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0 pointsPolylactic_acid5y ago0 comments

Bricking has never had a solid definition. The most useful definition is a product is bricked when the owner does not have the skills/time/money required to get the product in a working state. The product is a brick to them.

If you flash bad firmware on a device and overwrite the bootloader used for flashing, many would consider this a bricked device since they don't know how to use an SPI flasher to restore a working firmware. For others simply having a device that isnt fixable via a factory reset is bricked because they don't know how to flash via usb.

A car that has become software locked without a way to restore it is bricked imo.

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parliament325y ago· 1 in thread

>Bricking has never had a solid definition.

Yeah, the definition is "turn it into a brick"/paperweight, hence the name. A "brick" in unrecoverable, as the name implies.

Polylactic_acidOP5y ago

Unrecoverable is relative. If I wipe out the bootloader on a phone its unrecoverable because I don't know how to flash it directly to the chip and I don't have a copy of the bootloader to even flash. Its a brick because I will never be able to use the device again. If I send it off to the factory in china they could certainly restore the device to working condition again but it would cost more than a new device if they even accept my one off job.

If a DRM system triggers on a car and I can't disable it its now bricked if the dealer won't come and fix it.

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