A system reboot occurred while driving

[Steve446]

Has anybody else suffered this problem with their M3?

A couple of days ago I was at the end of a 70 KM drive and used the touch screen to change a music track (listening to USB MP3s). For May, it was quite warm for my part of the world, 23°C. When I touched the screen, The UI went black and after 10-20s showed the "T" insignia of Tesla. I assumed a system reboot. I continued to listed to the music and the car was driving ok (except no speed or other vital signs indication). I guess the whole event took about a minute. I couldn't pull over because at a busy roundabout. It was all a bit un-nerving. That's the first time I encountered that. Anybody else experienced this? I found posts about similar happenings to MYs (see link below).

My car is a MiC M3 LR AWD delivered end Sept 2021.

While driving: a system reboot occurred

I see that other Tesla owners have encountered a reboot while driving. This reboot… my first, occurred yesterday afternoon while I was getting off of NJ route 47 south. What I found was interesting to me… the Model Y retained complete control over driving/steering and braking functionality. The...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Yes, happened to me a couple of times. Both annoying and possibly dangerous. I suggest you "reboot" the system (hold both scroll wheels in until the screen goes black) at the start of each month and that should deal with this "problem."

Rich

 

[Steve446]

Yes, happened to me a couple of times. Both annoying and possibly dangerous. I suggest you "reboot" the system (hold both scroll wheels in until the screen goes black) at the start of each month and that should deal with this "problem."

Rich

Thank you! Will do. I had contacted Tesla Service, they told me they couldn't trace the problem after remote analysis...

 

[RTPEV]

Yes. Happens occasionally. Some software revs are more stable than others, and some you may get frequent reboots until they fix the problem. The cars systems continue to work fine, it's really just the UI. Of course when it happens, you lose the speedometer and turn signal indicators and sounds, so yes, disconcerting, but the car continues to function fine (even autopilot continues to work correctly).

 

[roblab]

It doesn't affect your driving, or at least it didn't bother mine. I guess it might be unnerving, but if you consider that you've driven many miles without anything on a screen with previous gas cars, it's just funny. Mine went on a reboot once while driving on a trip. I just let it do its thing and kept driving. No problem, really.

 

[jrweiss98020]

Note that the double-scrollwheel reboot - and likely the auto-reboot while driving - is actually a Display reboot. To reboot the entire car, you have to do a Power Cycle per page 49 of the manual. I do one occasionally, and allow 2-3 minutes until all the clicking and humming stops.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Here's the Power Cycling info:

NOTE: Restarting the touchscreen using the scroll buttons does not power Model Y off and on.

Power Cycling the Vehicle​

You can power cycle Model Y if it demonstrates unusual behavior or displays a nondescript alert.

1. Shift into Park.

2. On the touchscreen, touch Controls > Safety > Power Off.

3. Wait for at least two minutes without interacting with the vehicle. Do not open the doors, touch the brake pedal, touch the touchscreen, etc.

4. After two minutes, press the brake pedal or open the door to wake the vehicle.

 

[Kevy Baby]

Note that the double-scrollwheel reboot - and likely the auto-reboot while driving - is actually a Display reboot.

This is correct. This reboot is officially called "Restarting the Touchscreen." See Driving > Starting and Powering Off in the manual. I have done this while driving multiple times with no effect. There is nothing dangerous about doing this.

 

[Steve446]

This is correct. This reboot is officially called "Restarting the Touchscreen." See Driving > Starting and Powering Off in the manual. I have done this while driving multiple times with no effect. There is nothing dangerous about doing this.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. A power cycle and/or screen restart seems a straight forward preventative action from time to time!

 

[neurocutie]

Thanks to all of you for your comments. A power cycle and/or screen restart seems a straight forward preventative action from time to time!

Is there any real evidence/data that a periodic UI reboot prevents random future UI crashes/random reboot, or is this just speculation?

My M3 just this again...3rd time in 6mos, but it seems correlated with getting new firmware/updates.

Silly me, I guess I thought an M3 software crash should happen less frequently than my iPhone crashes...

 

[Steve446]

Is there any real evidence/data that a periodic UI reboot prevents random future UI crashes/random reboot, or is this just speculation?

My M3 just this again...3rd time in 6mos, but it seems correlated with getting new firmware/updates.

Silly me, I guess I thought an M3 software crash should happen less frequently than my iPhone crashes...

My comment was provoked by the recommendations on this thread. My Service Centre told me to file a bug report if it happened again, particularly if it happened after a firmware update. They also said it was a known phenomenon. Maybe we could correlate Tesla cars with Windows PCs?

 

[neurocutie]

My comment was provoked by the recommendations on this thread. My Service Centre told me to file a bug report if it happened again, particularly if it happened after a firmware update. They also said it was a known phenomenon. Maybe we could correlate Tesla cars with Windows PCs?

Actually these days, my Windows PC crash ALOT LESS than either my iPhone or my Tesla. I have PCs running continuously for 2-3 years. Of course I have to disable automatic updates to get that, which I do... Chrome, on the other hand, crashes alot....

 

[RichbM3]

I had this happen a few days ago, while driving on an interstate. First the screen froze and then blacked out and rebooted. I contacted service, and they suggested clearing our USB stick, which was full at the time. Since having one plugged in is optional, I kind of doubt that would cause a problem, but service responded that the computer shares some of the storage. Not buying that.

 

[neurocutie]

Just happened again, twice in one day, about 8 hours apart (drove to work, it happened, parked, worked, drove back home, it happened again!)
Getting worried this is becoming a *thing*... Was playing BT audio music both times (70% of the time while I'm driving, so very typical for me).

Version 2022.12.3.6

 

[GtiMart]

I don't think it's necessary to reboot preventatively. It used to happen somewhat after software updates but I haven't seen that happen in a while. The moment where I had the most weird behavior is when I left sentry on for almost two weeks during vacation, at an airbnb. Just let the car sleep sometimes and it should be good. As others said, even if it does reboot while you're driving, everything still works (without feedback sounds). It's only the infotainment system that crashes, not the whole car.

 

[neurocutie]

.... and a THIRD time this week my M3 spontaneously crashed/reboot.... Is it hardware or software?

 

[RTPEV]

.... and a THIRD time this week my M3 spontaneously crashed/reboot.... Is it hardware or software?

Hard to know for sure, but some releases are buggier than others. Usually for really buggy releases they will get a patch out pretty quickly, so if it still happens after the next update you receive, then it might be time to investigate the hardware path.

 

[Airgetlam]

I've had it happen a couple of times while driving on the highway. Submitted diagnostics, and was told it was an issue with the USB thumb drive I was using. Changed to a Tesla USB stick, and haven't had a reboot since.

That being said, I'm not 100% convinced there's a real correlation, but then again, I don't get to see what is in the diagnostic, and what it says.

 

[GtiMart]

Usb devices have been known to cause problems. It's always suggested to remove all usb things to diagnose crashes and problems

 

[neurocutie]

.... and a FOURTH time this week... thats a huge uptick in crash frequency from the last 2.5 years. In fact I only ever had 4 crashes during the last 2.5 years, but now 4 new crashes during the past week??? If no one else is experiencing this level of UI crashes, I have to conclude there is a new problem with my M3's hardware (ugh)....