MG S5 Apple Carplay/UI freezing

[Ian Key]

I haven't had any of these problems and I wonder if it's because I didn't use the car on Friday and it only affects cars that were in use at the time.

Perhaps it was an OTA update and the line of code that prevents its installation if the car is "on" was missing or corrupted. That could explain why they seem to be back to normal after they've been left overnight so the update can install itself.

 

[tsedge]

If an update has been done then new version number(s) should appear in the interface somewhere (not sure where this is on the MGS5).

 

[mgaz]

Thanks Ian, I did get the problem Friday around 3 PM tried it Sat morning but had not resolved so it does not appear overnight has sorted it yet I will try again this morning and hope for good news on your theory.
Will let all know obviously

 

[Ian Key]

My software versions are the same as @stevedee posted in December.

To save you looking here his are.

Another thought.

If it is an OTA update that has gone wrong and you turn off the data etc. how does the car receive the solution from MG?

It might be an idea to turn it back on again when the car's not being used.

 

[apbran]

Hi guys,

I have been enjoying my MGS5 since I got it back in December and haven’t had any issues until today with my Apple CarPlay which has been bugging out and freezing while I am driving and the only way to reset it is by pressing the home button until it reboots. It’s quite annoying especially when I am making journeys where I haven’t been before and it freezes on me on Waze making it unusable. It even has an effect on the whole UI including slowing down my dashboard button on the steering wheel to change the display information. It even glitches when I go in reverse mode and the screen doesn’t show the camera easily and quickly like it used to. I am not too sure what’s causing this but I seriously hope there is a fix, have any of you had anything similar like this happen? Or even a fix? Would appreciate it thanks.

Me too in the UK. On Friday we drove in the morning from York to Manchester with no problems. At about 1630 we had a short journey into Manchester centre when we really needed the satnav and it was unusable.
It took ages to load screens, then would go totally blank. When it did have a display the road on the screen did not match our surroundings at all. CarPlay would not load at all. Saturday morning we travelled back to York with the satnav in the same horrendous state. We had to rely on road signs and 1990 navigation.
This is pathetic if central server problems can destroy the usability of the in car systems. The software needs a major overhaul to sort this kind of issue out.

 

[AuroByte]

Another thought.

If it is an OTA update that has gone wrong and you turn off the data etc. how does the car receive the solution from MG?

It might be an idea to turn it back on again when the car's not being used.

That’s another reason I turn the data back on while parked. But according to what my dealership told me, SAIC is on Lunar New Year break till 1 Mar. They’ll be back to work on 2 Mar…

 

[DadOnTorque]

That’s another reason I turn the data back on while parked. But according to what my dealership told me, SAIC is on Lunar New Year break till 1 Mar. They’ll be back to work on 2 Mar…

No serious car brand ignores its responsibilites for a holiday. If TEMU can ship through the Lunar New Year while SAIC shuts down, SAIC is basically begging to go out of business

 

[tomholl]

That’s another reason I turn the data back on while parked. But according to what my dealership told me, SAIC is on Lunar New Year break till 1 Mar. They’ll be back to work on 2 Mar…

I don't buy the "OTA update gone wrong" theory. MG hasn't made any updates available, and if they did we would need to install it and would see a new version. I first got the problem today when I was 100km from home and without wifi. My guess is that the software always "phones home" but this weekend an unexpected response from MG's servers resulted in the some kind of endless loop which consumes all the resources on the infotainment system.

If they can break it without providing an OTA update, hopefully they can fix it too. But of course, an actual update with fixes and improvements would be amazing.

Playing the devil's advocate.
If it was a failed OTA update MG can't win. Owners have been asking for OTA updates and when they try it for the first time all they get is complaints. Yes it should have been tested more thoroughly before being released but at least they tried and no one's car has been bricked.

There is absolutely a way to win. Test updates adequately before deploying to the entire fleet. Other companies can do this.

That said, as per my last post, this doesn't seem to have been an OTA update.

 

[DadOnTorque]

I don't buy the "OTA update gone wrong" theory. MG hasn't made any updates available, and if they did we would need to install it and would see a new version. I first got the problem today when I was 100km from home and without wifi. My guess is that the software always "phones home" but this weekend an unexpected response from MG's servers resulted in the some kind of endless loop which consumes all the resources on the infotainment system.

If they can break it without providing an OTA update, hopefully they can fix it too. But of course, an actual update with fixes and improvements would be amazing.

That’s even worse. It makes the car so dependent on a central server that any failure could actually make it dangerous to drive

 

[tsedge]

There is absolutely a way to win. Test updates adequately before deploying to the entire fleet. Other companies can do this.

Absolutely.

That said, as per my last post, this doesn't seem to have been an OTA update.

We don't know - the different server response might be "update available" that triggered the problem.

As it seems to take 36 hours to resolve itself and affects different markets in different time zones it could be a combination of server changes rolling out across regions triggering a car bug.

But we are just guessing.

 

[TimothyN]

This forum is my only window onto the world of MG. Indeed onto the world of EVs.

So could someone tell us what is going on in the wider blogosphere? Has this got on the news, even the motoring news?

If this happened to other car brands, it would be headline news. Indeed, I would expect other brands to be spinning it.

 

[Hugo A Go Go]

I haven't had any of these problems and I wonder if it's because I didn't use the car on Friday and it only affects cars that were in use at the time.

Perhaps it was an OTA update and the line of code that prevents its installation if the car is "on" was missing or corrupted. That could explain why they seem to be back to normal after they've been left overnight so the update can install itself.

I also have not had any of these problems.

My car was sat at a long stay airport car park for a week until around 8pm on Thursday the 12th so would have been offline for at least a few days.

I drove it back from the airport on Thursday night, and have used it for short local journeys on Friday, Saturday and today.

I honestly have not seen any of these issues that are being reported.

 

[Ian Key]

I thought they were going to try OTA updates on the IM5 first, so it could be that the update was supposed to be for the IM5 and the job experience trainee sent it to the MGS5 instead.

 

[tomholl]

Absolutely.

We don't know - the different server response might be "update available" that triggered the problem.

As it seems to take 36 hours to resolve itself and affects different markets in different time zones it could be a combination of server changes rolling out across regions triggering a car bug.

But we are just guessing.

My money's on an expired certificate.

 

[keith1922]

Hi guys,

I have been enjoying my MGS5 since I got it back in December and haven’t had any issues until today with my Apple CarPlay which has been bugging out and freezing while I am driving and the only way to reset it is by pressing the home button until it reboots. It’s quite annoying especially when I am making journeys where I haven’t been before and it freezes on me on Waze making it unusable. It even has an effect on the whole UI including slowing down my dashboard button on the steering wheel to change the display information. It even glitches when I go in reverse mode and the screen doesn’t show the camera easily and quickly like it used to. I am not too sure what’s causing this but I seriously hope there is a fix, have any of you had anything similar like this happen? Or even a fix? Would appreciate it thanks.

Having the same problem car is only 5 days old thinking of rejecting the car

 

[TimothyN]

Having the same problem car is only 5 days old thinking of rejecting the car

That may be a permanent response to a very temporary problem.

 

[Weeble]

Has SAIC/MG officially acknowledged there is a problem yet ? If not, then it's pjss poor customer support (irrespective of Chinese New Year). I've seen nothing other than what's on here.

 

[tsedge]

Has SAIC/MG officially acknowledged there is a problem yet ? If not, then it's pjss poor customer support (irrespective of Chinese New Year). I've seen nothing other than what's on here.

Car companies don't generally communicate directly with customers except in the case of critical safety recalls (of which this isn't - as it doesn't affect the core safety systems).

What they tend to do is:

• Investigate the issue in their labs.
• Find a fix / mitigation.
• Test the fix / mitigation.
• Prepare dealer communications and send them out.
• Dealers then contact customers, not MG (technically we don't have a relationship with MG, they sell the cars to the dealer and the dealer sells them on to us).

All of this takes time and yes, it is likely to be slower at the weekends as many people won't be working then (SAIC, MGUK and Dealer).

It is interesting how people expect instant communications these days - not sure any car company works like that. Now, I am not saying they couldn't - e.g. the App could flash up a warning and "problem under investigation" messages, but I've never seen it from anyone.

As an addendum: if the bar for customer support is "Car company instantly responds whenever I have an issue or question" then I think everyone in the industry scores a zero...

 

[mgaz]

I just tried switching data off it appeared better but satnav won't work til you switch back on?
What is that "global switch" setting for?

 

[sammoj]

Similar problems this morning as soon as I turned on data. Car play not connecting, cameras very slow to respond and a new one, heated steering wheel kept turning off after 5 seconds. Don’t need the car today so going to leave data on to see if something happens.

The fact that we are seeing worldwide reports of these issues for me confirms it is an MG connection issue probably with a bit of code which is waiting for a server and takes time to time out if no connection occurs. At the least it is a poor bit of code on a critical system and worst it confirms MG are collecting data regularly from our cars.