3.5.1...not so fast!

[GreenChicago]

I've been on this 3.5.1 odyssey all week and I wanted to share my experience for others to consider before upgrading. I agree with others who have said that it seems to have fixed some random bugs. I didn't have nav problems before so I can't comment on that. But! It's taken me 4 days and 9+ hours at the dealership and my phone is still not being recognized consistently, my phonebook will not download and stay loaded, and I now have a lot of blips and tics in my sound system that were not there before.

 

I got upgraded on Tuesday and the service took 5 hours. The tech said they have had problems with MFT consistently, so were not surprised. When I drove away I didn't notice that my iPhone 4s was not paired, so I tried in vain to do so myself. No dice. Went back on Wednesday, and they managed to pair it so off I drove. As soon as I powered down the car it would not recognize it again, and got bt errors from the console (not the phone, which reported that it was discoverable.) Returned on Thursday and they did a master reset, which did manage to pair the phone, so off I drove. I didn't realize that it did not/would not download my phonebook, which meant that I could not call from the car, only by using my hands on the phone. By Friday, they didn't have any info from Detroit on how to handle this, so they just shrugged and apologized.

 

At this time I have a paired phone that can stream podcasts or music, but cannot be used to make or receive calls. The techs are stumped, they are aware of the many failure points, but are powerless to fix them until software engineering either does better testing or slows their releases down until they are stable. I'm pissed that I can't use my phone in the car (we have hands free laws here and they are very quick to ticket for this), and I'm no closer to an answer or a fix. They said they can't roll it back to the previous release, and I'm left hanging.

 

So let the buyer beware before you are so anxious to get upgraded. I suppose if I was directed off course by a faulty nav system I'd be motivated to upgrade, but that was not my issue now or then. I wish I had just left well enough alone. Going to go back on Monday and try to sort this out once and for all, and planning to ride my bike all weekend, and not my car! Sorry for the rant; it's been a trying week.

[ceemax71]

See this thread.

And this thread.

 

There are known issues that occur because of the size or content of the phonebook in the paired phone.

 

I would suggest to do a master reset and re-pair the phone without loading the phonebook into SYNC to prove or disprove that the phonebook is the problem.

 

If the phonebook is the problem, you might have to go through and remove any odd characters in the phonebook.

 

I believe when a phone is first connected, SYNC has to build a database of all of the contacts, phone numbers, etc and their pronunciations to be able to support the voice recognition feature.

If there is any odd data in the phonebook, SYNC will choke trying to figure out how the information will sound when spoken by the user.

[Adair]

See this thread.

And this thread.

 

There are known issues that occur because of the size or content of the phonebook in the paired phone.

 

I would suggest to do a master reset and re-pair the phone without loading the phonebook into SYNC to prove or disprove that the phonebook is the problem.

 

If the phonebook is the problem, you might have to go through and remove any odd characters in the phonebook.

 

I believe when a phone is first connected, SYNC has to build a database of all of the contacts, phone numbers, etc and their pronunciations to be able to support the voice recognition feature.

If there is any odd data in the phonebook, SYNC will choke trying to figure out how the information will sound when spoken by the user.

That's what we are gonna do with mine on Tuesday

[GreenChicago]

Thanks ceemax and Adair. I will try turning off auto download contacts. There are no emoticons in my address book, but there are ~1300 contacts. As of now mft only shows a first name, which is not very helpful. And ever since the upgrade, the voice lady never asks me to confirm which number I want (or the name). She just decides who to dial!

[mtb9153]

I've been on this 3.5.1 odyssey all week and I wanted to share my experience for others to consider before upgrading. I agree with others who have said that it seems to have fixed some random bugs. I didn't have nav problems before so I can't comment on that. But! It's taken me 4 days and 9+ hours at the dealership and my phone is still not being recognized consistently, my phonebook will not download and stay loaded, and I now have a lot of blips and tics in my sound system that were not there before.

 

I got upgraded on Tuesday and the service took 5 hours. The tech said they have had problems with MFT consistently, so were not surprised. When I drove away I didn't notice that my iPhone 4s was not paired, so I tried in vain to do so myself. No dice. Went back on Wednesday, and they managed to pair it so off I drove. As soon as I powered down the car it would not recognize it again, and got bt errors from the console (not the phone, which reported that it was discoverable.) Returned on Thursday and they did a master reset, which did manage to pair the phone, so off I drove. I didn't realize that it did not/would not download my phonebook, which meant that I could not call from the car, only by using my hands on the phone. By Friday, they didn't have any info from Detroit on how to handle this, so they just shrugged and apologized.

 

At this time I have a paired phone that can stream podcasts or music, but cannot be used to make or receive calls. The techs are stumped, they are aware of the many failure points, but are powerless to fix them until software engineering either does better testing or slows their releases down until they are stable. I'm pissed that I can't use my phone in the car (we have hands free laws here and they are very quick to ticket for this), and I'm no closer to an answer or a fix. They said they can't roll it back to the previous release, and I'm left hanging.

 

So let the buyer beware before you are so anxious to get upgraded. I suppose if I was directed off course by a faulty nav system I'd be motivated to upgrade, but that was not my issue now or then. I wish I had just left well enough alone. Going to go back on Monday and try to sort this out once and for all, and planning to ride my bike all weekend, and not my car! Sorry for the rant; it's been a trying week.

I completely understand your frustration and need to vent.  Took my SEL in on Tuesday and the upgrade failed 4 times at the end so they said.  They told me to take it home and bring it back once they figure how to make the download complete.  But I've heard absolutely nothing from Ford or my dealer for 72 hours.  I'm not a happy camper and do not wait well for anything.  I want instant gratification and results.  I imagine that once they can get the download finished, that I will be left with iPhone 5 sync issues myself.  It worked great before so I will really have a problem if I can't sync or stream music over BT.  But I'm not much of an optimist.