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

[whitex]

I would escalate this issue up the chain of command... you deserve a new main screen based on their negligence.

Probably pointless. I'd say half off on a new screen is already good will. On really old Teslas the screen is no longer under warranty, so they won't have a problem admitting the screen was on its last legs anyways, and simply got worse during a repair (they kind of did that already, when they said laying the screen flat made it worse). If your brake pads fall off due to rust during a tire change, the tire guys won't compensate you either. On newer cars Tesla classified the screen as a consumable, so even if it bubbles up on a 6 months old car, it's not covered. I know they told me personally my (then) less than a year old yellowing screen was normal wear and tear and not covered even under the bumper-to-bumper warranty, and on my car the screen was not classified as a consumable when I bought it. That is what happens then a company makes experimental products but cannot afford to fix all their mistakes.

 

[FlatSix911]

Probably pointless. I'd say half off on a new screen is already good will. On really old Teslas the screen is no longer under warranty, so they won't have a problem admitting the screen was on its last legs anyways, and simply got worse during a repair (they kind of did that already, when they said laying the screen flat made it worse). If your brake pads fall off due to rust during a tire change, the tire guys won't compensate you either. On newer cars Tesla classified the screen as a consumable, so even if it bubbles up on a 6 months old car, it's not covered. I know they told me personally my (then) less than a year old yellowing screen was normal wear and tear and not covered even under the bumper-to-bumper warranty, and on my car the screen was not classified as a consumable when I bought it. That is what happens then a company makes experimental products but cannot afford to fix all their mistakes.

I think it depends a lot on the local service center relationship... I have never paid for screen replacement when bubbles or yellow bands were present. YMMV

 

[Nepats]

I would escalate this issue up the chain of command... you deserve a new main screen based on their negligence.

In theory I agree, but I am good with 50% deal considering I already had some bubbles in the screen. I love the car and plan to own it for a long time. So, I also want to maintain a good relationship with the local dealership, so that they are responsive in the future.

 

[MP3Mike]

In theory I agree, but I am good with 50% deal considering I already had some bubbles in the screen. I love the car and plan to own it for a long time. So, I also want to maintain a good relationship with the local dealership, so that they are responsive in the future.

Personally, I would put the screen replacement money towards the Infotainment upgrade. (Especially if Tesla would put their half toward it as well.)

It would also get you a replaced IC screen which can leak and bubble as well.

 

[Nepats]

Personally, I would put the screen replacement money towards the Infotainment upgrade. (Especially if Tesla would put their half toward it as well.)

It would also get you a replaced IC screen which can leak and bubble as well.

Unfortunately, they said they would not cover the IC upgrade cost. I think because the screen replacement is half the cost of the IC upgrade. My car is pre auto pilot and I have already done an LTE upgrade, so I don't see a lot of value in putting in extra $$ in the MCU upgrade.

 

[whitex]

I think it depends a lot on the local service center relationship... I have never paid for screen replacement when bubbles or yellow bands were present. YMMV

When was the last time you had such a free replacement?

 

[FlatSix911]

When was the last time you had such a free replacement?

The latest was January 2021.

 

[whitex]

The latest was January 2021.

Nice, what year your Model S? Your sig says "Next Gen Seats" and "AP" so it should be no newer than 2016, which would put it out of warranty. Was it replaced under extended warranty in 2021?

 

[WhiteWi]

Probably pointless. I'd say half off on a new screen is already good will. On really old Teslas the screen is no longer under warranty, so they won't have a problem admitting the screen was on its last legs anyways, and simply got worse during a repair (they kind of did that already, when they said laying the screen flat made it worse). If your brake pads fall off due to rust during a tire change, the tire guys won't compensate you either. On newer cars Tesla classified the screen as a consumable, so even if it bubbles up on a 6 months old car, it's not covered. I know they told me personally my (then) less than a year old yellowing screen was normal wear and tear and not covered even under the bumper-to-bumper warranty, and on my car the screen was not classified as a consumable when I bought it. That is what happens then a company makes experimental products but cannot afford to fix all their mistakes.

I had my screen replaced with no questions asked when I bought my 16 S used and it had bubbles. During bumper to bumper warranty. Job was done at the end of 2020.

 

[DaveBC]

I was following this thread but I got behind. My eMMC failed and I want to remain on my current firmware version so I'm working on a self-repair.

I pulled the cid board and have recovered the p3 and p4 from the cid and p1 and p2 from the ic.

@whitex Is this the eMMC chip you used for replacement? Swissbit 32GB EM-26 pSLC SFEM032GB1EA1TO-I-HG-12P-STD. It is $150 CAD, which I don't mind if it is the best one. Are there any other recommended chip to consider?

 

[whitex]

@whitex Is this the eMMC chip you used for replacement? Swissbit 32GB EM-26 pSLC SFEM032GB1EA1TO-I-HG-12P-STD. It is $150 CAD, which I don't mind if it is the best one. Are there any other recommended chip to consider?

[cross posting from an older thread]
I ended up using the 32 GB pSLC part (EM-26 series) - the original one, part number SFEM064GB1EA1TO-I-HG-111-E32 (64GB part, factory configured to 32GB pSLC). Note that there is a new version of EM-26 available now, but I figured 2012 design Tesla so I'll go with the older one. The new version would probably work, but I have not confirmed that it does. I also tried the 32GB EM-20 series non-pSLC part which I re-configured to be 16GB pSLC, and that worked too (my firmware image was corrupt at the time, but the system booted and wrote syslogs to the emmc, so I can conclude that it worked). I trimmed the entire part before flashing just in case since I wasn't expanding the partitions at all - might as well let the emmc controller reuse all the remaining cells for wear leveling.

 

[iTech75D]

[cross posting from an older thread]
I ended up using the 32 GB pSLC part (EM-26 series) - the original one, part number SFEM064GB1EA1TO-I-HG-111-E32 (64GB part, factory configured to 32GB pSLC). Note that there is a new version of EM-26 available now, but I figured 2012 design Tesla so I'll go with the older one. The new version would probably work, but I have not confirmed that it does. I also tried the 32GB EM-20 series non-pSLC part which I re-configured to be 16GB pSLC, and that worked too (my firmware image was corrupt at the time, but the system booted and wrote syslogs to the emmc, so I can conclude that it worked). I trimmed the entire part before flashing just in case since I wasn't expanding the partitions at all - might as well let the emmc controller reuse all the remaining cells for wear leveling.
View attachment 704897

How we’re you able to re-configure 32gb MLC to 16gb PSLC? What tools/softw are you using?

 

[jd123]

Anyone near Norway or Poland doing eMMC replacement? Chip is working. Just proactive replacement. Firmware from 2016.

 

[whitex]

How we’re you able to re-configure 32gb MLC to 16gb PSLC? What tools/softw are you using?

See this post.

 

[DaveBC]

[cross posting from an older thread]
I ended up using the 32 GB pSLC part (EM-26 series) - the original one, part number SFEM064GB1EA1TO-I-HG-111-E32 (64GB part, factory configured to 32GB pSLC).

Thanks @whitex I went ahead on the SFEM032GB1EA1TO-I-HG-12P-STD. Will post back results when its soldered in place.

 

[DaveBC]

Well I took my tegra board to someone who said they could do it and they ended up butchering it.
I dropped it off with the replacement swissbit, told him I could not easily replace the board and to please be extremely careful to not pull any pads or traces.
He called me and said the replacement chip was not correct, the pinout didn’t match. He went on to say must have dropped it or something because the “tracks” had damaged. I asked him to re-ball the old chip and I’d take it like that. I picked it up and he’d placed the old chip back on the board. He said he’d “rebuilt the tracks as best he could” I asked if he was talking about the PCB traces and he said “yeah-yeah”. The board is pretty cooked now and the chip is clearly not placed correctly. I’m now seeking a shop that can assess if the board is wrecked and if not, place the new chip. I probably should have avoided the whole ordeal by sending it to @EV-Fixme but I wanted to tinker with it myself.

Here are before and after photos.

 

[whitex]

Well I took my tegra board to someone who said they could do it and they ended up butchering it.
I dropped it off with the replacement swissbit, told him I could not easily replace the board and to please be extremely careful to not pull any pads or traces.
He called me and said the replacement chip was not correct, the pinout didn’t match. He went on to say must have dropped it or something because the “tracks” had damaged. I asked him to re-ball the old chip and I’d take it like that. I picked it up and he’d placed the old chip back on the board. He said he’d “rebuilt the tracks as best he could” I asked if he was talking about the PCB traces and he said “yeah-yeah”. The board is pretty cooked now and the chip is clearly not placed correctly. I’m now seeking a shop that can assess if the board is wrecked and if not, place the new chip. I probably should have avoided the whole ordeal by sending it to @EV-Fixme but I wanted to tinker with it myself.

Here are before and after photos.

OMG, is this even the same old chip? Is appears melted and not even in the original location! It looks like some hack who knows absolutely nothing about BGA soldering just took a heatgun or a torch to the board (probably after watching some youtube video)! I hope you didn't give him any money (heck, he should owe you money for butchering this).

Did the guy at least give you an image that he pulled from the old chip (you need those files to put on the new chip, things like your VIN and other vehicle specific information)? Given the melted state of the chip in the picture, he probably fried it when removing it, but it might be worth asking, even if the chance is small. For reference, the picture of the Swissbit chip I posted in post #1931 was after soldering on and removing and re-balling it a few times.

PS> Comparing the before and after, the heatsink screws are in the exact same position, which implies to me the heatsink was never even removed for this "work".
PS2> If the mentioned lifting pads and traces off the board (which probably happened as he tried to pry the chip off the board), the board is probably fried. The state of the chip itself is probably the same, and even if by some miracle the chip itself somehow survived, the content of flash memory deteriorates quickly in very high temperatures, and it looks like this chip was subjected to some very high temps. I think you are looking at a Tegra board replacement from Tesla, at least it's only ~$500 today (used to be as much as $3,000 because they replaced the entire MCU).

 

[M0rpH3x]

Well I took my tegra board to someone who said they could do it and they ended up butchering it.
I dropped it off with the replacement swissbit, told him I could not easily replace the board and to please be extremely careful to not pull any pads or traces.
He called me and said the replacement chip was not correct, the pinout didn’t match. He went on to say must have dropped it or something because the “tracks” had damaged. I asked him to re-ball the old chip and I’d take it like that. I picked it up and he’d placed the old chip back on the board. He said he’d “rebuilt the tracks as best he could” I asked if he was talking about the PCB traces and he said “yeah-yeah”. The board is pretty cooked now and the chip is clearly not placed correctly. I’m now seeking a shop that can assess if the board is wrecked and if not, place the new chip. I probably should have avoided the whole ordeal by sending it to @EV-Fixme but I wanted to tinker with it myself.

Here are before and after photos.

Hi Dave. I suffered a similar problem, but had a happy ending. I have to say it was an ordeal, and my car was grounded for a month.

First, do you have an image of the eMMC? This is pretty important. If you have it, great! Your life became a bit easier. If you don't... at this point your best chance might be to go to Tesla and give one kidney as payment.
If you have the image, just buy another eMMC and put it there. Contact this guy:

iMicroboard Repairs

Mail-in Data Recovery & Repair Services specializing in iPhone, iPad and Android devices. We have some of the highest data recovery success rates, Call now (714) 931-4325

imicroboardrepairs.com

He does magic, and will easily replace your eMMC. He does this regularly. Programming runs on you (this guy just does the soldering/desoldering part). You can send him the old board, and he might give you an assessment, but since he can't test it, he won't be able to tell you whether it works or not. Actually he saved my toasted board and my old chip, and I keep it in case tomorrow I upgrade to MCU2, so I don't have to pay the core charge (because I'm using a chip not recognized by Tesla).

If you want to play safe, you can buy another tegra board. But since the firmwares between the tegra and the gateway need to match, everything is a bit messed up. For this you first might want to update your new board to the right firmware. You can try @LayZ in this forum. He should be able to make your firmwares match again. Then you go with Justin at imicroboard and you're good to go.

Again, this is terribly complicated and a bit expensive. I was lucky because the guy that toasted my board was honest, and he agreed to pay for another eMMC and a tegra board. But it doesn't look like your guy will do that. The guys at @EV-Fixme might have a solution for this, but I guess any way you go it will be expensive, time consuming and a pain in the neck.

I'm really sorry. I hope you figure it out.

 

[M0rpH3x]

OMG, is this even the same old chip? Is appears melted and not even in the original location! It looks like some hack who knows absolutely nothing about BGA soldering just took a heatgun or a torch to the board (probably after watching some youtube video)! I hope you didn't give him any money (heck, he should owe you money for butchering this).

Did the guy at least give you an image that he pulled from the old chip (you need those files to put on the new chip, things like your VIN and other vehicle specific information)? Given the melted state of the chip in the picture, he probably fried it when removing it, but it might be worth asking, even if the chance is small. For reference, the picture of the Swissbit chip I posted in post #1931 was after soldering on and removing and re-balling it a few times.

PS> Comparing the before and after, the heatsink screws are in the exact same position, which implies to me the heatsink was never even removed for this "work".
PS2> If the mentioned lifting pads and traces off the board (which probably happened as he tried to pry the chip off the board), the board is probably fried. The state of the chip itself is probably the same, and even if by some miracle the chip itself somehow survived, the content of flash memory deteriorates quickly in very high temperatures, and it looks like this chip was subjected to some very high temps. I think you are looking at a Tegra board replacement from Tesla, at least it's only ~$500 today (used to be as much as $3,000 because they replaced the entire MCU).

If your board is toasted, I'm not sure it will be $500. But of course, it never hurts to ask. In fact, that would be my first option, unless you're rooted or sth like that.

 

[whitex]

If your board is toasted, I'm not sure it will be $500. But of course, it never hurts to ask. In fact, that would be my first option, unless you're rooted or sth like that.

Why not? Just put the toasted board back in and take it in for replacement. Heck, if it was never replaced before and falls under the new recall qualifications (years and miles unless there is some exclusion if you tried to fix it yourself) the replacement might even be free. If your emmc died completely on its own losing all content, Tesla should be able to recreate what's needed from their servers.