Model S entertainment system problems

[Tobycat]

my 6 month old Model S is a nightmare when it comes to using the absurd entertainment system. Streaming services are routinely stuck in a loading mode. The USB interface worked with my iPod for about a month and then abruptly stopped a week ago (streaming is dodgy with it). No screen selections when streaming from any device forcing one to use the device controls - Not a safe option.

Just a very difficult and weird interface. Tesla needs to look at other luxury cars to see what they do cause this is just a very poor design with crap software running it

 

[Ande]

Nah, Spotify works great, the entertainment system is just fine, I do not compare model S to true luxury cars, but to great, fast, insane performance without the noise cars...
And can't think of even one with half as decent infotainment. Certainly not BMW, Audi or Mercedes, as each and every suck at that. And the wait for startup feels like ancient technology.

It must be the cellular coverage or something like that that affects you.

On the other hand, while usb works fine... You mentioned iPod ? That's another flashback 15 years back, no wonder the car struggles, probably laughing internally

 

[dethman]

The software is buggy and essentially constantly in beta. Sometimes lte doesn't work, streaming services are buggy, on one update the letters/font were even screwed up. I have had problems with the phone not connecting, complete loss of sound including blinkers, dashcam constantly corrupting, even the whole system crashing and driving home for 30 miles with no dash/speedo nor center screen.

You just have to lower your expectations... Tesla would rather prioritize fake farts than fixing bugs in their software.

 

[Ande]

I think it is maybe wise to spwcisp the generation of the computer , or at least software version.
I find Spotify reliable for streaming.
There IS an occasional bug, that a search come up blank or a playlist don't load, but that's one click away (should be fixed anyway) .. and is not that annoying, nor that frequent.

 

[Tobycat]

Nah, Spotify works great, the entertainment system is just fine, I do not compare model S to true luxury cars, but to great, fast, insane performance without the noise cars...
And can't think of even one with half as decent infotainment. Certainly not BMW, Audi or Mercedes, as each and every suck at that. And the wait for startup feels like ancient technology.

It must be the cellular coverage or something like that that affects you.

On the other hand, while usb works fine... You mentioned iPod ? That's another flashback 15 years back, no wonder the car struggles, probably laughing internally

Dis

 

[Tobycat]

Disagree. Audi has a much, much better entertainment system. Not even close. With regard to iPod, all of my criticisms also apply when streaming from phone. System does not show playlists or songs fro albums. You are forced to manage from the device. That is dangerous and too old. Any decent car now uses a far more user friendly interface. Tesla tries to be too cute and IMHO has a crap system

 

[Ande]

Last Audi I've used (for almost a week on business trip) is Etron Q7 '18 .- yes I like to rent "premium cars" otherothan Tesla just to try them.
That was a mediocre experience.
Bad search, deep menu mess, no easy navigation entry... And delay. The things are not "just there" as in model S. Music is not welcoming you as you enter.

Unless they did something drastic in 2019 model, I would not have to live with it.

 

[N4HHE]

Things have gotten worse in recent months. Slacker often ends a song early and starts the next. At least in the past it locked up with “loading error”.

 

[PARNY]

I had similar issues. Service said to remove any USB drives and to stream music from a phone over Bluetooth. The computer running the screen hangs if there are any file issues on the drive. You seem to be using an iPod as a USB drive. Also, do a reboot by pressing and holding the brake pedal then push both steering wheel buttons and hold them down along with the brake until you see the T logo reappear on the center screen. If this does not work, you may have to power off the car and restart it. I have had much fewer audio and other issues since doing this.

 

[Hood7]

For the most part, I find the entertainment system just adequate... which is to say, not as good as you would expect from a car in this price range and with this level of technology. My main complaint is that if (IF) the supposed upgraded hifi system costs this much, it should come with a way to EASILY play higher resolution music and should have easier interfaces generally.

Yes, i've tried loading high bitrate music onto a USB drive... what a clumsy cluster of a system... at best that feels like an awkward workaround rather than a solution. And it glitches all the time, regardless of the many things i've tried (different USB drives, different programs on computer to download/store music onto USB drive, etc.). Bluetooth technically works, but to me the quality of the sound goes down significantly. Tesla really needs to provide an EASY way to stream hi-res audio, via Tidal or some similar service. Slacker is another "adequate" system for delivering music but is badly outdated in its user interface and sound fidelity.

In short, the upgraded audio system in the S seems like it was MAYBE 'good enough' 5 or 7 years ago, but is rapidly becoming hard to justify it as currently 'adequate'.

Perhaps all this works better on MCU2 cars. I missed MCU2 by just one or two manufacturing days in Feb/March 2018... and yes, that still annoys me just a little! Of course I still very much love the car overall, I just wish the audio system matched the 'car of the future' look and feel that the car otherwise has.

 

[neroden]

The entertainment system is garbage on toast.

It was actually *better* 5 years ago; they've introduced most of the bugs in updates.

 

[aaron0k]

Sad, that a 20 year old (1998) version of Winamp 2.0 can whip the llama's ass out of Tesla's 2019 Media player.

They have no excuses...

 

[swegman]

Tesla model S is very finicky with what is plugged into the usb ports. If it doesn’t like the device, the mcu will freeze, reboot and do other crazy things.

I’ve owned a model S since 2013. I experienced what you are experiencing when I used a no name flash drive. Tesla pulled the flash drive out of the USB port and everything worked fine. Sandisk flash drives work well for me.

The car never supported an iPod. I’m surprised you were able to get it to operate.

I suggest you unplug the iPod from the car, reboot the car (as described above) and see if things start operating normally. If yes, get a good flash drive (as I said I use Sandisk, but I’m sure there are others that work just as well) and put your music on it. Album art should show on the touchscreen and you should be able to control the operation using the touchscreen or controls on the steering wheel.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I totally agree. Tesla's infotainment system is a cruel joke. TuneIn barely works, the NPR stream I've been listening to in the past is now broken and won't load. This happens across many TuneIn channels. Can't use Spotify here in the US, and Tesla refuses to make the app available for those of us w/ Spotify subscriptions, so that's irrelevant. Dolby Surround keeps toggling itself off constantly. Tesla's software has been in a downward spiral for several years.

 

[GreenT]

Service always tell me it's my USB sticks fault. Yet it works FINE in all other players.
I gave up trying to get it fixed YEARS ago.

 

[f-stop]

Service always tell me it's my USB sticks fault. Yet it works FINE in all other players.
I gave up trying to get it fixed YEARS ago.

I've heard that too from Service. IMO blaming the USB has become Service's standard excuse when there's some intermittent touchscreen/MP bug they can't (won't) solve. It's ridiculous the MP is so finicky. Meanwhile many of the media player bugs I've seen occur without any USB plugged in at all

 

[GreenT]

I've heard that too from Service. IMO blaming the USB has become Service's standard excuse when there's some intermittent touchscreen/MP bug they can't (won't) solve. It's ridiculous the MP is so finicky. Meanwhile many of the media player bugs I've seen occur without any USB plugged in at all

It's their standard excuse for EVERYTHING!

 

[cybergates]

The usb key causes a lot of glitches. (Late 2016 s) I didn’t realize i had unplugged my usb key for the past month and i recall now the screen hasn’t rebooted or frozen once.

The music format on the key has to be a particular format (search the forums). I user mediamonkey and I had it all converted and it was stable for a while but i created a new usb key w misc mp3/s and issues again.