Talk:Brick (electronics)

References

People failing to upgrade their wireless routers with custom/opensource firmware are often referring to them as bricked as well. I think there should be a mention here.

ok, there already is. Masterhand10^{(Talk)(Contributions)} 04:57, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Someone should add BRICK refrences about iPods, Cellphones, PCs & Macs, and other various electronic devices, not juts game consoles and 1 wifi router.

Masterhand10^{(Talk)(Contributions)} 04:57, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I guess the reason why the term "bricked" came about in reference to simple consumer devices like this instead of PCs (including Macs, PC and wintel are NOT the same thing. Well... maybe they are now, *sob*), laser printers and stuff is probably because the newer consumer thingies are small and rectilinear enough where one can imagine them as actual bricks (and imagine lobbing one through an actual window;-). 207.177.231.9 17:33, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

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131.239.18.182 (talk) 12:18, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

Does using wireless really increase the chance of bricking a router? I'd hope that any firmware update the upload would take place first and be verified before the update process actually started; During the update the network would go down anyway so I don't understand how a botched upload would cause it to brick. Richard cocks 09:46, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Are you asking for an authoritative definition of "Bricking"? I don't think one exists, because it's a slang word. If the goal of this article is to define a slang word, I don't know why it's on Wikipedia. Ethan 05:31, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

Incorrect Title / article

• This article is about the word bricked, a verb- derived from UK slang. The noun 'brick does not refer to an object that has been bricked in common usage.
• Brick (electronics) would more commonly be known as a shortening of the US technical slang, Power Brick which refers to the cheap Mains AC to LV DV power converters common with many consumer electronics devices. It is called a Brick, because generally even with a unit with an appealing design, a cheap OEM power 'brick' (transformer) is generally supplied, and has a much less pleasing design - it generally is a black 'brick'. Inertia Tensor 23:49, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Image

I think that this article needs an image of a brick, in order to make the comparison with a real brick extra clear. Oh, yeah, it would be a good laugh too, but still encyclopedian.--Henke37 23:05, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

It is not what the article is about. Doshindude (talk) 18:30, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

As amusing as that would be, I think that sort of thing is only tolerated in the WP: namespace. 72.235.10.142 (talk) 07:57, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

It would however benefit from a screenshot of some kind of BIOS error - although it might be tricky to get hold of one unless you deliberately set out to destroy an old computer. E.g. something like this or this. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 16:17, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Of course you know that photo of an old wireless phone has nothing to do with the use of the word Brick as a verb. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.163.124.40 (talk) 23:23, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

Removal of dubious content

I removed the completely unsourced text about the PSP being bricked by "pressing the wrong button" because i follow the PSP scene(Homebrew and official) almost religiously and have never heard anything about this or anything similar, I looked but couldn't find anything about it so i presume it's someone thinking it's funny or just a DS fanboy. Feel free to revert my edit if you add sources.78.86.137.237 (talk) 23:26, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Software

Can Software be bricked? Cal05000 (talk) 14:22, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

No. Doshindude (talk) 18:30, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Floppy disk software can be bricked if you delete certian files, but I don't think they use the term "bricked" to describe this. GO-PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 19:36, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes, in a manner of speaking. For instance, if the software in question relies upon centralized network verification and you aren't connected to a network (or, say, the central server drops compatibility with the version you're running,) then the software in question is effectively “bricked.” Even so, I'd say applying the term “bricked” to software is somewhat nonstandard usage. 72.235.10.142 (talk) 07:57, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

In your example, the software is not "bricked", it's just software that isn't working. Ethan 05:31, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

A key element of bricking is the process of in someway damaging firmware, the component of a device which allows the hardware to be useful. Therefore software cannot in any way be bricked. Software can be rendered useless through various means, but none of those means can be described as bricking Annon 10:11, 1 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.15.46.160 (talk)

It can be corrupted (eg., in the process of applying a patch which doesn't work properly) which would be broadly the same thing; but it can also be backed up beforehand, and so there shouldn't be any impediment to simply restoring the backup and carrying on if something goes wrong. If you do manage to "brick" your software, everyone will laugh at you because it will be your own fault (none of this "the dog kicked out the power lead halfway through" business). --ToobMug (talk) 10:19, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Changing IMEI

in regards to tag "dubious" on the ability to change imei numbers here is a source http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1749215.stm actually i was able to locate this link on the imei article hosted on wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.60.97.147 (talk) 05:43, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Soft bricking only for Android?

The first sentence in the "Soft Brick" subsection limits usage of the term exclusively to Android-based devices. Does anyone agree with this? I can soft brick anything with an operating system, however simple. 2620:106:6000:20:0:0:0:38 (talk) 22:46, 10 May 2016 (UTC)Keith

I would argue that "soft brick" is not a generally accepted term and that it should be removed from the article. The essence of "bricked" is that its not reversible by the user. Ingomaro (talk) 17:40, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

Yes. I agree. SamJakob (talk) 17:36, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Requested move 8 February 2018

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: no consensus to move to any particular title at this time, per the discussion below. Dekimasuよ! 22:43, 15 February 2018 (UTC)

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Brick (electronics) → Bricking – The word is usually used as a verb, e.g. "don't, or you will brick your device" or "I bricked my device". A "brick" is not a noun, but an adjective (e.g. this phone was bricked!) While it can be used as a noun, that usage is more rare. It would also fall under WP:NATURAL since it would not require a disambiguation. _{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 09:09, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

• A brick IS a noun. My house is built of them. The builder's meaning, if any, should have the undisambiguated form. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 09:55, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose bricking is a verb, albeit it almost always used bricking up, bricking in. If moved it will still need (electronics), but better left where it is as more normal. The move is not natural. In ictu oculi (talk) 11:25, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose and suggest Bricking (electronics) This topic is almost always talked about in verb form so using the gerund form is compatible with WP:TITLE. I don't think this should be a primary topic for the gerund because the act of laying bricks is the primary, which is the namesake of the electronic term. -- Netoholic @ 11:41, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
  • @Netoholic:Actually, "bricking" in the electronic sense implies transforming it into a brick, whereas "bricking" in the physical sense implies covering something with bricks. That said, Bricking has been a redirect to this article for a long time. Perhaps a hatnote could solve any confusion there while not requiring a disambiguation. Something like "This article is about the electronics term. For the method of construction, see brickwork."_{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 14:33, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
    • I know, and I guess I should have added explicitly in my vote that Bricking should be retargetted to Brick as that meaning is primary. -- Netoholic @ 14:35, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
      • @Netoholic:Per WP:NOTDICTIONARY, it's not necessarily the primary term in an encyclopedic context. While it might be in general language, people are more likely to search for "bricking" in the electronic context, in an encyclopedia._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 14:37, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
        • We're also WP:NOTURBANDICTIONARY and tongue-in-cheek neologisms aren't encyclopedic over a construction practice which has been part of humanity for thousands of years. -- Netoholic @ 14:43, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
          • (edit conflict) @Netoholic: "Bricking" is most certainly not a neologism. It's a term that has been used by government officials and companies, in addition to countless ordinary people. Additionally, the construction practice is known as brickwork not bricking. All it refers to is the practice of covering something with bricks, but this is generally called "bricking up" rather than just bricking._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 14:46, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
          • I also wouldn't call it "tongue in cheek" either. Maybe it started off that way, but it is generally used as a serious term to refer to irreparably destroying an electronic device._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 14:50, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
            • Without even trying to separate out the "electronic" meaning, this Ngram shows that "bricking" as a term hit its peak well before the electronics meaning would have been around. -- Netoholic @ 14:54, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
              • In books, maybe. But as an inherently electronic term, I would assume the term appears far more often in websites and on the Internet, so that doesn't really prove much._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 14:56, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
                • When a phrase like "inherently electronic term" is being used to downplay books written over the last two centuries, I'm even more convinced that the electronic meaning is more neologism and shouldn't be primary. I believe the long-term significance criteria will have to win out here. -- Netoholic @ 15:09, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
                  • By your definition, terms like "World wide web" would be a neologism because spiders have webs, so it should redirect to Spiderweb. Just because a term is created in the last decade or two does not make it a neologism._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 15:21, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
                    • Unless there are spider species which spin webs that span the planet, your first line is a strawman or non-sequitur that doesn't apply to this case of a single word having two meanings - one ancient, the other recent. And yes, a new meaning in the last decade or two does kinda point to neologism to me. -- Netoholic @ 17:13, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
• Support common usage, and "bricking" on its own typically refers to the process of rendering a device unusable. feminist (talk) 15:29, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
• I have never head or read of this electronics word usage where I live in Britain. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 16:13, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
  • And that matters why? Its usage in sources that demonstrate it is used in common parlance matters. See also: WP:BUTIDONTKNOWABOUTIT. As a word heavily used specifically in the tech field, not everyone will know what it means._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 16:56, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Is H/W failure considered being bricked?

The example of a blown capacitor is rather a hardware failure and not the device having been bricked – at least in my view, 99.99% of the time if one says "my <device> is bricked" people will understand it as the software/firmware failing and rendering the piece of hardware unusable for it's original purpose as it's merely a paperweight in its current state. fancsali (talk) 09:45, 3 May 2024 (UTC)