Update 2023.20.7 bricked my car!

[ThiccDaddy]

so I set the schedule to update the car overnight. woke up this morning and the car was completely bricked! no power, doors wouldnt open, no lights, screen off, just completely dead.

i had to open the tow hitch in the front bumper, pulled out the positive and negative wires and with the help of my buddies car....we jumped the two cables there. then the frunk popped open and we popped the covers off and jumped the 12v battery. booted right up.

anyone else having this same issue?

 

[brkaus]

How old is your 12v battery?

 

[brkaus]

2023.20.7 Bricked 2014 Model S

EDIT: False alarm, it was more than likely my 12v battery that failed during the update.... TL;DR: After doing a software update this afternoon, my 2014 Model S is undrivable and unresponsive. Full details: Got a software update notification this afternoon to install 2023.20.7 and so, as...

teslamotorsclub.com

won't turn on after 2023.20.7 update

My 2023 X received the 2023.20.7 update Monday night. Got in it to drive to work this morning and it won't turn on. Screen just says "Car off", won't allow to shift into gear or into neutral even. Tried 2 button reset, power off from safety menu, etc with no change. Frunk won't open via...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[ThiccDaddy]

damn thanks! looks like its happening around

 

[rrolsbe]

AFAIK, after a firmware update, the car performs many self tests. Many of these self tests rely on power from the 12V/16V battery (ie.. PCS not supplying low voltage power); therefore, if the low voltage battery is marginal, the voltage could drop to low giving results discussed above. I personally do not consider a Tesla bricked when the low voltage battery fails just like an ICE vehicle is not toast because it's 12V battery failed.

 

[brkaus]

damn thanks! looks like its happening around

If the 12v battery is old, simply jump start it and/or put in a new battery. It’s something like $88 plus $40 labor (if you have Tesla do it) for an older model 3 with a lead acid battery. They will even replace it at your location for no additional charge.

 

[jjrandorin]

I personally do not consider a Tesla bricked when the low voltage battery fails just like an ICE vehicle is not toast because it's 12V battery failed.

The term "bricked" means an electronic device is "as a brick, and non recoverable", so if the device ever works again, ever, it was not bricked. For some reason though, people seem to want to use that term for "doesnt operate right now" when that isnt anywhere near what it means.

I have always thought it was for shock value, because "BRICKED!!" sounds more impactful than "doesnt power up right now" which is what happened here.

 

[GalacticHero]

The term "bricked" means an electronic device is "as a brick, and non recoverable", so if the device ever works again, ever, it was not bricked. For some reason though, people seem to want to use that term for "doesnt operate right now" when that isnt anywhere near what it means.

I have always thought it was for shock value, because "BRICKED!!" sounds more impactful than "doesnt power up right now" which is what happened here.

I think I'd allow "bricked" to be any condition requiring the manufacturer (or service center, etc.) to do the recovery. That could be using special tools, or worse case, complete replacement of the offending electronics. Just my $0.02 as a firmware engineer.

BTW over the years I've worked on tech to prevent bricking at several different companies. Some went to great lengths to prevent bricking and had several different paths of recovery. Others were ridiculously laissez-faire and paid the price later both literally in replacement hardware and metaphorically in customer good will.

 

[Kimmi]

It’s not bricked, it’s pining.

 

[davewill]

I think I'd allow "bricked" to be any condition requiring the manufacturer (or service center, etc.) to do the recovery. That could be using special tools, or worse case, complete replacement of the offending electronics. Just my $0.02 as a firmware engineer.

BTW over the years I've worked on tech to prevent bricking at several different companies. Some went to great lengths to prevent bricking and had several different paths of recovery. Others were ridiculously laissez-faire and paid the price later both literally in replacement hardware and metaphorically in customer good will.

Sure, I can go along with that, but in this case, it booted right up after he jumped the battery. Really can't stretch "bricked" that far.

 

[Miata Head]

this issue might be indicative of a soon to fail LV battery.

 

[GalacticHero]

Sure, I can go along with that, but in this case, it booted right up after he jumped the battery. Really can't stretch "bricked" that far.

Sorry I phrased that poorly. Agreed that the specified problem isn't bricking. Just pedantically tossing in what I think bricking means.

 

[rwiegand]

If it works when you turn the power back on it isn't bricked by ay definition I can imagine.

 

[jjrandorin]

Sorry I phrased that poorly. Agreed that the specified problem isn't bricking. Just pedantically tossing in what I think bricking means.

You didnt word it poorly, at least to me. You worded it like someone who is familiar with the original meaning(s) of the term .

 

[RayK]

Off Topic: Prior to my life here, I was (I guess, still am) a forum admin for Lenovo née IBM ThinkPad owners. One particular "bricking" situation involves a case where there's a supervisor password set in the system BIOS and the small coin battery inside keeping some memory alive eventually dying. Said password could have been set ages ago by a company IT department, a previous owner, or even the current owner who's forgotten what the password is. Under most normal instances, the existence of the password being set is unseen to the user. The laptop will be working fine and then suddenly one day asks for a password when powering on. Unless you can find what the password is, the laptop is now essentially a "brick". At least that's what IBM used to say. They said that the only way to make the laptop functional again was to replace the entire motherboard. Enterprising engineers and hackers found a way to extract the password from the system and make the laptop work again, at a much cheaper cost than a new motherboard.

The OP probably had the unfortunate luck of encountering a dying 12V battery, at the same time the software update was installed. From outward appearances the software bricked the car but I think the use of that term here was premature.