Had my Wii for 6 years and it only reads my games at select times. I have owned my Gamecube for 10 years and my N64 for 12 years and they work perfectly, no problem. Its like technology is degenerating.
We had not been able to use our Wii for almost two years. It just clicked and clicked. I went to the store today to get some Isopropyl Alcohol, followed your instructions and wala! We have our Wii back. Thanks!!
Just want to chime in and say Thanks! I did this and it worked perfectly. I did not have any lens cleaner patches so I used a small piece of micro fiber towel. It worked perfectly. Thanks for the idea.
when i insert ssbb it says.An error has occurred. the tells me to remove the disk and turn the wii of.then it tells me to read the wii operation manual oh yeah the screen turned black not blu or green. please help
Sir ..Thank you soo much for this vid .. My kids were so disappointed when it wouldnt work ..I tried looking around at all kinds of help files and really didnt want to get into the "open it up" bit ..but your little trick worked ..although not at first and I did have to have it switched on , but so far so good . i will let the kids try it at the weekend and see how we get on .FYI i cut up a cloth for cleaning my glasses and alcohol lens cleaner stuff, plenty of it as well ...I tip my hat ...
Absolutely worked! I even used only 70% isopropyl alcohol. The trick with mine was to run a game that DID work, right after cleaning it. I think that dried off the alcohol inside and now all my games load (albeit a bit slowly). The game I used was wii sports because it isn't dual layer and is the cleanest wii disk in my collection.
What was the liquid you used again? and i don't get why people are making fun of your voice, it makes you individual,even if someone else says otherwise
You sound exactly like Norm MacDonald. I'm serious, I know that other people are saying Tom Hanks or something, but you're a _DEAD_ ringer for Norm MacDonald.
Who disliked this?! Just did it on my own wii that hadn't been working for about a year now, was just about to buy a new one but thought, what the heck why not give it a try. Works perfectly now. Time to buy Zelda.
@Whiplash119 No, we didn't. I removed the SD card and I'm guessing every game saves some info to the system memory, but everything came back fine. No loss. We do not have a mod chip though, so they didn't have any reason to do anything but replace the drive.
@MrDANNYDINGLE That is unfortunate. After I cleaned ours this way, it worked perfectly for a month, then failed. They have had a problem w/the drives. I was going to take it apart myself but decided to check w/Nintendo first, and I was glad I did. Even though our Wii was about 3 years old, they fixed it for free including shipping both ways and it was only gone 5 days. It is worth checking the support dept. at Nintendo to see what the repairs will cost.
@MrDANNYDINGLE The soft cloth which is for the discs seems to work well. I would only use 70% isopropyl alcohol as a cleaner and use it sparingly. Also make sure the pad is well taped on all sides so it doesn't peel off. good luck.
@dkrau094 Good observation! Not sure what is worse, pushing the disc in/out w/o the eject button, or putting in a disc that can't spin and putting stress on the drive motor. There may be a clutch set up to prevent damage to the motor. So whoever reads this the choice is yours, power on/use the eject button, or power off/reduce stress on drive motor.
Ours is still working fine since Nintendo replaced the drive. When I made this video, the drive was ready to fail. The cleaning fixed it for 1 month, then something other than the lens failed. I'm glad that they re-stocked the official lens cleaner, makes it a lot easier than my method.
@Hammerpewpew Great idea with the glasses cleaning cloth. There are some good lens cleaning solutions available which would probably work as good or better than isopropyl alcohol.
@spencer6SIXX I think some have commented on using cloth bandaids, regular bandaids, just make sure they don't rise up more than about 1/8" and that they are firmly attached to the disc.
I have tryed that three times, i used proper disk driver cleaner and the stuff you used and no luck =( my m8 had the same problem with his and he spent £30 in total on a screwdriver and a new disk driver from ebay. so i might have to splash out... thanks for replying back anyway - shows a lot of repsect, cheers anyway for the useful video, i will keep trying.
@FloorMacSwiney No.vinegar does not evaporate quickly and leaves a film. 70% alcohol or a good lens cleaning solution made for cleaning CD/DVD players.
Hey in your video you said your Wii was 2yrs old and Nintendo fixed it, free. Was your Wii still under warranty? or do they have a special circumstance for drive issues? i'm pretty sure my drive is my issue, as cleaning the lens has not worked.
Nintendo's support rocks! I packed up the unit and FedEx'd it Monday morning, got it back by Friday evening w/a new SSBB disk and I'm guessing a new DVD drive. They only specify "replaced damage components." Total charge: $0
@CosmicLuigiSparkler Not sure. Does it look like the screen in my video? My disc would play for a while, then fail. Does yours play at all? Cleaning the lens can only help, just be careful. If you can't find the Nintendo kit or a good clone, then making your own cleaning disc is an option.
Same problem here. Wii worked fine one day, then the next morning it refused to load any of my discs. I tried the online thing and was quoted $75 + S&H, so I called Nintendo and the guy who answered the phone was pleasant enough, but he wouldn't budge. Quoted me a total price of $92 (inc. Tax and S&H) to get it repaired. I'm going to try your cleaning trick first. Fingers crossed!
@SuperBm007 No, this is for the dirty lens. Check the other comments here, Nintendo fixed our unit and gave us a new SSBB disk to address that problem.
much appreciated video, and wii try this now... using some glass clean and all the other bits you mentioned.. Its seems that black ops is cocking this up as everything else seems to be fine. but great video.. i will suscribe, wish me luck when i try it. and thanks again.
Hi, This has just happened to mine after putting Mario Kart in for the first time, It gave the error message you wrote and now none of my games work. I'm baffled because it has never had trouble reading any discs in the past. Have you sorted the prob or has it become worse or remained the same?
If done correctly, it can't "break your Wii" It was already broken, or you did something wrong. Either way, if cleaning the lens doesn't fix ur problem, sending it to Nintendo is good advice!
@Whiplash119 That's no good. Maybe it is only free if related to the SSBB problem. Our Wii was about 3 years old when I sent it in. I have no idea why they did it free, just went on-line, answered some questions, and gave them ser# from the unit and the estimate for repair was $0. I never had to speak with anyone. And no, we did not have an extended warranty.
You are a perfect candidate for the free Nintendo fix, if they are still honoring it. Go to there site and follow the repair instructions and send your unit with the SSBB disk.
This can be quite helpful. I can't find the wii lens cleaner anywhere either... I was able to play ssbb quite often a few years ago, and now I can't play Xenoblade D:
@Monkeyman688 Actually it Nintendo's fault. They knew they weren't prepared for dual layered disc, which is why there is only a hand full of he majority. The same thing happened with the PlayStation 2, once you put a gold disc in your console, blue PS disc or DVD silver would stop working. Not only that but depending on what type of disc you put in next affected the disc quality it could play. Like if you put in er DVD disc, then it would only play scratched blue disc after that
@kwazimoto When I ended up having to send mine in, I did the whole process online. They asked for my Serial #, and I indocated that the problem was with the SSBB disc. Maybe that's why they did my repair under warranty even though the Wii was almost 3 years old at the time?
@SuperBm007 It shouldn't if you do it right. It is no different than the "Nintendo lens cleaning kit" in the way it cleans the lens. As I mention in the vid, if you choose to do it, be careful and it is at your own risk.
Same here. I want to play one game, doesn't work and the same message pops up. I try it and it always ends up getting farther in the game, but then it errors. All of my other games work. But of course it's my favorite game that doesn't work. -__-
@CornerProductions2 When I had this problem, I found the kits on Nintendo.com but could not order them (out of stock?, discontinued? not sure why). If they are selling them again, for $10, then I recommend using the kit instead of the homemade cleaner.
you said that they fixed it for FREE?? lucky you because they said it will cost us about 90 dollars. Can you tell me how you were able to get it fixed for free?
@mraziktiffany I added some comments towards then end of the video. Go online to Nintendo's site and follow the repair steps, and indicate that it doesn't read SSBB disk. The drives seem to fail somewhere between 2-4 years of use.
@Jhonka411 After i cleaned the lens the Wii worked perfectly for a month then quit. Try going online to nintendos site, Wii repair, enter the Ser# and other info and specify that the problem is with the SSBB disc only, and wait for the quote of repairs. Should be $0 and they pay for shipping. It worked for me and recently for someone else I pointed in this direction. The drives are crap and nintendo has apparently done a silent recall to anyone who contacts them for repair. Good luck
My Wii die on me. When I put in any game now, you know that sound that the Wii makes when it reads a disc? Well it didn't do that anymore so it couldn't read anymore games so I took it back and saved it for a 3DS. (Which I soon did get) was it a good idea for me to take back my Wii after having it for 4 years? :/ or could it been fixed?
Hi, you said that you sent it to Nintendo and they fixed the drive. Was your Wii still under the warranty and would i have to pay if my Wii was say 3 years old? Thank you!
@TheLegoGuy12345 I did. It was my legitimate problem disc. They sent me back another one to replace it. Try to find a used one at Game Stop or somewhere like that and you' ll still be saving..
Can u pls tell me the condition of your wii now does it still work Mine has started to not read the discs and im scared if the wii lens cleaner grom nintendo isnt going to work :(
Well, call it the curse of the comment. 5 days after my last comment, and 1 month exactly after cleaning, I got the same read error which couldn't be fixed. I think the dvd drive is defective. Nintendo has a great repair program for this issue. They sent me the mailing label and will fix it for free. The facility is about 20 miles north of me and should take about 7-10 days.
@CosmicLuigiSparkler Uh oh, that sounds like the same problem we had when the drive failed. Go to Nintendo support and search through until you find the section most related to your problem. Then I entered in the console ser# and they gave a quote for the repair, $0.0
Call of Duty Black Ops messed up most of our Wii, and Activision thinks that we're gonna buy MW3 so that can mess other people's Wii. I don't think so. Thumbs up if you agree.
my screen is black, not blue or green. It reads the disc to a certain point. like in the menu you can select and start the game, however shortly after starting it it would say in a black screen with white lettering. an error has occured turn off the power and look at the instruction manuel. Is this the same problem? it happens with all my games, is it a dirty lens or something else..?
Thanks!! We live in Ghana, where they're are NO Wii's, let alone a repairer. You've made a 7 year old boy very happy!
Had my Wii for 6 years and it only reads my games at select times. I have owned my Gamecube for 10 years and my N64 for 12 years and they work perfectly, no problem. Its like technology is degenerating.
Sounds like Tom Hanks is telling me how to fix my Wii. I love it. Hope it works - about to try it!
Very funny. First someone says I sound like Nicholas Cage, then Jeff Bridges, and now Tom Hanks.
We had not been able to use our Wii for almost two years. It just clicked and clicked. I went to the store today to get some Isopropyl Alcohol, followed your instructions and wala! We have our Wii back. Thanks!!
Just want to chime in and say Thanks! I did this and it worked perfectly. I did not have any lens cleaner patches so I used a small piece of micro fiber towel. It worked perfectly. Thanks for the idea.
Thanks a million! I made it using a gauze pad (like if you skinned your knee), and used windex. Worked like a charm!
when i insert ssbb it says.An error has occurred. the tells me to remove the disk and turn the wii of.then it tells me to read the wii operation manual oh yeah the screen turned black not blu or green. please help
It worked! :D I was afraid that the cotton pad I was using would scratch the lens but now my copy of SSBB AND Other M works like a charm
It works! I had to use toilet paper instead of a microfiber cloth, but the result was the same! Thank you very much! You just saved me about $30-$250.
has anyone ever had it where the wii plays only gamecube games but when you try to play wii games it gives error, thats what mine does.
Sir ..Thank you soo much for this vid .. My kids were so disappointed when it wouldnt work ..I tried looking around at all kinds of help files and really didnt want to get into the "open it up" bit ..but your little trick worked ..although not at first and I did have to have it switched on , but so far so good . i will let the kids try it at the weekend and see how we get on .FYI i cut up a cloth for cleaning my glasses and alcohol lens cleaner stuff, plenty of it as well ...I tip my hat ...
Absolutely worked! I even used only 70% isopropyl alcohol. The trick with mine was to run a game that DID work, right after cleaning it. I think that dried off the alcohol inside and now all my games load (albeit a bit slowly). The game I used was wii sports because it isn't dual layer and is the cleanest wii disk in my collection.
OMG, he DOES sound like Tom Hanks!
What was the liquid you used again? and i don't get why people are making fun of your voice, it makes you individual,even if someone else says otherwise
Worked!!! We cut a new, clean Swiffer cloth into a small square for the pad part.
You sound exactly like Norm MacDonald. I'm serious, I know that other people are saying Tom Hanks or something, but you're a _DEAD_ ringer for Norm MacDonald.
Thanks man this totally works for me, I can't thank you enough for this! :)
Who disliked this?! Just did it on my own wii that hadn't been working for about a year now, was just about to buy a new one but thought, what the heck why not give it a try. Works perfectly now. Time to buy Zelda.
@Whiplash119 No, we didn't. I removed the SD card and I'm guessing every game saves some info to the system memory, but everything came back fine. No loss. We do not have a mod chip though, so they didn't have any reason to do anything but replace the drive.
@MrDANNYDINGLE That is unfortunate. After I cleaned ours this way, it worked perfectly for a month, then failed. They have had a problem w/the drives. I was going to take it apart myself but decided to check w/Nintendo first, and I was glad I did. Even though our Wii was about 3 years old, they fixed it for free including shipping both ways and it was only gone 5 days. It is worth checking the support dept. at Nintendo to see what the repairs will cost.
@MrDANNYDINGLE The soft cloth which is for the discs seems to work well. I would only use 70% isopropyl alcohol as a cleaner and use it sparingly. Also make sure the pad is well taped on all sides so it doesn't peel off. good luck.
@dkrau094 Good observation! Not sure what is worse, pushing the disc in/out w/o the eject button, or putting in a disc that can't spin and putting stress on the drive motor. There may be a clutch set up to prevent damage to the motor. So whoever reads this the choice is yours, power on/use the eject button, or power off/reduce stress on drive motor.
Ours is still working fine since Nintendo replaced the drive. When I made this video, the drive was ready to fail. The cleaning fixed it for 1 month, then something other than the lens failed. I'm glad that they re-stocked the official lens cleaner, makes it a lot easier than my method.
@xraindropgirlx Great! you're welcome. "Wii" haven't had a read error since doing this.
@Hammerpewpew Great idea with the glasses cleaning cloth. There are some good lens cleaning solutions available which would probably work as good or better than isopropyl alcohol.
Can you use any kind of cloth, and where did you buy the cloth?
i taped on a disc cleaning tissue on and it works good as new thanks for the video my sons happy again only took 10 minuates to do cheers
@spencer6SIXX I think some have commented on using cloth bandaids, regular bandaids, just make sure they don't rise up more than about 1/8" and that they are firmly attached to the disc.
I have tryed that three times, i used proper disk driver cleaner and the stuff you used and no luck =(
my m8 had the same problem with his and he spent £30 in total on a screwdriver and a new disk driver from ebay.
so i might have to splash out...
thanks for replying back anyway - shows a lot of repsect, cheers anyway for the useful video, i will keep trying.
OMG Thank you Man! :3 Now i can play my Gamecube and Wii Games :3
@FloorMacSwiney No.vinegar does not evaporate quickly and leaves a film. 70% alcohol or a good lens cleaning solution made for cleaning CD/DVD players.
Hey in your video you said your Wii was 2yrs old and Nintendo fixed it, free. Was your Wii still under warranty? or do they have a special circumstance for drive issues? i'm pretty sure my drive is my issue, as cleaning the lens has not worked.
Nintendo's support rocks! I packed up the unit and FedEx'd it Monday morning, got it back by Friday evening w/a new SSBB disk and I'm guessing a new DVD drive. They only specify "replaced damage components." Total charge: $0
@CosmicLuigiSparkler Not sure. Does it look like the screen in my video? My disc would play for a while, then fail. Does yours play at all? Cleaning the lens can only help, just be careful. If you can't find the Nintendo kit or a good clone, then making your own cleaning disc is an option.
when i pulled it back out the pad got stuck inside :/, i taped it super good too >.>
Same problem here. Wii worked fine one day, then the next morning it refused to load any of my discs. I tried the online thing and was quoted $75 + S&H, so I called Nintendo and the guy who answered the phone was pleasant enough, but he wouldn't budge. Quoted me a total price of $92 (inc. Tax and S&H) to get it repaired. I'm going to try your cleaning trick first. Fingers crossed!
@SuperBm007 No, this is for the dirty lens. Check the other comments here, Nintendo fixed our unit and gave us a new SSBB disk to address that problem.
much appreciated video, and wii try this now... using some glass clean and all the other bits you mentioned.. Its seems that black ops is cocking this up as everything else seems to be fine.
but great video.. i will suscribe, wish me luck when i try it. and thanks again.
Mine reads the game and lets me go into it but after a while it says "an error has occured" will this help
thank you so much now my wii is workin 100% better keep up with the great videos...again thanks.
Hi,
This has just happened to mine after putting Mario Kart in for the first time, It gave the error message you wrote and now none of my games work. I'm baffled because it has never had trouble reading any discs in the past. Have you sorted the prob or has it become worse or remained the same?
If done correctly, it can't "break your Wii" It was already broken, or you did something wrong. Either way, if cleaning the lens doesn't fix ur problem, sending it to Nintendo is good advice!
@Whiplash119 That's no good. Maybe it is only free if related to the SSBB problem. Our Wii was about 3 years old when I sent it in. I have no idea why they did it free, just went on-line, answered some questions, and gave them ser# from the unit and the estimate for repair was $0. I never had to speak with anyone. And no, we did not have an extended warranty.
You are a perfect candidate for the free Nintendo fix, if they are still honoring it. Go to there site and follow the repair instructions and send your unit with the SSBB disk.
This can be quite helpful. I can't find the wii lens cleaner anywhere either... I was able to play ssbb quite often a few years ago, and now I can't play Xenoblade D:
my wii is really old.. it was bought as soon as it came out!! and i have not ever had any problems with it at all :)
@Monkeyman688 Actually it Nintendo's fault. They knew they weren't prepared for dual layered disc, which is why there is only a hand full of he majority. The same thing happened with the PlayStation 2, once you put a gold disc in your console, blue PS disc or DVD silver would stop working. Not only that but depending on what type of disc you put in next affected the disc quality it could play. Like if you put in er DVD disc, then it would only play scratched blue disc after that
@primeEmu16 sounds similar. A cleaning may help for a while, but the drives are crap and prone to failing.
My problem to my wii is, when i put a disc in, it comes right back out, what's the problem!
Thanks alot! My DVD player and Nintendo wii was error then i did like you show on here and all it's work again ^____^
@kwazimoto When I ended up having to send mine in, I did the whole process online. They asked for my Serial #, and I indocated that the problem was with the SSBB disc. Maybe that's why they did my repair under warranty even though the Wii was almost 3 years old at the time?
disk drives that have a tray or any mechanical means of inserting a disk seem to be a weak link.
@SuperBm007 It shouldn't if you do it right. It is no different than the "Nintendo lens cleaning kit" in the way it cleans the lens. As I mention in the vid, if you choose to do it, be careful and it is at your own risk.
@MarioSINcara You can take it apart and clean it directly with a swab and alcohol.
Same here. I want to play one game, doesn't work and the same message pops up. I try it and it always ends up getting farther in the game, but then it errors. All of my other games work. But of course it's my favorite game that doesn't work. -__-
@CornerProductions2 When I had this problem, I found the kits on Nintendo.com but could not order them (out of stock?, discontinued? not sure why). If they are selling them again, for $10, then I recommend using the kit instead of the homemade cleaner.
you said that they fixed it for FREE?? lucky you because they said it will cost us about 90 dollars. Can you tell me how you were able to get it fixed for free?
PLAESE HELP i get this massege and i don't know what to do : " press the eject button, remove the game disk and tur the power off".
Thanks this really worked I forgot about the dry part then I let it dry and now it works but when I start it it doesn't work
Great idea. You definitely think like I do! Use what you got and fix it yourself. Don't let the corporate world take your money!!! ---Camracer
my wii drive is still working fine after the years.
@mraziktiffany I added some comments towards then end of the video. Go online to Nintendo's site and follow the repair steps, and indicate that it doesn't read SSBB disk. The drives seem to fail somewhere between 2-4 years of use.
:D now I can clean my wio, and get back to my resident evil 4 ! Thank you!
It gives me an error after playing a bit, will this fix the problem?
@77pokemonkiller That is what happened to mine 1 month after. Nintendo is aware of the problem w/their drives. In my case, they fixed it free.
@77pokemonkiller How long did it work, time wise, 1 hour, 1 day? Is the problem with just one disc or all discs?
@MrHillbillydilly1 I think so. I have seen some good instructional vids on how to disassemble and replace the POS drive unit.
@Jhonka411 After i cleaned the lens the Wii worked perfectly for a month then quit. Try going online to nintendos site, Wii repair, enter the Ser# and other info and specify that the problem is with the SSBB disc only, and wait for the quote of repairs. Should be $0 and they pay for shipping. It worked for me and recently for someone else I pointed in this direction. The drives are crap and nintendo has apparently done a silent recall to anyone who contacts them for repair.
Good luck
My Wii die on me. When I put in any game now, you know that sound that the Wii makes when it reads a disc? Well it didn't do that anymore so it couldn't read anymore games so I took it back and saved it for a 3DS. (Which I soon did get) was it a good idea for me to take back my Wii after having it for 4 years? :/ or could it been fixed?
I just got twilight princess and it reads the disk, then it lets me play a little bit, then I get an error, eil
Hi, you said that you sent it to Nintendo and they fixed the drive. Was your Wii still under the warranty and would i have to pay if my Wii was say 3 years old? Thank you!
Are there any alternatives to the dvd disc cloth? OTHER then a band-aid? Please reply ASAP
ive heard from several people that to send it in to nintendo it cost around 90$ is this true?
I did this trick and it works for now, thanks!!
I'll be darned! This worked! Thanks!
@takaKizne007 I have watched a lot of videos and read a lot of tutorials, and the clicking noise (from what i've read) suggests a drive issue.
@TheLegoGuy12345 I did. It was my legitimate problem disc. They sent me back another one to replace it. Try to find a used one at Game Stop or somewhere like that and you' ll still be saving..
Can u pls tell me the condition of your wii now does it still work
Mine has started to not read the discs and im scared if the wii lens cleaner grom nintendo isnt going to work :(
@callofdutykiller7990 No, but I've heard of bandaids being used and they are similar to the pads that came with the knock kit I ordered.
@JayXman11 Too much would be saturated to the point the excess would drip inside the console. Damp pad with none dripping off.
Well, call it the curse of the comment. 5 days after my last comment, and 1 month exactly after cleaning, I got the same read error which couldn't be fixed. I think the dvd drive is defective. Nintendo has a great repair program for this issue. They sent me the mailing label and will fix it for free. The facility is about 20 miles north of me and should take about 7-10 days.
so you have used the actual wii lens cleaner from nintendo?
Just did this. It works (with the system on not off), thanks.
@CosmicLuigiSparkler Uh oh, that sounds like the same problem we had when the drive failed. Go to Nintendo support and search through until you find the section most related to your problem. Then I entered in the console ser# and they gave a quote for the repair, $0.0
@DrozdAndConfused It is asking me to send the SSBB disk with the Wii. Did you send the disk? I don't have one to send.
did u loss your memory when u got it back from Nintendo
@DrozdAndConfused peroxide ??
@Speeder109 so did it work after you did it
Can you tell me the measurements for the wii cleaner? (the things that cleans the lens) and cardboard
Wait how'd you get the repair free? They're charging me 75 bucks to get mine fixed.
Call of Duty Black Ops messed up most of our Wii, and Activision thinks that we're gonna buy MW3 so that can mess other people's Wii. I don't think so. Thumbs up if you agree.
where do you go to get it fixed for free
@DrozdAndConfused What is the SSBB disc? Thanks.
doesnt the wii have to be on in order for the laser lens to pop up into its position for it to touch the pad.
my screen is black, not blue or green. It reads the disc to a certain point. like in the menu you can select and start the game, however shortly after starting it it would say in a black screen with white lettering. an error has occured turn off the power and look at the instruction manuel. Is this the same problem? it happens with all my games, is it a dirty lens or something else..?
It is a problem with the original drive reading dual layer discs. The console ends up needing a drive replacement.
Would nail polish remover work as alcohol?
Thank you so much for your great ideal
Were did u go to get your wii fixed