I'd agree -- philosophically I'm not sure it's possible to truly brick hardware unless you've physically disturbed the hardware's integrity, via physical trauma.
Bricked is a [current] state (wherein there's no official recovery workflow available, and the device is as usable as a brick).
To give an example, certain dead devices can be saved after being baked in the oven to re-seat components that have worked loose. According to the "No True Bricking" argument that constantly comes up, those devices were never really bricked because they were later fixable, even though you're literally performing a re-manufacturing step.
In fact what exactly would a "True Bricking" look like? Even in cases where a major component dies, if you desolder it, and re-solder a new one is that a "True Bricking?"
See I have zero patience for the "No True Bricking" stuff since it is a logical Swiss cheese.
The requirement for electronics knowledge and skills is a clear dividing line for me.
I've recovered and hacked devices for friends using software. Especially phones which have recovery functions I can use but I've also hacked some older game consoles. I can't do anything if electronics skills are required though. At that point it becomes specialized repair work.
I suppose nothing's really bricked if you're smart enough. Just desolder a chip, reprogram it and resolder it back in? I don't know how. I tried to learn what I could but it turned out hardware is a lot harder than software.
You obviously have some patience for it because you spent the time to make some pretty good arguments as to why you can unbrick something. I think you have me convinced.
I absolutely think the term gets overused and I think the term “soft-bricked” is even more peculiar.
But given the extent of the required work to recover the device here (actual hardware work, non-trivial and not for a layperson) then I think it’s appropriate.
Not a hill I’m going to die on but it does kind of bother me when someone describes their device as bricked and all they need to do is plug it in and run some kind of simple restore utility or otherwise.
Things that were once thought bricked might in the future become unbricked if the right knowledge is acquired. "Bricked" is more a state of "thought to be impossible to fix" than something permanent.
That makes sense, especially since there is an epistemological issue with being able to say something is 'bricked'... there would be no way to distinguish between "I don't know how to fix it" and "No one knows how to fix it"
I think "bricked" as a term originated from flashing the firmware on mobile phones. If the firmware ended up in a non-recoverable state, the phone became as useful as a brick. It was theoretically possible to take physical intervention to pull the firmware chip out and flash it with an fpga programmer tool, but most people wouldn't have the equipment for that.
I think we've been using this term long before mobile phones...
This feels a bit like the word "bug"; I'd be quite interested to know if it can be traced to its actual first use.
People associate it with phones because as I remember they were always being described as the size (and weight) of a brick, and that's when they were working.
A decade ago I managed to brick my brother's Nokia 5300 (custom firmware - PPM mods) and thankfully recovered it by "dead phone USB flashing" - the last resort method in Phoenix, Nokia internal software for service people. It's super finicky and works on n-th attempts, but has a non-zero change of success.
Just get lucky with the timing :) Like a QTE but without the prompt, that was the main problem. But as programming was done in parts (firmware, PPM (like Win32 resources), content (FAT32 image of storage) it depended on which part was corrupted.
Edit: some people had success on 50th attempt[1], talk about perseverance ;)
Yeah, I think you are right. I am convinced. I would probably draw the line at physical work, meaning if it requires physically opening the device and changing/fixing/bypassing wiring it can count as bricked.
Bricked meaning bricked meaning what? Where are the original goalposts?
Because nothing is unfixable. If bricked means unfixable, even with expert attention and unlimited replacements, then bricking is a meaningless term that only applies if you, like, atomize the device.
Otherwise...
There's the point where you have to replace a part entirely, but you might be able to steal that part from elsewhere in the device.
There's the point where you need entirely new parts.
There's the point where fixing costs more than the device is worth.
There's the point point where fixing costs more than the device was brand new.
What if the flash data is corrupt, and the only way to restore it is to use an internal company program which I do not have access to?
To me, the device is bricked. It does not turn on and I can not fix it. But to the OEM it simply requires a factory reset. IMO bricked to me means that the device does not boot and there isn't a button combo factory reset option available. To the vast majority of people, this is completely broken beyond repair to them.
This. "Bricked" is a word that signifies that the speaker doesn't know how to make the device go. It's not exactly meaningless, but I certainly take it differently coming from a grognard as opposed to a Pakled.