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If The Problem Persists, Reboot The Car
prostoalex writes "Ever-increasing presence of high-tech devices in modern cars is a double-edged sword, the New York Times discovers. Software from different suppliers brings up to some peculiar bugs, such as a heater turning itself on during a hot summer day. In December last year ABI Research estimated that roughly 30% of all warranty issues with new cars were microprocessor- and software-related. The NYT article also quotes an interesting prediction from IBM, saying that by 2010 almost all cars will have the same mechanical systems (hardware), and the differences will be primarily on software level." (That prediction seems as accurate as the IBM prediction that there was a worldwide market for 10 or so computers.)
Reminds me of a joke...
A mechanic, an engineer and a programmer are driving down the road in a car when suddenly it stalls out. The mechanic gets out, checks out the engine and comes back into the car to report that it's going to be a few hours of work to fix it. The engineer leaves the car to check out the problem and comes back to report that he can design a fix that should only take about an hour. Upon hearing that, the programmer says, "Hey, let's first all get out of the car, get back into it and just see if it works then."
I'm a big tall mofo.
by 2010 almost all cars will have the same mechanical systems (hardware), and the differences will be primarily on software level.
At that point, we'll be too distracted by Jupiter turning into a star to really notice.
The coolest voice ever.
Cars getting buggy computers is bad enough. I'm worried about the planes! gives new meaning to "blue screen of death."
San Francisco Photographers
We'll have geeks with too much time on their hands posting binaries on the net, saying "run this, and your Civic will turn into a Ferrari!"
1. It will NOT have Windows (tm) anywhere on the vehicle.
2. The hood ornament will be a cute penguin.
3. The first bumper sticker reads "In Soviet Russia..."
4. The second bumper sticker reads "Yes this car is part of a beowulf cluster!"
5. The engine will be listed as a 886 or 986 model, and you'll have a lot of dependencies like fuel versions and so on.
They are also immune to electromagnetic pulse should a nuclear bomb go off.
Personally, I look for gas milage, reliability and comfort, but each to their own....
Software from different suppliers brings up to some peculiar bugs, such as a heater turning itself on during a hot summer day.
Never say the heater turned itself on. Say a heater activated itself and created a situation requiring a reboot of the car's system.
One pedal, and a Ctrl-key for other options. My current car already has windows, but my bike doesn't ;-)
I'm not sure I'd want to find out how the software would deal with -274C. Setting itself on fire might seem like a good idea. (All cars have explosive charges in the gas tank. That's why they blow up all the time in TV shows and movies.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I guess you used flint stones in place of spark plugs?
As long as it only happens when you're driving 120 Km/H, it's okay.
If it starts happening when I'm driving around 75 MPH, then it'll be a problem.
well, this reminds me of an issue with the car of my dad-in-law. A big, shiny (and way over my budget) mercedes 330(i think. could be 340 or 430 or any other number with a 3 and a 0... me and number). All eletronic shit. He was proud on it like a 2year old on his first potty-dump.
One day, the damd thing would not start at all. Nada. zips. The only things that worked were the windows (oh the irony !) He did all he could, restarting time after time, until I somehow got a stupid idea : let's all get OUT of the car, lock it remotely, and the unlock it, get back in and try to start.
(drum roll)
It started ! Somehow, the car software did not do a full reboot if one did not actually LEAVE the car and lock/unlock it (a lock/unlock while being inside implicated that the system did not shut down, since I noticed that the inside lights stayed on)
One day, only programmers will be able to start their mercedes 16600 CLK-S-TDI-BS-RTFM
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
Anyone who does tech support is aware of how incompetant people can be at times. Here's an email I recieved that sounds like it relates to this topic:
...'
HELPLINE: 'General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?'
CUSTOMER: 'I got in my car and closed the door, and nothing happened!'
HELPLINE: 'Did you put the key in the ignition and turn it?'
CUSTOMER: 'What's an ignition?'
HELPLINE: 'It's a starter motor that draws current from your battery and turns over the engine.'
CUSTOMER: 'Ignition? Motor? Battery? Engine? How come I have to know all of these technical terms just to use my car?'
--------
HELPLINE: 'General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?'
CUSTOMER: 'My car ran fine for a week, and now it won't go anywhere!'
HELPLINE: 'Is the gas tank empty?'
CUSTOMER: 'Huh? How do I know?'
HELPLINE: 'There's a little gauge on the front panel, with a needle, and markings from 'E' to 'F'. Where is the needle pointing?'
CUSTOMER: 'I see an 'E' but no 'F'.'
HELPLINE: 'You see the 'E' and just to the right is the 'F'.
CUSTOMER: 'No, just to the right of the first 'E' is a 'V'.
HELPLINE: 'A 'V'?!?'
CUSTOMER: 'Yeah, there's a 'C', an 'H', the first 'E', then a 'V', followed by 'R', 'O', and 'L'
HELPLINE: 'No, no, no sir! That's the front of the car. When you sit behind the steering wheel, that's the panel I'm talking about.'
CUSTOMER: 'That steering wheel thingy. Is that the round thing that honks the horn?'
HELPLINE: 'Yes, among other things.'
CUSTOMER: 'The needle's pointing to 'E'. What does that mean?'
HELPLINE: 'It means that you have to visit a gasoline vendor and purchase some more gasoline. You can install it yourself, or pay the vendor to install it for you.'
CUSTOMER: 'What? I paid $12,000 for this car! Now you tell me that I have to keep buying more components? I want a car that comes with everything built in!'
------------
HELPLINE: 'General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?'
CUSTOMER: 'Your cars suck!'
HELPLINE: 'What's wrong?'
CUSTOMER: 'It crashed, that's what went wrong!'
HELPLINE: 'What were you doing?'
CUSTOMER: 'I wanted to go faster, so I pushed the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor. It worked for a while, and then it crashed-and now it won't even start up!'
HELPLINE: 'I'm sorry, sir, but it's your responsibility if you misuse the product.'
CUSTOMER: 'Misuse it? I was just following this damned manual of yours. It said to make the car go to put the transmission in 'D' and press the accelerator pedal. That's exactly what I did-now the damn thing's crashed.'
HELPLINE: 'Did you read the entire operator's manual before operating the car sir?'
CUSTOMER: 'What? Of course I did! I told you I did EVERYTHING the manual said and it didn't work!'
HELPLINE: 'Didn't you attempt to slow down so you wouldn't cash?'
CUSTOMER: 'How do you do THAT?'
HELPLINE: 'You said you read the entire manual, sir. It's on page 14. The pedal next to the accelerator.'
CUSTOMER: 'Well, I don't have all day to sit around and read this manual you know.'
HELPLINE: 'Of course not. What do you expect us to do about it?'
CUSTOMER: 'I want you to send me one of the latest versions that goes fast and won't crash anymore!'
---------------
HELPLINE: 'General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?'
CUSTOMER: 'Hi! I just bought my first car, and I chose your car because it has automatic transmission, cruise control, power steering, power brakes, and power door locks.'
HELPLINE: 'Thanks for buying our car. How can I help you?'
CUSTOMER: 'How do I work it?'
HELPLINE: 'Do you know how to drive?'
CUSTOMER: 'Do I know how to what?'
HELPLINE: 'Do you know how to DRIVE?'
CUSTOMER: 'I'm not a technical person! I just want to go places in my car!'
It's a pretty good laugh
Fix Or Repair Daily
It will become
Format Or Reboot Daily.
I have a 2002 BMW M5. One time on a trip across the PA turnpike I had an interesting experince.
I stopped at a rest area, shut the car off , went in, but when I went to restart it , the tach showed it was still at idle , and the computer would not let the starter engage.
My (then) 15 y/o kid just shrugged and said , I'd reboot it. Well I disconected the (-) battery cable , waited 20 seconds , put it back on , PROBLEM FIXED.
I wonder if BMW uses WinCE?
Cheers
* Carthago Delenda Est *
A sysadmin buddy got a new barbeque. At his house warming, we set put it together and lit it. The flames were half an inch high. He said he'd shut it off and start it again. We told him that it wasn't MS BBQ(tm) and it wouldn't work. So he did it. And it worked. Fsck.
Or you could have just hit up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a... you even get 30 extra credits!