Warning, rebooting v10 on MCU1 while driving

[P100D_Me]

For the last 2 years Tesla's software QC has been awful. Seems they don't do any testing before releasing updates these days.

I've only had my car for a year so I've only known awful. I am amazed how sloppy their QC is, they are either understaffed, overworked, don't care or the code is unmanaged spaghetti (or maybe it is a combination all that).

Based on what I am reading about V10 on MCU1 I will continue to press the 'x' button on every drive for the software update prompt.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

I've only had my car for a year so I've only known awful. I am amazed how sloppy their QC is, they are either understaffed, overworked, don't care or the code is unmanaged spaghetti (or maybe it is a combination all that).

Based on what I am reading about V10 on MCU1 I will continue to press the 'x' button on every drive for the software update prompt.

Are you on V8 or V9?

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Not really. MCU1 worked well running v5, v6, v7 (though it was getting slower as versions went up). The features added to the MCU since then are mostly superficial, and designed for MCU2, therefore neither optimized for MCU1 or written with resource consideration of MCU1. It's like forcing latest Windows 10 to run on laptop form 2012 - it ran Windows 7 really well, but Windows 10 is crawling and some features don't work at all.

Even Microsoft, the king of backwards compatibility, doesn't support PC hardware from over a decade ago, because they know the cost of support that far back is exponential. Lucky for Microsoft, PC's lifecycle is not over a decade - nobody expects latest Windows to run on a 10 year old PC. Yet Tesla will have to support it since cars live longer than 10 years. This will become an ever-increasing problem for Tesla.

I'm running Windows 10 on two 2007 PCs and they run just fine. Tesla just didn't put enough computing power in their MCUs to match the expected life of the car. I wonder how much they saved by shortchanging us? They owe us the ability to upgrade to more powerful MCUs. It was their lack of foresight that's causing the problems.

 

[P100D_Me]

Are you on V8 or V9?

V9, the previous owner had just updated to V9 prior to me buying it.

 

[David_Cary]

For all the doom and gloom.
I have a 5/15 car with 79k miles. Right before LTE modems got installed.
I think maybe a few years ago I had a spontaneous reboot but never in recent memory.
My biggest issue with the last few updates is that the car is slower to power up - which I have to say is annoying. I have also had occasional corrupt text on the screen. I actually reboot less now than I used to - some parts have become more stable.

I do think an upgrade path to a new MCU is a good idea. I also wonder if the eMMC changeout will speed things up. I live 2 hours from WK057.
I have also considered upgrading to LTE - but haven't thought it was worth the money.

We have a 6 month old 3 so I get to see MCU2 in action and it is blazing.

 

[whitex]

I'm running Windows 10 on two 2007 PCs and they run just fine. Tesla just didn't put enough computing power in their MCUs to match the expected life of the car. I wonder how much they saved by shortchanging us? They owe us the ability to upgrade to more powerful MCUs. It was their lack of foresight that's causing the problems.

For 2011, the Tegra 3 was top of the line. Microsoft used it for their very first Surface (running Windows RT) and it was actually very smooth and snappy to use, scrolled well, played videos, etc. so it is possible to achieve on that processor. Problem is, Tesla decided to keep moving everyone to software written for newer hardware, rather than maintaining the old software - part of the reason of course is all the vaporware they promised, but the biggest reason is they don't want to maintain two separate versions of the software, as it is very expensive, especially when built on top of open source software like Linux which loses community support after few years. Add to that the fact that if you want to write software for different platforms, you cannot write bare-metal optimized code but instead have to use bloated layers of abstraction, and we are where we are. Once Model Y with MCU3 is out, MCU2 will be where MCU1 is today, and MCU1 will be completely screwed.

PS> I'm curious, what 2007 PC are you using (CPU, RAM, motherboard, etc)?

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

PS> I'm curious, what 2007 PC are you using (CPU, RAM, motherboard, etc)?

HP Pavilion Media Center m8120n Desktop PC Product Specifications | HP® Customer Support

Core 2 Quad Q6600
I added max RAM

 

[whitex]

HP Pavilion Media Center m8120n Desktop PC Product Specifications | HP® Customer Support

Core 2 Quad Q6600
I added max RAM

I had a Q6600 PC (self built, Asus workstation motherboard) - it ran Win7 fine and even Win8.1 okish (my son ran it for a year in Wind 8.1 IIRC), but Win10 would be a a bit of a stretch.

 

[Feathermerchan]

First was a Heathkit PC. 8086 as I remember. Soldered up memory board, floppy disc controller and backplane.

 

[rtheron]

Your expectations here are unreasonable, tesla manual clearly states to be stationary and in park when resetting, if you want to cowboy it and do it while driving you CANNOT expect consistent behavior between software versions. We all know that the MCU and attached systems control way more on a tesla than what you'd expect from traditional manufacturers, there's a lot of benefit to this, and some downside, you choose this car knowing those, and now you complain about it

Also web browser can be pulled down to half /quarter screen and what are you doing browsing the web while driving anyways

 

[Tessaract]

Well said

That's funny. Mine gets better with every update. And rebooting while you're driving is just plain asking for trouble. Stop, reboot, then drive on.

 

[sublimejackman]

This is a tough issue. I'd say if you have MCU1 and no-AP then I suppose preventing updates could be a reasonable choice. However, if you have/want to use AP/summon or want to use the cell data/Tesla services then mandatory software updates seems reasonable. The media paints every AP or summon incident as the beginning of the robot holocaust. Does Tesla use us as beta testers? Sorta. I have a Model S and I always kinda viewed it as a beta car. I don't mind being a beta tester and dealing with bugs, glitches and the like. The Model 3 is a different story and is, ostensibly, a production car.

 

[shhivaa]

This is just warn folks used to rebooting their MCU1 while driving (I used to do that every few drives, when the browser would stop working or some other artifact - Tesla software is not famous for its stability). After applying v10 I was driving with the family to dinner tonight. Browser (now taking up most of the screen ) was dead as usual so I went for the thumbwheel reset. What a disaster!

First, it took 5+ minutes to reboot, WTF? The front windshield started fogging up, so I had to open windows to continue to drive, which of course was uncomfortable for everyone since it's fall and we don't live in California. Second, Thumbwheel reboot used to only reboot the big screen (MCU1), however this time, after few minutes of dark main screen, my instrument cluster went dark too! So now I'm driving a car without HVAC or any screens at all, not even a speed indicator. Now, the cluster was only off for a short time (30-60 seconds maybe) but it seems like forever when you don't expect it. When it came back on it has messed up controls but at least you could see most indicators. Even once the main screen came back on, it still took a bit before it was responsive enough to turn on windshield defrost.

I so wish Tesla would keep MCU1 on v8 with security patches only. My car gets worse every update.

Same exact thing happened to me this morning.

 

[ram1901]

This is just warn folks used to rebooting their MCU1 while driving (I used to do that every few drives, when the browser would stop working or some other artifact - Tesla software is not famous for its stability). After applying v10 I was driving with the family to dinner tonight. Browser (now taking up most of the screen ) was dead as usual so I went for the thumbwheel reset. What a disaster!
.....
I so wish Tesla would keep MCU1 on v8 with security patches only. My car gets worse every update.

WOW!! Sorry but you should not be blaming Tesla for your mistake. You should NEVER reboot the MCU while driving down the highway.
Pull over, wait for reboot and continue on your way. A reboot always shuts off HVAC and entertainment system as well as the high speed internet connection. Depending upon where you are it can take a while to re-connect to internet, as well as restart your HVAC. It has always been this way as far as I can recall. Then you make a blanket statement that "Tesla software is not famous for its stability". If that was the case, Tesla's would be driving off of cliffs, not starting, shutting down in the middle of the road. Fact is the important stuff works and the goofy entertainment stuff gets tweaked.

 

[OCJoe]

I'm running Windows 10 on two 2007 PCs and they run just fine. Tesla just didn't put enough computing power in their MCUs to match the expected life of the car. I wonder how much they saved by shortchanging us? They owe us the ability to upgrade to more powerful MCUs. It was their lack of foresight that's causing the problems.

Hardware and Software have been doing this dance since the dawn of computing. Hardware guys develop better hardware. Software guys take advantage of it to create spiffy new features. Once the new features transform from nice-to-haves into must-haves the old hardware becomes obsolete. What's really at issue here is CONTROL and UPGRADEABILITY.

CONTROL: If I'm using my Windows 7 computer to perform a very specific task, I can keep using old hardware and software indefinitely. Sure there may be un-patched security vulnerabilities, but the decision to upgrade (or not) is MINE since I BOUGHT the hardware and software. Tesla's forced/coercive upgrade regime sucks. Let owners decide for themselves if those bloated new features like fart sounds are really worthy of consuming MY compute/memory resources.

UPGRADABILITY: If I want all the features, including fart sounds, give me a way to buy new, upgraded compute resources that are sufficient for the task. I'm too smart to try to run Windows 10 on an under powered computer, why isn't Tesla?

 

[Restrected]

This is just warn folks used to rebooting their MCU1 while driving (I used to do that every few drives, when the browser would stop working or some other artifact - Tesla software is not famous for its stability). After applying v10 I was driving with the family to dinner tonight. Browser (now taking up most of the screen ) was dead as usual so I went for the thumbwheel reset. What a disaster!

First, it took 5+ minutes to reboot, WTF? The front windshield started fogging up, so I had to open windows to continue to drive, which of course was uncomfortable for everyone since it's fall and we don't live in California. Second, Thumbwheel reboot used to only reboot the big screen (MCU1), however this time, after few minutes of dark main screen, my instrument cluster went dark too! So now I'm driving a car without HVAC or any screens at all, not even a speed indicator. Now, the cluster was only off for a short time (30-60 seconds maybe) but it seems like forever when you don't expect it. When it came back on it has messed up controls but at least you could see most indicators. Even once the main screen came back on, it still took a bit before it was responsive enough to turn on windshield defrost.

I so wish Tesla would keep MCU1 on v8 with security patches only. My car gets worse every update.

I am sorry to inform you that your mcu is dead or dying.

just to recap, the car has flash memory partitioned in 2 main active partitions. One is the one thatbholds the running firmware, and the other one is for updating and its offline. When you update, update gets downloaded and installed on the offline partition then mcu reboots switching to the updated partition as the main firmware memory.

memory on mcu1 dies because of too many writes over its life by the logs of the car. Thats a linux problem and tesla implementation problem.

i have 3 mcu1 cars running 2019.32.12.2 and 2019.32.2.2 and i tried all 3 and it takes 1:45 to full reboot while autopilot was on with navigate on autopilot enabled.

long story short, if you uave warranty go to service and ask for new mcu, if you dont have warranty contact me for next step (before your car dies completely and you cant get vpn keys anymore for your car) and at least do a backup of your vpn keys and car config files etc.

this is not a firmware issue. Your flash memory is dying and it just so happen to have been on the offline partition. The update then made that online and now you see errors.

 

[sam2035]

Did that car cost $100K?

Could have.

A car with electric arm traffic indicators cost a fortune in the fifties. The standard accessory that came with every car was called ‘arm signaling’.

The option set for a vehicle having automatic traffic direction signaling (indicator) would have included hot air climate heaters, wooden dashboard, oil pressure indicator, vacuum pressure indicator, smith clock, wooden steering wheel, leather upholstery, chrome plated trims inside (knobs and switches) and outside (on fenders, wheel caps, around the headlight units). It will have electric cranking with a starting handle in the trunk just in case you need to warm up on a cold morning. You may even have a SW MW radio with a couple preselected stations.

Since the amber light traffic arm was controlled by a heated element for timing, banging on the B Pillar from time to time would work just great.

 

[Accentcreate]

Wow. Scary thread. I've been driving my Model 3 for five months, 12,000 km and never had a freeze or had to reboot. Wouldn't know how to if I needed to. Must check the manual now.
Hope your issues are solved soon.

 

[RichieM]

There can't be with Tesla, because:

1. They sell vaporware, meaning they have to give you updates to deliver what they sold you (e.g. my wife's 2017 Model S didn't have auto headlights or auto-wipers for many months after delivery)
2. Their cars require internet connectivity to function, which means they have to be regularly patched for security vulnerabilities. Without patching, the cars become a joke to hack as security vulnerabilities for old software are freely available on the internet. With a 10-15 year lifecycle, there is no way Tesla can afford "security patch" only model (one big reason - after 2-4 years they lost the free support from the open source community, as the community simply moves to newer versions of the software).

 

[WewannaM3]

I had one just like that.... And another that I had to have the passenger get out to hold the wing in before I could open the driver's door..... And another that I had to rebuild the engine cuz of a blown head gasket if I drove over 60mph for longer than 30 minutes.

I don't think I paid more than £100 for any of them! Thankfully times have moved on, but some of the apparent new norms are far more expensive and far harder for owners to fix themselves and the safety implications less obvious.

Reminds me of the '63 Jaguar Mark VII? Saloon I had. Every couple days I had to check and add oil to the six dash pots, but EVERY morning I had to adjust/reset the gap in the points or it simply would not start.