Car Won't Start, Software Update Failed

[TT97]

My Tesla was scheduled for an update overnight (2 a.m. today). The vehicle functioned perfectly normal yesterday even as late as 11pm when I picked up a friend at the airport. There was no indication of any problem. The first time I got in it today, I received a similar message on the dashboard as the original post on this thread. Initially the dashboard and screen did work, but the car did not turn on (the Message indicated car could not turn on and to contact Tesla for service). I did try to reboot with scroll buttons, but the only thing that happened was the screen and dashboard went completely dark/blank. I did call Tesla, and they indicated 1) that the download failed at some point, 2) that they could NOT communicate with my vehicle remotely, 3) that they would try to do so, and then try to push the update. The latter both failed, and as with the OP’er, my vehicle is “dead in the water”, in my garage. It will not even accept the plug back into the charging port. I have now been informed that I have to have the vehicle towed to the Service Center which is an hour away.
Anyone else experiencing this with this latest or recent update? And if so, what did they finally determine the problem to be?

Same thing happened to me this week trying to update to 21.9. It was my first OTA on the car. When it downloaded the software, I got a Software Update Failure. Got the message “Unable to Start Car” and car was plugged in and wouldn’t unlock.

I spoke to Tesla and they said they would re-push the update to my car, unfortunately, by the next morning the 12v was dead and couldn’t even open the doors. I attached a jump starter to the battery to get the car on again but wouldn’t let me download the update as the battery was too week. Tesla sent a tow truck and they used a much larger jump starter to get the car on and run the OTA. Unfortunately, the second attempt had the same result so had to tow the car to the Service Center (and the battery was still week that the car would not go into Tow mode so they had to put the car onto skates to get it on the flatbed).

The car has been at the SC since yesterday. I see on my app they have tried a couple downloads with no success. They are now ordering a new module for the car. Hopefully I will get the car back tomorrow.

They gave me a P85 loaner - it’s a great car and fast (with a frunk almost as large as the trunk of the 3) but after driving it a couple days, I glad I bought a 3 over the S.

 

[Lifesabeach]

Same thing happened to me this week trying to update to 21.9. It was my first OTA on the car. When it downloaded the software, I got a Software Update Failure. Got the message “Unable to Start Car” and car was plugged in and wouldn’t unlock.

I spoke to Tesla and they said they would re-push the update to my car, unfortunately, by the next morning the 12v was dead and couldn’t even open the doors. I attached a jump starter to the battery to get the car on again but wouldn’t let me download the update as the battery was too week. Tesla sent a tow truck and they used a much larger jump starter to get the car on and run the OTA. Unfortunately, the second attempt had the same result so had to tow the car to the Service Center (and the battery was still week that the car would not go into Tow mode so they had to put the car onto skates to get it on the flatbed).

The car has been at the SC since yesterday. I see on my app they have tried a couple downloads with no success. They are now ordering a new module for the car. Hopefully I will get the car back tomorrow.

They gave me a P85 loaner - it’s a great car and fast (with a frunk almost as large as the trunk of the 3) but after driving it a couple days, I glad I bought a 3 over the S.

Interesting... So is it the update that is causing the problem, or is it something else and the update initiates the cascading failure? The service department also mentioned using a “jump starter” to get it going. But what are they “jump starting”? I know when I parked the car, it had at least 170 miles left, and it was on the charger in my garage. Wow, I hope they can get it running, because the vehicle in the garage is 90 degrees to the length of my driveway, and if they have to use skates and a platform truck, that truck is going to be parked in my neighbor’s landscaped bed. Not good... BTW, I haven’t found a thread similar to this one on the Model S, but that’s what mine is (P90D). Unfortunately, even if I have the car towed in today, they won’t be working on it until Monday.

 

[TT97]

Interesting... So is it the update that is causing the problem, or is it something else and the update initiates the cascading failure? The service department also mentioned using a “jump starter” to get it going. But what are they “jump starting”? I know when I parked the car, it had at least 170 miles left, and it was on the charger in my garage. Wow, I hope they can get it running, because the vehicle in the garage is 90 degrees to the length of my driveway, and if they have to use skates and a platform truck, that truck is going to be parked in my neighbor’s landscaped bed. Not good... BTW, I haven’t found a thread similar to this one on the Model S, but that’s what mine is (P90D). Unfortunately, even if I have the car towed in today, they won’t be working on it until Monday.

Initially they thought it was the software that not all the packets downloaded but now appears to be a hardware issue as they had multiple attempts at the OTA with the same error. I think the OTA was just the catalyst to discover the hardware issue.

As for the "jump start," it is the 12v battery, not the big one (that one has about 50% on it). Due to the software issue, the car stopped charging the 12v and the battery died in under a day. The jump starter was used to charge the 12v.

 

[Candleflame]

Interesting. I’d love to know what exactly happened.

There is no way that the download could have been corrupted. Tesla performs signature/integrity checks on the update package before you even get an alert on the screen. If they pushed the same update and it worked then it means that it did the exact same thing twice and once it did work and another it did not. That’s generally not how computers work.

Yeah, afaik the TeslaOS is just a ?linux ubuntu fork. All transmission gets checked before they are installed. The only way to corrupt most linux distros is to cut power while a new kernel/version is being installed.

If it is the software causing the issue then it either has not been tested or there was some other bug there before which got now revealed.

 

[Lifesabeach]

Initially they thought it was the software that not all the packets downloaded but now appears to be a hardware issue as they had multiple attempts at the OTA with the same error. I think the OTA was just the catalyst to discover the hardware issue.

As for the "jump start," it is the 12v battery, not the big one (that one has about 50% on it). Due to the software issue, the car stopped charging the 12v and the battery died in under a day. The jump starter was used to charge the 12v.

Yes, thank you. I got a crash course in all this yesterday when I was trying to have my vehicle towed. What a fiasco! By yesterday, the 12V WAS dead, so the car no longer even responded to the fobs (would not present door handles, unlock, etc). The tow mechanic brought a charging unit, but the terminals in my car were difficult to locate, and spaced quite far from each other. All that was finally figured out, and a jumpstart was given to the 12V battery, but then, while doors could be opened, and screens accessed, the car could then not be placed into Tow mode. So getting my car out of my garage onto a driveway that happens to runs perpendicular to the garage, and onto a platform truck was a royal pain in the *blank*.
So, now to figure out which/what failed first: Either the 12V battery failed, which then somehow impeded an update and crashed the software in the process, or the software/update, which as you mentioned above, perhaps caused the car battery to discontinue charging the 12V battery, OR yet again, some other hardware issue is at the core of the problem. The latter would be strange,as again, the car was driving, charging, and performing perfectly normal as late as 11:30 p.m. the same night as the scheduled (at 2 a.m.) update. Stay tuned...

 

[TT97]

Yes, thank you. I got a crash course in all this yesterday when I was trying to have my vehicle towed. What a fiasco! By yesterday, the 12V WAS dead, so the car no longer even responded to the fobs (would not present door handles, unlock, etc). The tow mechanic brought a charging unit, but the terminals in my car were difficult to locate, and spaced quite far from each other. All that was finally figured out, and a jumpstart was given to the 12V battery, but then, while doors could be opened, and screens accessed, the car could then not be placed into Tow mode. So getting my car out of my garage onto a driveway that happens to runs perpendicular to the garage, and onto a platform truck was a royal pain in the *blank*.
So, now to figure out which/what failed first: Either the 12V battery failed, which then somehow impeded an update and crashed the software in the process, or the software/update, which as you mentioned above, perhaps caused the car battery to discontinue charging the 12V battery, OR yet again, some other hardware issue is at the core of the problem. The latter would be strange,as again, the car was driving, charging, and performing perfectly normal as late as 11:30 p.m. the same night as the scheduled (at 2 a.m.) update. Stay tuned...

Sounds a lot like my situation.

Getting to the battery is much easier on the 3, I was able to do it on my own just by looking at the owner's manual except the jump starter I have at home is only strong enough to wake the car for about 15 minutes before it died again (but enough time to get my sunglasses from inside the car). The tow mechanic was telling me how hard it is to access the battery on the S - nice to see they are learning from their mistakes (although, he would also prefer for Tesla to add a tow hook to the back of the car as well).

 

[Lifesabeach]

Sounds a lot like my situation.

Getting to the battery is much easier on the 3, I was able to do it on my own just by looking at the owner's manual except the jump starter I have at home is only strong enough to wake the car for about 15 minutes before it died again (but enough time to get my sunglasses from inside the car). The tow mechanic was telling me how hard it is to access the battery on the S - nice to see they are learning from their mistakes (although, he would also prefer for Tesla to add a tow hook to the back of the car as well).

To be honest, accessing the battery in the Model S wouldn’t be so bad IF there were ANY juice left in the 12V battery. The SC rep should have told me this the first day this whole problem began (as the battery still had some charge left when I first tried to use the car, but it had completely died by the next day), and it’s definitely what I would recommend to any current Model S owner in a similar situation: IF and while the car still has enough charge in the 12V where one can access the screen, I’d suggest to UNLOCK and OPEN the frunk immediately. Because at least one of the terminals (positive I think) to the 12V battery is found in what looks like a fuse box located towards the back of the frunk, under the liner/cover. The bizarre thing in my vehicle is that the “negative”/ ground terminal is located behind my vehicle’s front cap, and it HAD to be used for the jump starter’s ground/negative cable, since connecting the ground/negative cable to a chassis bolt nearer to the aforementioned fuse box did NOT allow the 12V battery to be jumpstarted.
Another thing the SC rep should have told me to try and do immediately when I discovered this issue, was to at least TRY to put the vehicle in Tow Mode while I still might have been able to do so (if there was enough juice in the 12V battery). A day later, even with the jump start, I guess there still wasn’t enough charge in the 12V battery to get my vehicle to switch to Tow Mode. BTW, for the life of me, I do not understand why the Tow Mode can only be enabled with a functioning software. Maybe Tesla feels this offers more security for the vehicle , but when it cannot be enabled, if it is parked in a tight area or an enclosed area (i.e. garage or other limited access), getting the vehicle onto a flatbed is truly a challenge. Honestly, the guy who had to handle/Tow my vehicle yesterday had the patience of a saint. Live and learn...

Has the Tesla SC given you any more info on what specific “hardware issue” lead to the similar experience with your Model 3? I don’t expect to hear anything until Tuesday the earliest.

 

[TT97]

To be honest, accessing the battery in the Model S wouldn’t be so bad IF there were ANY juice left in the 12V battery. The SC rep should have told me this the first day this whole problem began (as the battery still had some charge left when I first tried to use the car, but it had completely died by the next day), and it’s definitely what I would recommend to any current Model S owner in a similar situation: IF and while the car still has enough charge in the 12V where one can access the screen, I’d suggest to UNLOCK and OPEN the frunk immediately. Because at least one of the terminals (positive I think) to the 12V battery is found in what looks like a fuse box located towards the back of the frunk, under the liner/cover. The bizarre thing in my vehicle is that the “negative”/ ground terminal is located behind my vehicle’s front cap, and it HAD to be used for the jump starter’s ground/negative cable, since connecting the ground/negative cable to a chassis bolt nearer to the aforementioned fuse box did NOT allow the 12V battery to be jumpstarted.
Another thing the SC rep should have told me to try and do immediately when I discovered this issue, was to at least TRY to put the vehicle in Tow Mode while I still might have been able to do so (if there was enough juice in the 12V battery). A day later, even with the jump start, I guess there still wasn’t enough charge in the 12V battery to get my vehicle to switch to Tow Mode. BTW, for the life of me, I do not understand why the Tow Mode can only be enabled with a functioning software. Maybe Tesla feels this offers more security for the vehicle , but when it cannot be enabled, if it is parked in a tight area or an enclosed area (i.e. garage or other limited access), getting the vehicle onto a flatbed is truly a challenge. Honestly, the guy who had to handle/Tow my vehicle yesterday had the patience of a saint. Live and learn...

Has the Tesla SC given you any more info on what specific “hardware issue” lead to the similar experience with your Model 3? I don’t expect to hear anything until Tuesday the earliest.

The SC has been very good at calling giving updates, unfortunately, every time they called was an inopportune time for me and could not go into to much detail with them. I know that the SC had been partnering with "Engineering" to fix the issue. The firmware would not communicate in one of the modules making the vehicle go into limp mode and they have ordered a new module. I am hoping to have my car back tomorrow and get a better understanding of what happened. I can promise you the next update I try I am doing in parked on the street in front of my house.

On the 3, to get to the battery took less than a minute with no power (would be even faster with power). You open up the tow eye revealing a red and black terminal. Hook up the jump starter and it pops the frunk (or potentially even a 9v battery Video: Standard 9V Battery vs Model 3 Frunk). Once open, there is a maintenance panel and intake trim panel that are just held by trim clips. Pop those off and the battery is just underneath.

 

[TT97]

My car is finally ready. They held it an additional night "for observation." The Service Center had to replace the High Voltage (HV) module in the car. I'm not 100% sure what that module had to do with a failed software issue when the car worked before the update. I see through the app that they have been able to update the software, drive it and supercharge (curious if I will get charged for supercharging when the Service Center does it).

 

[Lifesabeach]

The SC has been very good at calling giving updates, unfortunately, every time they called was an inopportune time for me and could not go into to much detail with them. I know that the SC had been partnering with "Engineering" to fix the issue. The firmware would not communicate in one of the modules making the vehicle go into limp mode and they have ordered a new module. I am hoping to have my car back tomorrow and get a better understanding of what happened. I can promise you the next update I try I am doing in parked on the street in front of my house.

On the 3, to get to the battery took less than a minute with no power (would be even faster with power). You open up the tow eye revealing a red and black terminal. Hook up the jump starter and it pops the frunk (or potentially even a 9v battery Video: Standard 9V Battery vs Model 3 Frunk). Once open, there is a maintenance panel and intake trim panel that are just held by trim clips. Pop those off and the battery is just underneath.

As a general update to anyone who is currently following (or may follow) this thread in the future... The reason given for software failure in my Model S: A cracked charging port with possible water entry (though we’ve had little to no rain in our neck of the woods in recent weeks, and my car sits in a garage when not is use) caused a problem in that module that would not allow the firmware to update. Without the update, the car could not power on.

My take on all this? As a precaution, in future, I’ll do the same as TT97 suggested, and park my car outside of my garage (on same axis as driveway) for any updates, since who knows what module fails next (since there evidently there is no warnings that such failure is imminent), update fails, and I’m stuck trying to get car out of my garage again.