CEEEEE
Junior Member
Hi everybody - first time poster, but over the past three weeks or so I'm pretty sure I've ready every thread and sad story related to this issue on every site that has one.
Like many others here, I got burned by the Sierra Wireless module failure when updating my 8.4 UConnect. I was having compass issues and my navigation was waaay off - so like the other technologically inclined guys here, thought, "I wonder if there's a software update?" - and there WAS! It reportedly fixed the GPS issues due to something that happened in 2019...
So I did it.
And that was the last time I saw my center console alive.
I tried every USB stick I had. I formatted everything with zeros. I used SD cards in a USB reader. I let the truck sit overnight on the charger for days on end. I tried pulling the card when it was on step 1. I almost sacrificed a chicken. I've pulled the stupidly-placed lone fuse so many times... and now I've given up hope.
I've talked to @RamCares on Twitter, and they appear to want to be helpful, but the idea of jumping through the hoops they're going to want in order to get this straightened out is just demoralizing. I know if I walk into a dealership, I'm going to get charged a diagnostic fee for them to confirm what I already know.. then they're going to quote me some ridiculous price to replace the RA4 unit.. I'll throw some STAR case # at them, they'll try it, it won't work.. and then I'll probably get blamed for breaking it as an excuse to keep them from replacing THEIR faulty hardware. It's going to cost me many hours.. and it shouldn't.
In my reading of everything over these forlorn few weeks, it appears that the 3G modem that is the cause of my/our unit's failure is going to be absolutely ****ing worthless in the coming months anyway.. and that makes the frustration I've been swimming in with everyone else just that much frothy. If it's not going to work, WHY is it being updated?? - Let's just skip over/disable all that functionality in software, and move on with the update! Surely the engineers behind these software updates know exactly what they need to do to make this happen. And they SHOULD DO IT.
I've been getting notifications on my screen that the vehicle phone requires service for months. It occasionally wouldn't boot until I'm halfway to where I was going. I have a phone in my pocket or usually in the center console. I don't need my rear view mirror to want to make calls for me.
@RamCares - allow us the option to apply the update without the wireless module. There are likely thousands of people with this figurative time bomb in their dash right now.. there are hundreds that it's happened to already. Let's admit that we have a problem, and let's offer a substantive fix beyond voodoo chants, trying different brands of USB sticks, fuse pulling trickery, and the absolutely unwarranted hope that maybe the update will work... eventually.
Thanks for reading my rant.
Like many others here, I got burned by the Sierra Wireless module failure when updating my 8.4 UConnect. I was having compass issues and my navigation was waaay off - so like the other technologically inclined guys here, thought, "I wonder if there's a software update?" - and there WAS! It reportedly fixed the GPS issues due to something that happened in 2019...
So I did it.
And that was the last time I saw my center console alive.
I tried every USB stick I had. I formatted everything with zeros. I used SD cards in a USB reader. I let the truck sit overnight on the charger for days on end. I tried pulling the card when it was on step 1. I almost sacrificed a chicken. I've pulled the stupidly-placed lone fuse so many times... and now I've given up hope.
I've talked to @RamCares on Twitter, and they appear to want to be helpful, but the idea of jumping through the hoops they're going to want in order to get this straightened out is just demoralizing. I know if I walk into a dealership, I'm going to get charged a diagnostic fee for them to confirm what I already know.. then they're going to quote me some ridiculous price to replace the RA4 unit.. I'll throw some STAR case # at them, they'll try it, it won't work.. and then I'll probably get blamed for breaking it as an excuse to keep them from replacing THEIR faulty hardware. It's going to cost me many hours.. and it shouldn't.
In my reading of everything over these forlorn few weeks, it appears that the 3G modem that is the cause of my/our unit's failure is going to be absolutely ****ing worthless in the coming months anyway.. and that makes the frustration I've been swimming in with everyone else just that much frothy. If it's not going to work, WHY is it being updated?? - Let's just skip over/disable all that functionality in software, and move on with the update! Surely the engineers behind these software updates know exactly what they need to do to make this happen. And they SHOULD DO IT.
I've been getting notifications on my screen that the vehicle phone requires service for months. It occasionally wouldn't boot until I'm halfway to where I was going. I have a phone in my pocket or usually in the center console. I don't need my rear view mirror to want to make calls for me.
@RamCares - allow us the option to apply the update without the wireless module. There are likely thousands of people with this figurative time bomb in their dash right now.. there are hundreds that it's happened to already. Let's admit that we have a problem, and let's offer a substantive fix beyond voodoo chants, trying different brands of USB sticks, fuse pulling trickery, and the absolutely unwarranted hope that maybe the update will work... eventually.
Thanks for reading my rant.
