How to never miss a OTA software update!

[dtbaker61]

Part of your problem is setting your recurring schedule at 2am.
To save Mike G from having to explain again, I cut and pasted from a previous reply:

Just remember to set your "Check Updates" in Sync to "everyday" and a time when you know you'll be out driving in the car. Preferably 15 minutes after you've gotten underway to allow your 12V battery to charge back up so the logic will allow the check to go through. And your car will not download updates over your home Wi-Fi in the middle of the night regardless of what Ford says (or that little note in FordPass). Just so you know.

this seems 100% not what @Ford Motor Company promised regarding OTA?!

If this is the case, then I would not have even gotten one update, because I am NEVER driving at 2am. I guess I'd like to hear from a few more people whether OTA arrive via wifi at night, or is this a bug that we all need to make a big stink about? Is it a bug with OTA, or insufficient bandwidth, or just terrible software version control?

Either way.... from the poll, it is quite obvious to me that even with people that have auto-update 'on' that updates are obviously NOT happening with frequency I would expect to keep vehicles up to date.

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[thekat03]

Part of your problem is setting your recurring schedule at 2am.
To save Mike G from having to explain again, I cut and pasted from a previous reply:

Just remember to set your "Check Updates" in Sync to "everyday" and a time when you know you'll be out driving in the car. Preferably 15 minutes after you've gotten underway to allow your 12V battery to charge back up so the logic will allow the check to go through. And your car will not download updates over your home Wi-Fi in the middle of the night regardless of what Ford says (or that little note in FordPass). Just so you know.

I my daily commute, 15 minutes in, I am in a spot with low cell phone signal. Any reason why I shouldn't set it to a few minutes after I get to work, or an hour or two after I get home, when it will be on wifi?

 

[RickMachE]

I my daily commute, 15 minutes in, I am in a spot with low cell phone signal. Any reason why I shouldn't set it to a few minutes after I get to work, or an hour or two after I get home, when it will be on wifi?

The updates download automatically. The schedule is simply for when to apply an update that requires the car to be immobile, which is only some updates.

Connectivity a drive would have zero impact on the application that requires immobility.

You should set the schedule for a time of day when the car will be immobile, like when you are sleeping.

 

[thekat03]

The updates download automatically. The schedule is simply for when to apply an update that requires the car to be immobile, which is only some updates.

Connectivity a drive would have zero impact on the application that requires immobility.

You should set the schedule for a time of day when the car will be immobile, like when you are sleeping.

OK, I am really confused. What you're saying is the opposite of the advice Mark Hassa (and others elsewhere in this forum) offered:

Part of your problem is setting your recurring schedule at 2am.
To save Mike G from having to explain again, I cut and pasted from a previous reply:

Just remember to set your "Check Updates" in Sync to "everyday" and a time when you know you'll be out driving in the car. Preferably 15 minutes after you've gotten underway to allow your 12V battery to charge back up so the logic will allow the check to go through.

It sounds like one possible issue is the 12 volt battery level going down. If the car needs to be immobile, have good signal through cell network or wifi at my house, and have the 12 volt battery be as full as possible to not be a hindrance, aiming for after work in the evening within an hour or two, should be reasonable? It's a new car, just built in April and purchased a week and a half ago, so it probably doesn't have any updates to fetch, but I want to be sure I am helping it be able to update as much as I can, since it should at least be getting the bluecruise update that is "coming soon."

 

[RickMachE]

OK, I am really confused. What you're saying is the opposite of the advice Mark Hassa (and others elsewhere in this forum) offered:


It sounds like one possible issue is the 12 volt battery level going down. If the car needs to be immobile, have good signal through cell network or wifi at my house, and have the 12 volt battery be as full as possible to not be a hindrance, aiming for after work in the evening within an hour or two, should be reasonable? It's a new car, just built in April and purchased a week and a half ago, so it probably doesn't have any updates to fetch, but I want to be sure I am helping it be able to update as much as I can, since it should at least be getting the bluecruise update that is "coming soon."

The only thing that the schedule is used for is to apply already downloaded updates that require the vehicle be immobile. Many updates just "happen" because automatic updates is turned on. You drive, then stop, and see it got an update and updated. Or, you get back in and see it just updated.

That's why the schedule should be set for a time overnight.

 

[dtbaker61]

OK, I am really confused. What you're saying is the opposite of the advice Mark Hassa (and others elsewhere in this forum) offered:


It sounds like one possible issue is the 12 volt battery level going down. If the car needs to be immobile, have good signal through cell network or wifi at my house, and have the 12 volt battery be as full as possible to not be a hindrance, aiming for after work in the evening within an hour or two, should be reasonable? It's a new car, just built in April and purchased a week and a half ago, so it probably doesn't have any updates to fetch, but I want to be sure I am helping it be able to update as much as I can, since it should at least be getting the bluecruise update that is "coming soon."

frequency of updates, and what version you get updated to SEEM to be entirely random as far as I can tell.... there is no way I know of to force an update, and no way to get all the way to 'current version'.

I really wish that @Ford Motor Company could post some kind of an official statement from Ford OTA team on what they plan to do to increase update frequency, improve release notes, and add the ability to request an update 'to current version'.

I have my car set to auto-update .... and I seem to be getting incremental updates rather than catching up to current, and they are only coming every week or two. Really annoying since the incremental updates really don't have any enhancements I have any interest in.


7/1/23 - turned on auto-update for PowerUp
7/18/23 - updated to 3.5.2
7/27/23 - 3.5.3 , included Alexa
8/2/23 - 3.5.3.3, prep for video streaming on console w Connected service plan or wi-fi

I am disappointed that there is no 'service pack' to bundle updates to catch up faster, and that updates are only coming a week or two apart. It's been a month, and I am still at 3.5.x rather than current 4.x

 

[Blue highway]

frequency of updates, and what version you get updated to SEEM to be entirely random as far as I can tell.... there is no way I know of to force an update, and no way to get all the way to 'current version'.

I really wish that @Ford Motor Company could post some kind of an official statement from Ford OTA team on what they plan to do to increase update frequency, improve release notes, and add the ability to request an update 'to current version'.

I have my car set to auto-update .... and I seem to be getting incremental updates rather than catching up to current, and they are only coming every week or two. Really annoying since the incremental updates really don't have any enhancements I have any interest in.


7/1/23 - turned on auto-update for PowerUp
7/18/23 - updated to 3.5.2
7/27/23 - 3.5.3 , included Alexa
8/2/23 - 3.5.3.3, prep for video streaming on console w Connected service plan or wi-fi

I am disappointed that there is no 'service pack' to bundle updates to catch up faster, and that updates are only coming a week or two apart. It's been a month, and I am still at 3.5.x rather than current 4.x

I am sure Ford is proud of what they are doing with OTAs... but they have soooo far to go.

For me, I expect the car to be able to do what my, Router, phone, TV, Computer, home thermostat, etc. do, which is allow you to force updates wherever they are available. to do this today, you need FDRS. sad.

 

[KevinS]

I always wonder if the social media team at Ford regrets posting after they get to the 5th or 6th page of comments...

This is a post from June 2022, by the way.

 

[BMT1071]

I am sure Ford is proud of what they are doing with OTAs... but they have soooo far to go.

For me, I expect the car to be able to do what my, Router, phone, TV, Computer, home thermostat, etc. do, which is allow you to force updates wherever they are available. to do this today, you need FDRS. sad.

You only think those other devices work that way because you aren't on forums for all of them trying to track every new version that is released. Google, Apple, Samsung, etc. all release updates in batches, not to every device/user all at once. I am certainly not saying that Ford is perfect, or even great, at the OTA process. They are not nearly as far behind/backwards as some users on this forum believe them to be though.

 

[Blue highway]

You only think those other devices work that way because you aren't on forums for all of them trying to track every new version that is released. Google, Apple, Samsung, etc. all release updates in batches, not to every device/user all at once. I am certainly not saying that Ford is perfect, or even great, at the OTA process. They are not nearly as far behind/backwards as some users on this forum believe them to be though.

All of those devices I pointed out have the ability to let the user check for updates and get them... despite the check for updates button in our cars, OTA is a purely push technology... that does not push a lot of (most?) modules that have available updates via FDRS. Which is why every few months I go get those updates with FDRS... this should not be necessary.

 

[Mike G]

On the topic of OTAs and 12V battery state of charge at 1 AM.....

I was reviewing the OTA Dashboards for a few VINs and came across this classic example of why having your car check and process updates at 1 AM (Ford's default time) is sub-optimal (engineer-speak). Not being an engineer, I'm free to use other terms...like 'ridiculous' instead.

This is an expansion of a section of an update log for a recent ACM update on a '21 model MME.

Notice that the owner has left the update setting at 1 AM....and then notice the state of charge when the check attempt occurred. An 80% SOC is what the logic is looking for to successfully process OTAs. It is highly doubtful that with the 35Ah battery that the MME and Lightning has that the SOC will still be at 80% at 1 AM for the majority of those vehicles.

I have said this too many times now, but I'm going to say it again.

To ensure the greatest success in downloading and processing OTAs you should set Sync "Check Updates" schedule to a daily time when you are most likely to be 15 minutes or so into a daily commute (either to or from work) to allow the 12V battery to recharge for a few minutes before the check occurs. It needs to be back above 80% SOC when the check happens.

In addition, it would not hurt to reset the BMS Learned Values once a month, especially if your car sits unused for days at a time, to ensure that when your 12V battery is getting recharged, it is getting fully recharged instead of only being charged to a lower artificial threshold than it's capable of.

BMS Learned Values Reset:
Before leaving for your next drive, get in and push the start button without putting your foot on the brake. This puts you in accessory mode. Then flash the high beams 5 times, then next tap the brake pedal 3 times and look for the battery symbol on the instrument panel to cycle about 3 times. After it does, press the start button again to shut the car off. Then start the car as normal and drive off and your 12V battery will get topped off properly.

One other note;...you can put your car on your home's Wi-Fi if you like....but it won't help with getting updates despite what you've been told.

 

[BMT1071]

On the topic of OTAs and 12V battery state of charge at 1 AM.....

I was reviewing the OTA Dashboards for a few VINs and came across this classic example of why having your car check and process updates at 1 AM (Ford's default time) is sub-optimal (engineer-speak). Not being an engineer, I'm free to use other terms...like 'ridiculous' instead.

This is an expansion of a section of an update log for a recent ACM update on a '21 model MME.

Notice that the owner has left the update setting at 1 AM....and then notice the state of charge when the check attempt occurred. An 80% SOC is what the logic is looking for to successfully process OTAs. It is highly doubtful that with the 35Ah battery that the MME and Lightning has that the SOC will still be at 80% at 1 AM for the majority of those vehicles.

I have said this too many times now, but I'm going to say it again.

To ensure the greatest success in downloading and processing OTAs you should set Sync "Check Updates" schedule to a daily time when you are most likely to be 15 minutes or so into a daily commute (either to or from work) to allow the 12V battery to recharge for a few minutes before the check occurs. It needs to be back above 80% SOC when the check happens.

In addition, it would not hurt to reset the BMS Learned Values once a month, especially if your car sits unused for days at a time, to ensure that when your 12V battery is getting recharged, it is getting fully recharged instead of only being charged to a lower artificial threshold than it's capable of.

BMS Learned Values Reset:
Before leaving for your next drive, get in and push the start button without putting your foot on the brake. This puts you in accessory mode. Then flash the high beams 5 times, then next tap the brake pedal 3 times and look for the battery symbol on the instrument panel to cycle about 3 times. After it does, press the start button again to shut the car off. Then start the car as normal and drive off and your 12V battery will get topped off properly.

One other note;...you can put your car on your home's Wi-Fi if you like....but it won't help with getting updates despite what you've been told.

That is an inhibit update. It will not complete 15 minutes into a drive. The "Update Files Are Ready To Activate" message indicates that the data has already been downloaded to the car.

 

[Mike G]

That is an inhibit update. It will not complete 15 minutes into a drive. The "Update Files Are Ready To Activate" message indicates that the data has already been downloaded to the car.

Inhibit or not, the fact that the LVB was at less than half of the required SOC at the "Check Update" time is the issue.

The owner will receive a message prior to shutting the car off and will be notified that the update will apply during the next scheduled period. But if the LVB is again not at the minimum required SOC the process will fail.

If you receive an update on the way to work and are notified you can initiate the update immediately and then get out and lock the car, when you get back it will be done. If you leave your schedule set to 1 AM everynight and your LVB is continuously below the required SOC value by that time you can wait forever and it won't get updated.

 

[BMT1071]

Inhibit or not, the fact that the LVB was at less than half of the required SOC at the "Check Update" time is the issue.

The owner will receive a message prior to shutting the car off and will be notified that the update will apply during the next scheduled period. But if the LVB is again not at the minimum required SOC the process will fail.

If you receive an update on the way to work and are notified you can initiate the update immediately and then get out and lock the car, when you get back it will be done. If you leave your schedule set to 1 AM everynight and your LVB is continuously below the required SOC value by that time you can wait forever and it won't get updated.

It's not a "Check Update" time. It's when the update will install. Once the files are downloaded the car will tell you about the scheduled update the next time you shut it off, regardless of when your automatic update time is.

 

[zhackwyatt]

All of those devices I pointed out have the ability to let the user check for updates and get them... despite the check for updates button in our cars, OTA is a purely push technology... that does not push a lot of (most?) modules that have available updates via FDRS. Which is why every few months I go get those updates with FDRS... this should not be necessary.

Being in FDRS and packaged as an OTA are two separate things. Just cause it is there does not mean it is available.

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