A SiriusXM Update Sent Some Audi Screens Into a Forced-Reboot Loop For Months (thedrive.com) 29
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Drive: This week, a reader wrote to us sharing that the infotainment in their 2020 Audi A4 had been "rebooting every five minutes all year." It looks like the problem was caused by a compatibility issue with a SiriusXM app update. Audi tells us the situation's been rectified, but it illustrates a serious pain point in modern cars -- myriad apps interacting with a diverse population of in-car software systems. Our reader was not the only Audi owner affected. "Randomly restarting" Audi infotainment screens have been discussed on Reddit, the Audiworld forum, and elsewhere, going back many months. Audi's recall notice and related service action only went out this summer.
It looks like this particular problem was caused when the satellite radio app pushed an update that was supposed to work on the latest version of Audi's infotainment software, but not all cars were running that. Then SiriusXM reverted, which, I guess, did not solve the problem for every owner. Audi now states that the problem has been fixed and originated with the SiriusXM app, but really, the automaker bears more than a little blame, too. [...] I dropped our own contacts at Audi a note about how and why this might have happened, and they added this clarification: "At the beginning of the year, SiriusXM did a programming update which was addressed via a software update to the MMI. However, as not all customers had their cars updated and SiriusXM then reverted back to the previous category numbering. Nonetheless, a MMI update is recommended as the two versions do seem to cause the issue."
It looks like this particular problem was caused when the satellite radio app pushed an update that was supposed to work on the latest version of Audi's infotainment software, but not all cars were running that. Then SiriusXM reverted, which, I guess, did not solve the problem for every owner. Audi now states that the problem has been fixed and originated with the SiriusXM app, but really, the automaker bears more than a little blame, too. [...] I dropped our own contacts at Audi a note about how and why this might have happened, and they added this clarification: "At the beginning of the year, SiriusXM did a programming update which was addressed via a software update to the MMI. However, as not all customers had their cars updated and SiriusXM then reverted back to the previous category numbering. Nonetheless, a MMI update is recommended as the two versions do seem to cause the issue."
APP and OS updates are not packaged as one? and ap (Score:1)
APP and OS updates are not packaged as one? and app updates don't have min OS version flags in them?
Better to use Android Auto / Car Play than native (Score:5, Insightful)
This is why it's better to separate the car from the entertainment system and just use it as a dumb screen when it comes to apps that are not directly related to the operation of the vehicle. It's easier to manage something like that on a phone. If it kills android auto, just switch to bluetooth audio until it's fixed.
And GM wants to get rid of Android Auto and Apple Car Play? Expect more of this, plus locked-in, walled garden garbage so they can sell more of your data...
Re: Better to use Android Auto / Car Play than nat (Score:3)
Re: Better to use Android Auto / Car Play than nat (Score:3)
k.i.s.s.
keep it more simple, better to just have Bluetooth.
Re: (Score:3)
This. The car should be completely separate from the infotainment system, for a number of reasons. One of which is so people can replace the factory one with something from Alpine or a good audio head maker to keep things up to date. Another is to limit damage caused by poorly coded or malicious code.
Even better, standardize this stuff, so any third party can make audio heads. This way, car makers can just OEM a cheapie and if people want better, they can get it themselves.
Umm, no (Score:2)
I don't want to have to rely on a phone to do even basic stuff such as listening to the radio or navigation because phones can be mislaid or stolen. Plus in my car android auto via bluetooth is so slow its unusable which means I need to have it plugged in via usb all the time.
Having said that, there's no reason ANY kind of radio reception needs an "app update". The radio should be a hard wired chip with a basic interface on top. I don't need to see the fecking album cover of whatevers being played at the mo
Re: (Score:2)
So get a second phone/infotainment unit and keep it mounted in the car and connected by USB. Replacing that will be a lot cheaper than replacing current built in infotainment units.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would I need to replace the built in one? It works.
Re: (Score:2)
Today it works, tomorrow it's outdated and bit rotten. Next week it'll cost $2000 to replace it because automotive parts have crazy mark-ups (the replacement will also be bit-roten because the manufacturer lost interest).
Re: (Score:2)
Meanwhile, on my current Honda I can only use Android Auto: which continually crashes, works super slow in some apps, and often just freezes for up to twenty seconds. I've got a
Not Audi's fault? (Score:5, Informative)
Audi: We don't test third party software before updating your car, and the apps can crash the OS. Das Auto.
Yes. Audi's fault. (Score:1, Insightful)
Audi: We don't test third party software before updating your car, and the apps can crash the OS. Das Auto.
Audi can paint this any shade of bullshit they want. We know damn well they fucked up, standing alone in that field with no other auto vendors to lean on.
Tell the patch to check the damn OS version next time, Audholes.
Windows? (Score:2, Insightful)
Are they running Windows or something?
Re: (Score:3)
The new one is Android I think, the old one was I believe Windows CE. Keep in mind that this goes back as far as 2001, when Linux for embedded wasn't really an option.
Re: (Score:2)
The affected cars have MIB3. MIB2, the previous system, uses QNX.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks. I always forget about QNX.
Re: (Score:3)
https://media.audiusa.com/rele... [audiusa.com]
That doesn't mean the software isn't full of bugs though. I have an Audi with MMI3 and it definitely has issues.
VW are software experts (Score:1)
At least for diesel emissions systems, they are.
Must have been a "required app". (Score:3)
Five minutes is plenty of time to remove an app from a smartphone, so I assume this was a feature the owner had to have included in the infotainment package. Would have been nice if they could simply uninstall it and recover use of the rest of their system. A worthless icon on screen for people not subscribed to Sirius.
Re: (Score:3)
Sirius paid good money to have their software preinstalled. How are customers have the ability to remove it
Sirius Issue (Score:2)
Won't fix.
audi loop (Score:2)
How do you like your Over The Air Updates (Score:2)
Siriously? (Score:2)
Why we have a USB car-ready CD player, and a bunch of CDs.
aha! (Score:2)
All year? (Score:2)
This reboot loop has been happening all year? How is this just coming out now, and why isn't it fixed yet?