, but my other old consoles were sold while they were still working.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **D_C** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:42 pm

I found my old DS Lite when going through some old moving boxes (We moved about 5 years ago). I don't think the DS Lite had been turned on for at least 7 years.

It turned on and had roughly 30% battery still :lol:

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Dowbocop** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:48 pm

ZX Spectrum: broken membrane. Probably fixable when I get around to it.

Atari 2600: static audio on TV, might be resolved if I run it through a VCR.

Slim PS2: disc read errors, I tried to override the lid catch as it wasn't registering but didn't work, might try again.

Wii: freezes five seconds after booting, seems pretty terminal, haven't tried fixing it to be honest.

360: first one RRoD, second one had an overheating PSU so CEX wouldn't take it, fix was too advanced for me and couldn't buy a spare (wasn't worth it either). I actually donated this to our local maternity hospital as they were doing up their parents room in the neonatal ICU and I thought their maintenance team might be able to fix it up.

YouTube · PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Jezo** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:50 pm

Preezy wrote:Come on Jezo, don't fear the (hardware) reaper
Jezo take my hand, don't fear the (hardware) reaper
We'll be able to fly, don't fear the (hardware) reaper
Jezo I'm your man

Oh god yes Preezy, be my man~

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Carlos** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:38 pm

Corazon de Leon wrote:XBox 360 has to be the points leader on hardware that didn't last for the long term.

One of my neighbours still has a working Xbox 360 Core model complete with 256mb memory card! He has added the HDD and just uses it to let his kids play Minecraft and Lego but still

Bluesky · PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Kriken** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:41 pm

Only console I've had die on me is a preowned PS3 I didn't have for too long, but I also had a DS Phat with a top screen so broken I couldn't see most of it, so that was practically bust too. Then I had to replace my first DS Lite after a few years because one of the hinges went loose.

My near-launch Wii is still going strong, and up until recently I did use it quite a lot. Early on in its life it had a bad drop which I thought broke it at first, but it ended up still working - the disc drive was just really loud when in use. Never had any error messages apart from the rare disc read one.

I think if any of my consoles is going to die next it'll be my preowned PS4, but it seems healthy at the moment so we'll see. That or my other PS3.

PostRe: Decaying Hardware by **Tsunade** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:08 pm

My original DS broke because the top screen came loose from the bottom half. (You could see the wires coming out and the colours started fading too) I'd had it from launch. I think my little brother still has it, I'm pretty sure I saw it at his house the other day. He's probably kept it because of all the pokemon figurines attached to it!

My original 3ds is on its way out, it's extremely temperamental! It only turns on half the time, sometimes it refuses to charge, other times it'll turn off if you move slightly whilst playing it. Luckily an old friend of mine had a spare new 3ds XL so I managed to transferred my data before it went completely kaput!

Decaying Hardware

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