Sync dead?

[ModMiFord]

Thank you for the link. I've gone to the website and called since I have Navigation. It looks like I need to bring my car to the dealer which is funny because when I called the dealer, they told me that I need to wait for the memory stick. So ford is sending me a letter telling me that I need to take my car to the dealer (BTW, I've taken my car to the dealer over 10x at this point) and my dealer is telling me that they don't have any cards to perform the download. Typical... This continues to be the worst mistake I've ever made.

So what do I do now? Keep calling dealerships until I find one that is able to perform the upgrade. Wow.

BTW, that was pretty lame that Ford goes on Facebook but deletes all the negative posts. I posted something similar to my previous post and they deleted it. If that is what they are doing, it seems to show a one sided story.:thumbdwn:

Here is the scoop on your options:

You can wait for the mail pack and do it yourself.

You can download it from syncmyride.com onto your own USB, do the update yourself. (You will have no navi until the SD card arrives in the mail though) <--- I did this option. Used my iPhone for navi until the card came then just popped the new SD card in and all was fine.

Note: If you want to download it from syncmyride, choose the "no navi" option. Otherwise it will not let you download. There is no ill-effect by choosing this option. It's the same software package that everyone is getting. Just no map card.

Note: Some early 2011 builds MUST be taken to the dealer. There is no option to do it yourself. This is due to the fact that the service person has to manually control the fans to prevent an overheat of the engine during the one hour idle sesion while the update installation occurs. Don't know why, but that is the official reason. It only affects some 2011s.

Read through the beginning pages of the thread I linked you too (I linked you half way into the thread). It will give you more detail on all of the above.

This thread will help as well...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348774

 

[ModMiFord]

You can all do it from the website. Some early 2011 builds MUST to go into the dealer but most do not and no 2012s do at all. The only drawback to downloading from syncmyride is you will not have the new map card and thus your navi will be disabled until the SD card comes in the mail. Once it comes, you just pop it in and nav will start working right away.

It's really no big deal if you can live without the nav for a bit... I used my iPhone for navigation until the pack came in the mail and it was worth having a updated and working MFT system...well worth it!

NOTES: You must choose "no nav" option on the syncmyride website. If you choose the "I have nav" option, it will tell you to go to the dealer and not give you the download link for the update.

Check out this thread. It will help you all out on the above....

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348774

 

[riderdan]

Well, I tried a different dealership and had a better (but still not great) experience. I took the printed out SYNC update form and told them that SYNC was dead and I wanted the update. They took the EX in and surprise, surprise, told me that they'd have to order an new module because the old one is dead and they couldn't perform the update on a dead unit (duh!). All this is exactly what I told them (and the previous, screwed-up dealership) when I dropped the car off. Sometimes working with service advisors is like when you call a call center and get an overseas "technician" who is clearly reading a script from a notebook and has never seen the actual thing you're calling about... someone who gets wildly confused if you go off-script. Sigh.

The module is on order, time to get it is supposed to be two days and then we'll schedule a time for them to install and program it. If that really is the case and my wife gets her back-up camera back early next week, then I'll be satisfied in the short term--we'll see how it holds up. The biggest issue for me isn't the SYNC system itself, it's that Ford allowed themselves to be talked into allowing the system sole control of important features of the vehicle--like the backup camera and rear AC. I suppose we should all be thankful that the brakes and accelerator don't go out when the black screen of death appears.

This experience is making me pretty unhappy with our purchase of the EX. I was very resistant to the idea of buying the SYNC package, but unfortunately my wife wouldn't own the car without the back-up system. Needing a vehicle of this size for our family of five, I took a chance against my better instincts. Possibly I should have done more research, as it was not apparent to me how many convenience features would stop working when SYNC goes out. Radio I can live without. Rear AC in a California summer with three kids under 5 in the back, not so much.

I work in the computer software industry, where there's a saying that the only way Microsoft could ever produce a product that doesn't suck is if they built a vacuum cleaner. It seems that this is another case that proves that saying true. As usual with MS, we seem to be beta testing the system for them after paying the purchase price. Not Ready for Prime Time, I would say.

Now I have to consider what to do long-term, assuming that this is fixed next week and everything's copacetic. The car has been serviced for SYNC problems three times. Under California's lemon law, that means that if there's another SYNC failure, I can force FMC to take the car back (using a complicated system of milage proration that assumes a vehicle will live for 120,000 miles and reduces the purchase price by number of miles driven). I'd rather not hassle with that but based on my recent experience with SYNC and getting SYNC problems corrected I do not have a high level of confidence that the SYNC system will outlive the warranty period, or that the vehicle will not require frequent, inconvenient trips to the dealership for SYNC problems. And once out of warranty, I would not be willing to pay out of pocket more than once to fix the system (immediately prior to selling the car)

For anyone who finds this thread who is considering an Explorer, I would not advise purchasing this vehicle equipped with the SYNC system. Don't rely on promises of future fixes... The check's in the mail and all that.

 

[VinceL]

riderdan, I'm no fan of Microsoft, but I feel it is important to place the blame where it is appropriate. MS is responsible for the Windows Automotive OS on which the SYNC and MFT applications run. In my research, Windows Auto (or whatever it is now called) has a decent reputation for being a stable, flexible, and resource conservative piece of software.

MFT, not written by MS (but some have indicated that MS had some input in the Performance Upgrade), was originally coded by a company called BSQUARE. It is BSQUARE that hosed MFT, and then it was Ford who allowed it to be released long before it should have been.

 

[riderdan]

In my research, Windows Auto (or whatever it is now called) has a decent reputation for being a stable, flexible, and resource conservative piece of software.

I work with hardware drivers (think network interface cards, RAID storage drivers, etc) for a living, and when an application can crash the OS (which is an all-too-common occurrence on various versions of Windows) that's a flaw in the OS. Yes, applications can be badly written and MFT may be the reason that SYNC crashed. But when a program makes a bad call, or has a memory leak, or otherwise does something out of bounds, I shouldn't see a kernel panic. I don't believe I've ever seen a Linux or Mac OS application crash the entire OS. Not that it can't happen, but it's very rare.

Here's hoping that the MFT update is better behaved than the original version. But I'm not confident that it will be. Sigh

 

[VinceL]

I am no programmer, and I only know what I read and hear from others on this topic, but you are the first I have encountered that has negative things to say about Windows Automotive :scratch:

Happy driving

 

[TomTomNJ]

Well I took my truck to Ford and they installed the upgrade. So far it seems to be an improvement. This is especially true for the navigation system. By George I think they got it...

 

[riderdan]

Replaced and updated, better not perfect

Got the Explorer back yesterday. APIM replaced, SYNC update installed. Backup camera and rear AC working again, so wife and kids are happy. However, plugged in iPhone to play music and hit another glitch (shows current playing song title, time advancing, but no sound even w/ volume all the way up). So I gues the verdict is: better but still beta.

I'll have to think about my next step

 

[katiems]

Got the Explorer back yesterday. APIM replaced, SYNC update installed. Backup camera and rear AC working again, so wife and kids are happy. However, plugged in iPhone to play music and hit another glitch (shows current playing song title, time advancing, but no sound even w/ volume all the way up). So I gues the verdict is: better but still beta.

I'll have to think about my next step

According to my regional customer service rep--Im supposed to drive around with the phone unpaired so see if I have issues, if I still have issues, they might try to fix it again, if I pair the phone and have issues, its my problem!! Apparently Ford doesnt think the phone issue qualifies as LEMON LAW.

 

[w1kedz]

I work with hardware drivers (think network interface cards, RAID storage drivers, etc) for a living, and when an application can crash the OS (which is an all-too-common occurrence on various versions of Windows) that's a flaw in the OS. Yes, applications can be badly written and MFT may be the reason that SYNC crashed. But when a program makes a bad call, or has a memory leak, or otherwise does something out of bounds, I shouldn't see a kernel panic. I don't believe I've ever seen a Linux or Mac OS application crash the entire OS. Not that it can't happen, but it's very rare.

You haven't been programming very long on Linux or Mac OS if you haven't seen kernel panics. If a program is accessing low level memory, API's or making direct kernel calls and windows crashes, it is the fault of the program. If you do kernel level driver development, and your driver is not handling IO and Memory correctly it will crash the kernel, there is no way for Microsoft, Apple, or the community backing Linux to anticipate what you might do as a low level programmer.

If you take all of the memory away from the base operating system, and won't release any (what flash is doing here), how do you expect the base operating system to perform any functions?

The application developer is responsible for managing the application, it's memory, it's calls to the kernel or kernel level drivers, and it's error handling and crash management. If you develop an application that goes beyond the standard sandbox, you need to make sure it's stable... MFT is not, this problem has nothing to do with microsoft, or windows, windows auto has been around for over a decade, and is stable. Flash has also been around for over a decade, and has never been stable.

I don't prefer windows over any other OS, but I live in all of them (windows, mac, iOS, linux, even android), and Windows Embedded, especially windows automotive, is a perfectly great place for MFT. MFT on the other hand is not a perfectly great piece of software to be running on any OS.

 

[w1kedz]

I work in the computer software industry, where there's a saying that the only way Microsoft could ever produce a product that doesn't suck is if they built a vacuum cleaner. It seems that this is another case that proves that saying true. As usual with MS, we seem to be beta testing the system for them after paying the purchase price. Not Ready for Prime Time, I would say.

You have obviously never worked with Windows Automotive. MFT is not a Microsoft Product. You're placing your blame on the wrong engineers. I can give you a perfectly working pickup truck, if you choose to modify the hell out of it (add turbo's, huge wheels, different shocks, chop the top, etc) and you don't marry all the parts well, I have nothing to do w/ the failure of your modified vehicle. I gave you a perfectly working pickup truck. Microsoft delivered Ford a perfectly viable, great OS, Ford *******ized MFT by writing poor software, using poor frameworks and technology.