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Many Lexus Navigation Systems Bricked By Over-The-Air Software Update (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: An unknown number of Lexus automobiles have seen their infotainment and navigation head units broken by a bug in an over-the-air software update from Lexus. The glitch, which was confirmed by a Lexus spokesperson, was delivered in a routine software update. In affected cars, it can cause the dashboard screen to spontaneously reset itself and, as a result, both the radio and navigation system can be unusable. It affects cars equipped with Lexus' Enform system with navigation. Lexus social media channels have been flooded by frustrated owners, but the company has been unable to give any estimates for when the problem will be resolved. The company also couldn't say whether customers will see the problem fix itself with another software update or if they will need to head into dealers to get it fixed. Some users on Twitter have reported success with disconnecting their battery for a few moments to force a reset of the system.
Personally I draw the line at grease and/or needing tools. If I can't do it with my bare hands or get dirty in the process, it's become a hardware problem. If pulling the battery fixes it, that's not "bricked," but it's gone a bit beyond a software problem if I need a wrench and get sulfuric acid salts on my hands in the process.
Well in this case disconnecting the battery can be hit or miss, depending on the vehicle. Disconnecting the battery is the equivalent of a hard reboot(in some cases), in others it's a soft reboot because it'll try to update/go previously recorded settings. In the very worst cases, it'll get stuck in an upgrade loop. Also some ECU's kick into a failsafe mode and go back to the previous non-updated version. Some will revert to the last known working state from sensors/active states from the other ECU's(transmission/ABS/etc) and go from there while recording the error(s). In other cases it'll operate with the last known settings and then start throwing a "service engine" or similar warning light after a little while. That's basically meant to get you as far as a dealership.
Anyway in 90% of cases the entire ECU pack is sealed so it's not something you're going to be fixing with some disassembly. In the very assholish case, you have to replace all ECU's on the vehicle. Everything from the vehicle's center console, to transaxles/transmissions to specific engine computers or body computers(for airbags). So really you could put this down as it is a bricking, or it isn't a bricking all depending on what the auto manufacture has done.
Om, nomnomnom...