FDRS - Mach-E

[Jimrpa]

Ford vehicles have had module updates for a long time. Its been frustrating to know there is newer updates to your car, but can't get them applied. That's why you see people using forscan, and other ways to get these updates without paying a dealer.

I played around a bit with FORScan, hoping to get Global Open/Global Close to work on my Focus Ti a long time ago (like it does in every other market - ?) Sadly, the modules in the US model cars didn’t support it.
Also, when I played with FORScan, it was a nightmare for a person who is purely apple-based. There’s no Mac equivalent, so I had to install windows in a VM, blah, blah, blah.

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[breeves002]

What is UCDS?

ucdsys.ru - Near dealer level diagnostic tool for Fords. Hard to get, but man it is great when it supports the vehicle.

 

[breeves002]

I played around a bit with FORScan, hoping to get Global Open/Global Close to work on my Focus Ti a long time ago (like it does in every other market - ?) Sadly, the modules in the US model cars didn’t support it.
Also, when I played with FORScan, it was a nightmare for a person who is purely apple-based. There’s no Mac equivalent, so I had to install windows in a VM, blah, blah, blah.

US model focus did support auto up/down I enabled it on my FFE and multiple friends STs. The mustang coupe however (s550) could only have global open enabled, not close.

 

[RonTCat]

Well let's just hope they get timely OTAs figured out and just start pushing those next year...That would be REALLY nice. What kills me is they just have done nothing at all this year. The only update of any substance was that TCU update to add SecuriAlert or whatever it's called.

I wish UCDS supported the Mach E already because that is affordable for people ($400 or less one time) and can do all module updates like a dealer tool can. You can even select later versions of software for different VINs or past versions.

It's getting there. Even a moderate OTA will take an update sequence with more than 15 "steps". I guess the best analogy is when Windows does an update, it needs to reboot, then does more work, then reboots, etc. Each of those reboots is a "step". It's likely why some cars take a while to see updates... if the sequence gets interrupted midway, its gonna roll back the changes and start at a later time. I shudder when I see the dependency diagrams... it's like a plate of spaghetti.

 

[breeves002]

It's getting there. Even a moderate OTA will take an update sequence with more than 15 "steps". I guess the best analogy is when Windows does an update, it needs to reboot, then does more work, then reboots, etc. Each of those reboots is a "step". It's likely why some cars take a while to see updates... if the sequence gets interrupted midway, its gonna roll back the changes and start at a later time. I shudder when I see the dependency diagrams... it's like a plate of spaghetti.

That isn't how updates on modules works in a Ford. Totally different than a windows update. These modules are in general much less complicated than windows.

Read this information I posted: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/ota-updates-technical-info.4923/

Basically there are two types of updates. ABA update where the module essentially has two ROMs and all it does is flash the secondary one with the new software. Then on the next reboot the secondary becomes primary and is now active. That way it can be updated and interrupted anytime without issue or even while the car is being driven.

Second update type is erase and replace. For less important modules or less complicated ones. This is exactly what it sounds like. Programmer (GWM) erases the ROM and then flashes the new software on top of it. You will never see a situation where a module is programmed, then reboots, then has to be programmed again - that isn't how they're designed. It is one software package in a read only file system for the main software. Modules like the APIM have a second file system for storing user data, etc. Some other modules have some simple EEPROMs to store basic configuration info (hex).

The erase and replace method is the ONLY method a dealer scan tool uses as far as I can tell. ABA is only for OTA with select modules.

I believe the reason it takes so long is Ford wants to prefect the OTA process before possibly bricking vehicles or causing drivability issues. They need to make sure the GWM can properly handle the updates to various modules, especially if it needs to update 5+ modules. In theory it really should not take a long time with the GWM being able to store the updates and transmit to modules with the ABA method. Erase and replace modules in general are quick updates that take minutes.

 

[RonTCat]

That isn't how updates on modules works in a Ford. Totally different than a windows update. These modules are in general much less complicated than windows.

Read this information I posted: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/ota-updates-technical-info.4923/

Basically there are two types of updates. ABA update where the module essentially has two ROMs and all it does is flash the secondary one with the new software. Then on the next reboot the secondary becomes primary and is now active. That way it can be updated and interrupted anytime without issue or even while the car is being driven.

Second update type is erase and replace. For less important modules or less complicated ones. This is exactly what it sounds like. Programmer (GWM) erases the ROM and then flashes the new software on top of it. You will never see a situation where a module is programmed, then reboots, then has to be programmed again - that isn't how they're designed. It is one software package in a read only file system for the main software. Modules like the APIM have a second file system for storing user data, etc. Some other modules have some simple EEPROMs to store basic configuration info (hex).

The erase and replace method is the ONLY method a dealer scan tool uses as far as I can tell. ABA is only for OTA with select modules.

I believe the reason it takes so long is Ford wants to prefect the OTA process before possibly bricking vehicles or causing drivability issues. They need to make sure the GWM can properly handle the updates to various modules, especially if it needs to update 5+ modules. In theory it really should not take a long time with the GWM being able to store the updates and transmit to modules with the ABA method. Erase and replace modules in general are quick updates that take minutes.

Yes, maybe the Windows analogy is a little too simplistic.

Dealers generally do erase/write, as that is what is available. But they can still brick vehicles without the right sequence... some modules, for reasons I won't go into, will need a reflash of existing software with the same version in order to support some feature updates.

Tesla started with a clean sheet of paper, and still took years to get OTA right. Ford is starting out with Windows 3.1 and trying to get it to OTA. In theory, it should work, lol...

 

[Jimrpa]

US model focus did support auto up/down I enabled it on my FFE and multiple friends STs. The mustang coupe however (s550) could only have global open enabled, not close.

I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I was talking about Global open/close from the remote. Not auto up/down from the door switches.
or perhaps I was clear, you were answering my question, and I just never got FORScan to correctly enable global open/close via the remote. This could be highly likely ?

 

[breeves002]

Yes, maybe the Windows analogy is a little too simplistic.

Dealers generally do erase/write, as that is what is available. But they can still brick vehicles without the right sequence... some modules, for reasons I won't go into, will need a reflash of existing software with the same version in order to support some feature updates.

Tesla started with a clean sheet of paper, and still took years to get OTA right. Ford is starting out with Windows 3.1 and trying to get it to OTA. In theory, it should work, lol...

It is suuuuuuper hard to brick most modules in a Ford. Even if you unplug mid update you simply just go back and flash it again. Even if the module isn't responding they have made ways to force flash the modules automatically. There's really no sequence. In FDRS software updates are stupid simple. You literally just hit run on the module you want to update and it does the rest. It only lists modules with available updates. If the update requires other modules to be updated too it will not let you exit until you've done all of them.

I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I was talking about Global open/close from the remote. Not auto up/down from the door switches.
or perhaps I was clear, you were answering my question, and I just never got FORScan to correctly enable global open/close via the remote. This could be highly likely ?

Yup I was talking about from the fob. It does work, sounds like you just didn't get the right ABD.

 

[Jimrpa]

Yup I was talking about from the fob. It does work, sounds like you just didn't get the right ABD.

I figured you were ? as I said, I was doing all this from a Mac, running windows from an emulator, reading poorly translated Russian documentation, and trying to learn as I went along. I finally got a bit frustrated and gave up. I’m still annoyed that does never thought the US market was “worthy” of Global Open/Close, but the rest of the world could handle such sophisticated functionality. ?

 

[phidauex]

It is suuuuuuper hard to brick most modules in a Ford. Even if you unplug mid update you simply just go back and flash it again. Even if the module isn't responding they have made ways to force flash the modules automatically. There's really no sequence. In FDRS software updates are stupid simple. You literally just hit run on the module you want to update and it does the rest. It only lists modules with available updates. If the update requires other modules to be updated too it will not let you exit until you've done all of them.

Glad to hear it, I'm used to flashing a lot of devices with STM microcontrollers and whatnot that are very easy to brick. A good flashing system should be able to load the new firmware into memory, validate the checksum, and not write until all is good, and have a bootloader that can roll back if something went wrong. Sounds like whatever Ford is doing it is at least robust to bricking.

 

[breeves002]

Glad to hear it, I'm used to flashing a lot of devices with STM microcontrollers and whatnot that are very easy to brick. A good flashing system should be able to load the new firmware into memory, validate the checksum, and not write until all is good, and have a bootloader that can roll back if something went wrong. Sounds like whatever Ford is doing it is at least robust to bricking.

It actually erases first then writes, but the way it is designed you can restart the flash process and it does it again. I'm not 100% sure how they do it exactly but it is robust so you don't have bricked modules. I've flashed incompatible software on modules to try to get certain features to work - which seemingly bricked them - then simply flashing the old software back on fixed it.

 

[GrumblesTheDog]

As a DIYer/tinkerer, this is a super interesting thread. Too bad even used programmers still appear to go for quite a bit of cash. I guess I'll just sit and patiently wait for the OTAs...

 

[phidauex]

This is getting out of scope for this forum, but I figure I'll ask here since there are some knowledable folks...

I'm not getting any luck with my Snap On Pass Thru Pro 3 (rebranded CarDaq Plus 2). Everything seems to go OK, but the Power light is always blinking green (the manual says this is "starting up") and never switches to solid. The behavior is the same whether it is connected to ODB only, USB only, or both.

All my drivers were installed well, and in device manager the device is correctly listed and shows as "working correctly".

When I attempt to connect to the vehicle, it opens a firmware update window that appears to finish, and then the connection attempt fails. Same behavior in ForScan, J2534 Toolbox, etc. It never actually gets to talking to the car, so even very simple requests like "vehicle information" fail.

Any thoughts? Is there a way to do a hard reset on these boxes?

 

[ProximusAl]

My new 13.8V/50 Amp supply for module programming/updating.
Home made battery clamp cables from AWG 10 cable at the correct electrical length to support 50 amps, ~0.2 V loss. Should be just the ticket.....Need an update in FDRS now to test this puppy out.

 

[ZuleMME]

My new 13.8V/50 Amp supply for module programming/updating.
Home made battery clamp cables from AWG 10 cable at the correct electrical length to support 50 amps, ~0.2 V loss. Should be just the ticket.....Need an update in FDRS now to test this puppy out.

That's a nice PSU; those don't seem to be available in the USA. I'm certain my 30A will do but reading your post in the other FDRS thread made me go find this post. The battery can easily handle a 10A load for hours though...