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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Third-Party Docks Are Bricking Nintendo Switch Consoles since update

Is using a power bank with the Switch still safe? They don't deliver as much voltage / power as a dock connected to 110 - 240 V.

I don't want to fill up my luggage with the huge Nintendo dock in my next vacation just to recharge the Switch.

Last edited by Conina - on 02 April 2018

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JRPGfan said:
Wyrdness said:

You may want to check things before you make declarations it's not the update it's the dock themselves as the's a difference in in hardware specs used in each dock, some docks don't have certain components to reduce surges which is causing the bricking.

Common, that dock was working perfect for everyone for months and months.

Then nintendo does a "update" and suddenly people be bricking their consoles? you dont think it had anything to do with the update?

The only question is, was it done on purpose or not?
Did nintendo do this update, with the purpose of bricking peoples consoles, that bought 3rd party docks?

If that was true every third party dock would brick the platform but that's not the case the reason for the bricking has been identified as the power draw through the USB and these are problems that have been happening since before the update mind you. Also no these docks have not been working fine for everyone for months either they've had issues since last year.



Shiken said:

It is because of the power draw. USB-C cables for Switch must have a 56k resistor to regulate the power draw. If you use a cord without one, you run the risk of the slightest power surge frying the port.

Furthermore Switch is not USB-C standard compliant. The Switch adapters and dock use 5A and 15A rails respectively, which is not USB-C standard compliant. This means that overdrawing power (or under drawing) could potentially hurt your Switch. Will it definitely do it? No...but CAN it do it? Yes...you may have a phone charger work fine with your Switch for months, then something could go wrong later on. The Switch is only protected at the listed power draws, which is 5A and 15A. Anything other than that is a risk.

Now on to third party stuff, who is to say that they are meeting these specs? It is possible that they made them USB-C compliant without considering the difference in the Switch's setup.

Officially licensed Nintendo products, cords, docks, and chargers are guaranteed to meet the standard however, so you cannot go wrong there. If you still insist on using 3rd party, make sure the specs line up so you are not taking any risks.

 

This is a spec issue that is catching some people, it has nothing to do with an "evil" patch by Nintendo.  If you want to blame someone, blame 3rd party manufacturers for not doing proper compatibility checks.

And here we have a rational statement from someone using facts and analysis as opposed to simple "Nintendo is evil" logic.  The 3rd party peripheral maker has even stated that this was the problem.  If you're going to make money selling a knock off, you really want to make sure you understand everything about what needs to go into the product.  Even if Nintendo did this on purpose, which I highly doubt, at the very least they are forcing 3rd party peripheral makers to step up their game and deliver a truly competitive product.  Also, I'd really like some figures on how many times this has occurred and whether other modifications had been made to their Switches prior to bricking.



Cobretti2 said:
Johnw1104 said:
Sketchy, that would make me very depressed if mine bricked and I lost all my data. Apparently it causes the Switch to be very difficult to charge and no longer able to dock... how did a firmware update even cause something like that? Very strange.

This also happens when you leave it undocked for months and let the battery die totally lol. For some reason when it is really flat it doesn't detect that it is being charged.

You have to hold the power button down for like 30 seconds then plug it straight into the charger for about 30mins to an hour and hope it works lol.

At least with mobiles they detect that there is charge and you know it will take a while before you can boot it up from a long state of being flat for months.

A total (deep) discharge can brick any lithium-ion battery and you should never ever let any lithium-ion powered device be discharged for a long time (devices turn off before the battery fully discharges, but if you leave your device like that, it will eventually discharge completely). Just thought you should know. If you plan to store a lithium-ion powered device without using it for long periods of time, charge it to around 50%, and recharge it to 50% every 6 or so months.



Teeqoz said:
Cobretti2 said:

This also happens when you leave it undocked for months and let the battery die totally lol. For some reason when it is really flat it doesn't detect that it is being charged.

You have to hold the power button down for like 30 seconds then plug it straight into the charger for about 30mins to an hour and hope it works lol.

At least with mobiles they detect that there is charge and you know it will take a while before you can boot it up from a long state of being flat for months.

A total (deep) discharge can brick any lithium-ion battery and you should never ever let any lithium-ion powered device be discharged for a long time (devices turn off before the battery fully discharges, but if you leave your device like that, it will eventually discharge completely). Just thought you should know. If you plan to store a lithium-ion powered device without using it for long periods of time, charge it to around 50%, and recharge it to 50% every 6 or so months.

My VITA has remained untouched since fallout 4 came out.  I am afraid to try and charge it now lol.



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JRPGfan said:
AlfredoTurkey said:
Never buy third party junk. lol

It was 100% working properly until Nintendo sneaked in a update, to make them not do so.

Which  is why you don't buy third party junk.



Shiken said:
Teeqoz said:

A total (deep) discharge can brick any lithium-ion battery and you should never ever let any lithium-ion powered device be discharged for a long time (devices turn off before the battery fully discharges, but if you leave your device like that, it will eventually discharge completely). Just thought you should know. If you plan to store a lithium-ion powered device without using it for long periods of time, charge it to around 50%, and recharge it to 50% every 6 or so months.

My VITA has remained untouched since fallout 4 came out.  I am afraid to try and charge it now lol.

The longer you let it be the higher the chance of a deep discharge is



S.Peelman said:
Who would buy unlicenced stuff anyway. That's asking for crap.

We need cloud saves.
Apprently it's down to the Switch using a non standard and wierd as hell usb-c power protocoll, wich is especially bad when docked because of the higher voltages.

People have been using powerbanks to get around the Swiches battery life, wich could potentially damage their system ove time as it turns out. This isn't even just an 'unlicensed stuff' problem (there are no licensed powerbanks from Nintendo) it's a problem of Nintendo not adheering to a standard and not telling anyone about it.



JRPGfan said:

Yeah saw a video of the first dude it happend too on youtube.
A week lateron there was a thread on reddit, about people bricking their consoles.

Nintendo sneaked in a update, that made these 3rd party docks, brick consoles.
If it was done on purpose by nintendo.... f*** them, purposefully freying peoples consoles.

twintail said:
Still sucks that ppl can lose their save data even when the switch is sent to Nintendo for repairs.
But what a weird situation. Hopefully only a very small group of ppl are affected.

Theres a reddit thread, sadly it hit alot of people that didnt know about it.
I dont think Nintendo mentions in the update of their console, that you ll now frey it if you use 3rd party docks.
So it caught alot by surprise.

 

Johnw1104 said:
Sketchy, that would make me very depressed if mine bricked and I lost all my data. Apparently it causes the Switch to be very difficult to charge and no longer able to dock... how did a firmware update even cause something like that? Very strange.

Nintendo purposefully did something that would hurt a 3rd party dock, that wasnt 100% like the nintendo one.
Something that wasnt require Pre-Update.

The purpose of the update, might have been simply to destroy consoles, for people that used 3rd docks.
Its bad practis imo if this is the case.
Nintendo instead of going after the 3rd party dock makers, went after the consumers that choose to buy one.

A very anti-consumer move.

Don't be so dramatic <_<

I've been on the Switch Reddit since the beginning and it's been happening even before the update. Every week people would post about it.



Teeqoz said:
Cobretti2 said:

This also happens when you leave it undocked for months and let the battery die totally lol. For some reason when it is really flat it doesn't detect that it is being charged.

You have to hold the power button down for like 30 seconds then plug it straight into the charger for about 30mins to an hour and hope it works lol.

At least with mobiles they detect that there is charge and you know it will take a while before you can boot it up from a long state of being flat for months.

A total (deep) discharge can brick any lithium-ion battery and you should never ever let any lithium-ion powered device be discharged for a long time (devices turn off before the battery fully discharges, but if you leave your device like that, it will eventually discharge completely). Just thought you should know. If you plan to store a lithium-ion powered device without using it for long periods of time, charge it to around 50%, and recharge it to 50% every 6 or so months.

Yer but this was like maybe 4-5months undocked and was originally 100% charged. Which I found rather surprising considering the period

Undocked it dies within a couple weeks. Maybe cause I had it on hibernate or whatever Nintendo calls that mode.