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LG appliances at least used to use acoustic signaling for diagnostics: hold a phone up and the washer makes some modem-esque (I think it’s 4-tone / 4-FSK) noise
by bri3d 10mo ago
LG appliances at least used to use acoustic signaling for diagnostics: hold a phone up and the washer makes some modem-esque (I think it’s 4-tone / 4-FSK) noises and the app or technician can diagnose issues. It was originally engineered to even work over voice codecs, so a customer without a smartphone could relay the diagnostic session to a technician.
- opello 10mo agoThat's pretty cool. I found a write-up[1] on it but unfortunately didn't come across any examples of the communication. [1] https://github.com/kabelincho/LG-Smart-Diagnostics-modem https://github.com/kabelincho/LG-Smart-Diagnostics-modem
- bri3d 10mo agoThere are lots of examples on YouTube, this one seems succinct: https://youtube.com/shorts/3Eb315vL9uw https://youtube.com/shorts/3Eb315vL9uw . They picked good tones to make it satisfying IMO. I don’t know of anyone who’s reversed the bitstream in public, though, but it doesn’t seem like it should be very hard.
- opello 10mo agoThat's a great example, thanks! I was looking for "LG Smart Diagnostics" and "audio" and then "LG Acoustic Diagnostics" and found TVs calibrating their audio playback but not this. Trying "LG Audible Diagnosis" found a bunch like yours.
- imglorp 10mo agoThat's some advanced gatekeeping right there. Where other appliances might have a blink code or several digit error display (Miele) to look up in a manual, the phone method tires you to the manufacturer.
- noAnswer 10mo agoThe support hotline will ask you to hold your phone towards the device. It is less error-prone (than a human) and contains more info than a blink code. I find it really clever.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- imglorp 10mo agoSure it's clever. But it also means you can't repair the appliance without the manufacturer's server to decode it for you.
- thesuitonym 10mo agoIt doesn't require a server, it just requires knowing what the codes mean, same as blinking lights. Decoding it without help would be difficult for the average consumer, but it's not an impossible task.
- grepfru_it 10mo agoOwner of an LG washer that failed here. All the same diagnostics you can do at the machine, the phone home service allowed a remote engineer to diagnose as well. Things like drum rpm, tilt/knock sensors, uneven balance detection. Instead of paying a human $250 to come out and press buttons, they can do it remotely. I understand in the pessimistic age of John Deere, all remote diagnostics are bad, but that is not the case here. I was able to do all of the diagnosis myself to determine it was a bad stator and then replace it myself.
- yhager 10mo agoHow were you able to diagnose it yourself? Just through the error codes, or is there another interface available for non-technicians?
- 10mo ago
- landr0id 10mo ago>so a customer without a smartphone could relay the diagnostic session to a technician Do you mean by mimicking the noises themselves?
- wpm 10mo agoNo you see you just need to buy specially marked boxes of Cap'n Crunch that have a plastic whistle in them that plays the tones for you.
- userbinator 10mo agoI wonder how many HN readers still get that reference (and 2600, etc.)
- notpushkin 10mo agoBy holding their phone up to the machine.
- atoav 10mo agoThe absolutely "leetest" thing I have ever seen was a device where the firmware update was to be done by: 1. Hold a button while booting (pretty normal) 2. This reconfigures the circuit path of one of the LEDs so it is reverse-biased to VCC via its resistor and switches one of the microcontroller GPIOs to ADC input 3. You go to a website that plays a strobe pattern (encoding the firmware) 4. You hold that website in front of the LED till other LEDs blink, signifying a successful update They could have done this using a photodiode, but no, they had to abuse an LED. Not many people are aware that LEDs can in a certain configuration be used to measure light.
- nicolaslem 10mo agoAnother example of firmware update reusing something that is already there: some electric guitar effects from TC Electronics can be reprogrammed by bringing a phone close to the guitar pickups. The phone app encodes the data as sound that is picked up by the guitar pickups and sent down the chain to the effect.
- atoav 10mo agoAhh good example I remember having done that myself before!