9 ms·
The car's low-level control is still functional as normal, it's just the user interface that crashes, disabling the main display, all readouts, and all notifica
by segfaultbuserr 7y ago
The car's low-level control is still functional as normal, it's just the user interface that crashes, disabling the main display, all readouts, and all notifications. Rebooting the UI can fix the problem (it will reset itself automatically after two minutes as well). So it's a security issue, but not that serious as the title may suggest otherwise.
Still, apparently, a bad webpage with a loop of JavaScript that hangs the web browser can lead to a complete failure of the entire user interface, even disabling the speedometer, turn signal (only the notification, visual and sound, not the actual signal), and AutoPilot status. Still a red flag and not a sign of good engineering.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- TrumpMyGuns 7y agoBody panels with insane gaps and light housings that allow moisture in were already signs of bad engineering. Tesla is a joke propped up by social media fanboys.
- userbinator 7y agoIt's been joked a few times that a Tesla is a computer with a car attached. I guess things like this make that very obvious, and not in a good way.
- ChrisClark 7y agoThe very opposite actually. The computer crashes, but all car functions work perfectly, including autopilot (read the article update) and all safety features. So you take out the computer here and it's still a perfectly safe and drive-able car.
- userbinator 7y agoa perfectly safe and drive-able car ...with absolutely no instrumentation? Sure, the wheel and pedals still work, but everything else is not controllable. I've done some custom car stuff so I've had short drives without a dashboard, and while you could argue it's drivable, I wouldn't say safe.
- cortesoft 7y agoIt is certainly safe enough to pull over to the side of the road at a safe spot.
- drcross 7y agoWhy is there such anti Tesla sentiment on HN? There are numerous problems with other cars and it doesn't receive any coverage
- FireBeyond 7y agoI almost wish there had been another car with a digital cockpit that faced the same issue. Because I can imagine the glee that (some) Tesla owners would have. Like they did when there was a Jeep remote vulnerability. "Haha. Way to do OTA totally wrong!".
- CamperBob2 7y agoYou can always spot the pioneers -- they're the ones with arrows sticking out of their backs.
- segfaultbuserr 7y agoThe situation is just stupid - when I first posted my comment, I said the car would still be functional and that issue is not that serious, I immediately received a reply that basically criticizes me for being a pro-Tesla apologist (now deleted, apparently an honest misread), and now I have comments saying I'm anti-Tesla. But the fact is, I'm neither, I was simply expressing a specific criticism that it's not a good design that the dashboard is not separated from the rest of the entertainment system, and I said nothing about how good or bad Tesla is, as a car overall, or whether Tesla, Inc. is a good company. > There are numerous problems with other cars and it doesn't receive any coverage It's simply a result of much more attention and scrutiny of Tesla on HN because it's a popular car/company in the Silicon Valley.
- xedeon 7y agoThe anti-Tesla vitriol here is insane and unfounded. I would love for these people to actually drive one before passing judgement.
- FireBeyond 7y ago> a perfectly safe Unless, for but one example, it's raining, heavily. Because the wipers freeze.
- NotSammyHagar 7y agoit reboots in under a minute so you can make adjustments then. mean while you keep driving or can pull over or whatever. its not like it happens all the time, once every month or so I push both toggle button and reboot it while I'm driving
- kartikmohta 7y agoIsn't having the wipers freeze for more than 5-10 seconds in heavy rain a big safety issue? Agreed that the chances of the freeze happening while there is heavy rain are rather slim, but nobody should be relying on their luck in this way.
- FireBeyond 7y agoYeah, the context was "don't need to pull over, don't need to do anything, it's all perfectly safe".
- _-___________-_ 7y agoDo the wipers really freeze, or can you just not change the mode they're set to?
- Klathmon 7y agoI was bored so I just went out to my garage and checked this myself. The wipers do not freeze when the MCU crashes or restarts. They continue working on the speed they were running at when the MCU crashes or restarts.
- nabla9 7y ago"If the automobile had followed the same development as the computer, a Rolls- Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." – Robert Cringely.
- pengaru 7y agoIt's concerning how hesitant I am to assert today's consumers wouldn't accept such a compromise. In the past, not even distant past, just ~15-20 years ago, I'd confidently say that would never fly without hesitation. It's definitely not the case today. Just look at how willing people are to delegate control over their lives to Tesla's "Autopilot". Even well-educated software engineers are being killed by putting 100% confidence in this glorified cruise control.
- mehrdada 7y agoPeople crash all the time texting and driving. I see people looking into their phones while the car is coasting all the time. Autopilot is at the very least a much much safer coasting mode. To say Tesla Autopilot, at least the current version of it, net-net increases the chance of crashes is pure speculation, requiring a very hard to measure second-order effect argument of it being significant a cause for distraction and intuitively untrue for anyone who actually uses it day to day.
- fiddlerwoaroof 7y agoYeah, I enable autopilot when I need to adjust the ac/music or switch from my glasses to sunglasses, because (on the roads I normally drive on) it does a decent job staying in the lane. Also, in traffic, I’ve been finding Autopilot/adaptive cruise control to be really great for enabling me to pay more attention to the cars around me, because I spend a lot less energy worrying about the speed of the car in front of me and following the curves of the road.
- Dylan16807 7y ago> It's concerning how hesitant I am to assert today's consumers wouldn't accept such a compromise. Nobody would get in a car that kills you once a year. But it would be an amazing tool for pulling things. So they might get in a carriage behind it. And people would definitely use that tech to make unmanned truck tractors.
- NotSammyHagar 7y agoThe maybe not obvious point is they have two computer systems, one that manages the "edutainment", one for the drive train. The entertainment one is the one they crashed. I want the web browser updated more than any other single thing on the car. The web browser is separated from the drive train. You can reboot the non-drive train even while driving.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- dahfizz 7y agoSo they ship a full fat web browser in the car? Is there a compelling reason why?
- anchpop 7y agoSo you can browse the web if you want. They ship worse than that. Every car comes with a copy of Stardew Valley
- dahfizz 7y agoStardew valley is a bit of harmless fun that can be safely ignored if you don't want to play. A web browser is obviously a can of worms that opens you up to security issues... Seriously, what is the use case? YouTube and Netflix ought to have a native app. Do I desperately want to browse HN but I don't have a phone on me? I don't understand.
- wilg 7y agoWell, you can look up the websites of restaurants and things right from the map, etc.
- rsynnott 7y agoIs there anyone, at all, who has a Tesla but not a mobile phone? The decision to include a browser is baffling.
- bumby 7y agoI’ve heard it described as a race between a technology company trying to learn manufacturing and manufacturing companies trying to learn tech
- alasdair_ 7y ago>I’ve heard it described as a race between a technology company trying to learn manufacturing and manufacturing companies trying to learn tech Reminds me of the Netflix quote from seven years ago: 'The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us' https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/29/3930560/netflix-wants-at-least-five-new-shows-a-year-the-goal-is-to-become https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/29/3930560/netflix-wants-at-...
- natch 7y agoPretty much all cars have computers now. The fact that this one can be rebooted (by the end user, as a matter of course, and it's no big deal) without any hackery whatsoever, and the car can still be driven, makes the system look very good actually. The joke fits better with the other computers in the car, which were not the subject of the article.
- perl4ever 7y ago"makes the system look very good actually" It may be a generational thing. It sounds terrible to me, but I have a car whose computer lasted 30 years before needing attention, and then it was for failing solder joints.
- jaxn 7y agoI have actually noticed this recently. I have a app that seemed to do this in my car.
- dawnerd 7y agoSame, loaded up disney+ and it caused the whole UI to lock up and eventually crash. Super weird.
- IshKebab 7y agoLosing access to your speedometer is pretty serious!
- _-___________-_ 7y agoIs it? Do you think you wouldn't be able to drive safely without a speedometer? (BTW, I am specifically talking about safety, not about whether you get a speeding ticket.) I am not really sure that someone who needs a speedo to stay safe should be on the road...