Some Mazda drivers in and round Seattle this week found they might not change the radio station or play anything of their vehicles after listening to the native NPR station KUOW (by way of GeekWire).
The difficulty affected homeowners of assorted Mazda autos with mannequin years starting from 2014 to 2017 that had been tuned in to the station. In line with KUOW, it’s been taking place for weeks.
Over the previous couple of weeks, some individuals who take heed to KUOW of their Mazdas say their automotive radio is completely caught on 94.9 FM. It’s solely affecting KUOW, Mazdas from 2016, and we don’t know why. https://t.co/ffzJASFNBJ
— KUOW Public Radio (@KUOW) February 9, 2022
What the unsuspecting commuters tuning in found was a bug within the automotive’s infotainment software program that crashed after making an attempt to load the HD Radio broadcast picture KUOW submitted. The picture file was lacking an extension, and the infotainment software program couldn’t decode it and had no course of for dealing with it.
In line with some Reddit customers, the problem sounds even worse. Some homeowners reported shedding Bluetooth connectivity and the flexibility to play CDs, in addition to a disabled backup digicam and powerless USB ports for charging telephones. One person warned in opposition to disconnecting the automotive’s 12-volt battery when troubleshooting, as you’ll be able to lose the flexibility to even take heed to KUOW.
This all seems like one thing that might have been fastened with a software program replace, however it seems the answer is to interchange the CMU, which is the $1,500 {hardware} pc element of the infotainment system.
The excellent news is that Mazda is telling dealerships this restore needs to be submitted as a “good will” restore, which implies it shouldn’t price something for purchasers affected by it. The unhealthy information is the half shouldn’t be out there anyplace as a result of chip shortages, so it might take weeks or months.
In the long run, the problem is a software program bug that might have been fastened by an replace. Though among the Mazdas listed here are too previous to have OTA updates, it ought to no less than have a means for dealerships to put in updates for purchasers.
This could function a warning for all producers to start out implementing a software program replace system and save a number of complications for dealerships and prospects. Corporations like Tesla have pioneered the flexibility so as to add new options and repair bugs, and most not too long ago, Jaguar Land Rover added Amazon Alexa by an OTA replace.
Supply: The Verge
