New Version: 2014.0702 (EXTREMLY MINOR - SS410 USERS ONLY)

[debrouxl]

Quote:the potential for permanently bricking their TI-Nspire CX is incredibly high

Depends on the definition of "permanent bricking"
* bricking Nspires, especially CX models, beyond repair using equipment provided with the calculator out of the box, i.e. the standard USB A <-> mini-B cable, is relatively easy;
* however, bricking Nspires in such a way that they don't boot, and cannot be repaired even through the RS232 TTL port, is very hard.
In order to distinguish the two states, I usually term calculators in the first situation "semi-bricks", while calculators in the second situation are, indeed, permanent bricks, in the current state of our collective knowledge.

The most common cause of a failure to boot is improper boot2 flashing caused by TI's faulty official OS 3.0.1.1753 upgrade, or by users disregarding the three safety warnings in emphasized, red text contained in TI-Planet's tutorial + the warning inside nsNandMgr (sigh). Improper boot2 flashing can easily be fixed under the boot1 through a cheap RS232 TTL adapter, by following a well-defined procedure.
Some of the permanently damaged calculators had received such mishandling as unspecified short-circuits between pins of the dock connector (sound output experiments), or usage of improperly-patched forks of nsNandMgr where all of the safeguards intentionally put into place by critor had been removed.