General Motors Recalls 4.3 Million Vehicles Over a Software Bug (gizmodo.com)

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

General Motors Recalls 4.3 Million Vehicles Over a Software Bug (gizmodo.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Friday September 9, 2016 @12:40PM from the drove-my-chevy-to-the-levy-and-the-levy-was-dry dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: If you own a GM vehicle from 2014-2017, listen up: General Motors is recalling nearly 4.3 million vehicles worldwide after discovering a software defect that prevents air bags from deploying during a crash. The software bug may also prevent the seat belts from locking properly. The flaw has already been linked to one death and three injuries. Vehicles affected by the recall include 2014-2016 car models of the Buick LaCross, Chevy SS, and Chevy Spark EVs. It also includes 2014-2017 models of the Buick Encore, GMC Sierra, Chevy Corvette, Chevy Trax, Chevy Caprice, Chevy Silverado. Additionally, the recall affects 2015-2017 models of the Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Silverado HD, Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, GMC Sierra HD, Cadillac Escalade, and Cadillac Escalade ESV. GM will notify owners of affected vehicles and update the software for free, according to the NHTSA. "In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a statement. "During the test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash."

74 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Never tell me the odds by rmdingler · 2016-09-09 12:56 · Score: 1

Though likely a mere fraction of a lightning strike, probability-wise, there's some factory warranty work you can do at the Chevrolet House if you're slow...

--
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
1. Re:Never tell me the odds by carvalhao · 2016-09-09 14:18 · Score: 1
  
  You can always beat the odds... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:00 · Score: 3, Insightful

Why is there any software AT ALL involved in the operation of a seatbelt? For fuck's sake, not everything needs to be computerized.
1. Re:What the hell? by ShanghaiBill · 2016-09-09 13:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why is there any software AT ALL involved in the operation of a seatbelt? For fuck's sake, not everything needs to be computerized.
  There are purely mechanical impact sensors, but MEMS modules are more reliable and require an electronic interface. Also, you don't want to wait till the impact to begin pretensioning. If sensors like cameras and radar can detect an imminent crash, they can begin tensioning the seatbelts, retracting the steering wheel, and even moving the seat back to give the airbags more room to deploy. Despite your Luddite opinion, these technologies have already saved thousands of lives.
2. Re:What the hell? by 0100010001010011 · 2016-09-09 13:22 · Score: 2
  
  How exactly do you think a modern car works?
3. Re:What the hell? by fustakrakich · 2016-09-09 13:22 · Score: 2
  
  With all these fancy electronics, where is the breathalyzer? It would save thousands more lives.
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
4. Re:What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:46 · Score: 1
  
  Also the sensor is in the front it will be involved in the crash many millisecond before your mechanical trip feels it.
  This will keep your face further away from the Exploding Ammonium Nitrate.
5. Re:What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:59 · Score: 0
  
  How exactly do you think a modern car works?
  The wrong way.
6. Re:What the hell? by PopeRatzo · 2016-09-09 14:59 · Score: 1
  
  Why is there any software AT ALL involved in the operation of a seatbelt?
  With the Internet of Things barreling down the track, you can get this question ready for a whole LOT of things.
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
7. Re: What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 15:06 · Score: 1
  
  These electronics, for the most part, don't get in the way of normal operation of the vehicle.
  Anyway, many cars are already equipped with brethalizers, where we have spotted they are warranted.
8. Re:What the hell? by Hylandr · 2016-09-09 15:30 · Score: 1
  
  I must learn how to trip these manually, that would be a blast.
  
  --
  ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
9. Re:What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 15:41 · Score: 0
  
  Who plugged in the USB Kill Stick?
10. Re:What the hell? by mrprogrammerman · 2016-09-09 15:54 · Score: 1
  
  If you have cameras and radar to detect a crash wouldn't it make more sense to just apply the breaks rather than prepare for a crash?
11. Re:What the hell? by ShanghaiBill · 2016-09-09 16:03 · Score: 1
  
  I must learn how to trip these manually, that would be a blast.
  It is not hard. Just smack your front bumper with a sledgehammer.
12. Re:What the hell? by EETech1 · 2016-09-09 17:00 · Score: 2
  
  The early GM ones were sensitive to hitting them with a ratchet while working behind the bumper!
  Accidentally whack one of them, and Bang! You were out 2 grand...
13. Re:What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 17:57 · Score: 0
  
  That doesn't stop the other person from driving into you.
14. Re:What the hell? by Carewolf · 2016-09-09 20:52 · Score: 1
  
  Why is there any software AT ALL involved in the operation of a seatbelt? For fuck's sake, not everything needs to be computerized.
  There are purely mechanical impact sensors, but MEMS modules are more reliable and require an electronic interface. Also, you don't want to wait till the impact to begin pretensioning. If sensors like cameras and radar can detect an imminent crash, they can begin tensioning the seatbelts, retracting the steering wheel, and even moving the seat back to give the airbags more room to deploy. Despite your Luddite opinion, these technologies have already saved thousands of lives.
  You can't detect an imminent crash, and please don't try. There is this thing call steering which can prevent crashes even centimeters before impact. In fact coming close objects with only a few centimeters is not uncommon, and would be dangerous if the car started freaking out everytime you did.
15. Re:What the hell? by MachineShedFred · 2016-09-10 00:45 · Score: 1
  
  Usually the airbag sensors will have a speed interlock as well, as the inflation of the airbag in a tiny parking lot fender bender would cause more injury than not inflating the air bag. Definitely more financial injury.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
16. Re:What the hell? by Hognoxious · 2016-09-10 00:45 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Well, them's the brakes.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
17. Re:What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 01:01 · Score: 0
  
  Nope, you're their brake...
18. Re:What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 01:12 · Score: 0
  
  I will not ride in a car with where a computer can slam on the brakes, or apply steering inputs.
  I'm not even that comfortable with the absence of a mechanical throttle linkage in the car I drive now.
  It mightn't be trivial to do, but it won't be long before someone standing with a radar emitter on the overpass can show these cars obstacles that don't physically exist.
19. Re:What the hell? by Osgeld · 2016-09-10 01:42 · Score: 1
  
  "I will not ride in a car with where a computer can slam on the brakes, or apply steering inputs."
  Amen!
  "I'm not even that comfortable with the absence of a mechanical throttle linkage in the car I drive now."
  Right on brother!
  "It mightn't be trivial to do, but it won't be long before someone standing with a radar emitter on the overpass can show these cars obstacles that don't physically exist."
  (slowly backs away)
20. Re:What the hell? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 02:42 · Score: 0
  
  With all these fancy electronics, where is the breathalyzer? It would save thousands more lives.
  It would, but the people who should use them would never buy a car with them.
  "What if there is an emergency and I have to jump into the car and drive at crazy speeds to the hospital while drunk!?" is more or less the argument you will find on Slashdot against features like those.
  Instead we settle for features that will save lives without people who love to imagine non-plausible scenarios knowing about the features being there.
21. Re:What the hell? by PeeAitchPee · 2016-09-10 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  If I had the points I'd mod you up. Didn't the parent ever see Demolition Man?
22. Re:What the hell? by WallyL · 2016-09-12 02:01 · Score: 1
  
  Sure hope they don't brake your car too much!
OTA updates by ShanghaiBill · 2016-09-09 13:00 · Score: 1

They should do over-the-air updates like Tesla does. Then there would be no need for a recall.
1. Re:OTA updates by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:55 · Score: 0
  
  Vehicles should have physical interfaces only, pop the hood to connect to the computer system. It's crazy to have any wireless access or connections.
2. Re:OTA updates by BitterOak · 2016-09-09 14:34 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  They should do over-the-air updates like Tesla does. Then there would be no need for a recall.
  Over the air updates of your seat belt and airbag operations? Yeah, no possible safety problems with that!
  
  --
  If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
3. Re:OTA updates by scdeimos · 2016-09-09 20:25 · Score: 1
  
  They will, but only on next year's models: https://electrek.co/2016/09/09...
4. Re:OTA updates by drinkypoo · 2016-09-10 00:07 · Score: 1
  
  Over the air updates of your seat belt and airbag operations? Yeah, no possible safety problems with that!
  Those safety problems already exist. SRS is on the same diagnostic bus as everything else.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
5. Re:OTA updates by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 00:50 · Score: 0
  
  Please think about what you are asking. Do you really want the ability to push code that can affect the primary safety systems to cars over wireless? Do you understand what the attack surface of such a thing would look like? "Hey, I found an exploit that allows me to detonate the airbag on every Buick from 2014 to 2017 when the ignition is started! Let me just go ahead and push it through this other exploit I found in their firmware delivery..."
  No fucking thank you.
Seatbelts? by alleycat0 · 2016-09-09 13:01 · Score: 0

Why the &@$# would seatbelt tensioners be controlled by software?!?

--
I am not a number - I am a free man!
1. Re:Seatbelts? by thebigmacd · 2016-09-09 15:19 · Score: 1
  
  Because without software, seatbelt tensioners and airbags would deploy in many instances where and when they should not. These systems have to be very complex in order to not kill people inadvertently. Hence, self-diagnostics tests and the like. The state of the vehicle is modeled to determine the probability of a crash being in progress in order to make sense of individual sensor input.
2. Re:Seatbelts? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 15:48 · Score: 0
  
  What are the stats on people being killed inadvertently because of the seat belt?
3. Re:Seatbelts? by thebigmacd · 2016-09-09 16:14 · Score: 2
  
  I don't know the stats on pretensioned seatbelt injury. The seatbelt pre-tensioner is part of a system; it doesn't necessarily kill people on its own, but it has the potential cause unwarranted injury and distraction. The SRS system as a whole definitely can cause severe injury and death. That's why they are always being improved. No one wants their explosive seatbelt tensioner to fire in non-collision conditions. It also needs to fire in coordination with the airbag to be effective; if it fires too late or doesn't fire at all it doesn't help. The SRS system needs to completely deploy in the correct order for the conditions within around 70ms of the first impact. Electronics are the fastest, most accurate, and repeatable timing system available.
4. Re:Seatbelts? by MachineShedFred · 2016-09-10 00:52 · Score: 1
  
  You're making an argument that having the seat belt inertial lock falsely engage every once in a while (annoying, but what we had for 50 years now) is worse than having a far more complex software controlled system that may not engage at all (TFA).
  I completely disagree.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
5. Re:Seatbelts? by thebigmacd · 2016-09-10 15:13 · Score: 1
  
  Why do you keep talking about the seatbelt locking? It's an irrelevant argument. They still always lock mechanically, no software involved. Your seatbelt isn't going to just unwind and let you smash into the dashboard unimpeded if the software fails to fire the airbag/pretensioner.
  What is controlled by software is the pre-tensioner that explosively shortens the seatbelt to pin you into your seat so you are better positioned for airbag impact. This absolutely must be integrated into the airbag system, and only electronic control allows accurate enough timing to make it effective.
6. Re:Seatbelts? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 15:25 · Score: 0
  
  No one is saying the inertial lock has been replaced by software except you.
  This is what everyone except you is talking about.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
7. Re:Seatbelts? by AaronW · 2016-09-13 17:31 · Score: 1
  
  I used to have a car with automatic seat belts. It frequently tried to strangle me.
  
  --
  This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
Why are they using software by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:01 · Score: 0

Isn't some simple mechanical fuse / switch sufficient for the airbag deployment system? Also, did old cars require SDM for the seatbelt to lock properly? Why are they changing mechanisms that have proved themselves?
1. Re:Why are they using software by AaronW · 2016-09-09 15:16 · Score: 1
  
  No because the mechanical systems often don't work as well. Modern systems are able to analyze things like the angle of the crash, how hard it is, etc. and adjust things accordingly. For example, I have a friend with an old F150 that went through a brick wall. He barely felt it and the only damage to the truck is the fact that the airbag went off. A modern system would detect this and MEMS sensors should be a lot more reliable than the mechanical switches. Modern vehicles also have variable-force deployment which requires more than a simple on/off.
  
  --
  This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
2. Re:Why are they using software by thebigmacd · 2016-09-09 15:41 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Isn't some simple mechanical fuse / switch sufficient for the airbag deployment system? Also, did old cars require SDM for the seatbelt to lock properly? Why are they changing mechanisms that have proved themselves?
  Isn't a carburettor and magneto sufficient to run an engine? The answer is yes, if you have no regulations, reliability and/or liability to be concerned with.
  Air bag systems have had software for literally decades, it's not new. Seatbelts still have mechanical locking. Electronically-controlled pre-tensioning is something else that has been around for decades now, and is part of the airbag control system.
  Modern air bags have variable deployment energy, which requires determining the severity of the collision, the weight of the occupant, etc. There are also side curtain and many other types of airbag that should only deploy when required, so the pitch, roll, and yaw, and even sideslip of the vehicle has to be known. Side curtain airbags need to deploy before the vehicle lands on its side, so software is required to predict when impact is likely to occur.
  Also, electromechanical systems can't self-check and diagnose themselves when there is a system failure. Air bag systems continuously monitor even the resistance of the igniter in the airbag to make sure it is correct.
  As vehicle manufacturers found out with carburettors and emissions regulations, mechanical systems quickly become too complex and unreliable to react to many inputs. There is no new passenger vehicle sold in North America that doesn't run its engine entirely from a computer. It's just that superior. Likewise with airbags.
3. Re: Why are they using software by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 19:25 · Score: 0
  
  better still let's ride on horses shall we?
4. Re: Why are they using software by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 02:06 · Score: 0
  
  At least the car isn't going to try to willfully kill me like a horse might be inclined to...Those things bite and kick! Don't they try to throw riders off from time to time too?!?!? Man..I think I'll just stick with the car.
  Oh and horse shit, I forgot about horse shit. Fuck that noise.
I have never held GM vehicles in high esteem... by bogaboga · 2016-09-09 13:08 · Score: 1, Interesting

After knowing a number of owners both former and present, I have come to the conclusion that these vehicles are somehow designed to "expire" after a while.
Could this be the reason one doesn't see many of them manufactured over the last 15 years?I will never forget one Cadillac I found in the shop with a malfunctioning transmission at exactly 100,801 miles with a 100,000 mile warranty. For me, GM is a no!
1. Re:I have never held GM vehicles in high esteem... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:53 · Score: 0
  
  I love my chevys. They may be pieces of shit, but I can keep one running for 300k miles.
2. Re:I have never held GM vehicles in high esteem... by Snotnose · 2016-09-09 14:23 · Score: 1
  
  Back in '05 I bought an Infinity G35 and my parents bought a Buick Regal. Still got my G35, but the Buick developed software problems soon as the warranty expired. Stuff like if they locked the car, a couple minutes to a couple hours later the burglar alarm would go off. Or something would turn on and drain the battery. Or dad would be driving down the road and all the idiot lights would light.
  
  Mom died a few years back, my sister grabbed the car (dad can't drive any more). Haven't heard her say a single good thing about the car except it was free.
  
  Plug for Meineke in Santee, California. Before mom died I took dad and his car there to troubleshoot it. They spent a couple hours on it with no luck, then refused to charge dad because they didn't find the problem. Never mind the labor they put into it, they refused to charge us. Been taking my car there for service for some 5-6 years, no complaints. Finding an honest mechanic is much harder than it should be.
Wtf? by SuseLover · 2016-09-09 13:09 · Score: 0

Why the hell does a seatbelt retractor need fucking software? The mechanical ones have never failed for me. The KISS principle works.
1. Re:Wtf? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 15:03 · Score: 0
  
  SmartSeatbelts are better. Because Smart.
Airbag software bugs .. by khz6955 · 2016-09-09 13:11 · Score: 3, Interesting

The old fashioned method was airbags used to be triggered by a magnetic ball embedded in a 'cup' that on the application of severe deceleration, the ball popped out, closed a circuit and triggered the airbag. The same goes for seat-belts. A rotating wheel that trip and engages a cog on the application of a set amount of acceleration.
1. Re:Airbag software bugs .. by Solandri · 2016-09-09 19:30 · Score: 2
  
  Airbags had to move to software control because sometimes you don't want the airbags going off even though there's an accident. e.g. A child in the front passenger seat - early airbags were designed to cushion and adult head, and were forcing the lower mass of a child's head backwards killing them. Some cars in the 1990s had a manual switch for you to turn the front passenger airbag on/off depending on whether or not a child was sitting there, but of course people forgot to flip the switch. Nowadays pretty much all cars use a weight sensor under the seat to gauge the weight of the occupant, and decide whether or not to deploy the front passenger airbag.
  
  Same goes for side-curtain airbags. They can impede people's ability to get out of the car, so you don't want them deploying if they don't need to(e.g. the side occupants are moving away from will not trigger). And you want them to deploy at the proper time. To early and they start to deflate before the occupant's head hits them. Too late and again they force the occupant's head sideways instead of cushioning it, possibly injuring them more than the accident itself.
  
  Seatbelts have gotten more sophisticated as well. In addition to inertia/angle sensitive latches, many cars now use pre-tensioners. The timing of these have to be coordinated with the dynamic accelerations experienced during an accident, lest they fire too early and you end up released before the main accelerations hit you. The newer ones use an explosive charge, so there are no do-overs if they trigger at the wrong time, and you definitely don't want them to trigger if there isn't an accident and the car is (say) just being towed.
  
  Too many people try to categorize things as "always better" or "always worse" based on a few data points. These safety systems have moved to electronic software control because it makes them more effective in the vast majority of cases, even though in a few cases it may cause them to function worse than older mechanical systems.
2. Re:Airbag software bugs .. by tlhIngan · 2016-09-09 19:47 · Score: 1
  
  The old fashioned method was airbags used to be triggered by a magnetic ball embedded in a 'cup' that on the application of severe deceleration, the ball popped out, closed a circuit and triggered the airbag. The same goes for seat-belts. A rotating wheel that trip and engages a cog on the application of a set amount of acceleration.
  That has problems. First, there's no self-diagnostics to verify the system works. A magnetic ball also cannot detect if there was a deceleration or negative acceleration (special relativity) - an airbag going off because the guy in front of you rammed you from the front while you were stopped is generally considered a bad event (airbags should never go off if you're stopped).
  Then airbags should also not go off if your seatbelt is NOT fastened - studies have shown that unbelted passengers fare far worse with airbag deployment than if the airbags didn't deploy. Also, airbags shouldn't deploy if there isn't anyone sitting on the seat - this could cause items put on the seat to be propelled towards other occupants.
  And then you add on the dozens of airbags in a car and now you have real decisions to make because some airbags don't need to be deployed in certain accidents - side airbags shouldn't be deployed in a frontal collision, for example.
  Likewise, seatbelt PRE-tensioners require advance notice of an accident to fire and take up all the seatbelt slack - they have to fire in the split second while the car is absorbing the energy before it reaches the passenger compartment and the seatbelt is required. After the pre-tensioners fire (which are pyro charges that turn the seatbelts), the seatbelt tensioner (the mechanical one) takes over to lock the occupant to the seat.
  The complexity and potential for failure rendered mechanical mechanisms unreliable and complex.
  The self-test these boxes do is also quite sophisticated - beside doing a continuity test of all the airbags and pre-tensioners, they also test the backup capacitors (the airbags and pretensioners will fire even if the power is cut after the decision is made to fire), the accelerometers (there are usually at least two MEMS sensors and they have to agree) and even storage memory (the sensor array to fire the airbags is so sophisticated, they usually are a part of the event data recorder).
3. Re:Airbag software bugs .. by Osgeld · 2016-09-10 01:44 · Score: 1
  
  Nowadays pretty much all cars use a weight sensor under the seat to gauge the weight of the occupant, and decide whether or not to deploy the front passenger airbag.
  yes but that still doesnt mean it cant react mechanically, sensor cuts power to ball switch, it doesnt matter how many times it makes contact
4. Re:Airbag software bugs .. by ebvwfbw · 2016-09-11 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  ...an airbag going off because the guy in front of you rammed you from the front while you were stopped is generally considered a bad event (airbags should never go off if you're stopped).
  If I'm coming at you with a 20 ton dump truck around 30 MPH and swerve to miss a cute little bunny and run into the front of your car while you're stopped at a light, you're really going to want that air bag to deploy.
Everything is tied into a BCM... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:23 · Score: 0

Even the throttle on some of these GM cars is fly by wire, no mechanical linkage. The Trax is pretty cool, a 1.4L turbocharged engine with a 6-speed auto. After putting a tune mod on it's even more fun.
1. Re: Everything is tied into a BCM... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 14:39 · Score: 0
  
  The throttle on nearly every car made in the past 10 years is fly by wire. This isn't exactly a new development.
Cost of a recall by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 13:51 · Score: 0

Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
1. Re:Cost of a recall by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 14:36 · Score: 0
  
  It is safety related, so it in not really their choice.
2. Re:Cost of a recall by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 15:48 · Score: 1
  
  This sounds to be a much worse problem than their 'key stuck in ignition' fiasco from a few years ago, and that was quite bad already.
  It also sounds potentially much worse than the Takata airbag debacle.
  Yet I am sure GM will get a slap on the wrist and continue selling cars, because it is 'too big to fail.'
AutoPilot by carvalhao · 2016-09-09 14:16 · Score: 1

OMG, 4,3M vehicles, when is Tesla admitting that AutoPilot is a deathtrap and... oh...
Gizmodo... by msauve · 2016-09-09 14:37 · Score: 1

"Vehicles affected by the recall include ... x,y,z. It also includes z, y x..."

Perhaps a single sentence would suffice, if not a simple link to all affected models. Journalism isn't a middle school writing assignment where you get more credit by submitting 2 pages.

--
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
LaCrosse by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 14:44 · Score: 0

It's a LaCrosse, with the 'e', as in "masturbation" and "rip off'. Also, you missed the Buick Allure.
Automatic updates by hcs_$reboot · 2016-09-09 14:48 · Score: 3, Funny

You stop the car and turn the key. At this moment, the car tells you "Stage 1 of 173. Configuring updates. Do not turn off the car". Too bad you were late for that meeting...

--
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
1. Re:Automatic updates by AaronW · 2016-09-09 15:31 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  On my care I have to accept the update. It defaults to installing it at 2am after accepting it, though you can change the time or just have it install immediately. It typically takes 45 minutes for a full update, all the while all sorts of clicks and noises come from the car as different systems are reinitialized.
  
  --
  This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
2. Re:Automatic updates by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 02:29 · Score: 0
  
  On my car it does not stinking updates... The EULA just say:
  
  MICROSOFT CORPORATION AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE,
  Oh wait... Strike Microsoft and replace with GM
  damn upper lower case counter. Can not post an actual verbatim sentence from a legal document. random filler that passes all the stupid checks....
  The old fashioned method was airbags used to be triggered by a magnetic ball embedded in a 'cup' that on the application of severe deceleration, the ball popped out, closed a circuit and triggered the airbag. The same goes for seat-belts. A rotating wheel that trip and engages a cog on the application of a set amount of acceleration.
  The old fashioned method was airbags used to be triggered by a magnetic ball embedded in a 'cup' that on the application of severe deceleration, the ball popped out, closed a circuit and triggered the airbag. The same goes for seat-belts. A rotating wheel that trip and engages a cog on the application of a set amount of acceleration.
  The old fashioned method was airbags used to be triggered by a magnetic ball embedded in a 'cup' that on the application of severe deceleration, the ball popped out, closed a circuit and triggered the airbag. The same goes for seat-belts. A rotating wheel that trip and engages a cog on the application of a set amount of acceleration.
  The old fashioned method was airbags used to be triggered by a magnetic ball embedded in a 'cup' that on the application of severe deceleration, the ball popped out, closed a circuit and triggered the airbag. The same goes for seat-belts. A rotating wheel that trip and engages a cog on the application of a set amount of acceleration.
Still GM cars out there? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 15:55 · Score: 0

Why is people still buying GM cars after all the scandals, the government buyout (after glaring missmanagement) and the extremely bad products quality? Don't get it.
1. Re:Still GM cars out there? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 17:59 · Score: 0
  
  Our neighbor works fairly high up on the GM chain and gets us a 9,000 discount on our leases so yeah... there are still reasons to drive a GM car. >.>
What else does the diagnostic test do? by Bruce+Perens · 2016-09-09 18:38 · Score: 2

This sounds suspiciously like the Volkswagen scam. Certain driving patterns change the behavior of the vehicle. I wonder if the emissions parameters change too?

--
Bruce Perens.
1. Re:What else does the diagnostic test do? by Hognoxious · 2016-09-09 21:47 · Score: 1
  
  It's totally different. In that case it was a German company, so the entire management team should be dragged away in handcuffs. GM is a good 'ol American company, and so it's just business.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Certain driving conditions activates a "test" by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-09 18:38 · Score: 0

Could these driving conditions be similar to the driving conditions during an emissions test or other public safety test?
GM Recall Seat Belts & Air Bags by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 04:41 · Score: 1

To imagine that the proper latching of a Mechanical Component such as a seat belt is dependent on software is beyond be believable. Why should any such a thing be allowed by law? That is just insane! Similarly the deployment of an air bag should be activated by a purely mechanical system having nothing to do with computation. This is a case of technology degrading the usefulness of safety systems. STOP! .
Testing? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-10 10:37 · Score: 0

I was under the impression that software this important would undergo the most rigerous testing and validation. How did life threatning bugs get through?
Airbag Module producer by AdrianFlorinLazar · 2016-09-10 20:24 · Score: 1

Does anyone know who is the producer of Airbag modules involved ? Thank you