2016 CX-9 Infotainment System problems - V59 Update

SDL

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2016 Mazda CX-9 GT
I know this is being discussed in other subs, I just wanted to centralize the discussion here. I was able to get the update today and will post any problems I see and solutions/workarounds. I was also able to get a copy of the Service Bulletin.

To begin the thread, I want to discuss the following:

  1. V59 Upgrade
  2. Tachometer problem and workaround
  3. Current State/Problems

1. V59 upgrade
According to the service bulletin, this upgrade fixes a lot of issues people are seeing with their system such as reboots and blank screens. The upgrade process takes about an hour. I would recommend everyone to save their settings in the seat memory. I have attached the service bulletin below. Apparently, what the technician told me, the issue resided at boot-up, with one of the files not being properly loaded. They had streamlined the whole start up process and it should fix it. Spoiler alert: The boot-up speed isn't any faster for me. It actually takes some time now to boot-up and the buttons to become responsive, especially if you have a phone connected. I usually have to wait for the pop-up warning to show up.

2. Tachometer problem and workaround
In the other threads, some people brought up how the option to turn off the tachometer is no longer available. I can confirm this is true. As you can see in the bulletin, here's the reason:
Note: The tachometer function has been removed from the Active Driving Display (Cx-9) as part of Mazda's continuing efforts to improve safety and reduce driver distraction. Please explain this to the customer before updating the software

Except, one problem... As I said before, and this proves it, Mazda engineers are careless and lazy. They don't care about your satisfaction or experience. They rarely test their own fixes. A simple test would tell them this is crap. Let me explain you why... They didn't remove the tachometer feature, they removed the option to add/remove the tachometer feature. So if you had the tachometer ON before, now there is no way to turn it off. So they essentially are forcing you to use the very same feature they were trying to prevent from distracting you. All they did was remove the checkbox to enable/disable the Tach.

There is a workaround to this however, thanks to the advance notice I got from this forum, before I did the update, I disabled the tachometer and save my settings to "Memory 1" on my seat. Then I enabled the Tach and save my settings to "Memory 2" on my seat. So now if I want the Tachometer enabled, before I begin driving, all I have to do is press 2 on my seat and it will show up. To turn off, I press 1. It's not an elegant solution, but it is a workaround until they finally either remove it or bring the feature back.

What I think it's hilarious here is that before, we had complete control to remove distractions that we encountered. For example, the option to hide the Tach was there if it was bothering us. I hid it because I didn't like it, but now that option is gone, so if anyone wants to remove it now, there is no option and you're stuck with the Tachometer. Way to go Mazda! ******g morons.

3. Current State/Problems
It is difficult to say if this has fixed any problems. I would feel a lot more confident after 1 month with this software update and no blank screens or reboots. However, I can tell you the issues I am currently seeing:

a. Tachometer (discussed above) workaround available
b. Phone - Music: I no longer see PREV/FWD buttons on the screen. All I see if the Source, PLAY/STOP, Settings buttons. All the other buttons are no longer seen when my phone is connected as the music source. They were visible before (sometimes they weren't). Unpairing/Paring the phone has not helped.
c. Duplicate contacts. I cannot for the life of me get my phone to just import single contacts, when it imports contacts it imports each of them twice. I have disconnected and unpaired my phone and tried several times, all to the same result.
Note: My phone was unpaired during the update process, hence why I'm having this issue. I have had this issue before and somehow, in one of the parings I got it to import only once.

Page 1 https://i.imgur.com/jBKYVwI.jpg
Page 2 https://i.imgur.com/HfZH9hf.jpg
 
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Thanks for creating this post.

Can I update my system myself or I need to go to the dealer?

And agree 200%. It's ridiculous they explain they want to remove the tach forever due to security concern and after the update if you had the tach enabled, you will have it forever and you will lost the ability to turn it off! haha

I hope they enable in the future the option to handle the GPS even at 8mph+ speeds because my wife as a co-pilot cannot enter destination address. We can do it in our Nissan without any problem.

As you know, in the Mazda, you need to stop the car. This is stupid.
 
Thanks for creating this post.

Can I update my system myself or I need to go to the dealer?

And agree 200%. It's ridiculous they explain they want to remove the tach forever due to security concern and after the update if you had the tach enabled, you will have it forever and you will lost the ability to turn it off! haha

I hope they enable in the future the option to handle the GPS even at 8mph+ speeds because my wife as a co-pilot cannot enter destination address. We can do it in our Nissan without any problem.

As you know, in the Mazda, you need to stop the car. This is stupid.

As far as I know, yes, you have to go to the dealership to get this update. I agree...it's annoying you can't use the GPS...but I can kinda see why. Not everyone is as responsible as to have a co-pilot do it. People messing with it just increase the change of injuring others on the road. It's just like talking on the cellphone. Some people can do it and still keep driving as the primary task while others forget they're driving and slow down and/or are all over the place when driving and talking.
 
Nice insight and input SDL. Now it's giving me second taughts if I do the upgrade or not. Might not be worth the hassle for me since my issue of rebooting and freezing only shows up whenever I type in or enter a wrong address on my nav. Other than that, no other issues I can find.
 
it's annoying you can't use the GPS...but I can kinda see why. Not everyone is as responsible as to have a co-pilot do it.

The GPS issue could be trivially fixed by allowing user-input only when someone is sitting in the passenger seat. The seat-restraint system already knows if that seat is occupied or not.

Relative to the update, I have the original software and have never had an issues with reboots or my iphone syncing. You've convinced me not to upgrade. Thanks for that insight!

I think the removal of the tach for 'safety' reasons is bogus. Sounds more like a cover-up of some other software/hardware issue or oversight IMHO. Do they plan to re-write the user manual too?
 
The GPS issue could be trivially fixed by allowing user-input only when someone is sitting in the passenger seat. The seat-restraint system already knows if that seat is occupied or not.

Relative to the update, I have the original software and have never had an issues with reboots or my iphone syncing. You've convinced me not to upgrade. Thanks for that insight!

I think the removal of the tach for 'safety' reasons is bogus. Sounds more like a cover-up of some other software/hardware issue or oversight IMHO. Do they plan to re-write the user manual too?

All very good points. The tech at the dealer hinted that the tachometer could be at fault since they wouldn't remove a feature unless they absolutely had to, but like I mentioned, you can still access it. It's not completely gone. I'd be curious what they do with the manual. Mazda is very unresponsive. I've written them emails regarding this issue and I have not heard back from them.
 
⋯ I have the original software and have never had an issues with reboots or my iphone syncing.
This statement proves the infotainment system problems SDL has had are hardware related. The newer version of software is simply trying to mask the hardware issues! Someone said it correctly before, software is the same for the same version, but hardware can be different with different brand of components having a little different electronic characteristics which would cause problems!
 
Update:

Installed the update Friday
Didn't drive my car until today Sunday... within 10 seconds of powering on: the screen went blank again. So this update didn't do anything. I'm going to call in tomorrow and request a hardware swap. Also, I guess I'll do a factory reset since one wasn't done when installed [all my settings were still there].

It is possible it is hardware related, but I disagree as all software is the same. I still believe software is a major culprit here. It was very slow at start up, it showed all the symptoms as before. I'm requesting a hardware swap just in case and to hold Mazda accountable. I'm willing to go as far as returning the car under the lemon law.
 
Update:

Installed the update Friday
Didn't drive my car until today Sunday... within 10 seconds of powering on: the screen went blank again. So this update didn't do anything. I'm going to call in tomorrow and request a hardware swap. Also, I guess I'll do a factory reset since one wasn't done when installed [all my settings were still there].

It is possible it is hardware related, but I disagree as all software is the same. I still believe software is a major culprit here. It was very slow at start up, it showed all the symptoms as before. I'm requesting a hardware swap just in case and to hold Mazda accountable. I'm willing to go as far as returning the car under the lemon law.
I'm an engineer. I'm pretty sure this is hardware related. Request infotainment swap asap.

Even without the firmware upgrade, I don't have more reboots or issues since I disable email and sms sync.

I never ever had such conditions like white or black screens or the need to fully stop in order to reset the system. Just the reboot (soft issue) but your problem is more serious. You need a new infotainment unit and done

Enviado desde mi Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
 
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I just picked up my brand new 2016 cx 9 yesterday. On my way home, the screen faded away to black and was unresponsive. Once I got home, I stopped and started the engine again and it came back on. The delivery check list says I'm on V59. I called the salesman and he said it may just be a software bug. I will check back to see how SDL's hardware update when. Gotta say, disappointed with Mazda.

Rick
 
SDL - When you have just the play/stop when you are using your phone for music, try turning the airplane mode on and then off. Whenever I have that problem, doing that solves it for a little while.
 
⋯ It is possible it is hardware related, but I disagree as all software is the same. I still believe software is a major culprit here. It was very slow at start up, it showed all the symptoms as before. I'm requesting a hardware swap just in case and to hold Mazda accountable.
Most likely TX_Driver has the same version of software/firmware like yours from factory, but his infotainment system has never had any problems. Then what is the culprit on your infotainment system? Software is always the same and won't change on the same revision, but hardware can get degraded due to inferior components got installed from factory. When the screen faded away to black and was unresponsive, it's most likely caused by the hardware, not the software!
 
SDL - When you have just the play/stop when you are using your phone for music, try turning the airplane mode on and then off. Whenever I have that problem, doing that solves it for a little while.
Thanks for the tip!

For everyone insisting this is a hardware problem...please understand that software is NOT always the same. I'm an engineer. I have work making robut systems and have years of experience in conducting and developing test procedures. Not all the cars get the software update from the same master CD from a CM location. It is possible that more than one PC was used to compile the source code, the two computer could've had different configuration, updates, packages, who knows. Perhaps someone copied the software in a faulty USB drive at the dealership or at the factory...there are just too many variables out there. The truth is, the software is buggy as f***, it's not stable and it has nothing to do with hardware.
Could it be hardware related? Yes, absolutely. Not all hardware are the same, but if you have ever been to a high end electronics factory, there are very high tech quality process that get done to prevent issues like this.

So, let's analyse two scecarios:

1. Hardware is "different" - let's say batch #0056 has faulty capacitors that are leaking and now has different tolerances. What do you think it would happen? Hardware would more than likely fail. For good.

2. The issue I'm experiencing. Hardware fails ONCE a day, almost every day when you first turn the car on. There is a 50% change of it happening. What could it be? Let's see, usually when it happens I see the following:

a. Slow software start up (files load slowly - contrary to what people think, the infotainment system hardware is pretty powerful and there are people out there who "hack/jailbreak" it.)
b. Software freezes up. The Warning pop-up cannot be dismissed. It might be the software has a memory leak that gets triggered by certain configuration? Or there is a line in the code that is causing the system to hang up. Who knows.
c. The rare occasions when the system does come back on, it does it on its on. There is no correlation with temperature inside/outside. No overheating. Nothing. Sometimes it comes back while I'm driving. Most times it comes back when I come to a complete stop. ==> This is important, as the software unlocks when the car stops..you can't operate certain function while the car is moving. Another reason why I think it's software related.

It is extremely hard to say 100% the cause without having the proper tools to troubleshoot this system. Usually, when you troubleshoot a problem, you do the following:

1) Try to reproduce it
2) Trace a root cause
3) Fix issue
4) Try to reproduce it with fix apply
5) Verify issue no longer appears

Mazda clearly didn't do any of the steps above. My guess? Some arrogant jackass was like.. Oh yea.. I know what that is, it must be XXXXX. He made the change. Compiled. and called it a day. NO one freaking testing, or tried to reproduced anything. I guarantee you!

Also, my unit has never had any reboots like some of you guys have had. This is probably triggered by the region or the map file beign loaded on the GPS and not a hardware issue.

I've seen two identical phones get stuck on a reboot loop, and a software update will fix that.

A hardware problem would be something either isolated it, or very widespread. These cases are rare and random, which probably means either a specific configuration on the settings, seats, wiring, something is causing the screen to short. What the dealer told me was it was a file that is responsible for keeping the system awake and it keeps checking that file to tell the system, "wake up, wake up" and for some reason is not seeing that file. It could be that when I start my car, maybe I have my foot on the brake and that's sending a signal to a pin nearby that is causing an interference and preventing the file from loading... who knows!... only Mazda has the tools to troubleshoot this and they're doing a bad job at it.

Maybe it is a hardware problem. Maybe I got lucky and get a defective unit. I will still be stuck with bad buggy software that duplicates contacts and show up certain buttons when it wants to.. or perhaps the blank screen will go away but I will get the Navigation reboot.

Another scenario could've been at the factory they installed a wrong version of the software...they quickly realized it and fixed it by doing a factory reset, but perhaps the factory reset doesn't really clean up all that well and leaves traces behind that are possible affecting the system now. hence why you see it on some and not others.

Point is... at this point, it's a guessing game for everyone in here. And a group of college interns could squash this bug in two weeks. But it takes the morons at Mazda months to even attempt to do their most sloppy job. Now we'll wait 3 more months for the next update. Version what? 60? 60 tries and still sucks! Before I know it, I'll hit 36K miles and I'm sh*t out of luck! NEVER AGAIN!
 
Most likely TX_Driver has the same version of software/firmware like yours from factory, but his infotainment system has never had any problems.
Before I know it, I'll hit 36K miles and I'm sh*t out of luck! NEVER AGAIN!
Here is the software version I am using
2z7j1o1.jpg


I have a iPhone 5s and have not had issues. If there are any other settings you'd like to see, just let me know.

SDL--- I think at this point you are pushing-a-string. I wonder if you could get more effective attention from Mazda by contacting the consumer advocate at your local newspaper, pursuing a lemon-law replacement, posting your dissatisfaction on #DrivingMatters (this can be quite effective), writing to Motor Trend (and cc'ing corporate Mazda), and writing directly to Mr. Masamichi Kogai in Japan and cc'ing his US counterpart. Just my 2 cents. At some point, you have to pursue a take-no-prisoners approach.
 
Here is the software version I am using
2z7j1o1.jpg


I have a iPhone 5s and have not had issues. If there are any other settings you'd like to see, just let me know.

SDL--- I think at this point you are pushing-a-string. I wonder if you could get more effective attention from Mazda by contacting the consumer advocate at your local newspaper, pursuing a lemon-law replacement, posting your dissatisfaction on #DrivingMatters (this can be quite effective), writing to Motor Trend (and cc'ing corporate Mazda), and writing directly to Mr. Masamichi Kogai in Japan and cc'ing his US counterpart. Just my 2 cents. At some point, you have to pursue a take-no-prisoners approach.

Hi Texas driver! Thanks for the offer. That was the version I had before getting upgraded to 59.00.441 - Those are all great suggestions. My dealer is pretty good and wants to solve this issue as well. I've been meaning to call Mazda and write an e-mail to corporate but I have a fussy 3 week old that takes all of my time, so it's going to take a while. I signed up for a group lawyer insurance from my work, it doesn't kick in until the new year, but I will pursue the lemon law option then. Whatever money I have to make Mazda spent to get their attention.
 
Got my car yesterday. The unit was ordered and will be replaced in a couple of weeks.

I received a vague explanation of what the problem was: System stuck in a loop because it was not receiving a feedback signal.

Now, before you go on and say it's a hardware issue, consider this:

The system is sending a signal (not sure what) and expecting a feedback/response. When it doesn't receive this, it gets stuck in a loop causing the processor to overheat. There are two scenarios:

1) A failure in a hardware components is causing not to receive the signal, the the system never gets the feedback and continues to send a signal, overloading the processor and crashing the system.
Why do I think this is not very likely? Simply put, it doesn't always fail. For this to be completely true, the hardware component has to fail most times (or at least 50/50) when it gets that signal and not temporarily "fix" itself after a reboot. Can anyone provide an example of a similar failure? For example, have you ever seen a lightbulb flicker, then you turn it on/off and it fixes it until next day? And you continue to repeat this forever without the light bulb never going out?

2) System is sending a signal and expecting feedback. There is garbage in memory due to a memory leak, or bad software. The system sends feedback containing this garbage (garbage in/garbage out), it receives feedback that is not expecting, so it polls again, and again until it overheats and crashes. You 'reboot' the car and it clears it's memory, and it works again until the following day or two that garbage accumulates again and it crashes.

What causes the crash? Not sure. It could be something that doesn't trigger a proper shutdown of the system, like setting the "Walk away and Lock" feature. Sometimes that doesn't work and I have to arm the system manually, maybe that's the issue (haven't tested it, just an example). There are so many things that could be triggering this.

Even if it's a hardware issue, it could still be fixed with software, by acknowledging the feedback is not being received and poll the system at a later time. (or stop).

I've also noticed extremely slow boot up times with this new update. The system becomes unresponsive when you first turn it on while it loads the pop up warning and initializes. Then it behaves normal until it crashes eventually. (Typically daily, sometimes, I can go days without a crash).
 
Got my car yesterday. The unit was ordered and will be replaced in a couple of weeks.

I received a vague explanation of what the problem was: System stuck in a loop because it was not receiving a feedback signal.

Now, before you go on and say it's a hardware issue, consider this:

The system is sending a signal (not sure what) and expecting a feedback/response. When it doesn't receive this, it gets stuck in a loop causing the processor to overheat.
I believe we simply have different view of hardware and software. Most people, including me, would consider replacing your whole infotainment unit is replacing the hardware. One could argue that the unit does contain many software and firmware, such as the video driver for the LCD screen in addition to Operating System. And I'd agree it's possible those firmware is the culprit causing the hardware unit not responsive to the polling and making the OS stuck in an infinite loop. But the reason making the firmware doesn't respond is apparently the code is waiting for some hardware chip sending a signal back; and if not, the code should be timeout and send appropriate result back. In addition, although a hardware component may contain software or firmware, we should still consider it is a hardware unit as a whole. We say software mainly referring to the Operating System, and version 58 is what new CX-9 owners get from factory at this time. We say you have hardware issues is because most people don't have problems like yours with OS version 58. The difference then will be your infotainment system must have other issues from other components other than the OS. We say software is always the same because the OS on infotainment system is in a closed environment and it's totally different from the OS running on iPhone. iPhone owners are constantly adding different apps from Internet, hence causes all kind of different software issues if any by those apps.

In summary, the problem on your infotainment system is at least unsolvable by new OS version 59, hence the only solution is to replace the whole unit. I still believe your dealer or Mazda should replace the whole unit at first by seeing nobody else is having similar problems with the same v58 OS. This not only would resolve the issue for you at first try to make you happy, but also Mazda can take the unit to research the issue and may be add some code to the OS to prevent it happening in the future by masking the issue.
 
I just wanted to add, without having any way of knowing what is causing your problem, that hardware problems don't have to be consistent or even reproducible 50% of the time. Hardware is not as simple as the wiring for a switch or light bulb. These are basically small computers. You could have electrical components on a PCB in the car that are subpar causing intermittent problems. There are any number of gremlins that can exist in modern technology that could definitely still point to a hardware situation in your case.

I guess my point is, don't be so quick to rule it out.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
I'm not ruling it out. The lightbulb analogy was just to simplify my example. I just find it hard to believe a piece of defective "hardware" gets fixed with a reboot. But I now get what @yerwai52 is saying, whether firmware or wiring, the whole chip is an embedded system considered hardware.
I'm still moving forward with a unit swap. I just need to get that variable out of the equation once and for all and hopefully that will solve the issue.
 
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