GROUP BUY - MCU-1 to MCU-2 Upgrade, Testing interest

[NoMoGas]

This has been a topic of much discussion and mis-information. The goal is to find out how many people would be interested in upgrading to MCU2 and at what cost.

I have been researching this for some time and there are certain knowns and a few unknowns. Upgrading the MCU will require changing the drivers display screen, as the new MCU simply feeds the video directly to the screen as opposed to the previous ip configuration.

There is a known Tesla Technical Service Bulletin on changing the MCU that involves re-pinning some of the connectors. The bottom line is until we put functioning MCU's on a bench and test them we are not going to know for sure. I am strongly considering a group-buy where we each chip in around $200 to perform the actual research. IF this ends up being a harness adapter (as multiple sources have said) then it's not TOO difficult. IF it ends up we need root access, then that is a different thing and each owner would need to decide what works for them. Either way, at least we would have an answer.

There are some people on this forum whose opinions I greatly value, However they have told me each of the two possibilities and the bottom line is until we actually do it we just are not going to know for sure. There are certain things that you can install it in your car that a simple software update will force the car to identify the new hardware and simply make it function, Door handles, Automatic charge port door (once mounted), etc. We won't know if the MCU is one of those things until we try it.

If you are interested, PM me and I'l add you to the list. If we have enough interest I'll put something together.

 

[boaterva]

So if there is a TSB for moving from MCU 1 to MCU 2, how exactly would we do this even assuming we had the harness constructed? I don’t see an answer to (a) purchasing the MCU 2 and (b) the reprogramming required.

This all assumes we want to have an unsupported car since Tesla isn’t going to do this.

Please tell me where I’m wrong, I’d love to be.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I'm interested in upgrading my cars from MCU1 to MCU2 if it's not cost prohibitive. That being said, both of my CPO Model S's are still under extended warranty through Tesla so I'm not willing to do this outside of Tesla currently. If Tesla offers something that's reasonable price-wise I'd consider it. Otherwise, once my warranty is up I'd throw my hat in the ring on this and a few other "upgrades" via 3rd party offerings.

 

[NoMoGas]

Are you asking me how would you change your MCU? At The risk of sounding like a smart ass it involves a Torx screwdriver

You are making some serious assumptions. There is no evidence your car would be "unsupported". At best they wouldn't warranty your MCU But in all likelihood if you are upgrading your MCU it is already out of warranty. Tesla can' stop supporting your car because you changed a part, they can stop supporting that part.

As far as purchasing an MCU,They are readily available in the secondary market. As far as programming them,That is an assumption that we simply do not know yet. The purpose of this research is to answer all of these questions once and for all not assume that we are correct.

 

[outdoors]

Super thanks ^. The plunge doesn't seem so bad. More people in the pool. The warmer it gets.

I am in. Supported or not.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Are you asking me how would you change your MCU? At The risk of sounding like a smart ass it involves a Torx screwdriver

You are making some serious assumptions. There is no evidence your car would be "unsupported". At best they wouldn't warranty your MCU But in all likelihood if you are upgrading your MCU it is already out of warranty. Tesla can' stop supporting your car because you changed a part, they can stop supporting that part.

As far as purchasing an MCU,They are readily available in the secondary market. As far as programming them,That is an assumptionThat we simply do not know yet. The purpose of this researchIs to answer all of these questions once and for all not assume that we are correct.

I assume you're not responding to my post but I'm not 100% since you didn't quote anyone so....

It should be noted that they can't simply void your the entirety of your car's warranty for changing a single part and there are consumer protections in place to prevent that sort of thing. That being said, they can refuse coverage of any part they deem affected by your modifications. With something like an MCU... this can be a pretty wide brush stroke.

Example: you buy a 4x4 and add a lift. Shortly thereafter you have issue with your navigation unit. The manufacturer would be hard-pressed to prove your suspension modification cause that navigation failure to deny coverage. However, if you have a transmission failure and they can prove that you changed the input angle of the driveshaft enough to cause additional stress on the transmission that wasn't designed to be run at that severe of an angle they could theoretically deny coverage on your transmission failure.

It's important that you (and others reading this) know that if you are still under manufacturer's warranty that anything your MCU is responsible for controlling fails could be denied coverage if you replace it with an unknown part that Tesla didn't install. Some are willing to shoulder this unlikely risk and proceed. Others may not be willing to void that aspect of their peace of mind. I just want people to understand the difference so they can make an informed decision for themselves.

 

[NoMoGas]

I assume you're not responding to my post but I'm not 100% since you didn't quote anyone so....

It should be noted that they can't simply void your the entirety of your car's warranty for changing a single part and there are consumer protections in place to prevent that sort of thing. That being said, they can refuse coverage of any part they deem affected by your modifications. With something like an MCU... this can be a pretty wide brush stroke.

I wasn't but allow me to address this. The MCU CONTROLS a lot, but doesn't AFFECT much. So yes, if your XM radio goes belly up then you are on the hook for it but you were to begin with since that is controlled by the MCU and actually contained within it. I would not recommend that anyone who is under warranty change out their MCU until the warranty is expired. Of course if you decided to do that you could always switch it back to your old one.

Guys, let's try to avoid all the possible negatives. We aren't there yet. Right now we are trying to nail down the feasibility of doing the upgrade, and if it will work at a reasonable cost. Once we answer that, all the other questions will at least have an educated fact based answer.

 

[outdoors]

IF it ends up we need root access, then that is a different thing and each owner would need to decide what works for them. Either way, at least we would have an answer.

No one is touching anyone's car that doesn't want it. This is for research. Just having a thread to beat around the bush is getting old. Let's just have at it, and find out. For some it may make them make a decision. Keep or sell. Upgrade or not.

For S's and giggles. My S is worth less than 40k for its miles. I want a car for what it is. A working web browser.

 

[swegman]

Without having Toolkit, how would you propose pulling the credentials from the eMMC in the first MCU and putting them into the second MCU?

The only way I am aware of to do this is to very carefully unsolder the eMMC from the first MCU and then reballing the eMMC so it can be read by an appropriate reader and then burned into the eMMC that comes with the second MCU (which requires unsoldering the eMMC from the second MCU, reballing it and then soldering it back into the second MCU after it us programmed).

I wouldn’t advise just moving the eMMC from the first MCU to the second MCU, as it likely will be through a good portion of its life after being written to for many years.

I don’t think the project you propose is for the faint of heart or those without the proper equipment. Unsoldering and reballing the eMMC without damaging it is not an easy operation.

 

[NoMoGas]

I don’t think the project you propose us for the faint of heart or those without the proper equipment. .

I agree which is why we are doing this. I'm not going to get into the endless conversation of how we are doing it and assuming what is involved. We are going to actually DO IT and then KNOW what is actually involved. At that point each owner can make an EDUCATED decision as to what they want to do and we will also know the cost.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Without having Toolkit, how would you propose pulling the credentials from the eMMC in the first MCU and putting them into the second MCU?

The only way I am aware of to do this is to very carefully unsolder the eMMC from the first MCU and then reballing the eMMC so it can be read by an appropriate reader and then burned into the eMMC that comes with the second MCU (which requires unsoldering the eMMC from the second MCU, reballing it and then soldering it back into the second MCU after it us programmed).

I wouldn’t advise just moving the eMMC from the first MCU to the second MCU, as it likely will be through a good portion of its life after being written to for many years.

I don’t think the project you propose is for the faint of heart or those without the proper equipment. Unsoldering and reballing the eMMC without damaging it is not an easy operation.

How dare you bring facts into this shameless money drive. lol

Listen, I'm all for innovation but the OP is going about this all wrong. Asking for something like $200 per person while avoiding revealing all possibilities & then trying to discredit those who bring them up in the interest of full disclosure isn't doing this project any favors.

OP, if you want to go down this road you need to self-invest. Then, once you've cracked the code, you can sell a completed package to those who are interested.

I can appreciate trying to socialize the potential risk on the front end but you seemingly have no proof-of-concept plus anytime someone brings up the known roadblocks & potential unforseen risks associated you say this isn't the time for such open conversation. Well, when is the right time to reveal potential deal breakers to potential "investors" so they can make an informed decision?

 

[NoMoGas]

How dare you bring facts into this shameless money drive. lol

Listen, I'm all for innovation but the OP is going about this all wrong.

It is easy to throw out roadblocks, and tear down ideas, especially by asking questions that can't be answered publicly such as having access to a tool kit. If you don't want to participate, don't. I'm not personally invested in each persons interest. This has been a 56 PAGE 2 YEAR DISCUSSION on one sub-forum alone. That is where the frustration comes from. It is what we see with every project that we try to start in a group matter on the forum. Lots of hemming and hawing about why it can't be done, until somebody does it. It is like asking a group of people what they want to eat for dinner, at some point we just have to try it and make it work.

This is far from a shameless money drive. I'm not trying to make a dime. I'd hope that with the years I have been an active member here that would be clear. The idea of having a group-buy is to make this affordable for everyone not have to develop something that has to have a ridiculously high cost just to recoup my initial investment. If $200 is to much to put towards something like this, I completely respect your decision but please don't tear me down for trying.

 

[MXWing]

My two cents is pushing for an official service from Tesla. $200 from each person as “union dues” for a rep to spam the hell out of Tesla, Elon and annoy them to submission would be best course of action.

It seemed to work really well for the 3P- when they lobbied for 5K off, track mode, etc.

 

[LuckyLuke]

Without having Toolkit, how would you propose pulling the credentials from the eMMC in the first MCU and putting them into the second MCU?

The only way I am aware of to do this is to very carefully unsolder the eMMC from the first MCU and then reballing the eMMC so it can be read by an appropriate reader and then burned into the eMMC that comes with the second MCU (which requires unsoldering the eMMC from the second MCU, reballing it and then soldering it back into the second MCU after it us programmed).

I wouldn’t advise just moving the eMMC from the first MCU to the second MCU, as it likely will be through a good portion of its life after being written to for many years.

I don’t think the project you propose is for the faint of heart or those without the proper equipment. Unsoldering and reballing the eMMC without damaging it is not an easy operation.

There are ways to read the MCU1 emmc without (de)soldering it, no Toolkit needed either. There are few ppl that can do this. PM me if you want more info.

Reading (or writing) the MCU2 emmc is another story which I do not know much about (yet) but from what I've heard this can be done by ISP. This is actually on my to-do list, I only need to find time.

I actually have a MCU1 car, and a spare MCU2 on a bench setup, and the tools to read/write the emmc's and write gateway config to MCU2 etc.
So in theory I could test the TS proposed experiment on an actual car, but I really don't want to be first and possible have my car banned or anything...

The emmc chips differ by the way, MCU1 is 8GB Hynix H26M42001FMR or similar, MCU2 is 64GB Micron MTFC64GAJAECE-AIT.

 

[viper2ko]

My two cents is pushing for an official service from Tesla. $200 from each person as “union dues” for a rep to spam the hell out of Tesla, Elon and annoy them to submission would be best course of action.

It seemed to work really well for the 3P- when they lobbied for 5K off, track mode, etc.

Yup this may be the best option. Or see if we can get rich rebuilds to look into it. Setup twitter accounts that do nothing but tweet Elon every 5 seconds. Have every owner send an email to support on the same day

 

[StarLog]

I am in support of trying. Let me know if I can help.

 

[nimrooz]

Let me know if I can help.

You can help.

(sorry, couldn't help myself and my bad humor)

 

[Videofrank]

I'm in, why not?

 

[viper2ko]

Anyone have contact with Rich rebuilds. He opened the electrified garage and posted a video about the emmc failure. The guy in that video seems like he would be perfect for this

 

[viper2ko]