Firmware Update Issue, Rivian Stuck on 2023.06.02 in Kazakhstan

[Gregorykz]

Sorry about all of this. Ask the UAE guys if they had the vehicle in the UAE, would they have a better chance of getting it up and running?

On a side note. Kazakhstan is about as land locked as possible. I sold a car to someone in Almaty 20 years ago and they air-freighted it ($20K at the time). Did you import the car yourself, if so, what was the route it took to get to you?

So far, no major updates today — but on a positive note, the team from the UAE is currently working on clearing the update error. They’re trying to reflash the faulty modules and install a new firmware version. The process is just getting started, and I really hope everything works out. Hopefully, today marks the turning point where I can finally start enjoying my Rivian.

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[Donald Stanfield]

I hope so too man. You deserve to drive your truck and enjoy it.

 

[DuoRivian]

How did you get insurance for a unicorn in KZ?

 

[Gregorykz]

I hope so too man. You deserve to drive your truck and enjoy it.

All the guys from the UAE have already diagnosed the vehicle and tried to download the firmware. Unfortunately, one of our best internet providers had a failure, and now it takes about 3 hours to download 9GB. There are also some complications — the download process requires Linux specifically. Tomorrow morning I’ll install Linux, and in the evening the guys from Dubai will continue working. I’ve already paid them and really hoped everything would be resolved today, but due to the internet issues, that didn’t happen. Right now, it feels a bit like “swimming across the ocean only to drown in a puddle.”

During the diagnostics, we discovered that the car failed an update back in 2023. Now, after successfully flashing all modules to the same version, the only thing left is to install the new firmware.

 

[Gregorykz]

How did you get insurance for a unicorn in KZ?

Honestly, there’s really no need to worry about registration or insurance here — they register and insure pretty much anything that even remotely looks like a car. The vehicle was originally certified in the U.S., and it was registered here using those same certificates without much trouble. Insurance is also incredibly cheap — just $55 a year.

However, the car did spend quite a while stuck in the traffic police department because, according to local regulations, it was classified as a truck due to its weight being over 3.5 tons (7,700 lbs). But in the end, I managed to get it reclassified as a passenger vehicle.

 

[HaveBlue]

Not many charging station in KZ. Are you going to buy a CCS2 to CCS1 adapter or is it not even worth it right now? Seems like J1772 is often available there but I'm guessing a Schuko plug is about the most common for overnight.
This one does both AC and DC Type 1 to 2.
https://a2zevshop.com/products/ccs2...pBeJn4jIVx9qKMCguEwNwRU33665dVsoJWQ7dabcVtECD

 

[DuoRivian]

Honestly, there’s really no need to worry about registration or insurance here — they register and insure pretty much anything that even remotely looks like a car. The vehicle was originally certified in the U.S., and it was registered here using those same certificates without much trouble. Insurance is also incredibly cheap — just $55 a year.

However, the car did spend quite a while stuck in the traffic police department because, according to local regulations, it was classified as a truck due to its weight being over 3.5 tons (7,700 lbs). But in the end, I managed to get it reclassified as a passenger vehicle.

Insurance for $55, good luck getting any repairs done when they cost $10k plus in the US.

 

[Gregorykz]

Not many charging station in KZ. Are you going to buy a CCS2 to CCS1 adapter or is it not even worth it right now? Seems like J1772 is often available there but I'm guessing a Schuko plug is about the most common for overnight.
This one does both AC and DC Type 1 to 2.
https://a2zevshop.com/products/ccs2...pBeJn4jIVx9qKMCguEwNwRU33665dVsoJWQ7dabcVtECD

Yes, charging can be a bit tricky here — especially for Rivian. I had to install a DC fast charger at home because the old Audi Type 2 charger was only giving me around 4 kW/h.

I spent about $700 on the new charger and upgraded wiring, and now I have 30 kW/h charging at home, which makes a big difference.

The car came with two chargers (the original Rivian one and a Chinese-made one), plus two CCS1 to CCS2 adapters — similar to the ones in the photo, just with different brand.

Most of the public chargers here are equipped with CCS2 and the Chinese GBT standard, since a lot of EVs here are from China. I’m currently thinking of buying a CCS1 to GBT adapter just in case — there are a few chargers that only support GBT.

 

[Gregorykz]

Insurance for $55, good luck getting any repairs done when they cost $10k plus in the US.

Parts for Rivian are actually cheaper here than in the U.S. — thanks to Copart and other salvage auctions that sell wrecked vehicles for almost nothing.

I heard that some local guys recently bought three R1Ts, and the total cost came out to around $50,000. Their plan is to dismantle two of them for parts and restore the third one.

Since most of the parts here come from low-mileage vehicles and are practically new, prices are quite affordable. For example, I found a flawless door (no scratches or dents) for $500, and a quad-motor drive unit with only 4,900 miles on it was around $2,500.

 

[IGR]

Insurance for $55, good luck getting any repairs done when they cost $10k plus in the US.

Different country, different ways of doing things. Don’t assume everyone follows US way of life.

 

[Gregorykz]

I hope so too man. You deserve to drive your truck and enjoy it.

Unfortunately, there’s no good news today — and honestly, I don’t think there will be.

It turns out that some of the modules in the car were replaced before I bought it, and it seems they flashed such an old firmware version that the car just doesn’t understand what’s going on. The update process now fails at 0%, and we can’t do anything to move forward.

At this point, I truly don’t know what to do anymore. It feels like this might be the end of the road for this car. The people who originally imported it clearly didn’t do things properly, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we find more issues with other modules as well.

upd: he’s currently trying to do something with the ECU, but honestly, it’s still unclear whether this will help or not. The whole situation is quite uncertain at the moment.

 

[Riviot]

Unfortunately, there’s no good news today — and honestly, I don’t think there will be.

It turns out that some of the modules in the car were replaced before I bought it, and it seems they flashed such an old firmware version that the car just doesn’t understand what’s going on. The update process now fails at 0%, and we can’t do anything to move forward.

At this point, I truly don’t know what to do anymore. It feels like this might be the end of the road for this car. The people who originally imported it clearly didn’t do things properly, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we find more issues with other modules as well.

upd: he’s currently trying to do something with the ECU, but honestly, it’s still unclear whether this will help or not. The whole situation is quite uncertain at the moment.

You spoke about COPART and used parts, so hear me out:

What if you pulled all the ECUs, modules, etc that make the truck go from a salvaged one that turns on and runs fine, and put them into your truck?

 

[Gregorykz]

You spoke about COPART and used parts, so hear me out:

What if you pulled all the ECUs, modules, etc that make the truck go from a salvaged one that turns on and runs fine, and put them into your truck?

Looks like we’ve finally figured out the issue with that ECU. I won’t get too optimistic just yet — the update is at 21% right now. The problem was that the module itself seemed to be compatible and functional, but apparently no one even bothered to flash it properly. Once it was fully reflashed and synced with the rest of the system, things finally started moving.

What’s strange is that diagnostics didn’t show any major problems with this ECU — just a firmware error. Even yesterday, during full diagnostics, that specific error didn’t show up at all, which probably means there was just a tiny corrupted or incorrect part of the code that was enough to block everything.

Even a “new” replacement module still needs to be properly flashed, and clearly that wasn’t done before. Honestly, I think the car was refusing to update all this time because of their sloppy programming. Fingers crossed — really hoping it finally goes through this.

 

[SolartoEV]

Looks like we’ve finally figured out the issue with that ECU. I won’t get too optimistic just yet — the update is at 21% right now. The problem was that the module itself seemed to be compatible and functional, but apparently no one even bothered to flash it properly. Once it was fully reflashed and synced with the rest of the system, things finally started moving.

What’s strange is that diagnostics didn’t show any major problems with this ECU — just a firmware error. Even yesterday, during full diagnostics, that specific error didn’t show up at all, which probably means there was just a tiny corrupted or incorrect part of the code that was enough to block everything.

Even a “new” replacement module still needs to be properly flashed, and clearly that wasn’t done before. Honestly, I think the car was refusing to update all this time because of their sloppy programming. Fingers crossed — really hoping it finally goes through this.

I am so invested in this saga.

 

[Gregorykz]

I am so invested in this saga.

Now I’ve got some really bad news — the car is basically dead. I can’t even shift it into Drive anymore. The update went through, but not all the modules were successfully flashed, and that’s it. The guy from the UAE is completely lost right now and doesn’t understand what’s going on either.

UPD:
Tomorrow a technician will come to check the CAN bus — hopefully we can figure something out through the communication line. The guys from the UAE are also planning to connect in the evening, and most likely they’ll be able to bring the car back to life.

Unfortunately, this will probably be the end of my journey with this beautiful Rivian that I never really got to enjoy. I’ll most likely sell it and just get a Tesla instead.

I don’t think it will ever be able to update again, but there’s still a tiny bit of hope left that maybe everything will start working.

Also, maybe someone can help — how do you open the hood if everything is completely dead? The team suspects I just need to reboot the 12V system, but I don’t know how to do that exactly. There should be some kind of emergency hood release cable somewhere, but I haven’t been able to locate it yet. Any tips would be appreciated.

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