Disc read errors on Wii, and incessant buzzing.

[Eldiran]

Hey, this is my first non-meet and greet topic. Hopefully it's in the right place. Anyways, to get to the point, just yesterday my Wii began making loud buzzing noises while reading any disc (both GC and Wii.) Later in the day it became unable to read GC discs; it shows up with that disc read error screen. I'd seen this screen a couple times before, quite a while ago, but they were spontaneous and didn't persist (though they were not the result of the discs used, I tried multiple discs); now, however, I cannot get it to run a GC disc for more than a few seconds.

I've tried running both Melee and Twilight Princess with the same results. Mario Galaxy runs, but the buzzing noise persists, which worries me. I'm actually planning to turn my Wii in later today (I have a 2-year warranty at Circuit City.) But I thought I'd first petition the Smash forums to see if there's any alternative or solution I should pursue.

I apologize if the solution to this has been widely discussed before. A brief search didn't really yield anything useful, and as I am pressed for time (I'm returning to college about 6 hours away tomorrow) I hoped I could be impertinent enough to recreate a common topic.

So, any suggestions?

 

[bored]

I'm sorry to tell you this, but your Wii is incapable of doing you much good now. Your Wii must euthanized.

 

[Eldiran]

Hmm, yeah, I was afraid of that... commence euthanization. *waves goodbye to Starfox 64 and Kirby's Dream Course*

 

[Sariku]

I had to get Nintendo to reformat my Wii (wasn't the same problem as you), but if you get your Wii repaired by Nintendo, you can download the games on the Virtual Console for free again. If they replace it, I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I'm sure they'll find a way to give you your games/points back.

 

[-Rei-]

i had this same problem 2 weeks ago. all i did was call nintendo explain and sent it to them to fix with the warranty. all for free. got it back on friday.

 

[Pun]

Can't you save all of your VC games, memory, and channels onto an SD card? Oh yeah, and what was the color of the screen when it said disc error? It could be the next Blue screen of death!

 

[Eldiran]

Nah, I don't think you can... I haven't tried, but I seem to recall that transferring games/channels via SD cards doesn't work, much like transferring music from an iPod to a computer. Maybe I should at least attempt it, though.

Also, 'twas black. I'dve made the reference already if it were blue, don't worry.

It's good to hear Nintendo is reliable about this... I'll need to call in to have this replaced, so I can only hope it turns out as well as it did for you two. It's especially nice to hear that my Virtual Console dollars aren't wasted. Guess I didn't have to stay up late trying to beat Kirby's Dream Course after all...

 

[S2]

Eldiran, let me give you a few tips.

1.) Call Nintendo. If you got a warranty with another place, throw it out. Since obviously you want to keep your VC games. Complain that you got a defective system. Remember, always be nice to the customer reps. They can really help you out. But if you anger them, they'll probably leave you high and dry (that's a good tip for dealing with any type of employee).

2.) Take out your SD card if you have one. If you don't, buy one. This is obviously so you can back up save games and anything else on the memory. If they simply reformat your console, I think you can transfer VC games back to the console (maybe) - if they replace it keep in mind they won't. Your game saves will though.

*Note that a lot of people have experience this strange thing where a game save won't transfer to the console, unless the console already has a save file on it that you can overwrite. Why does it do this? Who knows. Just keep it in mind.

From what I've heard though, Nintendo has been very good about getting you your VC games back. Make sure you link your console to your mynintendo account, I think it helps in the authenticity of who you are.

3.) COPY YOUR MIIs. I'm not sure if you can copy them to SD, but I know you can stick it on your controller. Here's the thing, oftentimes when Nintendo reformats a console, you won't get your Miis back.

Well that's not fully true. You will get them back, but since Nintendo transfers them away and back to your console, they aren't recognized as yours anymore. That means you can't edit them, etc.


Anyways, good luck with all that. Getting Nintendo to replace your console is always the better choice than just buying another one.