Bricked NXT

We had an issue today with one of the students managing to brick one of the NXT bricks,
After doing a google search and finding a paper clip(these are hard to find now) we managed to locate the reset button, all the trainings that I went to and we never got told about the reset button, or how to unbrick a brick, it has been a good day since then, so without any further flutter,

Problems downoading firmware? Bricked your NXT?

Numerous questions have come to Lego regarding problems downloading firmware. Lego has put this together to help those having difficulty with performing an update:

LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Firmware download procedure:

Make sure the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT is connected directly to the computer/Mac using a USB cable (Bluetooth connection will not work).

1. Press the hardware reset button on the NXT brick for at least 3-5 seconds. The hardware reset button is a tiny little button at the bottom of the pinhole on the bottom of the NXT case, just under the USB connector. You can push it with an unfolded paperclip but a LEGO antenna works to.

2. If the NXT is clicking before you press the hardware reset button, it will stop clicking after you press the hardware reset button. Continue to press on the hardware reset button for a few seconds longer until it clicks one time. Now release the hardware reset button.

3. Wait for the NXT to start clicking continuously again (It will take approximately 2-4 seconds).
4. Now go to the menubar within the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Software and select Tools->Update Firmware and select a firmware version and press Download.

5. If the software is unable to download the firmware correctly after having gone through the above process, please verify that you have the correct USB driver version installed:
1. Open an explore window
2. Go to the folder called “WINNT” or “windows”
3. Go to the folder called “”system32”
4. Find the file called “fantom.dll”
5. Right click on file and select properties
6. Under the version tap, the file should have the following version number: 1.0.2.49152. If it has version number 1.0.1.49152 you need to update the USB driver.

i. To update the USB driver please go to http://mindstorms.lego.com/Support/Updates/ and download the MINDSTORMS NXT Driver V1.02 and install the driver.
Just follow the installation instruction. Before running the installation, close the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software and unplug the NXT from the computer.