Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[zanary]

question for those of you who have already had the MCU2 upgrade done - did anyone's upgrade take more than a day for Tesla to complete?

brought my AP1 70D into service for the MCU2 infotainment upgrade first thing yesterday am - apparently hardware installation went fine but they ran into trouble updating the firmware (I was warned at drop off time they've run into that sort of problem before with other MCU2 upgrades). So they kept the car overnight aiming for completion by end of today. But now late day2 they're still having problems and need to keep the car a 2nd night, hopefully finished tomorrow. Apparently the firmware update takes several hours but then quits/fails and they have to start over; as mentioned they said they've seen this before

is a common issue with the MCU2 upgrade?

Mine were completed in about 6 hours, but I've hard that some cars take much longer and that the firmware issue that you're seeing does exist.

One advise is when you pick up your car, don't leave the service center until you verify all if good. Test out the Mobile App to confirm that you can unlock the car, open the hatch, vent the windows, modify the radio settings, etc...

It's a known issues, where they sometimes forgot to re-instal your security certificate which then limits your ability to use certain feature of the app. they can fix this right away. If you realize this after the fact, if you open up a service ticket in the Mobile App, they can even reset your certificate remotely if you have an internet connection to your Car (either Wifi or LTE).

 

[f-stop]

Mine were completed in about 6 hours, but I've hard that some cars take much longer and that the firmware issue that you're seeing does exist.

One advise is when you pick up your car, don't leave the service center until you verify all if good. Test out the Mobile App to confirm that you can unlock the car, open the hatch, vent the windows, modify the radio settings, etc...

It's a known issues, where they sometimes forgot to re-instal your security certificate which then limits your ability to use certain feature of the app. they can fix this right away. If you realize this after the fact, if you open up a service ticket in the Mobile App, they can even reset your certificate remotely if you have an internet connection to your Car (either Wifi or LTE).

thanks for the tip. was concerned a bit their current trouble might mean problems after completion, so good advice to check things out before leaving

 

[Nosken]

2 Days for me--they said the update took the time.

 

[Need]

My update took like 4 hours I think. When I asked beforehand how long it would take, the answer was depends if the software update takes or not. If the update takes, then it would be same day. She said the hardware change is easy, it was the software update that could fail they would have to figure out what went wrong and could take days.

 

[tmoz]

All great info guys! I haven't bit the bullet yet. I just did the warranty replacement. If they would have given me a discount for skipping the warranty work, I would have sprung for the update.

 

[PWlakewood]

Nope. Both of mine were quick. Dropped off at 830 am and one was ready by 2 pm. My wife’s took a little longer but it was still within a day.

 

[tccartier]

All great info guys! I haven't bit the bullet yet. I just did the warranty replacement. If they would have given me a discount for skipping the warranty work, I would have sprung for the update.

Update, got the upgrade done now have MCU2 up and running been living with it for only about a day and a half but I can tell you my first impressions based on my use case scenario of the car is save your money. The only thing it does better is that it's faster to respond and the browser works. Those are the only things that it seems to have over and above my original MCU. All of the games and video capabilities and Netflix and so forth are useless because I'm not a gamer or a movie watcher. So the cost benefit for me is negligible. If I had not had a compelling reason to replace my screens in the first place ( my instrument cluster had failed and was bubbling and leaking the gooey mess all over the place) if I hadn't already done so when I had the emmc failure corrected I likely would have just opted for a $250 LTE upgrade to sidestep the fact that 3G is going to sunset fairly soon and kept rolling. But that's just my opinion based on someone my age in my use case scenario with my interests.

Also I noticed now that the two screens are paired with the same processor the instrument cluster cannot work independently of the center screen if the center screen is off so is the instrument cluster they cannot be independently controlled anymore. Not sure what the ramifications of that will be but I guess I'll find out.

I did not lose all of my settings as has been mentioned earlier in this thread all of my profiles media settings and so forth all were extracted from my existing unit and dumped into the new one. The only things that it had to re-learn where my cell phones and my homelink. Everything else ported from one to the other.

The resolution in the instrument cluster seems a little bit better or on par with the center screen it is not as grainy as the original cluster that is an improvement. Much nicer view for progressive bifocals

The web browser is probably the biggest improvement of the entire upgrade that is of any relevance or usefulness to me personally. It now is a full-on browser and works as any other meaning that I can also log into websites and stream music through the browser, that wasn't possible before probably because of processing speed and just the inability of the browser (or system) to keep up with anything.

Also I made the jump from 2020. xx software to my first update that is 2021.xx so finally running software that was released in the year that I'm living in.

Also keep in mind my car is pre AP. So there were no benefits to be gained there. At the end of the day in a situation such as the one I was in if I had a pre autopilot car with a working MCU one that had had the emmc chip upgrade and the LTE upgrade I think I would just roll with it until I had a reason not to. 1500 bucks is pretty steep to not really solve any problems other than make your screen respond a little faster and give you a bunch of more games and video capability. Ymmv.

Sorry for rambling so long just my opinions. Take it for what it's worth.. that and $100 might get you a cup of coffee

 

[KalJoMoS]

thanks for the tip. was concerned a bit their current trouble might mean problems after completion, so good advice to check things out before leaving

Is yours with motorised liftgate or with simple hydraulic dampers, I believe there is quite a difference in upgrading in this situation?

 

[smilepak]

question for those of you who have already had the MCU2 upgrade done - did anyone's upgrade take more than a day for Tesla to complete?

brought my AP1 70D into service for the MCU2 infotainment upgrade first thing yesterday am - apparently hardware installation went fine but they ran into trouble updating the firmware (I was warned at drop off time they've run into that sort of problem before with other MCU2 upgrades). So they kept the car overnight aiming for completion by end of today. But now late day2 they're still having problems and need to keep the car a 2nd night, hopefully finished tomorrow. Apparently the firmware update takes several hours but then quits/fails and they have to start over; as mentioned they said they've seen this before

is a common issue with the MCU2 upgrade?

Mine took two days. Same as you had experienced. Firmware took a long time.

 

[cousin_IT]

question for those of you who have already had the MCU2 upgrade done - did anyone's upgrade take more than a day for Tesla to complete?

brought my AP1 70D into service for the MCU2 infotainment upgrade first thing yesterday am - apparently hardware installation went fine but they ran into trouble updating the firmware (I was warned at drop off time they've run into that sort of problem before with other MCU2 upgrades). So they kept the car overnight aiming for completion by end of today. But now late day2 they're still having problems and need to keep the car a 2nd night, hopefully finished tomorrow. Apparently the firmware update takes several hours but then quits/fails and they have to start over; as mentioned they said they've seen this before

is a common issue with the MCU2 upgrade?

I would think so yes. There are always deployment issues that they have to fix. In addition my LTE connection was unstable, after several months they found out that the connectivity board was broken. They tried to replace it but apparently there are different versions with different connectors and they had the wrong one in stock.

It’s sad to see that this upgrade is causing them so many problems. I really liked the idea that you could upgrade the MCU so a 5-year old car doesn’t feel like a 15-year old but with the issues they have I doubt they’ll ever offer it again.

 

[AustinP]

thanks for the tip. was concerned a bit their current trouble might mean problems after completion, so good advice to check things out before leaving

And test both USB connectors: mine where not correctly plugged in, so no more power (or indeed USB music if you use this)

 

[dbldwn02]

question for those of you who have already had the MCU2 upgrade done - did anyone's upgrade take more than a day for Tesla to complete?

brought my AP1 70D into service for the MCU2 infotainment upgrade first thing yesterday am - apparently hardware installation went fine but they ran into trouble updating the firmware (I was warned at drop off time they've run into that sort of problem before with other MCU2 upgrades). So they kept the car overnight aiming for completion by end of today. But now late day2 they're still having problems and need to keep the car a 2nd night, hopefully finished tomorrow. Apparently the firmware update takes several hours but then quits/fails and they have to start over; as mentioned they said they've seen this before

is a common issue with the MCU2 upgrade?

No took one day.. it was all day.. I was at the service center for about 7 hours but it was completed and I drove home the same day.

They did mention that there were issues with software installation after they installed the hardware. that apparently is the biggest part of trying to make it work correctly the hardware installation takes about an hour beyond that they're just trying to get the software loaded and working properly.

Here's what I found with Tesla Service. If they say a day, and you leave...then it's at least two days. If they say a few hours or a day, and you stay and wait...they usually get it back to you.

If you leave, they don't prioritize your car and it sits in the parking lot for hours on end. I've watched on the app...lol.

 

[P100D_Me]

Here's what I found with Tesla Service. If they say a day, and you leave...then it's at least two days.

So Elon time filters down through the company

 

[Amacharola]

question for those of you who have already had the MCU2 upgrade done - did anyone's upgrade take more than a day for Tesla to complete?

brought my AP1 70D into service for the MCU2 infotainment upgrade first thing yesterday am - apparently hardware installation went fine but they ran into trouble updating the firmware (I was warned at drop off time they've run into that sort of problem before with other MCU2 upgrades). So they kept the car overnight aiming for completion by end of today. But now late day2 they're still having problems and need to keep the car a 2nd night, hopefully finished tomorrow. Apparently the firmware update takes several hours but then quits/fails and they have to start over; as mentioned they said they've seen this before

is a common issue with the MCU2 upgrade?

It took a couple of hours for my car. However I was at the service center last week and overheard them talking to another customer that they were still trying to get the firmware to take. I presumed it was an MCU upgrade on that as well.

 

[Akikiki]

We tend to forget that just like doctors and football players, not all Tesla techs skills are equal. What might take one service center 1 day might take another 2+ days. Generally, I am saying while competent, some are more competent than others.

When my '17 was done - March 2020, I was the first MCU2 upgrade that the Honolulu SC had done. They told me so. Mine was taken in accidentally, and was one of the first done anywhere. They took my car in on 24 March and I got it back 1 Apr. The work did not actually take more than a week. But they had ordered the wrong MCU2 upgrade kit. Mine is AP2.0 and they told me that they thought it was AP2.5 and it had one cable wrong. So, they called me after they were one hour deep into the upgrade and told me this info. It took them a week to get the correct kit and start the work again. Thankfully, it didn't impact me, because they had given me a loaner. So, the day after they got the kit, they started first thing the next morning, they finished it in one full day. My point is, for their first, they did a great job. I only "lost" one setting, that was the WiFi, since it was a new WiFi adapter, it wasn't lost, just required to be setup the first time.

 

[f-stop]

thanks everyone for posting comments about how long their upgrade took.
well I finally got my car back today, it ended up taking them 3 full days. but good news, in the end it looks like everything went well and is working fine after the update. Initially when I got my car back, the app complained that mobile access was disabled even though setting was enabled in-car (thanks again @zanary for suggesting I check that) but before I could go back upstairs from the SC parkade to complain a few minutes later, mobile access via app started working again.

fyi pre-update my car was on firmware 2020.48.37.6 - hadn't received any updates since July 2021. after upgrade my car is now on 2021.32.21

I can report that all my settings and profile moved over to the new MCU2 intact - except all the old browser favourites were gone (but I'd taken a photo of the old fav list before I brought the car for upgrade), and Homelink had to be re-trained. at first the car remembered the GPS-aware setting and popped up the Homelink message when I arrived in my driveway but the signal itself didn't transmit to open the door.

 

[Akikiki]

fyi pre-update my car was on firmware 2020.48.37.6 - hadn't received any updates since July 2021. after upgrade my car is now on 2021.32.21.

That's perfectly normal. Your car was on a Nov 2020 version of firmware. The car's inability to update to a new OTA, is one of the most frustrating failures of eMMCs. Now with the MCU2, you will see them often.

 

[BigNick]

We tend to forget that just like doctors and football players, not all Tesla techs skills are equal. What might take one service center 1 day might take another 2+ days. Generally, I am saying while competent, some are more competent than others.

Even now that it is nearly 30 years old, the Linux-based OS of the Tesla is probably still a foreign concept to many Tesla techs (at first.) Add the proprietary nature of the Tesla-specific components, and it probably takes a couple of years to become an expert.

If Tesla is still experiencing high turnover, it makes sense that "rockstar" techs are few and far between, and there might only be one (if any) "wizard"-level tech working for Tesla, as they can make a lot more doing their own thing.

It would be interesting to see the steps required for an MCU2 upgrade from start to finish. I think there's probably a lot of branching logic in that process.

 

[mspohr]

Even now that it is nearly 30 years old, the Linux-based OS of the Tesla is probably still a foreign concept to many Tesla techs (at first.) Add the proprietary nature of the Tesla-specific components, and it probably takes a couple of years to become an expert.

If Tesla is still experiencing high turnover, it makes sense that "rockstar" techs are few and far between, and there might only be one (if any) "wizard"-level tech working for Tesla, as they can make a lot more doing their own thing.

It would be interesting to see the steps required for an MCU2 upgrade from start to finish. I think there's probably a lot of branching logic in that process.

I doubt that the OS makes much difference to the process of upgrading.
Where would a rockstar Tesla tech go? Not many independent shops. Rich rebuilds is a disaster.

 

[tpedwards]

I doubt that the OS makes much difference to the process of upgrading.
Where would a rockstar Tesla tech go? Not many independent shops. Rich rebuilds is a disaster.

It may not be the techs at all. It is easy to forget that not all Model S’s and X’s are the same. My P85D is an oddball in that it had to have the battery pack changed, but was assigned a 90kWh pack. It fit physically, but they had to retrofit an awful lot of firmware on subsystems to get it to work - three days in Nashville. When I had my MCU replaced (before recall, but under CPO warranty) it took two extra days to get the software to take (in Indy). When it came time for the MCU upgrade, I was surprised that it was done same day considering the Frankenstein nature of my P85/90D. Configuration management must be really valued at Tesla. It is not easy and with the current chip shortage, their configuration management expertise has allowed them to dance lightly swapping in alternatives like no other manufacturer.