Wiki Consolidated eMMC Thread (MCU repair) (Black Center Screen)

[M0rpH3x]

(Understand, all the MCUs have the same instruction set and all the APs have the same instruction set. Of course, the AP computer and the MCU have different instruction sets).

 

[dark cloud]

Yes, they do. From their report to NHTSA:

So your vehicle won't be on the list to get the recall performed. (Unless you put another Hynix 8GB eMMC back in.)

Well, I did get the email. So if Tesla is screening those with third party repairs by cross referencing eMMC serials with owners emails from the recall list, they missed that step.

And now I see that my VIN is on the recall list: Anyone else check?

Recall DateFeb 2, 2021Refresh DateFeb 2, 2021Recall Number21V035

DescriptionThe eMMC flash memory device is rated for an industry-standard 3,000 Program/Erase (“P/E”) cycles. Over time, and depending on usage of the affected component, the eMMC hardware exhausts cycles for each NAND cell. When the eMMC NAND cell hardware reaches lifetime wear, as measured by the number of P/E cycles and remaining available storage capacity, the eMMC controller will no longer be able to maintain the integrity of the filesystem. This wear-out condition can cause failures of the center display software components, and may indirectly cause loss of the rearview camera display, defrost/defog control settings, and exterior turn signal lighting.

StatusRecall INCOMPLETE

Safety RiskWhile we are not aware of any crash, injury, or fatality resulting from this condition, unavailability of the rearview camera display, defrost/defog control settings for purposes of ensuring visibility, and exterior turn signal lighting may increase the risk of a crash. For vehicles for which these functions are not available, drivers can continue to operate the vehicle by performing a shoulder check and using their mirrors when backing, taking care when making turns, and assuring clear visibility when driving.RemedyIn 2020, Tesla deployed several OTA firmware updates to address certain functionalities that may be lost when the eMMC reaches accumulated lifetime wear. Specifically, on vehicles equipped with: • FW release 2020.24.6.11 or newer, the defrosting/defogging settings will maintain the user’s selection for the duration of the drive cycle in which the eMMC wears out. On all subsequent drive cycles, the defrosting/defogging settings will automatically set the ambient cabin temperature to 22 degrees C (71.6 degrees F) and initiate windshield defrosting/defogging to ensure sufficient windshield visibility. In addition, all exterior lighting controls and chimes will continue to function normally after eMMC wear-out. • FW release 2020.48.12 or newer, the rearview camera display will continue to display on the center display after eMMC wear-out and an alert will now appear on the center display anywhere from one to six months before the eMMC reaches accumulated lifetime wear to notify most consumers of the wear status and to inform them that they should contact Tesla Service. As of January 22, 2021, 88% of all US vehicles affected by this recall report are operating all the aforementioned FW updates. Based on the above, Tesla believes that the aforementioned OTA FW updates remedy any potential safety risk presented by the eMMC wear-out condition. However, in the interest of ensuring the best possible ownership experience for affected customers, Tesla will also replace the eMMC on all affected vehicles or reimburse any affected customers who previously paid to replace an eMMC, Visual Compute Module (“VCM”) daughterboard, or MCU that was determined to be caused by accumulated wear of the eMMC. The eMMC is a component on the VCM daughterboard within the MCU. To be specific, Tesla will replace the VCM daughterboard that has the Hynix 8GB eMMC with a VCM daughterboard that has an enhanced 64GB Micron eMMC, free of charge.

 

[aerodyne]

Is it February yet?

March is the new February on the Elon calendar....

 

[Zuikkis]

I personally don't have these sitting around but I do think that the wizards at Nvidia and Tesla could come up with something. This, after all, is not rocket science. (Musk does do rocket science but that is a different department.)
Your "understanding" may not correspond to reality.

It's not really possible to remanufacture chips that are already out of production. The factory production lines have probably been disassembled years ago. It would be easier and cheaper to do a complete redesign with a newer ARM processor, but even that seems like wasted money when they already have a working replacement (MCU2)..

What Tesla is doing, they are just replacing the eMMC chips on old boards. Changing the chip is rather easy with proper equipment, but it's still not something that could be done in every service center. Instead they are sending the old boards to Tesla, change the eMMC, and then that same board goes to some other customer.

Problem is they can't do this to all cars at once. I assume Tesla already knew a year ago that they probably need to replace all Tegras. They first introduced the MCU2 upgrade, and the $500 MCU1 eMMC fix. They perhaps already knew they will have to return the $500 later (when recall is announced), but the price was there to cut down the demand so only those that REALLY needed would upgrade.

Then in November the "extended warranty" was announced, again allowing some cars to get the upgrade, using the Tegra boards they got from the $500 campaign. And now with the recall, those boards go to the cars that are still left..

Also the discounted MCU2 is part of the plan, they get an extra MCU1 for every MCU2 sold..

At the same time firmware is changed to minimize the eMMC use, to delay eMMC failures as long as possible.

 

[HenryT]

It's not really possible to remanufacture chips that are already out of production. The factory production lines have probably been disassembled years ago. It would be easier and cheaper to do a complete redesign with a newer ARM processor, but even that seems like wasted money when they already have a working replacement (MCU2)..

What Tesla is doing, they are just replacing the eMMC chips on old boards. Changing the chip is rather easy with proper equipment, but it's still not something that could be done in every service center. Instead they are sending the old boards to Tesla, change the eMMC, and then that same board goes to some other customer.

Problem is they can't do this to all cars at once. I assume Tesla already knew a year ago that they probably need to replace all Tegras. They first introduced the MCU2 upgrade, and the $500 MCU1 eMMC fix. They perhaps already knew they will have to return the $500 later (when recall is announced), but the price was there to cut down the demand so only those that REALLY needed would upgrade.

Then in November the "extended warranty" was announced, again allowing some cars to get the upgrade, using the Tegra boards they got from the $500 campaign. And now with the recall, those boards go to the cars that are still left..

Also the discounted MCU2 is part of the plan, they get an extra MCU1 for every MCU2 sold..

At the same time firmware is changed to minimize the eMMC use, to delay eMMC failures as long as possible.

Thanks Zukkis, that makes a lot of sense. Also puts into context why Tesla wouldn't let me swap my eMMC preemptively, even though I was willing to pay.

 

[mspohr]

It's not really possible to remanufacture chips that are already out of production. The factory production lines have probably been disassembled years ago. It would be easier and cheaper to do a complete redesign with a newer ARM processor, but even that seems like wasted money when they already have a working replacement (MCU2)..

What Tesla is doing, they are just replacing the eMMC chips on old boards. Changing the chip is rather easy with proper equipment, but it's still not something that could be done in every service center. Instead they are sending the old boards to Tesla, change the eMMC, and then that same board goes to some other customer.

Problem is they can't do this to all cars at once. I assume Tesla already knew a year ago that they probably need to replace all Tegras. They first introduced the MCU2 upgrade, and the $500 MCU1 eMMC fix. They perhaps already knew they will have to return the $500 later (when recall is announced), but the price was there to cut down the demand so only those that REALLY needed would upgrade.

Then in November the "extended warranty" was announced, again allowing some cars to get the upgrade, using the Tegra boards they got from the $500 campaign. And now with the recall, those boards go to the cars that are still left..

Also the discounted MCU2 is part of the plan, they get an extra MCU1 for every MCU2 sold..

At the same time firmware is changed to minimize the eMMC use, to delay eMMC failures as long as possible.

Sound reasoning. I get my MCU2 installed today. Happy to contribute my old MCU1 to the effort.

 

[aerodyne]

Sound reasoning. I get my MCU2 installed today. Happy to contribute my old MCU1 to the effort.

I am going to wait until Tesla is so desperate for daughter boards that they pay me to upgrade to MCU2...

I can dream, can't I?

 

[TessP100D]

I received my Tesla Email informing me that parts have been ordered.
I would love to drive my car without the concern of going dark on every drive

 

[aerodyne]

I received my Tesla Email informing me that parts have been ordered.
I would love to drive my car without the concern of going dark on every drive

I got a similar email in Sept.

In January, parts ship date Pending. I cancelled the appt.

Since my attempts to do proactive maintenance at my own expense have failed, I am now getting black screens.

I guess I will have to wait until it does not recover before I get service, or pony up for MCU2

 

[TonyT]

I don't have the answers. I'm not the enemy. I am just asking some questions and putting some things to think about out here.
If the had the permissions to make those why don't SCs have plenty of supplies of them? I don't know either.

Actually it looks like they just bought them, the daughter board does appear to be in other cars also. I would assume buying the rights to make it would cost more.

 

[Akikiki]

I think it makes most sense that Tesla will gain the rights to make the board. How can they not? With still 130,000+ more to replace, and they need a few thousand spares, they need to own it and make 200,000 and put them behind them. Its cost them good relations with a lot of people and fodder for the e-zines that want any opportunity to put them down.

We know they only tell us stuff in the form of leaks via some members of the press. We are so hungry for every tidbit of info that could affect us, we don't allow any time for the "big picture" to mature before we pounce on every step in the process.

If I was in charge, I would erase all the MCU1s out there by giving everyone an upgrade to MCU2. My fleet would be nearly the same, and the plus was, I'd win back all those people that are angry right now about the issue. They have the money in the bank to do it.

Just consider the wasted money and labor involved with nickel-diming this swap and send cycle of fixing old boards back and forth between SCs and factory/source. That money would help justify a MCU2 freebie.

 

[TonyT]

I think it makes most sense that Tesla will gain the rights to make the board. How can they not? With still 130,000+ more to replace, and they need a few thousand spares, they need to own it and make 200,000 and put them behind them. Its cost them good relations with a lot of people and fodder for the e-zines that want any opportunity to put them down.

We know they only tell us stuff in the form of leaks via some members of the press. We are so hungry for every tidbit of info that could affect us, we allow any time for the "big picture" to mature before we pounce on every step in the process.

If it was me that was in charge, I would erase all he MCU1s out there by giving everyone an upgrade to MCU2. My fleet would be nearly the same, and the plus was, I'd win back all those people that are angry right now about the issue. They have the money in the bank to do it.

Just consider the wasted money and labor involved with nickel-diming this swap and send cycle of fixing old boards back and forth between SCs and factory/source. That money would help justify a MCU2 freebie.

Lets just say that the board was not made specifically for Tesla, and they were likely one of the smaller consumers for the boards I don't disagree with you, but if they custom made everything the cost of the S may have never been affordable to many, and Tesla might not have succeeded.

 

[Akikiki]

@TonyT, excellent point. When we all saw MCU1 for the first time, it knocked out socks off. And it was the best tech at the time. We forget we were early adopters. And while there's no written contract or adopter "bill of no rights" we indirectly accepted the risk that accompanied the new tech in the S. I don't regret buying one of the first 5,000 that were built. It is still a wonderful car.

 

[AaronP85]

@TonyT, excellent point. When we all saw MCU1 for the first time, it knocked out socks off. And it was the best tech at the time. We forget we were early adopters. And while there's no written contract or adopter "bill of no rights" we indirectly accepted the risk that accompanied the new tech in the S. I don't regret buying one of the first 5,000 that were built. It is still a wonderful car.

I am proud to have bought one of the first 3k cars produced (bought a 2013). It is still an amazing car compared to most of the similar priced competitors!

 

[mspohr]

@TonyT, excellent point. When we all saw MCU1 for the first time, it knocked out socks off. And it was the best tech at the time. We forget we were early adopters. And while there's no written contract or adopter "bill of no rights" we indirectly accepted the risk that accompanied the new tech in the S. I don't regret buying one of the first 5,000 that were built. It is still a wonderful car.

It was "state of the art" 8 years ago. Not so much today.
I don't know anyone who uses an 8 year old computer (except me).
Tech improves. I think it's great we can upgrade to newer tech.

 

[Akikiki]

We have a saying here. " The worse day surfing is better than the best day working. " Some how that applies to my Tesla too. My four-year old Tesla is better than 99% of the cars parked around me. (Sounded better in my head.)

 

[TonyT]

We have a saying here. " The worse day surfing is better than the best day working. " Some how that applies to my Tesla too. My four-year old Tesla is better than 99% of the cars parked around me. (Sounded better in my head.)

I wish I could say that... Yesterday at the stop light I had a Y, 3, 3, 3, and X next to me....

 

[SaveOurPlanet]

I used to see lots of C class and 3 Series on the freeway before but now I see more 3s and lately Ys. My daughter lives in a cul de sac with 10 houses in Manhattan Beach, there are 3 Xs 1 3 and 1 Y there. On any weekend when parents go visiting, you would see my S and 2 additional Xs. They need more Supercharger.

On another note, I ordered the MCU2 upgrade when it was 2,500.00, by the time they did mine last week they charged me 1,500.00 for it. My S is a Feb 2018 build and thought I really did not need the faster map refresh and definitely not games and video. But since the pandemic I do a lot more road trips instead of flying to see my daughter and experiencing more and more of the black screen and reboot. So instead of going back and forth with the SC to fix it I just told them to order me the Infotainment upgrade. I am very happy with the upgrade, do not think much of the games and video especially my iPad works better, maybe different if center display is in landscape mode and 5G. Dashcam viewer is so much more practical than pulling the SD card to view. HW3 should be faster in rendering images though not sure if firmware will take advantage of it for EAP only. Bottom line, I am happy.

 

[aerodyne]

I wish I could say that... Yesterday at the stop light I had a Y, 3, 3, 3, and X next to me....

So it really is true, you can't swing a dead cat in LA without hitting a M3...

 

[AaronP85]

I wish I could say that... Yesterday at the stop light I had a Y, 3, 3, 3, and X next to me....

I live near Detroit (I'm also a former Ford engineer who worked on vehicle messaging). When I look around I see F150, F150, F150, Camaro, F150, Blazer, Blazer