Why do some devices get permanently bricked? Since no hardware is getting damaged while fiddling with the software, doesn’t it stand to reason that it can simply be fixed by reverting back to its original state?
In: Technology
You can think of the software like a thread, and the hardware like a needle. In order to start the computer, something needs to first thread the software into the needle. A special bit of code is required for this called a ‘boot loader’, and if it is damaged then it will be impossible for the needle to be threaded.
One reason why this code can’t be easily fixed once broken is because it is very heavily protected from tampering. A bad person that wanted to take over your computer could attach some bad software at the beginning of your ‘thread’ before it ever enters the needle and then you’d be ‘sewing’ something totally unexpected.
It is sometimes possible to fix the boot loader, but it depends how heavily protected it is. In most mobile devices it is protected by storing it in a secret place in the hardware and in a way that makes it impossible to simply replace it. So, if it gets broken it can only be fixed by the same company that made it in the first place. You can return a bricked iPhone to Apple and they can fix it, but no one else can.
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