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Handy fix for a broken Nintendo Wii Remote (Wiimote)

A few days ago one of my Nintendo Wii remotes started doing some crazy things. It seemed like there was a problem with the remote's gyro, as you couldn't get any response from swinging the remote in the bowling game (instead, you just took everyone's legs out with the ball!). Anyway, I found a strange fix which involves wacking the remote, button side down, against your palm several times. I wacked the remote hard enough to "fix" it, but not too hard as to break it. I guess it must have dislodged the remote's gyro because it started working again like normal.

Please feel free to leave any comments below.

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My wii mote stopped

My wii mote stopped responding entirely to motion, 4 day after the warranty expired wouldn't you believe. Anyway after some googling i found this, tried it and hey presto, it works again. A crude but effective repair method i say.
Cheers

Dan's picture

Glad it's worked! Thanks for

Glad it's worked! Thanks for letting me know! :)

This is the fix!

Thanks so much. I had a remote that had stopped working. Slapping it fixed it...Try it

Wii remote

This tip is great!!
both our remotes broke and i emailed nintendo but to no avail. I then found this tip and it worked.
Thanks!

Dan's picture

Cool! No worries!

Cool! No worries!

I honestly thought this was

I honestly thought this was an aweful post when I first read it...Tried this crude method and it worked instantly...thanks for posting this!!!!

Dan's picture

Lol yes, simple and

Lol yes, simple and effective!
Glad it worked for you!

Didn't work on Mario Kart, untill I tried your trick.

I just was to say THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have 4 wii motes and one of them just stopped responding to the motion sensor in mario kart, I could do everything but steer. I tried your trick, and I'll be damned if it didn't work!!!

A thousand thank yous and I hope everyone who knows a wii owner shares this info.

Worked! o-o

I never doubted it, but that doesnt mean im not suprised with the results. Worked perfectly, thanks

Well would you believe it!

tried it, light tap and the remote now works, cheers!

Works for other remotes

FYI - This also worked for the Fiire Chief gyro remote:
http://fiire.com/fiire-chief.php

The remote was scrolling to the top of my screen all the time. I tried this and it fixed it. Thanks!

Dan's picture

Cool; thanks for posting

Cool; thanks for posting this!
Dan

If you can't hack it, whack it!

It worked...thanks!

Sweet. Worked great. I

Sweet. Worked great. I purchased a 2nd hand remote for less than $10 that had this issue. Then I gave it a gentle whack, works great now! Thanks

THE DESIGN FLAW FIX!!!

It works!
3 light smacks and... BINGO!!!
Man I love Google search.
THANKS FOR POSTING THE DESIGN FLAW FIX!!!

It did not work

It did not work

replay

We got a Wii after last christmas and one of the remotes did not work. I fooled with it for a long time, then dropped it pretty hard of the floor by accident. It started working and has been fine for a year. I am pleased to see this technique is officially supported by Nintendo.

Fantastic

After a very frustrating game of tennis I took my anger out on the controller resulting in it not working properly. I thought great, that's just cost me £30! But hey presto 1 quick whack on the front and all is good again.

Cheers.

holy mother of crap it

holy mother of crap it works!

Totally worked!

This totally worked! Instead of having to buy two new remotes we can get a Wii Fit!! Thanks.

FWIW, there's no gyroscope in the Wii Remote

It's a (virtually) solid-state 3-axis accelerometer chip that detects the motion.

From http://gear.ign.com/articles/747/747277p1.html:
"Motion-sensing wise; forget any imaginative images of a tiny gyroscope spinning inside a tiny box on the circuit board. The Wiimotes accelerometers are based upon miniscule, one-millionth of a gram flaps of silicon flexing against tiny springs within a charged field."

Dan's picture

Ahh, I had a feeling it was

Ahh, I had a feeling it was something like this. Maybe a steampunk Wiimote would have a tiny spinning gyroscope ;)

???u got me?

so this tip doesnt work?

Dan's picture

Well, luckily it worked for

Well, luckily it worked for me. It's just the Wiimote doesn't contain a gyroscope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyroscope), it contains a three-axis accelerometer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer).

Thanks R Deckard for pointing this out.

I have a wii remote that came

I have a wii remote that came down with this problem over a year ago. I just replaced it as it was second hand. I have just tried this fix after it was left in it box for a year IT ACTULLY WORKED WHAT A SAVE!!!!

this works...

this works...

:) :) :)

Holy crap I thought my issues with the remote were far beyond just a simple smack. The lights at the bottom were screwed up and dim and the cursor was glitching and all that good stuff, and I doubted this with all my heart. And then it's fixed just like that! Thank you thank you thank you :-)

Thank you, I cannot believe

Thank you, I cannot believe it worked but it did! :D

Awesome!

Thanks, another satisfied commenter! :)

Worked like a charm!

Brilliant, thank you. Was going to buy a new one.....................no need now!!!!

Did not work

That did not work for me I am going to call nintendo :( this stinks!!!

Was pretty sceptic but it

Was pretty sceptic but it works, thanks!

Another Sceptic Converted!

Was sceptical like those above and was getting the screwdrivers out for a complicated repair job but tried this and it worked! 3 or 4 sharp taps and working like new!

It works!

thanxs very helpful : )

GrRr

I think the circuits in my wiimote is &$^£%*, coz it doesnt light up when I press any button, including the sync button, and I have brand new batteries in it...

:(

I tried this but I didn't work, I think my remote is as dead as a dodo :(

It wouldn't be too bad except I'm after buying Little king's story today and now my remote won't work...

Nintendo Wii Remote Dead

Nintendo Wii Remote Dead
I did not use Nintendo Wii for over a month.After over a month I connected Nintendo Wii and put the power ON. Console is working,But there are no lights on remote??
I changed with two brand new set of batteries but no light in remote like before.
I did press red button on both remote and Wii consile but nothing.The unit is over a year old.
Any solution??

works for a couple seconds

one of my wiimotes started acting funny the other day too, at first i thought it was the motion plus shorting out, but to test it I tried the wiimote without the plus, and it still acted funny. Basically after a little while the motion stops working and the blue light on the bottom telling which player you are fades in and out. Tried changing the batteries and no luck. Then came across the tapping solution. This works for a few seconds then lights out again and no luck.

:( guess its time to get a new spare, luckily the other still works.

brill it works .you saved our

brill it works .you saved our kids life

Holy mother of waggle it works!

Add me to the happy list! I thought i'd suddenly become really bad at the special moves in Spyborgs, but then played Super Paper Mario after & couldn't shake to get unfrozen, so knew something was wrong with the Wiimote.

3 or 4 taps and voila, it works again :)

wiimote repair

Add me to the list of the converted. I thought the original post was a clever way to see how many of us he could get to pound a wiimote against our hand. I did exactly what he suggested, and it worked! Thanks from California.

woot!! still works

thanks for the quick fix! i was ready to crack it open. I was already whacking it on the back and top side--obviously this did not work. Glad I found your site before I bought a new one.

DAN you are the MAN!!! I

DAN you are the MAN!!! I feel like such a dummy. Last year around this time my wii remote just gave up and wouldnt work at all, I even put brand new batteries and nothing. So I just quit playin the wii and its been sittin in a box for about 12 months lol... This morning I took it back out and investigated the remote again then came and found this site lol whataya know I slapped that thing silly and re-synched it with the button on the box and the remote at the same time and WOOHOO!! im back on the wii now.

Thanks :)

Im kinda upset with myself though cause im a mechanic, I shoulda known that beating something til it works gets the job done ha ;)

YES!!!

This worked wonders! A million thanks from the Philippines!

You've got to be kidding...

In the name of all that is good and sweet in Odin's beard, it actually worked. I can't freaking believe it. I guess it makes sense now why there is a guy on craigslist who offers to purchase broken wiimotes for 5 dollars. Color me flabbergasted and thank you, thank you, thank you.

Wow like a lot of other

Wow like a lot of other wasn't sure. The missis said what the he'll are you doing and low and behold ...... It worked !!

Thanks

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