Brick (electronics)

Bricking a device is most often a result of interrupting an attempt to update the device. Many devices have an update procedure which must not be interrupted before completion; if interrupted by a power failure, user intervention, or any other reason, the existing firmware may be partially overwritten and unusable. The risk of corruption can be minimized by taking all possible precautions against interruption. Bricking a device may also be done intentionally as punishment for severe transgressions involving its use, but this is exceptionally rare and typically only done as a last resort.

Installing firmware with errors, or for a different revision of the hardware, or installing firmware incompetently patched such as DVD firmware which only plays DVDs sold in a particular region, can also cause bricking.

Devices can also be bricked by malware (malicious software) and sometimes by running software not intentionally harmful but with errors that cause damage.

Some devices include a backup copy of their firmware, stored in fixed ROM or writable non-volatile memory, which is not normally accessible to processes that could corrupt it. Should the firmware become corrupted, the device can copy from the backup memory to its main memory, restoring the firmware.

Bricking is classified into two types, hard and soft, depending on the device's ability to function.

File:"System files are corrupted" message shown by a soft bricked Nintendo Wii..png, showing the "System files are corrupted" message]]

A "soft bricked" device may show signs of life, but fails to boot or may display an error screen. Soft bricked devices can usually be fixed relatively easily; for example, a soft bricked iOS device may display a screen instructing the user to plug it into a computer to perform an operating system recovery using iTunes computer software.{{Cite news|url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201263|title=If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch|work=Apple Support|access-date=2017-05-06|language=en-US}} In some cases, soft bricked devices are unable to be repaired without physical repairs being carried out; an example of this would be an iOS device locked with iCloud Activation Lock, of which the only solution is to contact the owner of the iCloud account the device is locked to, or to replace the entire logicboard with a non-locked board {{Citation needed|reason=Not mentioned in previous Apple Support citation.|date=February 2018}} (or swap some integrated circuits from a donor board which is usually not economical).

Hard bricked devices generally show few or no signs of life. A bricked device may not power on at all, or it may power on, but never boot to the OS or firmware, the closest getting to a warning screen.

Some kernel bugs{{ambiguous| Android?|date=November 2024}} have been known that affect the /data partition in the eMMC chip, which becomes corrupted during certain operations such as wiping and flashing.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} Another example of a hard brick was related to a EFI firmware bug which could allow users to run rm on the EFI system variables mounted to the filesystem from within the operating system, resulting in a bricked bootloader that would require ROM soldering tools to repair. This bug was addressed by Linux developers in 2016.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Chris |date=2 February 2016 |title=Little warning: Deleting the wrong files may brick your Linux PC |url=https://www.theregister.com/2016/02/02/delete_efivars_linux/ |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=The Register}}

Recovering from a hard brick is generally considered difficult or impossible and requires the use of a more direct programming interface to the device; such an interface often exists, as there must be a way to program the initial firmware during the manufacturing process. However, additional tools or connections may be needed, such as low-level programming devices. Hardware hard brick recoveries are also considered difficult and require electrical knowledge to find and fix hardware issues. For example, an overloaded capacitor in a circuit may explode, thus stopping the flow of electricity and bricking the device. More complex examples involve permanent damage to integrated circuits and processors. Fixing such hardware bricks involve replacing these components entirely or fixing them by either bypassing if the circuit allows or other methods.

Most devices can be hard bricked in a variety of ways. Resolution generally follows a process of analyzing the boot process, determining the sub-type of hard brick, and making changes with the help of external (non-bricked) devices.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dotandroid.com/android-root-guides/unbrick-qualcomm-mobiles/|title=Unbricking a Hard Bricked Android Device|website=Dot Android|access-date=2017-04-24|archive-date=2017-04-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424175103/http://www.dotandroid.com/android-root-guides/unbrick-qualcomm-mobiles/|url-status=dead}}

Some devices that become "bricked" because the contents of their nonvolatile memory are incorrect can be "un-bricked" using separate hardware (a debug board) that accesses this memory directly.{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo1973_Debug_Board_v2/Unbricking|title=Neo1973 Debug Board v2/Unbricking - Openmoko|website=wiki.openmoko.org}}{{better source needed|date=July 2021}} This is similar to the procedure for loading firmware into a new device when the memory is still empty. This kind of "bricking" and "un-bricking" occasionally happens during firmware testing and development. In other cases software and hardware procedures, often complex, have been developed that have a good chance of un-bricking the device. There is no general method; each device is different. There are also user-created modifier programs to use on bricked or partially bricked devices to make them functional. Examples include the [https://wiibrew.org Wiibrew] program BootMii used to fix semi-bricked Wiis, the Odin program used to flash firmware on Samsung Android devices,[http://unbrick.itcse.com/ Unbrick Android phones and tablets] or the fastboot Android protocol which is capable of re-flashing a device with no software installed.

A soft-bricked rooted Kindle Fire can be un-bricked by using unrooting tools.

A personal computer may be un-bricked by using various means of restoring techniques, from internal ones through the "Backup and Reset" feature, or external one using an external OS image.

In principle any device with rewritable firmware, or certain crucial settings stored into flash or EEPROM memory, can be bricked. Many, but not all, devices with user-updatable firmware have protection against bricking; devices intended to be updated only by official service personnel generally do not.

Amongst devices known to have bricking issues are: older PCs (more recent models often have dual BIOSes or some other form of protection), many mobile phones, handheld game consoles like the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS, video game consoles like the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, many SCSI devices and some lines of hard disk drives and routers.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

Electric cars such as the Tesla Roadster (first generation) can brick if the battery is completely discharged.{{Cite web|url=https://jalopnik.com/tesla-motors-devastating-design-problem-5887265|title=Tesla Motors' Devastating Design Problem|first=Michael|last=Degusta|date=February 22, 2012|website=Jalopnik}}

Sometimes an interrupted flash upgrade of a PC motherboard will brick the board, for example, due to a power outage (or user impatience) during the upgrade process. It is sometimes possible to un-brick such a motherboard, by scavenging a similar but otherwise broken board for a BIOS chip in the hopes that the BIOS will work even halfway, far enough to boot from floppy. Then it will be possible to retry the flash process. Sometimes it is possible to boot from a floppy, then swap the old presumably dead BIOS chip in and re-flash it.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r31285731-motherboard-Bricked-motherboard-after-bios-update|title=[motherboard] Bricked motherboard after bios update - Computer Hardware Help {{!}} DSLReports Forums|website=DSL Reports|access-date=2017-05-06}}{{better source needed|date=July 2021}} On some Gigabyte boards, it can also be possible to re-flash the bricked main BIOS using a backup BIOS.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gigabyte.com/microsite/55/tech_081226_dualbios.htm|title=--GIGABYTE--DUAL BIOS WEB|website=www.gigabyte.com|access-date=2017-05-06}} Some vendors put the BIOS chip in sockets, allowing the corrupted BIOS chip to be removed and reprogrammed using an external tool, like a universal programmer or an Arduino.

Mobile phones have a fixed identification code, the IMEI. A telephone reported stolen can have its IMEI blocked by networks, preventing them from being used as mobile devices.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cell-phones-blacklist-stolen-wireless-bell-rogers-thieves-1.3458895|title=Thieves frustrated by stolen phone blacklist, hunt for ways around it|first=David|last=Burke|website=CBC News|language=en|access-date=2019-03-11}} iOS offers a similar "Activation Lock" feature via the "Find My iPhone" security software, where a device can be remotely prevented from operating (even after it has been erased), protected by the owner's Apple ID.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/30/14438282/apple-removes-activation-lock-tool-icloud-com|title=Apple gets rid of tool that let you check whether iPhones were stolen|last=Singleton|first=Micah|date=2017-01-30|website=The Verge|access-date=2019-03-11}}

Devices that have a strong dependency on online services in order to function may be bricked after services are discontinued by the manufacturer, or some other technological factor (such as expired security certificates or other services quietly becoming unavailable) effectively prevents them from operating. This can happen if the product has been succeeded by a newer model and the manufacturer no longer wishes to maintain services for the previous version, or if a company has been acquired by another or otherwise ceases operations, and chooses not to, or is no longer able to maintain its previous products. For example, Apple dropped support for OS X El Capitan in October 2018, and on 30 September 2021 the built-in security certificate expired, rendering users unable to connect to or use any iCloud services.{{Cite web |last=hoakley |date=2021-09-21 |title=El Capitan and older Mac OS X are about to have a security certificate problem |url=https://eclecticlight.co/2021/09/21/el-capitan-and-older-mac-os-x-are-about-to-have-a-security-certificate-problem/ |access-date=2022-05-27 |website=The Eclectic Light Company |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Helme |first=Scott |date=20 September 2021 |title=Let's Encrypt's Root Certificate is expiring! |url=https://scotthelme.co.uk/lets-encrypt-old-root-expiration/ |access-date=27 May 2021 |website=Scott Helme}}{{Cite web |title=Let's Encrypt's root certificate has expired, and it might break your devices |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/21/lets-encrypt-root-expiry/ |access-date=2022-05-27 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}} The security certificate issued with the final updates of OS X Sierra and High Sierra have expired as of 20 May 2022. The practice has especially been scrutinized within the Internet of things and smart home markets.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/05/revolv-devices-bricked-google-nest-smart-home|title=Revolv owners furious as Google shuts down smart home company|last=Hern|first=Alex|date=2016-04-05|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-03-11|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/8/16623076/logitech-harmony-link-discontinued-bricked|title=Logitech will brick its Harmony Link hub for all owners in March|last=Welch|first=Chris|date=2017-11-08|website=The Verge|access-date=2019-03-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/revolv-is-dead-google-killed-it-long-live-innovation/|title=Revolv is dead. Google killed it. Long live innovation|last=Gewirtz|first=David|website=ZDNet|language=en|access-date=2019-03-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90315692/one-of-the-decades-most-hyped-robots-sends-its-farewell-message|title=One of the decade's most hyped robots sends its farewell message|last=Diaz|first=Jesus|date=2019-03-06|website=Fast Company|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-11}} Bricking in these cases have been declared a means to enforce planned obsolescence.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/04/nest-reminds-customers-ownership-isnt-what-it-used-be|title=Nest Reminds Customers That Ownership Isn't What It Used to Be|last=Walsh|first=Kit|date=2016-04-05|website=Electronic Frontier Foundation|language=en|access-date=2019-03-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/revolv-bricked-1.3521927|title=Nest's move to stop supporting Revolv smart hub leaves customers with costly 'brick' |date=April 6, 2016|first=Emily|last=Chung|website=CBC News|language=en|access-date=2019-03-11}}

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