bricking

Bricking is a term used to describe a situation in which an electronic device becomes nonfunctional to the point that it is as useful as a brick. It typically means the device cannot boot or operate normally due to software or firmware problems, though in some cases the issue is temporary. The concept is common across consumer electronics such as smartphones, game consoles, routers, cameras, and PCs.

There are two main forms of bricking. A hard brick refers to a device that shows no signs of life, may not power on, and cannot access any bootloader or recovery options. Hard bricks are usually associated with severe hardware damage or irreversible boot process corruption and are often difficult or impossible to recover from without replacement. A soft brick occurs when a device powers on but cannot complete the boot process or enters an unusable state like a persistent boot loop. Soft bricks are more typically recoverable through software remedies such as reflashing firmware, performing a factory reset, or using a service or recovery mode.

Causes of bricking include failed or interrupted firmware updates, corrupted bootloaders, improper flashing or rooting with incompatible software, power loss during critical operations, hardware faults, and, in some cases, vendor quirks or driver issues. Bricking can render data inaccessible and may void warranties.

Recovery and prevention vary by device but may involve official recovery tools, reinstalling stock firmware, bootloader or recovery mode operations, or professional repair or replacement through RMA channels. Preventive measures include using official software, ensuring reliable power and storage during updates, and following manufacturer instructions to avoid unsupported modifications.