Porsche admits “connect” broken

[W1NGE]

I think we need to look to the parent company VW who I think hold the keys to the castle on all group software developments - including mobility software which is causing us all some angst. Porsche may tweak and brand but I suspect the core code development sits with VW and cascades down.

No doubt there are 3rd parties involved too but collectively something has gone awry here and looks to be more than software related and hard to know if software, hardware or both.

From this thread I think most people have resolved their upgrade issues by restarting the app but agree it's in the "could do better category".

I experience many issues with the app and have given it a poor rating on Google Play (followed up by a rather arrogant response from the developer (Porsche?)).

Testing is key not least of its mobility software / hardware and I think Porsche has failed spectacularly as we can all attest.

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[Dee]

I experience many issues with the app and have given it a poor rating on Google Play (followed up by a rather arrogant response from the developer (Porsche?)).

It's not the app, it's the OTA-module that won't establish a connection to the server.
I think the app works great, has all the functions I need, including car finder and route/charge planning.
Still, I'm waiting for the horn/lights/lock buttons.

 

[feye]

It's not the app, it's the OTA-module that won't establish a connection to the server.
I think the app works great, has all the functions I need, including car finder and route/charge planning.
Still, I'm waiting for the horn/lights/lock buttons.

Well, if you are an iPhone user, live in EU Country, with good WIFI everywhere, and pay for the hotspot, you might be able to make that claim.

If any of these conditions are not met, you might be struggling.

I got the new S21 Ultra phone. The app would not even start. Then a week in, I got an update, I could open the app, but login would fail with an error message. After a few attempts it would not even show the error message anymore.

On the website, I can logon to my.porsche.com, but no functions available, ever!

Messy! Well, as long as the car drives amazing...

 

[ejcintr]

It's not the app, it's the OTA-module that won't establish a connection to the server.
I think the app works great, has all the functions I need, including car finder and route/charge planning.
Still, I'm waiting for the horn/lights/lock buttons.

I don't think you can state that unequivocally- just because it has a reasonable amount of features on the app does not mean that the app is well written and that the app is not causing issues. Seems like non Taycan users of this app have issues as well....

 

[LovinTaycan]

I don't think you can state that unequivocally- just because it has a reasonable amount of features on the app does not mean that the app is well written and that the app is not causing issues. Seems like non Taycan users of this app have issues as well....

Absolutely correct. I believe, but obviously don't really know, that one of the reasons they can't fix all the issues is because it is not just one thing, but a combination of a few (or many), the APP included.

 

[TheFutre]

Here’s my screen
I’m so confused as to what I’m missing here
What are the cons to not communicating with the PCM?

 

[ejcintr]

Absolutely correct. I believe, but obviously don't really know, that one of the reasons they can't fix all the issues is because it is not just one thing, but a combination of a few (or many), the APP included.

And this is the crux of the issue- considering how many disparate systems Porsche has in the Taycan - with what appears many independent sw teams.. doing QA on these software releases is challenging.. I would love to see technical specifications on API's, the Taycan communication bus, cpu types/memory, operating systems... etc.. it would provide some clarity (at least for me as I have some experience with this) in understanding the challenges they have...

 

[NC_Taycan]

Here’s my screen
I’m so confused as to what I’m missing here
What are the cons to not communicating with the PCM?

You are not missing anything. Ignore the note about connection to the PCM. All that means is you don't have a WiFi connection to the PCM's WiFi network (which at this time is only good for syncing calendar as best I can tell). The green connection between your phone and Porsche server says your phone app is connected, and the green connection between Porsche server and your car means the car is connected. The app controls should be available.

If you are on your home WiFi network, you will have a third green connection (the upper right 12-3 quadrant) but that really isn't useful in any way at this time.

 

[Dee]

I don't think you can state that unequivocally- just because it has a reasonable amount of features on the app does not mean that the app is well written and that the app is not causing issues. Seems like non Taycan users of this app have issues as well....

You are mixing up cause and effect.
Also, they make use of the same server(s).
According to my dealer Porsche is using a part of the Audi server and (obviously) there's s lot of traffic that they hadn't forseen.
Once I have a good connection, the app is working flawlessly.
Sorry, just my experience.

 

[W1NGE]

It won't be dependent on a single or couple of servers. More likely it will be architected on a load balanced server farm either hosted by a 3rd.party off prem service e.g. Azure / AWS / others or on prem hosted with similar architecture.

These days to add more capacity, bandwidth, storage, whatever is a simple mouse click where services are deployed as code instantaneously.

What is frustrating is that we continue to speculate rather than Porsche fess up and explain what is going on.

 

[NC_Taycan]

It won't be dependent on a single or couple of servers. More likely it will be architected on a load balanced server farm either hosted by a 3rd.party off prem service e.g. Azure / AWS / others or on prem hosted with similar architecture.

These days to add more capacity, bandwidth, storage, whatever is a simple mouse click where services are deployed as code instantaneously.

What is frustrating is that we continue to speculate rather than Porsche fess up and explain what is going on.

Assuming the backend was developed with an autoscaling / geographic redundancy perspective vs. legacy monolithic single point of failure approach... It's quite possible it is somewhere in between, where there is still one single point of contact for some aspect of the back-end and that one single point of contact becomes a single point of failure. Cloud is difficult if you are a 100 year old company stuck in your ways...

 

[W1NGE]

Assuming the backend was developed with an autoscaling / geographic redundancy perspective vs. legacy monolithic single point of failure approach... It's quite possible it is somewhere in between, where there is still one single point of contact for some aspect of the back-end and that one single point of contact becomes a single point of failure. Cloud is difficult if you are a 100 year old company stuck in your ways...

I'm pretty sure they bought in expertise a few years back recognising they aren't a software company first and a car manufacturer second.

 

[NC_Taycan]

I'm pretty sure they bought in expertise a few years back recognising they aren't a software company first and a car manufacturer second.

One would think / hope...

 

[Migpiedra]

This is what porsche customer support sent me re connect application not working. My application does not show car location nor current battery level. Does the “delay” explanation make sense?
“the picture you have sent showing the Connection status within the app, there is a technical delay within the app. Our technicians are aware of this delay and have been working on finding a resolution to the app delay.

At the moment, if you are able to locate your vehicle in the explore tab, and see the different features within the app under the My Vehicle tab, then the app is working properly. The picture you sent is showing the Connection Status programming delay. Until the app update is available, the connection status will have a delay. This does not depict the operation of the app, regarding this concern. “

I had this same issue --- finally got someone at the dealership to help me -- here is what they had me do... they had me log into the computer portal for porsche connect... and change my privacy settings to active both in the online software tab and consent to the processing of vehicle and service.

Next they had me go inside my vehicle and in porsche connect settings deactivate the privacy settings. (icon says inactive) --once i did this it all reconnected.

 

[LovinTaycan]

2021 has the new software for the OTA module. This includes a bug fix that prevents the OTA module from self-corrupting its memory. Details in this TSB https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10183505-0001.pdf

From the bulletin
"The software task for writing the non-volatile memory data takes too long, and cannot be aborted after the control unit is already shut down. The memory is then corrupted with no further write access permitted.
The software routine is revised as of model year 2021, identified by OTA-FC control unit software version 1218 or higher.The failed memory writing task which causes this fault code in 2020 vehicles does not occur in every case. If the subject fault code is triggered as a result of corrupted memory, then the control unit will require replacement"

The rest of the updates (12v, and many other bugs) are probably needed for both models.

My car is arriving at the port today, and I was just informed by my dealer that it will be held at the port to receive a couple of software updates, one having to do with the FOD updates.

Not sure how this differs, if at all, from what you are talking about, but my 2021 is getting a couple of updates at the port.

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