Lightning Software Updates using FDRS

[LazyLightningATX]

Any insights appreciated...A month and half or so ago I got updates done by someone via FDRS. Everything looked good, but I still didn't get the battery % on the dash update. I had to get a seatbelt sensor replaced shortly after that so I asked dealer to look at software and they said it was up to date (didn't necessarily trust that they actually checked).
So, I bought a mongoose and got FDRS set up and everything to check and do updates myself in the future since the truck never has downloaded anything that I can tell. I hooked it all up was kind of surprised to see I don't appear to have anything to update despite still not having the battery % and other things that I keep seeing people talking about! Really want that Apple map charge routing!

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[Mike G]

Any insights appreciated...A month and half or so ago I got updates done by someone via FDRS. Everything looked good, but I still didn't get the battery % on the dash update. I had to get a seatbelt sensor replaced shortly after that so I asked dealer to look at software and they said it was up to date (didn't necessarily trust that they actually checked).
So, I bought a mongoose and got FDRS set up and everything to check and do updates myself in the future since the truck never has downloaded anything that I can tell. I hooked it all up was kind of surprised to see I don't appear to have anything to update despite still not having the battery % and other things that I keep seeing people talking about! Really want that Apple map charge routing!

I would first want to make sure the truck is talking to the cloud. I would ask the service advisor to pull up your Connected Vehicle page to confirm your truck is reporting in on the days you are driving it (daily if that applies in this situation). They can also check your OTA dashboard to see if any updates have been pushed out in the last 60 days and what the status of them is/was (like if they failed and why).

Since you are doing your own updates using FDRS and that generally comes without any guidance or training, I want to recommend that if you are presented with a list of available updates that your first choice in doing updates would be any GWM, APIM, or TCU in the list, in that order, and knock those out before doing any other updates in order to avoid a dependency issue.

 

[LazyLightningATX]

I would first want to make sure the truck is talking to the cloud. I would ask the service advisor to pull up your Connected Vehicle page to confirm your truck is reporting in on the days you are driving it (daily if that applies in this situation). They can also check your OTA dashboard to see if any updates have been pushed out in the last 60 days and what the status of them is/was (like if they failed and why).

Since you are doing your own updates using FDRS and that generally comes without any guidance or training, I want to recommend that if you are presented with a list of available updates that your first choice in doing updates would be any GWM, APIM, or TCU in the list, in that order, and knock those out before doing any other updates in order to avoid a dependency issue.

I have been seeing that symbol at the top of the screen with the little arrows sometimes while driving.. I think that means it is communicating? Otherwise, ya, I've looked at all the posts and was prepared to follow those recs on update order and everything. SA acted like he was doing me a favor getting me in for the damn appt I made and was an act of god getting the truck back inside a week. prob gonna shop around for a diff one next time. I did see someone post somewhere indicating ford told them trucks in their build range (basically after May, which mine is May 5 I think) just hadn't gotten any updates pushed out yet, but supposed to soon...who knows!?

 

[rugedraw]

I would first want to make sure the truck is talking to the cloud. I would ask the service advisor to pull up your Connected Vehicle page to confirm your truck is reporting in on the days you are driving it (daily if that applies in this situation). They can also check your OTA dashboard to see if any updates have been pushed out in the last 60 days and what the status of them is/was (like if they failed and why).

@LazyLightningATX I have PTS and FDRS. Send me your VIN and I can check to make sure your truck is talking to the mothership.

 

[Mike G]

FYI, several posters on the ICE F-150 FDRS thread are saying that they couldn't get the new R38 FDRS release to run and had to roll back to a previous version (R37.something). The Helm helpdesk says that it's because they are running Win11, and FDRS is (still) not certified to run on Win11 yet.

So if you are on Win11 and you try to update to the R38 release and it goes sideways, then you'll at least have a clue as to why that may be happening.

 

[Bohorcl03]

There is a (non-published) schedule. I know this from some of the postings on the Mach-E forums where there are folks who are "connected" in some way to Ford and have signed an NDA as part of whatever they do there, and they occasionally drop "hints" on things that are coming up, but are careful to not be really specific. I'm sure the Lightning will eventually get OTAs.

I'm quite sure there are forum members here as well who either work for Ford or are connected in some way (like contractors of some sort) and they may provide some hints as well. I'm sure there are more of them on the ICE forum at this point than on the Lightning forum though.

I will check FDRS routinely and advise if I see something pop up. I'm always on FDRS about my Mach-E anyway . I also lookup VINs for folks so they will know how many updates they are 'behind'. You'd be surprised how many people have taken the FDRS plunge because of an inability to get the dealer techs to update their vehicles, or the techs do such a poor job that it engenders a feeling of "if you want something done right...". The latter is the camp I'm in.

I started using FDRS in late Mar as a direct result of not getting any traction on getting BlueCruise installed. Now I don't care if I ever get an OTA again. I just go to the dealer to do the 'service' on my electric vehicles (coolant check, tire rotation, alignment?) and for recalls. I let them sign off the recalls that were module updates that I did already. There are plenty of people on the Mach-E and ICE F-150 forums who are certified "module whisperers" that can help sort out any issue you may run across in doing programming updates with FDRS, so that is never a concern for me.

Have a great weekend!

Mike

Mike,
I would like to ask you if you can look at my Lightning VIN # 1FT6W1EV2PWG06376 to see what updates are missing. I know I am missing some if not a lot of them. I think i am going to start doing the process myselft since Ford is really behind the technology and know how efficiently.
Thanks,

 

[Mike G]

Mike,
I would like to ask you if you can look at my Lightning VIN # 1FT6W1EV2PWG06376 to see what updates are missing. I know I am missing some if not a lot of them. I think i am going to start doing the process myselft since Ford is really behind the technology and know how efficiently.
Thanks,

DM sent.

 

[Randall Stephens]

DM sent.

Was he missing any?

 

[Mike G]

Was he missing any?

A few.

 

[Tom M]

Mike G,

Short Story: Can you check my 2022 Lariat VIN: 1FT6W1EV2NWG00347 ?

Long Story: I ended up looking up FDRS update method after an OTA update not installing. My ’22 Lariat Lightning Extended Range was a dealer mannequin. I’ve consistently received OTA updates until 6.1.0 BlueCruise Map update failed. I reset Sync…and now it shows 4.2.2 as “not complete.” But I have the voice feedback option. SO I don’t know if I’ve ended up in update purgatory. Mike G, you are my personal Lightning forum hero. I really appreciate all of the work that you have done. Thanks!

 

[rugedraw]

Mike G,

Short Story: Can you check my 2022 Lariat VIN: 1FT6W1EV2NWG00347 ?

Long Story: I ended up looking up FDRS update method after an OTA update not installing. My ’22 Lariat Lightning Extended Range was a dealer mannequin. I’ve consistently received OTA updates until 6.1.0 BlueCruise Map update failed. I reset Sync…and now it shows 4.2.2 as “not complete.” But I have the voice feedback option. SO I don’t know if I’ve ended up in update purgatory. Mike G, you are my personal Lightning forum hero. I really appreciate all of the work that you have done. Thanks!

Not to step on @Mike G 's toes or anything; I don't know if he has access to PTS to check the details for these kinds of things. A screenshot of your OTA dashboard is below. 4.2.2 shows that it installed successful back on 4/6; that is the APIM update you see close to the bottom of the list. 6.1.0 show it installed successfully on 10/17. On 10/26, you were sent 6.2.0 which PTS shows it failed to install, but there is no error code provided to give any insight as to why it actually failed. It is not the first time I see an update fail without an explanation as to why it failed. The OTA failed before the manifest was posted for your truck to verify the files are correct and start downloading them. As far as getting OTA's sent you goes, I don't see any reason for you to be concerned. I am sure 6.2.0 will get resent to you sooner than later.

Vehicle history shows several modules on your truck were updated on 9/29. Warranty history shows your truck was at the dealer around that time, so I assume the dealer did these updates. The modules that they updated are below. This is important to your concern because these module updates could very well be tied to certain OTA's that you will either a) no longer receive because you already have them or b) will fail if the OTA gets sent to you because you already have them.

Now, why your truck is saying that 4.2.2 failed after a Sync reset is beyond me. However, weird things happen. My own truck says the last update I got was 4.3.6 and PTS shows that it failed. That update is a PCM update which would have wiped out my tune had it gone through, so my truck saying 4.3.6 went through successfully is a lie. I have pulled the files from my trucks PCM to verify I still have the old strategy, so the update for sure did not go through. Personally, I would not stress the fact that your truck is saying that 4.2.2 failed now 6-7 months after it installed.

 

[Tom M]

Not to step on @Mike G 's toes or anything; I don't know if he has access to PTS to check the details for these kinds of things. A screenshot of your OTA dashboard is below. 4.2.2 shows that it installed successful back on 4/6; that is the APIM update you see close to the bottom of the list. 6.1.0 show it installed successfully on 10/17. On 10/26, you were sent 6.2.0 which PTS shows it failed to install, but there is no error code provided to give any insight as to why it actually failed. It is not the first time I see an update fail without an explanation as to why it failed. The OTA failed before the manifest was posted for your truck to verify the files are correct and start downloading them. As far as getting OTA's sent you goes, I don't see any reason for you to be concerned. I am sure 6.2.0 will get resent to you sooner than later.

Vehicle history shows several modules on your truck were updated on 9/29. Warranty history shows your truck was at the dealer around that time, so I assume the dealer did these updates. The modules that they updated are below. This is important to your concern because these module updates could very well be tied to certain OTA's that you will either a) no longer receive because you already have them or b) will fail if the OTA gets sent to you because you already have them.

Now, why your truck is saying that 4.2.2 failed after a Sync reset is beyond me. However, weird things happen. My own truck says the last update I got was 4.3.6 and PTS shows that it failed. That update is a PCM update which would have wiped out my tune had it gone through, so my truck saying 4.3.6 went through successfully is a lie. I have pulled the files from my trucks PCM to verify I still have the old strategy, so the update for sure did not go through. Personally, I would not stress the fact that your truck is saying that 4.2.2 failed now 6-7 months after it installed.

Thanks @rugedraw. Maybe I should add you to my list of favorite people!

 

[rugedraw]

I'm a lot more popular on the forums than I am in real life, and I like it that way.

 

[jpena418]

Any insights appreciated...A month and half or so ago I got updates done by someone via FDRS. Everything looked good, but I still didn't get the battery % on the dash update. I had to get a seatbelt sensor replaced shortly after that so I asked dealer to look at software and they said it was up to date (didn't necessarily trust that they actually checked).
So, I bought a mongoose and got FDRS set up and everything to check and do updates myself in the future since the truck never has downloaded anything that I can tell. I hooked it all up was kind of surprised to see I don't appear to have anything to update despite still not having the battery % and other things that I keep seeing people talking about! Really want that Apple map charge routing!

I have this exact same scenario. @rugedraw Can you tell me if you were able to help LazyLightningATX or can you check my VIN for any issue 1FTVW1EV7PWG10368

 

[rugedraw]

I have this exact same scenario. @rugedraw Can you tell me if you were able to help LazyLightningATX or can you check my VIN for any issue 1FTVW1EV7PWG10368

I can check FDRS for you later when I get home to my laptop to see if you have any more modules pending updates. I have had a few people PM me the VIN to see if the IPC update is pending for them in FDRS, and I have yet to come across one Lightning that has it. I think maybe Ford pulled that update to fix something.....I can't say for sure. I don't have any other logical reason as to why the IPC update isn't showing for so many trucks, Maybe Mike can shed more light on this theory since he knows these trucks better and has been following these issues along for much longer than I have. Your truck is on Sync 23237 which is the latest and greatest.

With that said, the modules that were updated on your truck are below:

I clicked every update and every one went through. The very next day, a config and PMI process was done to your IPC. I assume whoever did this was trying to pull the newest files possible on the server for your IPC. Based on the time stamps when the config and PMI process were started and were finished, it did not pull any new files from the server for the IPC, so the software is the same.