Software Update 2023.42.0 is out (⚠️ UPDATE: OTA fix rolling out today 11/15/23)

[KCFGFE]

Bravo on the text message and Reddit. Again, it would have been better to have it for wake-up this morning, but Rivian is learning. You almost can't overcommunicate on this and they should plaster it on every Twitter, Facebook, social media, etc account they can.

It sounds silly because it is so simple, but there are some masters in companies out there that could tell you the worst news ever and make you feel good for hearing it .

I'm thinking they didn't want it to get overblown and picked up in the mainstream media in the off chance that they could rush a fix out before the severity of everything is revealed. An official tweet on their Twitter and other social media that's mainly used for positive marketing would be pretty embarrassing. It's a serious issue no doubt, but luckily for them (and owners) cars are still running and seems the big inflation news yesterday really took the heat off of this fiasco. If they can release a fix soon, hopefully the damage can be considered mitigated and crisis averted.

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[UT Rivian]

About an hour and a half MST until ‘the morning’ goes into the afternoon and no word yet on the update. At least it’s 60 degrees in Utah and I don’t have to break out the emergency blankets for the commute.

Rivian -s00n—

 

[izgoy]

What's your address? I'll buy your kids some Rivian long sleeved t-shirts they can wear until Rivian fixes your truck.

Which camp am I in?

Outdoorsmen

 

[izgoy]

There should be a lot less disdain for Tesla. I've only owned a Tesla for 2 years so far, but I've probably done about 50 software updates since I bought it. Not a single issue with an update. These vehicles are highly software dependent, so the least an EV startup should be able to do is update software without a hitch. Otherwise, folks will be afraid to run a software update. VW addresses this issue by not releasing any OTA updates. Rivian should have had a much more stringent software update quality controls. This debacle cannot be undone easily. Time to make RAN chargers free of charge for another year as a token of good will.

 

[ohseedee]

What's your address? I'll buy your kids some Rivian long sleeved t-shirts they can wear until Rivian fixes your truck.

Which camp am I in?

lol maybe a #4 of Super nice person, or #5 Creepy person that wants my address. I'll assume #4 and reply with - I appreciate that, but no thanks.

Socal kids normally dress in shorts and t-shirts, so 50 degree cold air will indeed be a frigging problem.

This exactly, my kids (4 and 6) had light sweaters and thin pants as it's going to be 70+ degrees today. Those sweaters are probably already off and wont be on the rest of the day. A typical day this time of year is heater in the am, AC in the pm (was like 50 in the am 90 in the pm last week). Now, we have it probably better than anyone else in the country right now, so I fully realize it's not that big of a deal, and I feel terrible for those in other locations.

 

[connoisseurr]

About an hour and a half MST until ‘the morning’ goes into the afternoon and no word yet on the update. At least it’s 60 degrees in Utah and I don’t have to break out the emergency blankets for the commute.

Rivian -s00n—

I guess they're talking about a "PST morning". So, until 3PM EST then LOL

 

[ath2001]

Not yet. Drove my truck this morning and...I think I like the pure driving experience of...nothing but speedo.

I mean, of course I wouldn't want it that way ALL the time, but...

Think about the energy you will be saving by not running the infotainment system. I’m being sarcastic here.. lol

 

[Belem]

I think this thread has done a great job of putting Rivan customers into 3 camps.

1. Those that bitch and moan about every panel gap, lack of car play, delay, etc.
2. Normal people that love the features and capability of Rivan, that knew and accept there was going to be some issues, but expected and needed a working vehicle.
3. Those that are so in love with Rivan that they can do no wrong and dream of RJ and his dreamy Clark Kent look at night.

If you are #1, Rivian is probably not for you, and you should sell. If you are in #3 and not impacted by this update, maybe hold your comments on this thread that downplay what the rest of us are dealing with right now. If you are #2, hopefully Rivian gets this fixed ASAP and you can get back to enjoying your truck.

I'm like a 2.5. I can't help that RJ is dreamy.

Oh, maybe like a 2.25. I have a secondary vehicle (a 40 year old Mercedes that is currently in the shop), so I kinda do and don't need a working vehicle at all times.

I think it's interesting that I am normally infuriated by EVERYTHING, but this bug is more like a "meh" for me. I don't know why. Probably the no kids and no need to actually go anywhere except for work. I can get why it's affecting others more deeply, though.

 

[JoeRMV]

I assume none of the early updaters (like me) have been contacted by Rivian yet. I am on the west coast and becoming concerned another day is going to pass without a fix. Rivian is somewhat known not to meet their own promised deadlines.

I know I will wait 48 hours before ever updating the software again.

 

[JGard18]

There should be a lot less disdain for Tesla. I've only owned a Tesla for 2 years so far, but I've probably done about 50 software updates since I bought it. Not a single issue with an update. These vehicles are highly software dependent, so the least an EV startup should be able to do is update software without a hitch. Otherwise, folks will be afraid to run a software update. VW addresses this issue by not releasing any OTA updates. Rivian should have had a much more stringent software update quality controls. This debacle cannot be undone easily. Time to make RAN chargers free of charge for another year as a token of good will.

I had my model 3 for 4 years before the Rivian and I was shocked at just how reliable the thing was. I really never had any issues with the thing. I WISH I could say the same for my Rivian. I LOVE the truck...when it's working right. I'm very likely going to sell mine after this incident, but I have no idea what else I'd get. There's nothing that excites me like this thing does, but I can't live with how unreliable it's been and how inconvenient the service center location is. I never wanted to go back to Tesla, but a Model Y may just not be a bad option

 

[kanundrum]

Looks like a OTA Fix. Electrafi has a new 42.2 version.

 

[jeeden]

Yup, looks like 1 person has installed it according to the website haha

So do we think this will have all the other updates in it like PAAK, etc? Will this go fleet wide I wonder so they get the improvements and everyone is on the same page again or I wonder if this is just a fix for us and then they will come out with .43 for everyone with all the updates.

 

[zefram47]

Yup, looks like 1 person has installed it according to the website haha

2023.42.2 - 1 install today
2023.42.0 - 2 installs today...weird

 

[LevelHeaded]

2023.42.0 - 2 installs today...weird

Testing the fix? ?

 

[DuoRivians]

https://electrek.co/2023/11/15/rivian-fixes-infotainment-software-bug-via-ota-around-3-affected/

I spoke with Rivian software head Wassym Bensaid today about his last harrowing 36 hours. Rivian’s software team scrambled after an incorrect OS update build was sent out to the company’s fleet with an incorrect certificate. The update hung before it could complete, disabling most of the consumer-facing infotainment features on around 3% of the company’s consumer vehicles according to Bensaid.


Rivian made Bensaid available to discuss the incident and the OTA fix which will be going out to customers as early at 9:30am PT (12:30ET).

I think as a Rivian owner, I’m glad it is going to be able to be fixed via an OTA but I’m more concerned that this could even actually happen. And it CANNOT happen again.

I asked Bensaid what went wrong and my understanding is that the software was tested on at least two “developer-build” Rivians that were not affected by the bad certificate before it went out. That seems like way too few and limited a subset of vehicles to test an OTA OS update on.

Since the past month, what happened in the final push is the wrong link was selected, unfortunately, with the wrong certificate. So this is what caused the issue. Initially, when we got the reports, there was so we started getting reports around like 5:30pm. Pacific, the reports were a bit confusing in the sense that some people reported bricked cars, others that the cluster and then the camera are still working. So as we were scrambling to get the reports, we wanted to be super conservative, and there was multiple solution paths for us. If cars were truly broken, that would have been a service visit. If parts of the car were still alive, that would have mean, meant probably a way to get them fixed through our mobile service vehicles. And then basically, the team used this opportunity to really zoom out and they came up with a super creative solution, which basically allows us now to fully fix the issue through an over the air update. So we will be sending out a new OTA today, which addresses the issue entirely. So it repairs basically the corrupted image.
Wassym Bensaidnone

Bensaid noted Rivian is re-evaluating its whole process so that human error can’t ever do something like this again. That means having normal consumer vehicles get the OTA update and tested before sending the update out to more vehicles.

We did not want to go into that line of communication initially, because whether it’s 3% 10% 1% 0.5%, it’s still super important for us. Every user, every customer matters. And Job number one says the last 36 hours was how can we as a team, find the best possible fix for our customers, and then the ranking, the best possible is a remote solution. The worst possible is basically they have to go to service or or they need to tow the vehicle and then the team basically spend a lot a lot of effort. And we managed to come up with really a great solution that helps us to address it remotely. It’s also because we have in place an architecture that has a lot of redundancies and that really allows us to do this kind of operations and actually shows up like once we started understanding what was happening in the field. The vehicle was still operational, the app was still operational on the critical parts of the system was still operational. So the the safety based In redundant based design that we have in place has actually protected us. And then we have used that as a way to basically inject in this case, the recovery solution through a remote fix by leveraging on these safety systems, which is what we will be deploying today.

The build that was supposed to go out was tested for months on regular vehicles but a single human copy/paste error sent the wrong build out. That process is also being overhauled so that multiple checks of the build go out before it is released to the wider customer group.

Owners who are affected, again around 3% of the fleet according to Rivian, should see an update on their phone app and should initiate the process from there. For those few who don’t use an app with their Rivian, they must call the Rivian service line to initiate the update from there.

Electrek’s take:
All of the above is what I want to hear as a Rivian owner but as a reporter, I would have also liked the communication from Rivian to be more official. The original Reddit post was timely and better than nothing but it was also a process to verify the user was really Bensaid. It was over 10 hours before the PR team was even able to acknowledge there was a problem and only after we had shown them the Reddit post. I think the Rivian team can do better here.

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