skl

A couple days ago my wife used the CS and utilized the nav- when I drove it last night the nav screen came up by itself, asking to "confirm" when it usually says "enter". I turned it on for the hell of it and a map came up of a town about 20 miles away where my wife had gone the day before. It said "map set" in the left lower corner and no matter what I tried it wouldn't go to a real time map of where I actually was- in my driveway! After fiddling with it for a while I finally had to reset the whole damned thing which of course erased all my radio presets as well. What the hell did she do to freeze that image. She had no idea...

Please don't RTFM me as I tried that- it's as confusing as the system itself sometimes!

MadFox

I had that happen once for no apparent reason.. are you on the latest version software.. there is a free upgrade that came with the NAVTEQ cd's they set.. it asks you to confirm it, etc. I suspect this is akin to the infamous Mircrosoft Blue Screen where you have to CTRL-ALT-DEL and lose everything of years ago.. It only happened once but hasn't happened since the upgrade. Only other thing I know that I was doing was that I did have a CD playing but the NAV was not "active".

skl

I put in the new CD's a few months ago when Porsche sent them to me but don't remember the dealer doing anything specifically to the nav the last time it was in. The next time I do take in, I'm hoping they don't notice I took off those damned rear seat belts clips they'd put on the trip before...

MadFox

Two words for the rear seat belt clips to look like they are installed: Duct Tape! The new CD's require a version upgrade which would have been done or they wouldn't work.. so you may have another problem.. sorry.

356driver

(Picture me climbing onto my soapbox)

This is something that will happen more and more and will not just be limited to your nav systems. It is a simple fact that the amount of software running in your car is on a near vertical trajectory. This is not a Porsche problem, it's an industry problem. General Motors is projecting that the typical automobile could contain 100,000,000 lines of code by the year 2010.

Software development is still not a well understood engineering discipline. It shows in your everyday desktop computer, where application glitches, network disconnects and operating system crashes are considered "normal". There are high reliability applications (such as flight control) where extensive software definition, testing and validation procedures are required. But these procedures are prohibitively expensive and are little used outside the commercial aviation world.

Today most engineering organizations perceive software as a cheap way to add function and flexibility to a product. Because of this mentality they avoid investments in process, training, or tools that might assist in the development of more reliable software. On an individual basis the "hacker hero" mentality runs rampant amongst the software engineering community. Hacking together a software system can be cheap, but is really only successful up to a certain level of complexity. After that the system begins to collapse under its own weight.

In automobiles we are starting to see the result of immature engineering processes. In the Toyota Prius there was a software bug that would shut down the motor at freeway speeds. In our Cayennes the PCM2, the multi-function display and the ECM have undergone multiple software "upgrades" to fix bugs. Has anyone questioned why performance is so much better with PSM turned off? My strong suspicion is that the famous "hesitation" problem is due to the ECM processing too much "adaptive driving" logic before it figures out what you really mean when you stomp on the gas pedal.

The problem is going to get worse, not better. Near-zero defects in our automobiles are starting to fall to software glitches across the industry. The 90's will be fondly remembered as the golden era of automotive quality, as we all form queues at our dealerships to get the latest bug fix. And we can all see it coming - at some point there will be a software-related tragedy or lawsuit, or public quality revolt. Then there will finally be reaction on the part of car manufacturers.

You heard it here first. And next time I feel like ranting I'll write about how secure our cars are once they are connected Bluetooth and Wifi networks.

skl

Will we all have to be the next Bill Gates to understand how to make our cars still run?? Your "rant" is in teresting- never thought of it that way. Like all the "fixes" for our PC's- our cars are just becoming mobile PCs in a sense aren't they?

MBailey

Check on the information screen and see if you are receiving any satellites. If not you probably have to take it to a dealer.

MadFox

Church of the Porsche brethren, can I hear an "AMEN" to Pastor 356driver?

Can the brethren bang their heads and say "software glitch" regarding "Tyre Monitoring System faults, Nav Issues, A/C solonoid vents going crazy, 'hesitation', or 'lag'? I knew you could.

See you at Church....er.. the racetrack Porsche dudes.

phaedrus242

Fantastic post, 356.
I've done a little reading into this, and it seems a big part of the problem is with integration; not only of different software from different sources, but with different control modules made by different manufacturers. Our cars are, for all intents and purposes, rolling computer networks utilizing boces that, although manufactured to a standard, are not necessarily speaking the exact same language. Any thoughts?

Sorry, and back on topic:
Pcm freeze ups can be indicative of a PCM unit that may need replacement. I would recommend seeing if there are any faults stored in the system. If nothing surfaces, ask the service consultant if the technician coul file a ptec techline request to see if there is any additional pertinent information available. Few dealers are going to want to chance getting debited on a PCM replacement; they'll want something official before getting too serious.