# BUG: Navigation voice commands can disable rear camera feed



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

I recently stumbled on a software bug that causes the rear camera feed to suddenly and unexpectedly cut out from the screen while you're still in Reverse if you used a voice command to enter in a navigation destination immediately before shifting into Reverse. IMO, suddenly losing the rear camera feed while driving in Reverse is a potential safety issue and, based on @lollmann's research, it's apparently also a violation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Here's the sequence that triggers it:

1. Use the right scroll wheel and a voice command to dictate a navigation destination. Wait long enough to see that your command was heard/interpreted correctly, but not long enough for the navigation window to pop up to display the planned route.
2. Shift into Reverse. The rear camera feed is then displayed on the screen.
3. Seconds later, after the car's computer is done processing your earlier navigation voice command, the rear camera display cuts out and is replaced by the Navigation window -- even though you're still in Reverse.

As noted/linked above, I'm not the first person to post about this, but those earlier posts were buried within another thread discussing a related (but less disconcerting, IMO) issue about _deliberate_ screen clicks _after_ shifting into Reverse causing the rear camera feed to be closed while still in Reverse. _That _issue apparently does _not _violate FMVSS. So I thought this issue was serious and unique enough to warrant its own thread, especially given that this is a fairly common sequence to expect a driver to go through when they are beginning a drive.

Here's a short video demonstrating this:


----------



## kort677 (Sep 17, 2018)

there are two simple work arounds, don't enter NAV instructions while in reverse or when you will be going into reverse, and if you do lose the camera just put the car into park and then put into reverse and the camera view reappears.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Nice find @jsmay311 .
This should be a simple software fix for Tesla. Have you filed a bug report?


----------



## jdcollins5 (Oct 31, 2018)

You can simply hit the rear camera button in the Card Section and bring the camera back.


----------



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

garsh said:


> Nice find @jsmay311 .
> This should be a simple software fix for Tesla. Have you filed a bug report?


I sent an email and linked to this thread.

Before that, I did try using the the built in "bug report" feature, but that system sucks. There's never enough time allowed to adequately describe any issue I've ever wanted to report.


----------



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

I did my duty and submitted this issue to Tesla customer support ([email protected]), and now the dumba**es are insisting that I schedule a service appointment and bring my car into a SC to have diagnostics run on my car.

I explained that it's a design flaw in the software that could be replicated in _any_ Model 3 and isn't a problem unique to my car, and I _again_ pointed them to the video I posted demonstrating the issue, and they replied: _ "We are unable to assist with your concerns if you will not bring your vehicle in for our Technicians to run diagnostics."_

That's some brain-dead customer service right there.


----------



## Karl Sun (Sep 19, 2018)

jsmay311 said:


> That's some brain-dead customer service right there.


 Tesla is in the technology business, NOT the Customer Service business.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

jsmay311 said:


> I explained that it's a design flaw in the software that could be replicated in _any_ Model 3 and isn't a problem unique to my car, and I _again_ pointed them to the video I posted demonstrating the issue, and they replied: _ "We are unable to assist with your concerns if you will not bring your vehicle in for our Technicians to run diagnostics."_


I think the problem here is that the email address that you've used as a contact point is not manned by people who provide vehicle technical support. This is the email address that you're supposed to contact if you have a problem with Tesla's Service Website (see the bottom of the page).

They are not vehicle technicians or engineers. They're telling you the correct people to contact for vehicle technical issues. So instead of blaming the HTML- and javascript-code-monkeys for failing to handle the issue, do what they recommend and take your car to a service center. They'll know what basic tests the engineers want to have performed when reporting a technical issue like this.


----------



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

garsh said:


> I think the problem here is that the email address that you've used as a contact point is not manned by people who provide vehicle technical support. This is the email address that you're supposed to contact if you have a problem with Tesla's Service Website (see the bottom of the page).
> 
> They are not vehicle technicians or engineers. They're telling you the correct people to contact for vehicle technical issues. So instead of blaming the HTML- and javascript-code-monkeys for failing to handle the issue, do what they recommend and take your car to a service center. They'll know what basic tests the engineers want to have performed when reporting a technical issue like this.


Whoops... I actually copy/pasted the wrong email address in my earlier post. I actually sent my email to [email protected].

(Backstory: I have both email addresses saved under a "Tesla" contact on my iPhone, and the iPhone email app doesn't tell you which address is used when there are more than one in a contact, so I goofed by assuming it was the ServiceHelpNA address.)

So, no, it wasn't sent to the wrong people. And, yes, they are brain-dead. 😜


----------



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

garsh said:


> I think the problem here is that the email address that you've used as a contact point is not manned by people who provide vehicle technical support. This is the email address that you're supposed to contact if you have a problem with Tesla's Service Website (see the bottom of the page).


Also, the message posted by the M3OC admins at the top of every thread in the "Software and Firmware" forum disagrees with your assessment of the "ServiceHelpNA" email address:



> It's OK to discuss software issues here but please report bugs to Tesla directly at [email protected] if you want things fixed.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

jsmay311 said:


> Also, the message posted by the M3OC admins at the top of every thread in the "Software and Firmware" forum disagrees with your assessment of the "ServiceHelpNA" email address:


Regardless, you contacted that address, and they asked you to have a service technician take a look at it. You can continue to call them brain-dead all you want, but if you actually want to get something changed, you need to follow their instructions.


----------



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

garsh said:


> Regardless, you contacted that address, and they asked you to have a service technician take a look at it. You can continue to call them brain-dead all you want, but if you actually want to get something changed, you need to follow their instructions.


Or I could use my *functioning* brain to decide *not* to follow their stupid advice and *not* waste several hours of my time for no good reason.

I'm not gonna jump through hoops to indulge their stupidity. I documented and reported the issue, so I've already done more than my part.


----------



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

Not sure exactly when it happened, but I just noticed that this bug has been fixed. 

Hoorah for OTA software updates!


----------

