[Inquisitor]

Can you make comlinks burn out , or malfunction with sprite Gremlins or something something Else ?

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Well you can hack basically any manufactured/technological item.  But just because you can "hack" shoelaces, soup, cans of soda, it doesn't mean they gain any abilities just because you hacked them.  You can't turn a commlink into a grenade, that's for sure.

As far as making a commlink "explode"... depends on what you're asking.  If you're just trying to render the commlink inoperable, you're best off just bricking it via Data Spikes.  If you want subtlety in your destruction (not guessing so, given the wording you used..) you could instead try reformatting it.

As for causing it to spontaneously combust... I'd imagine they've solved the battery problems some decades into the future.  Batteries shouldn't explosively fail any longer, but if your GM is nice he might allow such a result.  The rules don't cover how to do it though.  Off the cuff, if I were to allow it I'd say you'd need to get 3 marks and then Succeed on a Logic + Software test with a threshold of like (4) or (5).

[Reaver]

Well you can hack basically any manufactured/technological item.  But just because you can "hack" shoelaces, soup, cans of soda, it doesn't mean they gain any abilities just because you hacked them.  You can't turn a commlink into a grenade, that's for sure.

As far as making a commlink "explode"... depends on what you're asking.  If you're just trying to render the commlink inoperable, you're best off just bricking it via Data Spikes.  If you want subtlety in your destruction (not guessing so, given the wording you used..) you could instead try reformatting it.

As for causing it to spontaneously combust... I'd imagine they've solved the battery problems some decades into the future.  Batteries shouldn't explosively fail any longer, but if your GM is nice he might allow such a result.  The rules don't cover how to do it though.  Off the cuff, if I were to allow it I'd say you'd need to get 3 marks and then Succeed on a Logic + Software test with a threshold of like (4) or (5).

Explody batteries ONLY happen with a mechanical fault. And there is no way to mechanically cause a fault with software.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Well you can hack basically any manufactured/technological item.  But just because you can "hack" shoelaces, soup, cans of soda, it doesn't mean they gain any abilities just because you hacked them.  You can't turn a commlink into a grenade, that's for sure.

As far as making a commlink "explode"... depends on what you're asking.  If you're just trying to render the commlink inoperable, you're best off just bricking it via Data Spikes.  If you want subtlety in your destruction (not guessing so, given the wording you used..) you could instead try reformatting it.

As for causing it to spontaneously combust... I'd imagine they've solved the battery problems some decades into the future.  Batteries shouldn't explosively fail any longer, but if your GM is nice he might allow such a result.  The rules don't cover how to do it though.  Off the cuff, if I were to allow it I'd say you'd need to get 3 marks and then Succeed on a Logic + Software test with a threshold of like (4) or (5).

Explody batteries ONLY happen with a mechanical fault. And there is no way to mechanically cause a fault with software.

Well, as I said... IF I were to even allow it in the first place.  I'd presume that engineering solved the exploding battery problem, so a software rationale is no more unrealistic than any other.  YMMV.

[Inquisitor]

It would be such a funny thing to see a guy have his brains burned by a shortcircuit . Thanks for the reply , but I think hacking fake comunications is enought , I can do that I think , fake comunications .

[Michael Chandra]

If you brick a device through Matrix damage, it becomes unusable until repaired. With Sprites, if y'all attack together, it should be doable to brick it before the owner gets a chance to turn it off. With a commlink, that cuts off communication. With a gun, that makes the gun incapable of firing.

[Xenon]

It would be such a funny thing to see a guy have his brains burned by a shortcircuit .

IF the guy is using his commlink for hot-sim VR (perhaps he is enjoying a BTL chip or whatever) THEN you can actually fry his brain by causing lethal unfiltered biofeedback damage ;-)

[Sugarpink]

Explody batteries ONLY happen with a mechanical fault. And there is no way to mechanically cause a fault with software.

Assuming the power regulator of the battery isn't software controlled... and if it is, then the software shouldn't be accessible... But if it were you could make the battery short circuit internally and potentially catch fire. Modern batteries are only safe because they have inbuilt safeties. If you can make those fail, or even reverse in function. Phone goes kaboom.

Now I would put it up to the GM to determine how smart electronics manufacturers are in the 6th world. In theory, the power regulators should not be accessible even if you have 100% control over the device's OS. But you never know...

[Xenon]

OP was not originally asking for killing people with explosions ;-)

Can you make comlinks burn out , or malfunction with sprite Gremlins or something something Else ?

First Gremlin power, you can't really choose the disaster going to happen. It's up to the GM.
But 'malfunction' on a regular success and 'burn out' on 4 success or more is well within the parameters of the power I'd say.

The gamemaster chooses a malfunction appropriate to the device and situation, like a jammed control, a looped signal, or a faulty reading. If the sprite scores 4 or more net hits, treat it as a critical glitch— the device crashes, burns out, jolts its user with an electrical shock, or some other goodie picked by the gamemaster.

Secondly, hackers (including technomancers)
They can Data Spike the commlink which will cause small sparks and puffs of smoke and eventually brick the entire phone.
With access they can snoop on all communications (Snoop).
With a lot of access they can even format it (Format Device). Next time its restarted (or if they also forcefully reboot it for you with Reboot Device) it will not come back online.
If you play with rules from Kill Code you also have access to the Masqurade matrix action which let the hacker assume the identity of the owner of the commlink, and for a brief period for example intercept calls made to the commlink.