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Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

electrek.co

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Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#161

Post by callalex »

kyleee wrote: post #90
ChadMoran wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite a few reasons but primarily CarPlay doesn't know about your vehicle's charge and road trip navigation requires external inputs to determine your charge route. Apple could potentially offer an API to have "reverse" CarPlay where the car's app can feed information into iOS. I recently rented an Mercedes EV which had Apple CarPlay and it was a weird experience having to manage two sets of experiences.

Manufacturers should be required to expose an agreed upon spec API that provides range estimate, battery state, etc. So CarPlay and other apps can access the info in a standardized way

Apple holds up their end of the deal by supporting the EV Routing feature in maps. It’s entirely up to manufacturers to expose the information at this point.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#162

Post by nomel »

ct0 wrote: post #82
nomel wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where a "bug" has potentially life threatening consequences. What are you referring to? That is not relevant to this story, and would require a deep understanding of the system to make such a claim of negligence. “The issue impacts the infotainment system. In most cases, the rest of the vehicle systems are still operational ...” Also, you can't do an update while driving.

You've never been to death valley without air conditioning Or Russia without heat. I think the infotainment system in this case has a broken climate control function. There are workarounds, but why if you don't have your phone?

This is a great point. I would claim that it would be a bad choice to initiate the update (it's a manual process, requiring intent) when you're in these conditions. But, a less tech savvy person may not understand that updates can be risky, and give it a shot at a remote charging station.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#163

Post by bonton89 »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #61
barbazoo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why _I_ have a Dumbcar connected to a smartphone via FM for audio only :)

I've tried that before, but it sounded terrible. What dongle do you use?

These all sounded like crap to me as well. I've heard earlier models had much higher radio power (that was possibly illegal) and worked better. They were an archaic tech by the time I was buying the adapters off amazon.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#164

Post by hermitdev »

qmarchi wrote: post #149
refulgentis wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opinion: I'm a little confused as to how you're confused as to how test might not match prod sometimes. Observation: "[if you write buggy software], there's reason for you to get an off the shelf option" Question: Are you saying if they used Android Automotive this could never have happened? Reference: similar event for Android, last week: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1538248-pixel-phones-using-m... Disclaimer: Fo…

Answer: To clarify, more that a company should stick to their core competencies unless there's a drastic need or opening in the market that could be filled (and to build a new competency). In this particular case, there's nothing particularly unique that Rivian is doing with their Infotainment system that couldn't already be handled by an incumbent in the space, (Android Automotive, QNX, etc.) especially given how mo…

> As State Farm says, "We know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two".

That's Farmers, delivered by J.K. Simmons, not State Farm. State Farm is Jake, in his khakis.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#165

Post by barbazoo »

BobaFloutist wrote: post #74
barbazoo wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, totally, it doesn't sound great but that's all I can do, my car doesn't have bluetooth :)

Does it not have an aux port? USB C to Aux cables are pretty cheap and simple.

I know I know but then there's a cable from where the phone is to the middle console where the aux port is. But true, it'd for sure be better sound quality.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#166

Post by whalesalad »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #147
whalesalad wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You choose different silicon? You get a different vendor? You build your own boards and chips? For a vehicle that costs $100k+ it shouldn't be hard to double or triple the budget for onboard compute considering it is vital to the operation of the entire vehicle.

Note that I never claimed the automotive world has functional people processes. Functional people processes make a lot of technical issues much easier, but they're usually off the table in traditional manufacturing. The security team insists on x requirements for security reasons. Hardware team insists on this chip because it's the only one that makes the budget work. A shockingly large part of my job is telling both…

I live in Detroit so what you’re saying does not surprise me in the least bit. I have some friends in automotive at some of the big 3, and suppliers, and I’ve heard some really terrible stories.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#167

Post by prmoustache »

jonplackett wrote: post #115
nomel wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand, but the risk of life wouldn't be from the bug, it would be from conscious choice of driving without a speedo. There's a critical distinction there. In this case, mileage/battery are still present, and I would assume safety critical warnings would still be displayed.

If you need thr car in an emergency and it's unusable, that almost counts.

If it is unusable you just don't use it.

That any car can have a dead /failing battery/fuel pump/whatever one morning or fail and leave you stranded on the road to an hospital has never been considered a safety risk.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#168

Post by baz00 »

toddmorey wrote: post #16
baz00 wrote: post #3

This is why I have a Dumbcar connected to a Smartphone via bluetooth.

Just a counterpoint: my dumb car has been undrivable way more often than my electric car. They never deployed bad software updates but they sure have designed & deployed bad fuel pumps. In some ways it’s all engineering and quality control.

I can go nearly anywhere and replace the fuel pump though.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#169

Post by singleshot_ »

gravitronic wrote: post #31

I used to work for a company that built satellite receivers that would be installed in all sorts of weird remote environments in order to pull radio or tv from satellite and rebroadcast locally. If we pushed a broken update it might mean someone from the radio company would have to make a trip to go pull the device and send it to us physically. Our upgrader did not run as root, but one time we had to move a file as r…

The person who built and released this might not have ever worked for your company, which might be why no one remembers building or releasing it.

Re: Rivian software update bricks infotainment system, fix not obvious

#170

Post by w0m »

VyseofArcadia wrote: post #68
cs702 wrote: post #13

It's easy to underestimate how hard and expensive it is to build, deploy, and remotely upgrade software that runs reliably on a fleet of diverse cars (different models, different years, slightly different components from batch to batch, etc.). It makes updating a mobile phone OS look trivial in comparison. So far, only Tesla seems to be able to update car software remotely, regularly and reliably. I'm certain it's ne…

Forget updates entirely. My car is one of the few places I expect to get software that works the first time. If you absolutely must have updates, then at least not OTA updates. Have them done at the dealership or service center so any issues can be dealt with immediately. Come on, is this engineering or hacking? This is a car, not a CRUD app. Get. It. Right.

random new features via OTA updates was one of the deciding factors when i bought my car ... :)

I also mostly WFH so... yea. lol.

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