Thumb wheel inop / "hard" software reboot options

[Jughead135]

I have what I'm fairly certain is a software issue manifesting itself as an apparently inop bit of hardware:

My right thumb wheel switch on the steering column is unresponsive--with two key exceptions:
- if I press & hold both switches, the touchscreen reboots as normal (so, I know the "press" switch itself is working)
- if an incoming text message comes in, it displays the normal menu options ("View Message," "Dismiss"), and I can select up or down between the two (so, I know the "spin up" & "spin down" switches themselves are working) [however, I can't actually "View Message" or "Dismiss," since it's ignoring the press]

All other attempts at input are ignored. The left thumb wheel & media controls function normally. The voice command switch works normally. The menu switch pulls up the menu--but, the wheel is ignored, so I'm stuck on my last-chosen function ("Temperature" control--which doesn't work, since the switch is ignored) and display ("Trips" odometers, etc.).

I contacted service. They've set up a mobile appointment (and the invoice indicates they're sending out a new switch & wire harness--which I'm really thinking can't be the issue), but of course the first available is weeks out.

Any ideas? I'd like to do a "hard" reboot. I've tried multiple times each: reset the touchscreen (both switches); "hard" reset the touchscreen (both switches plus the brake pedal--I realize this has been denigrated as urban legend, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try); and "power off" for several minutes.

Is there anything "more thorough" I can do for a restart/reboot? Is there anything the SC can (or ought to be able to) do remotely to instigate such a reboot? My only other thought is to disconnect the 12V battery--no idea if that's a "harder" reboot or not??

 

[Jughead135]

EDIT: Aside from a hard reboot... Any other ideas??

 

[Doanster1]

Uninstall the right switch/thumb wheel and inspect/reseat the connector. Fairly easy job to pop off the airbag to get to the switches. Vids on YouTube...

 

[Jughead135]

Uninstall the right switch/thumb wheel and inspect/reseat the connector. Fairly easy job to pop off the airbag to get to the switches. Vids on YouTube...

Thanks for the pointer. I'm skeptical, though--that's a hardware approach.

Am I putting too much emphasis on the fact that all three functions (press, rotate-up, & rotate-down) all work in a reproducible fashion in specific circumstances; and also doesn't work at all in any other circumstance. I would think a bad or going-bad connector would be intermittent in all functions, up until the point it didn't work at all. That's not the case here....

 

[Doanster1]

Did you recently update the f/w though? If so, then more likely a weird software glitch, but if not, strange why it’d start happening now (vs h/w issue).

 

[aesculus]

Any ideas? I'd like to do a "hard" reboot.

Go for the Power Off in the service menu. You will have to sit in the car for at least 5 minutes touching nothing while it turns off. Then after 5 minutes you can open the door and it should reboot everything.

 

[Sfallert]

I've had this same issue a few times, sometimes including the push to talk button too. The mobile service was able to temporarily resolve the issue every time but the problem would eventually come back. When it came back this summer it also came with an airbag fault that needed service at the service center. Turned out to be a faulty connector that required a new steering colum, wheel and airbag. I haven't had any issues since then.

 

[boaterva]

I agree. How can the right scroll wheel work for some things and not for others and be a ‘bad connection’? It’s a simple mechanical connection, not some digital computer connection.

 

[quickstrike12]

Maybe unrelated or maybe not. Mine did nearly as your description. It started with a text message that would NOT dismiss with right scroll wheel press. But would move up and down in the choices. Nothing I did would clear it. Not even the reboot(which worked using the scroll wheels) On a gut feeling I ended up disconnecting the phone completely and removing it from the Bluetooth. Then re paired it. Problem went away.
Again may not be the same issue as yours but sounded similar in some ways to me. good luck.

 

[Jughead135]

Maybe unrelated or maybe not. Mine did nearly as your description. It started with a text message that would NOT dismiss with right scroll wheel press. But would move up and down in the choices. Nothing I did would clear it. Not even the reboot(which worked using the scroll wheels) On a gut feeling I ended up disconnecting the phone completely and removing it from the Bluetooth. Then re paired it. Problem went away.
Again may not be the same issue as yours but sounded similar in some ways to me. good luck.

Well, was certainly worth a try--but, no dice.

Thanks anyway!

 

[Sfallert]

I agree. How can the right scroll wheel work for some things and not for others and be a ‘bad connection’? It’s a simple mechanical connection, not some digital computer connection.

Tesla says it's a connector, but it wouldn't be be the first time they weren't totally honest. I did notice that I've gotten a couple of new steering wheels out of it.

 

[quickstrike12]

This damn thread jinxed me. LOL
I’ll be damn the thing locked up again tonight after a text message. Nothing I could do to get out of it again. Just the last message stuck and no way to scroll or dismiss it. Even after multiple drives and phone disconnects.
this time a full reboot cleared it. Something goofy going on since last update with the whole text message notifications.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi @Jughead135,

For a good reboot - Go to the Service menu and change your wheel size
to anything different... The car will reboot...

Go back to the Service menu and change the wheel size to the correct
choice... The car will reboot...

It may not fix your problems but at least you are able to reboot without
the scroll wheels.

On my car I am able to reboot only once.
I change between the "Standard Slipstream Wheels" and the "Two Tone Slipstream Wheels"
The only difference is in the avatar...

Good luck,

Shawn

 

[Jughead135]

For a good reboot - Go to the Service menu and change your wheel size
to anything different... The car will reboot...

That is GREAT gouge, thank you!

Tried it--it clearly did a "deeper" reboot than I'd otherwise been able to achieve. (Note, I have been able to do the two-button reboot--that's part of what has me convinced it's not a hardware issue.) Unfortunately, it didn't help: no change to the button's (non-)functionality....

 

[evb2000]

Any more feedback regarding the thumbwheel inoperability? I'm experiencing the exact same issues detailed in the OP ... just updated from **.26 --> **.30 hoping that would fix it, but no luck ... haven't received the **.30.1 update yet ... was hoping a few resets after the update would clear the issue, but still not working ...

 

[evb2000]

FYI ... a Tesla service guy came out to replace the thumbwheel which fixed the problem ... so as much as I agreed with the OP thinking that is was a software issue, it seems to have been a physical problem with the switch ... at least in my case anyway ... I guess just a coincidence that it happened right after the last update ...

 

[Jughead135]

FYI ... a Tesla service guy came out to replace the thumbwheel which fixed the problem ... so as much as I agreed with the OP thinking that is was a software issue, it seems to have been a physical problem with the switch ... at least in my case anyway ... I guess just a coincidence that it happened right after the last update ...

Fair enough, and hard to argue with success. Seems doubly strange that we’d both have the same issue, both looking like software, and both right after an update....

My appointment is for Monday, guess I’ll see how they handle it.

 

[BioSci]

I just joined this club. The right scroll wheel and both right buttons on my 2020 MS just stopped working today. Curiously, I can now reboot by holding down just the left scroll wheel! It's acting like the right scroll wheel is shorted out to ground. The soonest appointment is two weeks from today, but I can adjust the temperature on the main touchscreen, and the right instrument screen is set to energy, so I don't need to change it. The most annoying thing is not having voice commands, since that button is dead too.

 

[Jughead135]

right instrument screen is set to energy, so I don't need to change it.

Interesting to hear that your buttons (as well as the wheel) went out.... As for changing it (should you decide you want to), it’s easy enough with a single button working: select whatever you want to put in the right window in the left window. Then select whatever is currently in the right window (energy, you said) in the left window. That will swap the two windows.

 

[BioSci]

Update on my dead wheel buttons: Tesla Service notified me that they had ordered "ASY, STEERING CONTROL SWITCH HARNESS". Also, the local SC contacted me about setting up a Ranger to come out to my home to do the repair. Despite all the complaints about Tesla service, on this item they're playing their A-game.