Rivian Over The Air update bricks the entertainment system, requires physical service visit

[Newton]

Well, the nightmare scenario that I imagined way back when we first started pushing software updates automatically has happened. Rivian did an over the air update with a bad security certificate and now the displays are bricked. This will apparently require a service center visit somehow. Rivian says that in most cases the car is still drivable, but I am pretty sure that it is not legal to drive a car without a backup camera in the US — let alone no speedometer.

(Actually, I am more than pretty sure because when my infotainment system went out during the first service visit on my E-Golf they would not let me have the car back - for months - because it wasn’t legal to drive.)

Rivian bricked by Software Update

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[The Weatherman]

?

 

[roadhouse]

but I am pretty sure that it is not legal to drive a car without a backup camera in the US — let alone no speedometer.

The article you linked addresses this directly

Despite the soft-brick killing the infotainment system, most critical vehicle functions are still working. RivianTrackr, which first showed a video of the unsuccessful update to X (formerly Twitter), confirmed that the vehicle’s turn signals, locks, lights, wipers, and backup camera are still functional—the backup and 360-degree camera both showing up on the otherwise blank infotainment screen.

 

[Peddyr]

Before I bought my Lightning, I strongly considered going with the Rivian, and the one mark against them was the fact they only have one dealership in New England, which is about 2 hours from me. I know they offer mobile service calls to your home/work, but I wonder if that will be an option in this instance. Feel bad for those effected. Hope it doesn't happen to us ?

 

[Newton]

Ah, so not as bad as we first thought - I didn’t see the video in that link. At first they were telling some people not to drive.

It certainly raises the possibility of bad actors in the future bricking a whole bunch of cars and demanding a ransom to fix it, or using it to screw up the country during some sort of attack. You can talk about security certificates and SSl all that you like but I’m certainly seeing some avenues for attack being exposed especially if there are rouge employees (or foreign governments) involved.

Apparently Rivian is asking affected vehicles not to use DCFC so that is definitely a bummer.

 

[Zprime29]

It certainly raises the possibility of bad actors in the future bricking a whole bunch of cars and demanding a ransom to fix it, or using it to screw up the country during some sort of attack.

Well, at least we'll be safe from such an attack since the update will fail to install.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Rivian says that in most cases the car is still drivable, but I am pretty sure that it is not legal to drive a car without a backup camera in the US — let alone no speedometer.

That hardly matters..

One of the doors wouldn't close on mine and they couldn't get a tech out to me for weeks. I was not home and their suggestion was for me to slam/force it shut (didn't work) and while most sane people would recommend a flat bed I was told to attempt for my passenger to hold the door shut while I drive carefully home since it wasn't that far away.

It was a shame because it was an otherwise great truck. That experience convinced me to go back to the Lightning.

 

[Henry Ford]

(Actually, I am more than pretty sure because when my infotainment system went out during the first service visit on my E-Golf they would not let me have the car back - for months - because it wasn’t legal to drive.)

It's not illegal to drive a vehicle without a backup camera in the United States. It's not legal for a dealership to keep your personal property if you want it back in the United States. Without more details I think your dealership hoodwinked you. I can't imagine why though.

 

[MichaelCA]

My friends bmw i4? bricked twice during overnight updates. Both time had to be taken to the dealer for a replacement. Aren’t y’all glad we complain about updates failing due to 12v battery levels? lol. I know the rivian situation is different though.

 

[roadhouse]

This is basically the number one reason why Ford are super conservative about OTA updates - there are some pretty devastating consequences if it doesn't go smoothly. They have super strict prerequisites for applying an update, a super slow rollout to vehicles, and I would assume a ton of data back from system where the updates have been applied.

Every time we complain about Rivian or Tesla rolling out updates to their entire fleet within a week, this is the other side of the argument!

 

[USA EV]

This is basically the number one reason why Ford are super conservative about OTA updates - there are some pretty devastating consequences if it doesn't go smoothly. They have super strict per-requsites for applying an update, a super slow rollout to vehicles, and I would assume a ton of data back from system where the updates have been applied.

Everytime we complain about Rivian or Tesla rolling out updates to their entire fleet within a week, this is the other side of the argument!

Also the reason I don't sign up for "early access" updates...

 

[TaxmanHog]

I am completely happy sitting on the second string bench, take your time @Ford Motor Company

 

[WhipSticks]

I am not as optimistic as you about what Ford is capable of here. They are relatively new to this computer-on-wheels concept, and they appear to be doing it wrong. There are many strange inconsistencies is how OTA updates are pushed, and signs that a wide variety of update states are being created. A good example is the numeric dash representation of SoC and how that has been deployed. This is a recipe for disaster. Sooner or later they are going to run into a runaway process or software bug that only hits a small fraction of users that wasn't tested for because of the crazy software/firmware ecosystem that seems to exist on our cars. They should immediately snipe a hire from Apple's software/OS team that know WTF they are doing and come in to clean the OTA process up at Ford. The consequences of getting this wrong could be lethal.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Many Ford products, get software from a hodgepodge of vendors, but version & release control along with an accurate inventory of deployed updates needs to be done better, seeing the mess in the production tracking database ..... I wonder if any Tesla / Rivian systems architect with have the stomach to take on such a challenge?

 

[Yellow Buddy]

They should immediately snipe a hire from Apple's software/OS team that know WTF they are doing and come in to clean the OTA process up at Ford.

Um….Ford has hired half a dozen or so execs from Apple over the last couple of years. Munro even sat down with one of them in an interview about the Lightning. They even hired another one just in Aug. This Farley fellow apparently knows what to do…

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