2019.7.105 (w/hw3?) center display went black while on freeway for my wife an hour ago

[Carveid4]

The screen turning black happened to me 3 times since I got my Model 3 July 2018. But none of them happens when I was driving. It all happened to when I am about to drive. One of them the screen turns into a glitchy pattern and I have to restart the screen.

It is good to know that this does not affect driving. They are definitely separate systems and seem the screen just displays useful info and not vital to the core driving system. On manual, Tesla do mention how to restart the screen on page 44-45, push the two buttons. They recommended do it when parked. But I think they should also put how to deal with a situation like screen went black or non-responsive when driving in the manual, like, don't panic, or let the user know there are separate systems.

 

[TrentS]

She was able to pull over without incident. Called me in a bit of a panic, understandably. I walked her through a two button reboot and everything came back eventually.

When she gathered her composure at the side of the freeway I *carefully* reminded to her that the car was still drivable even though it appeared dead to her. She took issue with that by mentioning the turn signals didn't work at the time. That was a big deal as she had to cross a couple lanes to get to a safe place on the right.

I stayed on the phone with her for quite a while as she continued on her trip (she is in a different state from me right now). Everything seemed back to normal.

I've read enough about these cars to know that this happens from time to time. I wish it didn't but I would be lying if I said I was unaware. Part of me was thinking that hw3 and perhaps some new testing rigor might be less prone to this.

I called roadside assistance and chatted about it just now. They connected to the car while she was enroute and said it looked fine to them diagnostically. They believe the turn signals were working the entire time, it's just that she didn't have a visual or audible cue from within the car. We didn't think to have her check outside the car before we rebooted it.

Can anyone confirm this to be true about the turn signals?

Happened to me the other day. Screen died. Car kept driving don't but turn signals did not work. Just got a software update last night but not sure what it was before. No turn signals makes me wonder about headlights but it was still light out. I rebooted while still driving. Here's my current version.

 

[TonyR67]

Model 3 Manual, page 44

As others have stated, you can do this while driving, and it's no big deal--car is still drivable. Takes more like 25 seconds in my experience. Good to try it once so you don't freak out if the screen ever crashes on you. Note, there seem to be (at least) two failure modes: 1) center screen computer (MCU) crashes (goes black) and reboots on its own; 2) screen freezes (or gets corrupt) and you need to reboot manually with two-finger salute.

I thought that might be it. Thanks.

 

[DianeL]

She was able to pull over without incident. Called me in a bit of a panic, understandably. I walked her through a two button reboot and everything came back eventually.

When she gathered her composure at the side of the freeway I *carefully* reminded to her that the car was still drivable even though it appeared dead to her. She took issue with that by mentioning the turn signals didn't work at the time. That was a big deal as she had to cross a couple lanes to get to a safe place on the right.

I stayed on the phone with her for quite a while as she continued on her trip (she is in a different state from me right now). Everything seemed back to normal.

I've read enough about these cars to know that this happens from time to time. I wish it didn't but I would be lying if I said I was unaware. Part of me was thinking that hw3 and perhaps some new testing rigor might be less prone to this.

I called roadside assistance and chatted about it just now. They connected to the car while she was enroute and said it looked fine to them diagnostically. They believe the turn signals were working the entire time, it's just that she didn't have a visual or audible cue from within the car. We didn't think to have her check outside the car before we rebooted it.

Can anyone confirm this to be true about the turn signals?

Not sure about signals, but the same thing happened to me on Monday (4/29). Luckily I was backing out of my driveway at the time so I could easily reboot. It rebooted on it's own while I was on the road a couple of days before that. Very odd. And I can relate to your wife's experience... very disconcerting.

 

[thewishmaster]

Happened to me the other day. Screen died. Car kept driving don't but turn signals did not work. Just got a software update last night but not sure what it was before. No turn signals makes me wonder about headlights but it was still light out. I rebooted while still driving. Here's my current version.

Are you sure the turn signals didn’t work? In my experience they’re still blinking, but there’s no sound. It’s definitely eerie.

I know there’s a backup speaker but I’ve heard it work just once when I tried to enable autopilot somewhere as a test and it wasn’t available (screen functioning as normal though). I got the “can’t enable autopilot” beeps out of the main speakers and coming from what sounded like the backup speaker. Did the same twice in a row. But haven’t heard it again even in similar conditions.

 

[favo]

Screen died. Car kept driving don't but turn signals did not work.

They do work, you just don't get audible feedback in the car (and obviously no icon on the screen) while the MCU (media control unit, aka center screen computer) reboots (~25 seconds). The MCU controls the center screen and audio system, including the turn signal "clicking" sound. The driving functions like steering, throttle, brakes, lights, turn signals are not controlled by the MCU and are not affected when it reboots. They are controlled by dedicated components that have their own firmware and should never "crash". Note the AutoPilot computer (APE) is also separate and can crash/reboot without affecting manual driving.

BTW, for my car, and seemingly many others, 2019.8.5 (8.x?) software was buggy and was the first version where my MCU actually crashed and rebooted. This happened twice. Also had one screen freeze. Hope it's fixed with 2019.12.1.1, which I got last night.

 

[afadeev]

@Shateam. Now that I understand better from the posts here, it didn't die. That was the wrong word. I didn't know they were separate computers. And my wife is not computer literate and so she surely didn't know.

Then please go back and edit the title of the thread, or have moderators do it for you.
It's spreading false perception that the vehicle itself stopped functioning vs. just the infotainment screen had rebooted.
I understand that the latter can be disconcerting, but it happens in all other cars, and it's not THAT big of a deal.

Infotainment screens are just that - fluff, you can live without.
There are videos on YouTube of folks removing Model 3 center screen altogether and driving the car without any issues.

To her, the screen [...] went black so she felt the whole car had turned off and she panicked.

That pretty much sums up the entire situation.

Teach her how to control her emotions and not panic.
There will be more critical situation in life when her reaction might cause serious harm to herself and others!

a

 

[mab3803]

I've had this happen a couple of times on starting up, and just turned the car off. Returned and it was fine and had rebooted itself. Can someone please tell me how to do a reboot while driving??

 

[Ms Rosa]

In the past week and a half, since I updated to version 2019.8.6.1on my Model 3, I've had my screen go black on me 4 times; 3 times while driving. The first 2 times, it rebooted itself, but pretty freaky as I was driving on the freeway. The fourth "blackout" was when I was about to back out of my driveway; it rebooted itself.
ALSO, last Sunday, my radio and all communications went dead but the screen stayed on. I could not use the microphone, couldn't listen to the radio. It didn't come back until after I'd stopped and then restarted my car.
I had a passenger during most of these events and they were totally spooked.
This is not a safe driving situation no matter if you know or don't know it can happen.
Anyone else talked to Roadside Service?

 

[MurphysInlaw]

First time my screen went blank I was just pulling out of a parking place. The car seemed to work OK so I headed home and the screen came back on its own. Over the next week or so it happened more and more often, sometimes multiple times during a single short trip. Submitting 'bug reports' got me no response. So I took it in for servicing. It took a long time to find the problem, about a week, but I had a loaner Model S. (I prefer my Model 3.) They had to replace the computer for the screen. Now it works perfectly all the time, about a month since the new computer was installed. I never panicked, but felt it was unsafe not to have all the info on the screen. I still love my Model 3.

 

[dloop]

Teach her how to control her emotions and not panic.
There will be more critical situation in life when her reaction might cause serious harm to herself and others!

afadeev...Just some feedback. It's hard to read this as anything but extremely presumptive and patronizing. You have no idea of the adversity and critical situations she has faced and overcome in her life.

 

[Hkbruin]

Seems like a lot of issues with the screen since the last two updates. I didn’t have any issues with screens going black or have weird garbage going across it for close to 9 months, only rebooting twice.

In the last 2 weeks, my screen has gone black 3 times, car wouldn’t engage in drive or respond until a 2-button reboot, and twice the screen had different graphics from another part of the display artifacted across the display.

 

[TrentS]

Are you sure the turn signals didn’t work? In my experience they’re still blinking, but there’s no sound. It’s definitely eerie.

I know there’s a backup speaker but I’ve heard it work just once when I tried to enable autopilot somewhere as a test and it wasn’t available (screen functioning as normal though). I got the “can’t enable autopilot” beeps out of the main speakers and coming from what sounded like the backup speaker. Did the same twice in a row. But haven’t heard it again even in similar conditions.

I will concede that while doing 80 on the freeway, I could not see the outside of the car but I thought I was going to have to pull over. My signal did not sound and the car behind me (and to the right) did not yield when I put the turn signal or hazards on. The accelerator and brakes worked so I felt safe enough. But it would be reasonable to ask that there is a confirmation that the signal lights work. Then I don't have to feel like I'm cutting people of without warning, potentially causing an accident or road rage.

To be clear, the car is freaking amazing. Autopilot does 90% of my commute and has made my life better and less stressful. I can't wait for a model Y so I can give my wife the 3!

This was just a wierd incident. I reboot the car once a week just to give it "a clear head". This is not blue screen of death from a PC in the middle of an email; it's a partial system crash at 80mph. As the OP said, that can cause panic. Panic not good at the Disco!

 

[rpastcan]

She was able to pull over without incident. Called me in a bit of a panic, understandably. I walked her through a two button reboot and everything came back eventually.

When she gathered her composure at the side of the freeway I *carefully* reminded to her that the car was still drivable even though it appeared dead to her. She took issue with that by mentioning the turn signals didn't work at the time. That was a big deal as she had to cross a couple lanes to get to a safe place on the right.

I stayed on the phone with her for quite a while as she continued on her trip (she is in a different state from me right now). Everything seemed back to normal.

I've read enough about these cars to know that this happens from time to time. I wish it didn't but I would be lying if I said I was unaware. Part of me was thinking that hw3 and perhaps some new testing rigor might be less prone to this.

I called roadside assistance and chatted about it just now. They connected to the car while she was enroute and said it looked fine to them diagnostically. They believe the turn signals were working the entire time, it's just that she didn't have a visual or audible cue from within the car. We didn't think to have her check outside the car before we rebooted it.

Can anyone confirm this to be true about the turn signals?

 

[rpastcan]

This problem of the screen going blank is not just confined to the Model 3. I have a S that is almost 4 years old and in the past month
the screen has gone blank maybe a dozen times. Not only do you loose the A/C and radio, but also the Navigation. Yes, it does come back without doing anything in a minute or so(yet when you are driving in a new area and depending on that navigation to know where to get off a freeway) that can be a very long minute. I could easily see someone getting rattled and this leading to an accident. This is not a trvial issue! I am bringing the car in to the service center next week for an unrelated problem, the trunk does not go all the way up anymore, and will also see if they can tell me anything about this screen issue.

 

[hcdavis3]

I will concede that while doing 80 on the freeway, I could not see the outside of the car but I thought I was going to have to pull over. My signal did not sound and the car behind me (and to the right) did not yield when I put the turn signal or hazards on. The accelerator and brakes worked so I felt safe enough. But it would be reasonable to ask that there is a confirmation that the signal lights work. Then I don't have to feel like I'm cutting people of without warning, potentially causing an accident or road rage.

To be clear, the car is freaking amazing. Autopilot does 90% of my commute and has made my life better and less stressful. I can't wait for a model Y so I can give my wife the 3!

This was just a wierd incident. I reboot the car once a week just to give it "a clear head". This is not blue screen of death from a PC in the middle of an email; it's a partial system crash at 80mph. As the OP said, that can cause panic. Panic not good at the Disco!

Morning Trent. I reboot my car every now and again to as you say “give it a clear head”. I do the same with my iPad and Mac. Clearing the cache is a good idea. IMO.

 

[ecarfan]

Can anyone confirm this to be true about the turn signals?

I’m sorry to hear that your wife experienced the problem you reported without being aware that the car is still driveable when the center display goes dark and that there is a simple reboot procedure to fix it (which can be done while continuing to drive).

Unless this issue occurs at night one might not realize that the turn signals still work, since the “clicking” sound isn’t available when the center display goes dark.

I recall that 5 years ago when my first Tesla, an S, was new, the first time I rebooted the displays while driving it was a bit nerve wracking but now I’m used to it.

Moderator note: I edited the thread title to remove the word “died” and replaced that with “center display goes dark” since that is more accurate. I think most people would interpret “died” as meaning that the car would not drive or even move, but that was not the case in the scenario you described.

 

[ksb467]

I've had this happen a couple of times on starting up, and just turned the car off. Returned and it was fine and had rebooted itself. Can someone please tell me how to do a reboot while driving??

Just hold the 2 steering wheel buttons in for about 5 seconds. Within 30 seconds all will reboot. It’s like control alt delete in windows. You can do this while driving. A harder reboot is to Park and go to the security system settings and click power off (it asks you to confirm I think). You have to do this while in park. Again, it will reboot shortly but in my experience fixes software things that the two button reboot doesn’t fix

 

[copyhacker]

Seems like a lot of issues with the screen since the last two updates. I didn’t have any issues with screens going black or have weird garbage going across it for close to 9 months, only rebooting twice.

In the last 2 weeks, my screen has gone black 3 times, car wouldn’t engage in drive or respond until a 2-button reboot, and twice the screen had different graphics from another part of the display artifacted across the display.

This has only happened to me since 8.5. I’m now on 12.1.1 and nothing yet.

I heard an unsubstantiated rumor that Slacker seems to be involved somehow. Can anyone confirm whether they were listening to Slacker at the time of the BSOA* or another audio source?

The first time it happened on the road with my wife in the car—I was driving and not too concerned, she somewhat more so. I can totally see where the OP is coming from here. Teslas are light years ahead of other cars in almost all respects, but almost no one coming from another brand of car has ever had it “crash” on them in this way. So that appears to be a major drawback to the novice (who probably took some convincing to get the car in the first place).

*black screen of annoyance

[Edit: autocorrect typo]

 

[Hkbruin]

This has only happened to me since 8.5. I’m now on 12.1.1 and nothing yet.

I heard an unsubstantiated rumor that Slacker seems to be involved somehow. Can anyone confirm whether they were listening to Slacker at the time of the BSOA* or another audio source?

The first time it happened on the road with my wife in the car—I was driving and not too concerned, she somewhat more so. I can totally see where the OP is coming from here. Teslas are light years ahead of other cars in almost all respects, but almost no one coming from another brand of car has ever had it “crash” on them in this way. So that appears to be a major drawback to the novice (who probably took some convincing to get the car in the first place).

*black screen of annoyance

[Edit: autocorrect typo]

Yes, I was most likely and always listening to Slacker radio (Above and Beyond EDM channel sounds amazing!)

I’ve had one update since my last post and now I have another notice for another update. I’m going to install it now and see if there’s any difference.