Samsung Galaxy S3 "Sudden Death"

If you aren't already aware, there is a current issue plaguing Samsung's Flagship mobile phone product the Galaxy S 3 where after normal usage, or charging, that the phone becomes "bricked" or unusable.

There have been many widespread reports about this phone, but so far it seems that the international model - i.e. any country not from North America is the only one with the issue.

The shutting down for no apparent reason and not restarting thereafter, or “Sudden Death” issue has been reported on popular forums and on various tech news websites, and popular Android website XDA-Developers, which has more than 150 pages of posts where people have reported the same problem.

But there is some good news! A few hours ago a Dutch website Tweakers reported that a Samsung spokesperson has said: "The problem seems to be affect a “limited number of Galaxy S3 models with 16GB memory,” and it’s caused by a firmware bug."

A fix for this bug is luckily software related, but at time of writing the release date for the patch which resolves the issue is not available.

Samsung has admitted the fault is theirs, and with the upcoming patch to resolve the issue, we shouldn't see any more of this in the future. Rest assured if you are victim to this bug and  have a bricked S3, you should be able to organise a replacement or a fix through the warranty.

If you liked this post, or found it useful, please feel free to share with your friends to pass the info on using the buttons below.

My Wii U experience

So far, not good.

I bought a Wii U premium black edition last night with the copy included of Nintendo Land.

As I was setting it up the screen went blank, and then nothing happened for about 20 minutes, I turned the power off. Then turned it back on. Nothing happened. The Wii controller showed that it could not connect to the Wii, even though I could power the Wii up with the power button from the controller.

So with a little bit of technical knowledge on things like this, I left it off for about 20 minutes unplugged from the power cable, and also pulled the power cable out of the wall socket.

Turned it back on with no luck. The TV continued to show no signal on the HDMI port that it had previously been working on. So I got the component cable from my old Wii and plugged that in to my TV and new Wii U thinking that perhaps the HDMI port had become faulty on the Wii or the TV as the Wii showed that it was on by the blue light, and the fan spinning. Still nothing. I then tried all the HDMI ports on the tv and the AV plugs I had. Nothing.

All this time the Wii Controller would not reconnect to the Wii, even though it could power the main unit on.

So I took it back this morning to the shop I bought it from, and got an exchange for a new one.

The second unit I had more success with, though only for a short time. The unit powered on fine, connected to the TV and Wii Controller. I was able to play a little bit of Nintendo Land and set up a Mii. Then, midway through a game on Nintendo Land, the Wii just froze, along with the Wii Controller, and I couldn't do anything. So with history repeating itself a bit, I turned off the Wii again, pulled the plugs out and tried again. Twice. Both times the machine powered on, but I was met with the Wii U screen logo on both the control and the TV, and cannot get any further.

I called the Nintendo support people who took down my serial number and suggested I leave the power off for about 30 minutes from both the wall outlet, and pulling the power out of the machine from the back. The guy I spoke to strongly suggested to do a system update as I bought the wii from the initial launch period. He recommended to me to power it back on and if I get the same screen to take it back a second time for a third new machine, but in the event I could get it going to do a system update.

So this is where I am now as I eat my lunch writing this entry. I'll update the blog later with an update of what happens.

If you have the same experience, I'd recommend calling Nintendo for help or taking your unit back. There seems to be a major issue with the firmware on the new Wii U systems that are being sold on launch day. A disappointing time for Nintendo who are already struggling in the gaming industry.

Update: Looks like it won't go past that screen after waiting the 30 minutes, so I'm taking back to the shops now.

Update 2: The place I bought it from was surprised to see me a third time so they unboxed a new Wii for me, set it up and downloaded all the necessary updates, and tested a few games to make sure it worked. Took it home and it's fine, playing Super Mario Bros for Wii U now. Looks like the firmware update is the key to be the first thing that needs to be done when getting a new Wii setup.

Hope all of that helped. :)


If you liked this post, or found it useful, please feel free to share with your friends to pass the info on using the buttons below.