Another MFT/SYNC crash...

[vfral1]

...3rd "black screen of death" occurred today.

Driving along, talking on the phone, had not touched the screen in several minutes, everything working fine, then the "Ford blue oval" pops up on the screen, then black.

A few minutes later the "Sync scheduled maintenance" pops up, system reboots, everything comes back EXCEPT NAV.

"Nav system fault, see touchscreen" is the message.

SO, since the phone is working, I call the FORD customer service and navigate to MFT/sync issues. After a 10 minute hold, I get a tech on the line. I explain the problem and ask if he has a solution. He tells me to pull over and pull fuse 29.

That might work for me, but would never be acceptable to my wife. They have got to get the message that this is not an acceptable procedure to get their system to back to functionality.

Why is Ford so silent about software upgrade? Admit something is wrong and commit to fixing it. I would be a lot more content if I knew for sure they were going to stand by their product.

 

[jrmexplorer]

...3rd "black screen of death" occurred today.

Driving along, talking on the phone, had not touched the screen in several minutes, everything working fine, then the "Ford blue oval" pops up on the screen, then black.

A few minutes later the "Sync scheduled maintenance" pops up, system reboots, everything comes back EXCEPT NAV.

"Nav system fault, see touchscreen" is the message.

SO, since the phone is working, I call the FORD customer service and navigate to MFT/sync issues. After a 10 minute hold, I get a tech on the line. I explain the problem and ask if he has a solution. He tells me to pull over and pull fuse 29.

That might work for me, but would never be acceptable to my wife. They have got to get the message that this is not an acceptable procedure to get their system to back to functionality.

Why is Ford so silent about software upgrade? Admit something is wrong and commit to fixing it. I would be a lot more content if I knew for sure they were going to stand by their product.

Don't worry, the "MAGIC" software update is coming in july that will FIX EVERYTHING.....

 

[Globewalker]

UGGH
Just picked up my new 2011 Explorer Limited Wednesday (7/6).. and before I got it home had the Black Screen - dead - no response at all..
Brought back to the dealer Thursday .. and they did the battery cable reboot.

Now I am reading about all of the problems with this system.. funny how they didn't show up during my purchase research.. I didn't know the key words to search on..

I also have a few minor bluetooth problems but the black screen is my concern..

We yelled loud enough that they said they would take it back by Friday evening if we really didnt want it.. my wife doesnt want a lemon and live in the service dept.
We just couldnt get a warm fuzzy from Ford that they acknowledge the seriousness of this black screen, and reboot problem and thyat they are working on it. They do not seem to have a remedy now after all these months.

Just how wide spread is this problem?
Would I expect to see this reboot or black screen weekly? monthly?

It appears the system needs manually rebooting anyhow due to out of sync issues.. sad because you lose a lot of presets and config each time I take it..

Trying to decide if should return it and wait until they fix the problems.. otherwise I really like the vehicle.

 

[GWA1]

UGGH
Just picked up my new 2011 Explorer Limited Wednesday (7/6).. and before I got it home had the Black Screen - dead - no response at all..
Brought back to the dealer Thursday .. and they did the battery cable reboot.

Now I am reading about all of the problems with this system.. funny how they didn't show up during my purchase research.. I didn't know the key words to search on..

I also have a few minor bluetooth problems but the black screen is my concern..

We yelled loud enough that they said they would take it back by Friday evening if we really didnt want it.. my wife doesnt want a lemon and live in the service dept.
We just couldnt get a warm fuzzy from Ford that they acknowledge the seriousness of this black screen, and reboot problem and thyat they are working on it. They do not seem to have a remedy now after all these months.

Just how wide spread is this problem?
Would I expect to see this reboot or black screen weekly? monthly?

It appears the system needs manually rebooting anyhow due to out of sync issues.. sad because you lose a lot of presets and config each time I take it..

Trying to decide if should return it and wait until they fix the problems.. otherwise I really like the vehicle.

Heard about it. Never seen it . Have only had problems with radio (Sony). Fixed when upgraded to 2.8

 

[jrmexplorer]

UGGH
Just picked up my new 2011 Explorer Limited Wednesday (7/6).. and before I got it home had the Black Screen - dead - no response at all..
Brought back to the dealer Thursday .. and they did the battery cable reboot.

Now I am reading about all of the problems with this system.. funny how they didn't show up during my purchase research.. I didn't know the key words to search on..

I also have a few minor bluetooth problems but the black screen is my concern..

We yelled loud enough that they said they would take it back by Friday evening if we really didnt want it.. my wife doesnt want a lemon and live in the service dept.
We just couldnt get a warm fuzzy from Ford that they acknowledge the seriousness of this black screen, and reboot problem and thyat they are working on it. They do not seem to have a remedy now after all these months.

Just how wide spread is this problem?
Would I expect to see this reboot or black screen weekly? monthly?

It appears the system needs manually rebooting anyhow due to out of sync issues.. sad because you lose a lot of presets and config each time I take it..

Trying to decide if should return it and wait until they fix the problems.. otherwise I really like the vehicle.

The software and MFT work for quite a few users - myself included. I've had to pull fuse 29 to reset MFT only once in two months and that immediately cured the problem (phone stopped pairing). The software works fine most of the time - there are a few random glitches.

I think the biggest issue right now is that Ford dealers are unprepared for this new technology. They have issues diagnosing and fixing problems with it. Many of them have resorted to simply saying that "the new software" will fix everything. It wont. Many people's issues are hardware related and the dealer doesn't seem to be able to understand that.

You may have to be persistent. What I would do is if you keep the car (if you are inclined) - make sure that you DEMAND a loaner or rental available for you should you need to take it in. I'll explain why in a minute.

Worst case scenario is that you have a bad APIM (MFT computer) - which your dealer should fix, but you may have to be persistent to get them to replace it - it's not because they don't want to, its because they can be clueless. It's probably too early to tell if you need a new one or not - if it happens again - have them replace the APIM. The APIM (depending on who you talk to) - takes a few days to get in to the dealer - you don't wanna be riding around a car with a dead APIM - SO GET THE RENTAL OR LOANER GUARANTEED. AND, if you feel so inclined, see if you can get the dealer to promise to replace the APIM should it happen again without any hassles.

Also, you do you have a phone with a large number of contacts (>50) or a media player with a large # of songs (>1000)? If so, Sync goes goofy when it gets overloaded and seems to be too stupid to let you know you've overloaded it. If you do have a large number of contacts, turn auto-phone book download "OFF"

Good luck. Oh and if you need to, you can always Private Message Cory (Username: FordCustSrvc) - he works for Ford and monitors these forums and has the ability to escalate issues up the chain of command at Ford and has helped many Explorer owners on this site.

-J

 

[TennesseeTider]

Replacing the APIM did NOT fix the issues with MFT on my explorer.

I DO NOT have a phone paired with it, so that has nothing to do with my issues.

My wife is scared to press anything on the MFT system short of the basic necessities out of fear it will lock up like it has time and time again.

Supposedly, an engineer who was on the design team of MFT is coming to look at mine on July 18th. This is what I was told by Ford customer service.

I was told this was NOT a service engineer, but one of the design engineers.

Hopefully I can get this nightmare straightened out.

 

[Globewalker]

Thanks all..
I am returning the vehicle tonight..since I have the rare opportunity to do so..
It is sad because I really like it.. but from what I am seeing,, the ones that have problems, have a lot of problems.. and mine died first day.. so cant take that chance..
Will find something else or maybe wait and see if they fix things properly and just drive the 2000 Explorer a bit longer.

I see no acknowledgment of the black screen problem and a battery cable reboot is considered fixing it! I find it unfathomable that Ford suggests constant rebooting to keep their product working..

It was the Golden Bronze Limited w/ black/Pecan interior.. sweet looking ride.. oh well, Ford's fault.

 

[BubbaFL]

Ford suggests constant rebooting to keep their product working

It's a microsoft product, 'nuff said...

 

[StunnedMonkey]

It's a microsoft product, 'nuff said...

I don't think Microsoft designed MFT. I think the underlying sync technology is Microsoft's, but the MFT overlay was made by someone else.

 

[BubbaFL]

I don't think Microsoft designed MFT. I think the underlying sync technology is Microsoft's, but the MFT overlay was made by someone else.

From what I've read, the underlying OS is Microsoft's, and the Ford specific software was written by ex-Microsoft guys. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyFord_Touch

 

[Joe Dirt]

Gee, I wonder why they're Ex-Microsoft guys...

 

[Globewalker]

Well.. the Final Space shuttle launch occurred Friday morning..
Its the end of an era

I wonder if they had to pull fuse 29 and reboot before they could launch..

 

[Vic]

Also, you do you have a phone with a large number of contacts (>50) or a media player with a large # of songs (>1000)? If so, Sync goes goofy when it gets overloaded and seems to be too stupid to let you know you've overloaded it. If you do have a large number of contacts, turn auto-phone book download "OFF"

-J

The issue surrounding a large number of contacts isn't a matter of SYNC being "too stupid," it's an issue of how the user chooses to use the system. This is a user selected feature.

If a user wants the system to compare databases for 6000 contacts each and every time a phone is connected, then the user should understand there will be latency issues during that syncing process. If the user commands the system to sych an inordinate number of contacts each time the vehicle starts, the other systems like Nav will be running slowly until the synch completes. It's the users choice.

An example-

My internet browser allows me to open up all of my Favorites/Bookmarks with a couple clicks. If I had, for example, 6000 Favorites/Bookmarks and tried to open up all 6000 of them when I launched my browser, it would take an inordinate amout of time to do so.

That doesnt mean my browser or computer is too stupid, it's just doing what I told it to do. I wouldn't complain that my computer is running slow when it's performing a process I instructed it to do. If I didn't like the time involved in opening up all of my favorites at once, then I could choose not to do that. Its the users choice.

MFT provides the user a choice when it comes to auto synching the contact list. They can sync their contact lists each and every time a phone is connected or they can choose not too. It's a simple setting.

In addition, Apple provides an iPhone setting to better manage large contacts lists. Apple added this because of issues Apple was having when contact lists got into the thousands.

 

[Loganfilm]

I would respond to this, but I've limited myself to only dealing with less than 49 people or problems in my life. I've gotten rid of family and friends. I go to the same restaurant every day. I only wear black. I only make right turns.

Really? A user problem? How big is your life?

 

[Loganfilm]

Also... I listen to the same four songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over.....

 

[Vic]

I would respond to this, but I've limited myself to only dealing with less than 49 people or problems in my life. I've gotten rid of family and friends. I go to the same restaurant every day. I only wear black. I only make right turns.

Really? A user problem? How big is your life?

A said a user choice, not a user problem.

If you choose not to use the setting provided by Apple on your iPhone to manage large contact lists, that is your choice.

 

[jk60543]

Mft / pos

I had the black screen on Thursday. I drove to my dealer and they pulled the battery to re-boot the system. On Saturday I was driving using navigation with NO phone paired. I reached my destination and decided to cancel the trip. Just as I was going to press yes (to acknowledge the cancellation request) the voice came in to announce that I had reached my destination. That alone over loaded this thing! I then had a blank pop-up that was the confirmation of the cancellation. This little window stayed for over five minutes. No selections were acknowledged until five minutes later. Then I hear a bunch of button selection tones (it was catching up on my button presses) and then the system reboots.

If it overloads the system doing these 2 simple tasks, we MFT users are in a world of trouble.

 

[vfral1]

The weird part is that you couldn't make it crash if you wanted to. One time it's the phone that does it, next time it's the NAV, then it's the radio.

I had it lock up on me yesterday, by trying to change the ambient lighting. It came back, but it was the 5min "lockup" of the system that makes you nuts...I mean what is it thinking about? A slow response to a voice command of a place name is understandable, but when it's simply "pick a color" and go with it, what is the problem with that?

 

[calb]

The weird part is that you couldn't make it crash if you wanted to. One time it's the phone that does it, next time it's the NAV, then it's the radio.

May very well be that there is more than one bug causing problems, and that the bugs are triggered by a number of specific factors (ie. only when ambient lighting is on green, and have switched from phone to nav within the last 5 seconds - or something else as equally strange)

 

[RandyH2]

My latest MFT crash was more than a minor incovenience. We heading home from Vermillion, OH through Toledo and on to the Ann Arbor area. I knew there was significant construction on the Turnpike, and the nav system indicated a bunch of construction zones along the route. At the last minute, I decided to get a re-route around it and take the northern route. Well, the re-route included as much construction and added rural surface roads (traffic lights, reduced speeds, etc.). Hardly an intelligent re-route- the system should have indicated that my original route was likely the best route and then given me a chance to stick to it.
Anyway, we are going through downtown Toledo, which is a complete mess when you look at it on the nav map as you can't tell your route from all of the traffic data, roads, etc. In an effort to get a better sense of what I needed to do, I tried to zoom the map.

APIM: "He needs a zoom, NOW, because the marked exit is less than 0.2 miles away. The GPS has been loosing signal and we may or may not be using dead-reckoning. We may or may not be accurate to within 200 feet. Request map zoom."

Me: <wait> <touch zoom button again> <wait> <again......> <stress over distraction while in traffic> "Dang it, we were supposed to turn there, I think, but I don't know. Why won't this thing give me directions!?!"

APIM: Zoom request will be processed momentarily. Preparing some really annoying voice prompt for next voice command interaction. 30 second timer has expired. Update zoom and map info. User request completed.