Wiki Consolidated eMMC Thread (MCU repair) (Black Center Screen)

[tomas]

The manufacturer of the Flash chip shouldn't matter as long as the chip conforms to industry standards, but we've seen how poorly some thumb drives work with the media player.
Sounds like a typical Tesla SC excuse, though.

Cmon, I’m sure this isn’t your first goat rodeo! This is true of EVERY manufacturer. If you put in aftermarket parts and they fail or become incompatible, it’s on you. Same risk and warning if you chip your VW Scirocco (I did). Fortunately likelihood of aftermarket emmc causing problems near zero.

 

[BigNick]

I've had firmware flashes on performance ICE cars before, but I always re-flashed to stock before taking them in for service just in case.

 

[tomas]

I've had firmware flashes on performance ICE cars before, but I always re-flashed to stock before taking them in for service just in case.

Ok then you’re the deceptive guy causing the manufacturers to be suspicious!

 

[Fobble]

MCU on my 2015 MS completely died 2 weeks ago. Took SC 1 week to order daughterboard, all fixed under warranty with $0 out of pocket. Looks like they have moved on to the revision B now.

 

[Zuikkis]

Just dropped my car to SC for Tegra daughterboard replacement this morning.

However, few hours later they reported that they are refusing to replace because of 3rd party repair in the old board! Apparently it's not even possible to just "buy" a new board without giving old one back, and now that they refuse to take the swap is not possible at all.

But turns out that MCU2 upgrade has just been made available for Pre-AP cars in Europe. It was not a few weeks ago when I asked. So I went for that. I probably would have anyway, but I thought it's not possible yet. So "all good" in the end, I think.

I get to keep the old MCU1.. Those still seem to sell for reasonably high price on ebay. Maybe get a few bucks from it.

 

[tomas]

Just dropped my car to SC for Tegra daughterboard replacement this morning.

However, few hours later they reported that they are refusing to replace because of 3rd party repair in the old board! Apparently it's not even possible to just "buy" a new board without giving old one back, and now that they refuse to take the swap is not possible at all.

But turns out that MCU2 upgrade has just been made available for Pre-AP cars in Europe. It was not a few weeks ago when I asked. So I went for that. I probably would have anyway, but I thought it's not possible yet. So "all good" in the end, I think.

I get to keep the old MCU1.. Those still seem to sell for reasonably high price on ebay. Maybe get a few bucks from it.

Why were you swapping daughterboard? Did 3rd party chip fail?

 

[Zuikkis]

Why were you swapping daughterboard? Did 3rd party chip fail?

3rd party couldn't fix it because original emmc was unreadable. My mistake was telling SC about the situation, it might have been fine if I had simply reinstalled old broken chip back and be quiet about it. I don't know how carefully they inspect the boards.

Also I know there are companies that can dig out the data from "broken" chips with special tools. That might have worked, and certainly would be cheaper option. But honestly I'm starting to get bored looking at the black screen, at this point I'm glad to get a solid plan to get it working again.

I'm reasonably happy with MCU2 option. They said they will have the parts early next week. Also my MCU1 had only 3G, which is shutting down in most parts of Europe, so I probably would have needed a LTE upgrade anyway at some point.

 

[MP3Mike]

I get to keep the old MCU1..

Interesting here they charge a $1,000 core charge if you want to keep MCU1/IC1 during a MCU2 upgrade...

 

[Zuikkis]

Interesting here they charge a $1,000 core charge if you want to keep MCU1/IC1 during a MCU2 upgrade...

Oh I wasn't clear in my original post. There is about ~600eur core fee in my MCU2 quote. So I do have to pay more to keep it. But I hope I can sell it privately to get something back.

 

[CuriousG]

What did you pay for the replacement before the price reduction? It may be worth asking your local service manager.

Had to find my post that had the invoice. It was just under $3k. Just noticed that the invoice said the 12V battery would not hold a charge. I got the battery back due to me requesting it and when I hooked it up to my multimeter, it was still at 12V. Does anyone know where to get the battery post so I can keep it charged?

Likely MCU Failure (MCU1 eMMC)

edit: I see that it has the core charge included. When I went to pay the invoice, I had them subtract the core charge from it as I told them I didn't want my old MCU. So the total is just under $2500.

 

[dark cloud]

Oh I wasn't clear in my original post. There is about ~600eur core fee in my MCU2 quote. So I do have to pay more to keep it. But I hope I can sell it privately to get something back.

Then why get the MCU1 back? This doesn't make any sense; what are we missing here.

 

[tomas]

Then why get the MCU1 back? This doesn't make any sense; what are we missing here.

They would neither daughter bird nor take it back because it had 3rd party repair. He posted.

 

[Zuikkis]

Yeah, neither the daugherboard or whole MCU no longer qualify as core replacement if 3rd party repair is detected. Mine was a clear case as I (stupidly) informed them about the failed attempt to replace eMMC, but now it seems they can also detect eMMC swap on their diagnostic software or perhaps even remotely.

It does make sense, sort of. If MCU is opened without proper precautions, it's possible to damage it by static electricity and it still might "work" for several months or years. Tesla would be responsible for all this kind of crap if they sell the MCU as remanufactured unit and it fails under warranty..

 

[appleguru]

Yeah, neither the daugherboard or whole MCU no longer qualify as core replacement if 3rd party repair is detected. Mine was a clear case as I (stupidly) informed them about the failed attempt to replace eMMC, but now it seems they can also detect eMMC swap on their diagnostic software or perhaps even remotely.

It does make sense, sort of. If MCU is opened without proper precautions, it's possible to damage it by static electricity and it still might "work" for several months or years. Tesla would be responsible for all this kind of crap if they sell the MCU as remanufactured unit and it fails under warranty..

which makes... 0 sense. Unless they are actually themselves repairing tegras and the new daughter boards are not actually new? But if that’s the case, they should have a separate (very small) core charge for the tegra itself. Since they’re swapping it out entirely, for non warranty work I don’t get why they care what someone did to it previously (or even that it was present at all!)

 

[BigNick]

Sounds just like how you'd void a Dell/HP/Apple/etc laptop warranty if you crack the case open.

Though if the third-party repair is cheaper it might be worth the gamble that the rest of the MCU1 stays working for the remaining life of the car. Especially true when before the daughterboard replacement was available and the whole MCU1 had to be replaced.

I'm guessing if you do most of the labor yourself and ship your board to one of the third-party eMMC replacement pros, it's still cheaper than the ~$500 Tesla is charging.

 

[dark cloud]

I see, I thought you had a choice to have the old MCU1 as a core. You have the worst case scenario for the eMMC fiasco. Bummer.

So I assume this means if I ever decide to get an MCU2 I will get charged $1000 extra core for my "modded" MCU1.

This begs the question: Has anyone with a 3rd party repair for the eMMC updgraded to an MCU2 and NOT paid for the core charge?

 

[Zuikkis]

which makes... 0 sense. Unless they are actually themselves repairing tegras and the new daughter boards are not actually new? But if that’s the case, they should have a separate (very small) core charge for the tegra itself. Since they’re swapping it out entirely, for non warranty work I don’t get why they care what someone did to it previously (or even that it was present at all!)

That's what they said they are doing. They are sending the daughterboards back to Tesla where someone replaces the eMMC and then same board is sent to someone else.

For the whole MCU, I kind of agree. It does feel unjustified that it no longer is accepted at all. Then again, the 600€ core fee they quoted, doesn't sound like the "real" price of MCU1?

However as I said previously, I understand the policy. There's no way to know what damage has been done by simply opening the MCU case. "Latent ESD defect" is the problem, as explained here:

What is ESD and what damages can it cause?

"A latent defect can occur when an ESD sensitive item is exposed to an ESD event and is partially degraded. It may continue to perform its intended function, so may not be detected by normal inspection. However, intermittent or permanent failures may occur at a later time."

Especially if you consider MCU. "Intermittent failures" like random reboots might be the key reason why customer has decided to upgrade to MCU2...

 

[appleguru]

Sounds just like how you'd void a Dell/HP/Apple/etc laptop warranty if you crack the case open.

No PC manufacturer that I know of voids the warranty because you opened the case (nor could they legally). In fact, most upgrades like Ram or HDD/SSDs require opening the case"

This begs the question: Has anyone with a 3rd party repair for the eMMC updgraded to an MCU2 and NOT paid for the core charge?

I know of several that have done exactly this.

That's what they said they are doing. They are sending the daughterboards back to Tesla where someone replaces the eMMC and then same board is sent to someone else.

For the whole MCU, I kind of agree. It does feel unjustified that it no longer is accepted at all. Then again, the 600€ core fee they quoted, doesn't sound like the "real" price of MCU1?

However as I said previously, I understand the policy. There's no way to know what damage has been done by simply opening the MCU case. "Latent ESD defect" is the problem, as explained here:

What is ESD and what damages can it cause?

"A latent defect can occur when an ESD sensitive item is exposed to an ESD event and is partially degraded. It may continue to perform its intended function, so may not be detected by normal inspection. However, intermittent or permanent failures may occur at a later time."

Especially if you consider MCU. "Intermittent failures" like random reboots might be the key reason why customer has decided to upgrade to MCU2...

While latent ESD issues may affect a tiny, tiny percentage of tesla users, the "Intermittent failures" like random reboots are definitely NOT associated with it. Many users, myself included, have completely factory, untouched MCU1s that exhibit these symptoms regularly.

Slightly related, I've never seen a service center or Tesla mobile tech use an ESD strap or similar when working on MCUs/replacing screens/replacing tegras/etc (though would love to be proven wrong here).

 

[Fobble]

MCU on my 2015 MS completely died 2 weeks ago. Took SC 1 week to order daughterboard, all fixed under warranty with $0 out of pocket. Looks like they have moved on to the revision B now.

View attachment 605108

BTW, after getting the new daughterboard and MCU, app connection to the car is almost instant, compared to 1 or 2 mins with the old MCU.

 

[BigNick]

BTW, after getting the new daughterboard and MCU, app connection to the car is almost instant, compared to 1 or 2 mins with the old MCU.

Were your energy savings settings changed after the daughterboard replacement?