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HW3/FSD retrofit downgrades firmware

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marusan

marusan

Member
May 15, 2018
108
80
Silicon Valley, CA
#1
Haven't seen anyone reporting this issue...

My 2018 M3P got its FSD computer upgrade on April 14th. I was at firmware 2020.12.5. When I got the car back, I immediately noticed that it had been factory reset (something I wasn't warned about). That was a little surprising since I thought the FSD was separate of that stuff. However, it was less surprising when I noticed I'd been downgraded to 2020.8.3. Bye bye dash cam viewer, hello buggy voice response.

I reached out to Tesla via a mobile service appointment request (the only way I know to get anyone's attention). I received this response.

We have reviewed your vehicle and determined that your vehicle is running the latest firmware available for the Hardware installed in your vehicle. Firmware versions and deployment are VIN and hardware specific. Your vehicle is running the latest available Firmware version for your VIN. There are no hardware or software issues detected. I would expect to see 2020.12 deployed to your vehicle within the next couple of weeks. Since there are no hardware or software issues at this time we will cancel this appointment. Your vehicle is operating as expected at this time and you should see 2020.12 soon, 2020.8.3 is the latest Firmware version that your vehicle can run at this time.​

I called B.S. as politely as I could, knowing very well that I had a later version of the firmware prior to the retrofit, and that other owners with the new FSD computer are on 2020.12. Yet another boilerplate response:

Unfortunately 2020.8.3 is the latest Firmware that can be deployed to your vehicle at this time. I would expect to see a 2020.12 update deployed to you within the next couple of weeks but at this time that Firmware package is not available for your vehicle. It was available for the 2.5 HW that was installed in your vehicle previously but unfortunately it is not available at this time for your VIN. If you do not see this update deployed to your vehicle by the end of the month please reach back out. As of this time we cannot deploy a Firmware update newer than the one you currently have installed.​

I know some people have had luck getting Tesla to push firmware, but I have never had any luck getting anyone at Tesla to push a firmware update, even when my car was in service once for an issue that they claimed "would be fixed with a firmware update," and they still failed to push one (so, how, exactly, would they know it was fixed?). Given that firmware updates are probably one of the best aspects of owning a Tesla, you'd think they could get their stories straight.

Maybe I should mention that this is the Palo Alto service center. I've heard of others having issues with them. Mine's only been over there only a couple of times, and both times left with problems (in one case, exhibiting the issue they said they'd fixed as I pulled out of the service center).

Anyhow, just wondering if anyone else got downgraded, and how loud I need to be to get it fixed. It's been a week and a half, and despite many reboots and being set for "Advanced" updates, the car still claims there's no upgrade.
 
#3
marusan said:
Haven't seen anyone reporting this issue...

My 2018 M3P got its FSD computer upgrade on April 14th. I was at firmware 2020.12.5. When I got the car back, I immediately noticed that it had been factory reset (something I wasn't warned about). That was a little surprising since I thought the FSD was separate of that stuff. However, it was less surprising when I noticed I'd been downgraded to 2020.8.3. Bye bye dash cam viewer, hello buggy voice response.

I reached out to Tesla via a mobile service appointment request (the only way I know to get anyone's attention). I received this response.

We have reviewed your vehicle and determined that your vehicle is running the latest firmware available for the Hardware installed in your vehicle. Firmware versions and deployment are VIN and hardware specific. Your vehicle is running the latest available Firmware version for your VIN. There are no hardware or software issues detected. I would expect to see 2020.12 deployed to your vehicle within the next couple of weeks. Since there are no hardware or software issues at this time we will cancel this appointment. Your vehicle is operating as expected at this time and you should see 2020.12 soon, 2020.8.3 is the latest Firmware version that your vehicle can run at this time.​

I called B.S. as politely as I could, knowing very well that I had a later version of the firmware prior to the retrofit, and that other owners with the new FSD computer are on 2020.12. Yet another boilerplate response:

Unfortunately 2020.8.3 is the latest Firmware that can be deployed to your vehicle at this time. I would expect to see a 2020.12 update deployed to you within the next couple of weeks but at this time that Firmware package is not available for your vehicle. It was available for the 2.5 HW that was installed in your vehicle previously but unfortunately it is not available at this time for your VIN. If you do not see this update deployed to your vehicle by the end of the month please reach back out. As of this time we cannot deploy a Firmware update newer than the one you currently have installed.​

I know some people have had luck getting Tesla to push firmware, but I have never had any luck getting anyone at Tesla to push a firmware update, even when my car was in service once for an issue that they claimed "would be fixed with a firmware update," and they still failed to push one (so, how, exactly, would they know it was fixed?). Given that firmware updates are probably one of the best aspects of owning a Tesla, you'd think they could get their stories straight.

Maybe I should mention that this is the Palo Alto service center. I've heard of others having issues with them. Mine's only been over there only a couple of times, and both times left with problems (in one case, exhibiting the issue they said they'd fixed as I pulled out of the service center).

Anyhow, just wondering if anyone else got downgraded, and how loud I need to be to get it fixed. It's been a week and a half, and despite many reboots and being set for "Advanced" updates, the car still claims there's no upgrade.
Click to expand...
It’s not unusual. Same thing happened with my HW2.5 to HW3 upgrade. I had a higher FW prior and it reverted to an older version. I believe others have experienced similarly. Perhaps the HW3 (FSD computer) is only preconfigured to accept FW 2020.8.3? All my saved settings, however; (radio stations, driver profiles, etc.) were retained.
 
#5
C141medic said:
It’s not unusual. Same thing happened with my HW2.5 to HW3 upgrade. I had a higher FW prior and it reverted to an older version. I believe others have experienced similarly. Perhaps the HW3 (FSD computer) is only preconfigured to accept FW 2020.8.3? All my saved settings, however; (radio stations, driver profiles, etc.) were retained.
Click to expand...
Same. Firmware was set back a version.
 
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#6
The software is stored in the hardware, the hardware was replaced and comes pre-configured.

Tesla also never updates firmware on demand, so this is all business as usual and expected.

Put your car on strong wifi and wait, just like every other day you have owned the car.
 
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#9
90%+ have all gotten rolled back to 8.3 when the upgrade is done....

It is based on the version that is pre-installed on the upgrade computer at the time of manufacture.

One must assume that the newer CPU's will get a later version at some point in manufacturing.

In my case, it was rolled back.... But it updated within a couple of days to the most current version.
 
#13
New computer, new serial, new code lottery. You may get older, you may get same, you may get newer.

Settings reset is not good though. They're supposed to backup/restore your settings but based on the HW3 upgrade megathread it seems that it's not consistently done.
 
#14
There was another thread on this forum that speculated that if you press the Software Updates Advanced button 5 times rapidly that this could initiate a FW update, if one was available. Some people indicated in that thread that it worked for them. I tried it and it did nothing for me, but I am already on 2020.12.5, so that could be because I'm already on the latest version for my VIN. Sounds like Tom Foolery to me, but some claim that it works.
 
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#15
TX_M3P+ said:
There was another thread on this forum that speculated that if you press the Software Updates Advanced button 5 times rapidly that this could initiate a FW update, if one was available. Some people indicated in that thread that it worked for them. I tried it and it did nothing for me
Click to expand...

It does nothing for anyone.

When you go to that screen it immediately displays that's checking for updates- but doing so take a few moments.

So some people pressing those buttons (doing literally nothing in the process) then saw the check come back "yup, the check found an update for you" and concluded their monkey-button-pressing was the "cause"
 
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#16
Knightshade said:
It does nothing for anyone.

When you go to that screen it immediately displays that's checking for updates- but doing so take a few moments.

So some people pressing those buttons (doing literally nothing in the process) then saw the check come back "yup, the check found an update for you" and concluded their monkey-button-pressing was the "cause"
Click to expand...
I figured there was a rational explanation!
 
#18
hellocar said:
Why not just put the issue aside and wait for the update to come? Doesn't seem like a huge problem to be on 2020.8.3 for a little while?
Click to expand...
That may be the only option for the OP at this point. As a customer, it is frustrating to go backwards in FW revisions. 2020.12.5 brought the long awaited player for TeslaCam and Sentry Mode footage. While it's not a major setback, by any means, it does suck to get put back to a FW version that doesn't have the feature, especially since you were on a version that did have it. Hopefully it's not more than a week or two before they get updated again, but not a good customer experience, IMHO. If Tesla knows that the 3.0 HW comes with a pre-flashed FW that is older than your current version, they should at least tell you that before they do the FSD upgrade.
 
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