• US Customers will have to fill out this form for the free repair/cleaning.
• Canadian Customers will have to fill out this form.
  

• The continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii
• Puerto Rico
• U.S. Territories (such as Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands)
• APO/FPO addresses"

Nintendo's stated turn around is seven business days from the time the unit is shipped. Included with the Repair Order number is a tracking service for keeping up to date on the state of the repair job.

Nintendo Email:

"Hello Chris,

We wanted to let you know that the components you sent to Nintendo for
repair have been received. You may expect to receive them back in the
next 2-5 business days..."

Now that the items are registered into their system, the tracking system updates and is active. The tracking service displays what items they received, warranty, repair status, and the amount for the repair. One concern we have is whether systems that are no longer under warranty still receive free repairs. Registering the Wii adds ninety days to the standard warranty from Nintendo. If we had not registered our Wii, the warranty would have expired almost three months ago. Anyone going through the repair process out of warranty might have to pay, but we still do not have solid information. The odds of anyone having to pay are low. Unofficial sources, such as Wikipedia, say that this repair is free regardless of warranty status. If anyone has successfully repaired his or her Wii out of warranty, please let us know so we can confirm this statement.

The only step left is to wait for the UPS tracking number from Nintendo.

**Update**

Nintendo's repair tracking service has indicated that the repair is completed. The status says our Wii is shipping. The UPS tracking number provided is not active yet, but that should change Monday morning.

The surprising note is how much the repair cost. According to the repair detail, the console repair was 75.00USD. This cost appears to be covered under warranty because the "total amount" due is 0.00USD. Does this point to a DVD-Rom replacement? Does cleaning a lens cost 75.00USD?

Having received the package from UPS, we were immediately concerned due to the sliding thud we heard as the package changed hands. For a moment, we thought our Wii was tumbling around in a medium express box, completely unprotected. However, Nintendo making such a PR mistake would be devastating at this critical moment. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and signed for the package.

At first glance, Nintendo's choice of shipping method kept the content's value hidden, which is always a good feature. Inside the box was crumbled paper, a repair invoice, a tab-lock mailer the size of the Wii, and our original copy of Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. The repair invoice listed the two components we sent in and the 75.00USD charge for the console repair. It also indicated that our warranty fully covered the cost of the repair. Below the console listing was a note stating that the serial number had not changed, which means our data was theoretically intact.

Upon opening the tab-lock mailer, there was an envelope labeled "Important Information Enclosed," which was placed to catch the customer's eyes. Inside were two pieces of literature that pertained to cleaning a DVD properly, and instructions on restoring a repaired Wii to its original state. Attached to the restore instructions was a checklist verifying they had identified the problem, replaced defective components, and saved pre-existing data. Due to the general nature of the repair checklist, it did not confirm whether the drive was replaced or cleaned.

Under the envelope was the Wii encased in one Styrofoam and one bubble-wrap skintight liner. The protection provided by Nintendo is more than adequate when combined with the cardboard layers. To confirm the validity of the packing method, we inspected the outside of the Wii for stress fractures at the corners and other common locations. Fortunately, the Wii showed no shipping damage and the SSBB disc had no marks or scratches. The only signs of the repair process were the cleaning streaks left behind on the noticeably brighter exterior.

After plugging in the console, the Wii powered on without any issue. The first screen that came up was an input box for the date and time, which is normal due to the lack of power during shipping. We entered the data and the familiar home screen faded into view. A quick run through of the menus, messages, channels, saves, and games confirmed that the data was still intact. Even the connection settings for our wireless network remained in working order. Nintendo's repair job was turning out to be a success so far

 

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Several items made the BHFO crew lean towards a disc-drive replacement in our case. What first raised our suspicions was the failing DVD-Rom issue experienced by a few launch Wii owners, who subsequently had to ship their Wii in for repair.

The repaired Wii console was exhibiting similar traits of these failed drives in the months before repair. The disc drive had been getting gradually louder as the drive motor slid further out of alignment. During last month, the Wii started minimally vibrating when the disc would spin. We had no disc errors occur, but the audible movement of the tracking motor bouncing back and forth steadily increased in volume and rate over time. With the repair complete, the Wii is significantly quieter and the mechanics audibly appear tight and precise, which points to a replacement drive.

Besides the noticeable differences in drive acoustics, the repair invoice states a 75.00USD charge for repairing the Wii console. Does  it cost that much to clean a lens? The only other reason for such a high cost would be the two-day shipping charge for both trips. If that is the case, Nintendo went way out of their way to clean some dust off of a lens.

The last reason for a replacement drive as the logical probability is how reproducible the error was in a random set of units. Out of four launch consoles and four post-launch models, one Wii, which was purchased recently, could run the two different copies of the game we had. The Wii consoles were in varying environments from clean to smoky, which would reduce dust contamination as a primary cause. Out of the 8 random Wii consoles we encountered so far, 87% of them could not run the game without being repaired. In addition, our user poll shows a similar trend of sixteen out of twenty-two users stating their copy did not work. This data is hardly representative of the community as a whole, but it does raise questions about the root cause of the problem.

Our drive, and the others we encountered, were more than likely part of a regional shipment of Wii consoles that had faulty drives. From the acoustic properties of our Wii alone, we are certain they replaced the drive. However, it is possible that our Wii was one of the isolated cases of drive failure that the dual-layer disc forced to the surface. If the problem were wide spread, the transparency of the internet would have shown that to be the case.

Other stories circulating around the web say that the disc drive's potentiometer is set to a higher resistance than normal, which is causing the drive's laser to be underpowered. When the laser is underpowered, it cannot read the second layer of a dual-layer disc. The lower the variable resistor is set, the stronger the laser will be. This theory is more feasible than any other explanation, but is, once again, unofficial.

Disc or dust, after twenty-seven hours of Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, we can confidently say that Nintendo proved their ability to step up and respond to the community in order to provide a free solution to a debilitating problem. Whether Nintendo is honest or not, is another story. Happy Brawling, it is more than worth the wait!