“To Start Please Step Off Me and Press A” – Broken Balance Board, a cautionary tale
Update: For the “real” solution, here’s Ferdi’s comment from August 15, 2010.
I’d still try the troubleshooting steps I outlined below first, but if (when) they don’t work, his solution works like a charm.
Thanks Ferdi, for saving a lot of people from paying Nintendo’s ridiculous fees to fix an engineering problem they refuse to acknowledge and for bringing new life back to their broken balance boards!
Here’s my original post:
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This is somewhat of a cautionary tale.
I’ve owned the Wii Fit since November 2008 and its worked flawlessly for 11 months. Then yesterday, in the middle of a game I got this message saying “To start, please step off me and press A”
Problem is, I would step off and nothing would happen. I’d try getting on and getting off, and nothing would change, the screen would just be stuck on this message. The balance board, to use geek parlance, is bricked.
After searching on the Internet, I found that this is not an uncommon problem. Those commenting have dubbed it the “white screen of death”. Nintendo has an FAQ on the subject, but it’s fairly useless if you’re in this predicament. Oddly, when you select “Settings” from the Wii Fit main menu, the diagnostics all check out okay.
And unfortunately there seems to be no solution. The warranty on the Balance Board is three months, so if you’re within that period you can call Nintendo at 1-800-255-3700 and they’ll repair or replace it for free. If it’s after that time, unfortunately, you’ll have to pay about $50 to get it repaired.
Here’s a compilation of all the tips I’ve found on the Internet on this subject. In some cases, people have reported that these steps have solved the problem. In my case I didn’t have luck, but maybe you will.
- Most importantly: if you are using a rechargeable battery (instead of standard batteries), STOP IMMEDIATELY. Evidently this is a common theme across Balance Board units that fail. It galls me, because vendors will push these products upon us at discounted prices, but in the long run Nintendo personnel have stated unequivocally that these things have caused problems and WILL invalidate warranties. Caveat emptor.
- Try a basic “reset” of the system. Here’s how:
- Disconnect the Wii from the wall outlet and remove all batteries from the balance board for at least 15 minutes.
- Plug in the Wii and power it on
- Open the front cover of the Wii and press the red “sync” button of 15 seconds. This should clear all controllers from your system.
- Take your primary Wii-mote and open the battery cover. Press the red “sync” button on the Wii-mote, and then quickly (while the front blue lights are blinking), press the red “sync” button on the Wii. Your Wii-mote will register with the system
- Put the batteries in the balance board
- Start up Wii Fit or Wii Fit Plus
- Once the game has started, press the “sync” button by the balance board’s battery cover and then quickly press the red “sync” button on the Wii. Your balance board will get recognized as the fourth controller.
- Desperation measures. Some users have reported success when they rotate their balance board. Presumably if there was a stuck gyrometer or something, this would unstick it.
. The one good thing out of all this is that I can give the extra copy of Wii Fit Plus I get to my nephew for his birthday. It was a tough $93.99 pill to swallow, but now I know NOT to use a rechargeable battery pack in the future. I also used a credit card with extended warranty.
Has the ”To start, please step off me and press A” white screen of death happened to you? Post a comment to report your troubleshooting steps, or just to vent!
August 15th Solution works
Checked the scales with pet weight and it is accurate.
Many thanks
Ferdi – Thank you for the amazing quick fix requiring very few tools and easily read directions. I appreciate you saving me the money.
I had the same issue and followe the following instructions I found on the Internet and they worked!!!
“I’ve heard of this problem before (only over the internet and never IRL) and there is apparently a solution although it requires a little bit of DIY skills.
Quote:
Here’s how:
- Remove the feet from each corner using a normal Phillips Screwdriver.
- (keep them in the right order to put back later)
- Loosen (remove) the “stress sensors” small metal plate you see now at each corner using a “torx” screw driver.
- Re-seat the small metal plate by putting it back but don’t screw too tight.
- Put the feet back on.
Apparently those sensors are screwed in too tight at the factory, which causes the Wii Fit board to register weight as being applied, even though no-one is standing on it. What I find a bit strange though is that you’ve had 2 boards with the same problem.
But I’d give that a try if you feel confident enough, otherwise I would perhaps try and exchange for another new board at HMV. If that one still suffers the same problem then you are either incredibly unlucky, or that there is a different problem.
I LOVE YOU FERDI!!!!!! Worked wonderfully- didn’t have to waste $50 to get this fixed… Or $90+ to replace it!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!’
Just wanted to say THANKS SO MUCH to Ferdi for the reset instructions! The Nintendo wannabe “tech support” tried to blame the Nyko battery pack that has been working FLAWLESSLY for the past THREE YEARS – I guess that’s all you can expect from a tech support staff who have to “look up” their solutions! I did phone tech support for 8 years and I’m so glad I got out when I did, if this is the state of tech support these days :p
Thanks again, Ferdi; and thanks for the post, Steve!
Loosening the stress sensors worked like a charm. Thanks so much for the directions. Thanks for the help!!
Hi, Just read your tip on how to fix my problem. Have had my wii fit board for two years and i have had no problems at all until the wii board asked me to step off and press A. I unscrewed the feet and loosened the sensors and hey presto it worked. Thankyou so much for saving me money as i was going to go and buy a new board if your tip failed.
Thanks a million.
Well, our Wii had the “Please step off and press a” problem as well (for the past couple weeks). I finally did a Google search and found this link. I did the reset but still had the same problem. I loosened the stress sensors, cleaned of any dirt/grime and it is now working perfectly!! Thanks for all the advice!!
Loosening the stress sensors worked perfectly!
Thank you so much for this advice, I was ready to buy a new one.
It worked! Thanks so much for posting the unscrewing solution. Perfect. It also recorded my weight more accurately (i.e. lighter!!) afterwards!
thanks, the unscrew solution worked! thanks so much my little brother is so happy
been trying to work out what was wrong with it for a while now! this is brilliant 
x
Thanks, you have gained a new fan. I will post a link to this page on my blog.
AWESOME! i fixed my Mom’s balance board in 10 minutes, just with 2 screwdrivers. thankyou for sharing this.
I bought a used wii that came with the wii fit board when we tried to use it it did not work frustrated i looked for answers on line found this solution about the sensors it worked great thank you
Loosening the sensors worked for me. Thanks a million!
This worked great. I had to use a drill with the torx bit in order to get the sensor plates off, but once I was able to do that, I just hand tightened the plate back on and my balance board now works again!
Thank you! Thank You!! THANK YOU!!!
I just told everyone on my friends list about this fix. It worked perfectly! So mad when i thought the board was shot. Now I have no excuse for not exercising… darn.
This worked for me too! I didn’t have the right torx bit, but managed to get two of the sensors loosened with a hex tool. Even though it was only two of the four feet, the balance board is now working perfectly! Thanks!!
I took the Wii Fit out again after 1102 days (and some 13 pounds later) to start working out again After a few tries I go the “Please step off me and press A” error.
I followed the instructions and the board is running fine again. Thank you so very much !
Worked great! Thanks for the fix. Curse you Nintendo….
Wii is tricky like that and occasionally it might be tough to deal with the fixes.
This solved the problem for me
By avatarmikec757 308 days ago
It is not a problem with syncing. It has to do with one of the corner sensors. I have repaired many in the past with this problem and 98% of the time, the screw inside of the board on the foot closest to the orange and white stick was too tight causing the sensor to always be on. The other 2% is most likely some damage with the circuit board which would require a repair from Nintendo.
The Repair:
with the board on and synced, go to the training menu and enter the part of the game where it tells you to step off and press A. Flip the board over and with a phillips head screw driver, unscrew the three screws around the foot I mentioned above. Remove the pieces and you will find a large Torx T30 bit under that holds a metal plate to the top of the sensor block. If you don’t have that, a Flat head screw driver that fits in the slot will work. Slightly loosen that screw. Just enough so that its a little looser but not too much because it will cause that side not to function at 100%. After doing this attach the foot and plastic piece and screw the three screws in most of the way. Flip over and press A and the system should go past the error. IF not repeat the steps with little adjustments until the problem is resolved.
Works awesome – thanks
Thank you kindly! I would never have figured this out without your post
Thankyou… just bought used system and this endless loop happened the very next day….
Another tip that worked for me is using a torque control drill driver.
It helps ensure fairly consistent tightening. My little Makita 12V set at 4 worked well for me.
Thanks again for the tip….worked great!!!
This works 100%! So impressed and very relieved. Wii board was seconds away from a trip out the window…
Thanks so much! I’m a woman in my 60′s and it only took about 1/2 hour to follow your instructions and repair the problem!
I didn’t have a tool for loosing the inside screw, but just swabbed it with rubbing alcohol (on both foot pad and the board) and gave it a squirt of pressured air under the pressure plate. The Wii balance board works perfect now — thanks to you!
Awesome, it works! I loosened foot sensors then screwed back in and just tightened very gently. Thanks! GFY nintendo.
Thanks for posting this!! It worked great for me. (It was the one in the corner closest to the orange and white sticker on mine, that was the only one I had to loosen.)
By avatarmikec757 308 days ago
It is not a problem with syncing. It has to do with one of the corner sensors. I have repaired many in the past with this problem and 98% of the time, the screw inside of the board on the foot closest to the orange and white stick was too tight causing the sensor to always be on. The other 2% is most likely some damage with the circuit board which would require a repair from Nintendo.
The Repair:
with the board on and synced, go to the training menu and enter the part of the game where it tells you to step off and press A. Flip the board over and with a phillips head screw driver, unscrew the three screws around the foot I mentioned above. Remove the pieces and you will find a large Torx T30 bit under that holds a metal plate to the top of the sensor block. If you don’t have that, a Flat head screw driver that fits in the slot will work. Slightly loosen that screw. Just enough so that its a little looser but not too much because it will cause that side not to function at 100%. After doing this attach the foot and plastic piece and screw the three screws in most of the way. Flip over and press A and the system should go past the error. IF not repeat the steps with little adjustments until the problem is resolved.