Spying on you?

[jtlctr]

Interestingly I got an email from Honda yesterday about what to do about being in a collision. Touting the fact that Honda part are best. I found it very odd this occurred mere days after I removed the TCU.

I received the same email and I haven’t yet removed my TCU. The battery has been disconnected for months because the car is in storage. Maybe that had the same effect if it’s not communicating with Honda, but more likely they just sent a mass email to Honda owners.

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[blueroadster]

Likely standard informative/marketing emails. When you remove the TCU, your car is no longer constantly beaconing. Has anyone that removed their TCU noticed any ill side effects? I certainly have not. Everything that I use still functions the same.

 

[Gansan]

I received the same email and I haven’t yet removed my TCU. The battery has been disconnected for months because the car is in storage. Maybe that had the same effect if it’s not communicating with Honda, but more likely they just sent a mass email to Honda owners.

My car is in daily service and my TCU is untouched. I got the same spam.

 

[Nanook]

Likely standard informative/marketing emails. When you remove the TCU, your car is no longer constantly beaconing. Has anyone that removed their TCU noticed any ill side effects? I certainly have not. Everything that I use still functions the same.

I’ve not had it disconnected as long as you, but no ill effects thus far.

 

[blueroadster]

So "Journeys" are recorded in the infotainment system. I removed the TCU on 07 March and the infotainment system contained recordings from build date and through 28 February. These can be viewed by clicking "Honda LogR" and then "Auto Score." Here are a bunch of PICs from my car after clicking "Auto Score" where results will somewhat vary if you still have the TCU installed:

 

[blueroadster]

At least "Auto Score" provides the operator with visualizations on some of the data collected and locally analyzed. Game over when the same data is pushed to the cloud with more advanced analytics and overlay visualizations.

Benefit and a curse at the same time depending on one's perspective.

 

[Nanook]

Well I think I’ve found the first thing disconnecting the TCU breaks. You can’t do an updaTe either via USB nor wireless.

 

[Superhatch]

Well I think I’ve found the first thing disconnecting the TCU breaks. You can’t do an updaTe either via USB nor wireless.

I haven't seen any notification of updates yet. Do you know of one that went out but you didn't get a notification or were you trying to do one and failed?

 

[blueroadster]

Well I think I’ve found the first thing disconnecting the TCU breaks. You can’t do an updaTe either via USB nor wireless.

Did you try using a FAT32 formatted USB drive to then follow the steps to update via USB on the car? If so, a JSON file should have been copied to the drive where you then remove the USB drive, insert it into a computer and upload the JSON file via usb.honda.com.

If there is an update available, download the ZIP file and save it in the "HondaSoftwareUpdates" folder. Return to the car, reinstall the USB drive and follow the prompts on the screen to complete the update. After completion, a report is saved as a JSON file and the software is updated on the car. Return to your computer, install the USB drive and upload the JSON report to usb.honda.com.

I am not sure what step failed when you attempted, but give the above a try. I just updated mine via USB without having to reconnect the TCU.

 

[Nanook]

It’s an 8Gb drive formatted FAT32. I stick it in the car, and the car goes to step 2. I remove the drive, stick it in the computer and the computer says there is a problem with the drive and wants to scan it. Regardless if I scan it or not, I get the same message from the website when I try to upload it, the file is corrupt. It’s a 1Kb file, which seems too small, but I have no idea what it should be. Regardless of quick format, full format, Edge or Mozilla browser, I get the same message. The USB drive is fine until I stick into the car and it tries to write the file. So weird. I think the car has the latest version, but I thought I would test It.

 

[Nanook]

I haven't seen any notification of updates yet. Do you know of one that went out but you didn't get a notification or were you trying to do one and failed?

No. I saw someone post that they had a notification of one, so I wondered since I’d never checked.

 

[blueroadster]

It’s an 8Gb drive formatted FAT32. I stick it in the car, and the car goes to step 2. I remove the drive, stick it in the computer and the computer says there is a problem with the drive and wants to scan it. Regardless if I scan it or not, I get the same message from the website when I try to upload it, the file is corrupt. It’s a 1Kb file, which seems too small, but I have no idea what it should be. Regardless of quick format, full format, Edge or Mozilla browser, I get the same message. The USB drive is fine until I stick into the car and it tries to write the file. So weird. I think the car has the latest version, but I thought I would test It.

Windows sucks and bloated Windows sucks even more...After removing the USB drive from the car and inserting on a Windows computer, ignore the scan crap. When you go to usb.honda.com, just select the JSON file (update_by_usb.json) from the USB drive to upload to the site. The "update_by_usb.json" file is small (<1 KB) and contains vehicle specific information. It is used to determine if an update is available for download. If one is available, download and save the ZIP file into the " HondaSoftwareUpdates " folder on the USB drive; the update file is ~4.8 GB. Remove and then reconnect the USB drive to the car to complete installation.

Regarding the 1 KB JSON file, here is an example from my car after installing the update (red question marks added to replace portions of the "deviceID", "timestamp", "inventorySig", "serialNumber" and "managementUnit" sections):

{"deviceData":{"deviceID": "JHMFL5G42RX0?????","manufacturer": "Honda","model": "20 Panasonic DA","locale": "en_US","inventory": {"timestamp": "??????????","inventorySig": "????????????????????????","swInventory": [{"id": "RB_AUTO;;8A500T20 A5;;8A050T20 A5","ver": "77CA-0068-121","name": "8A050T20 A5"},{"id": "RB_AUTO;;8A500T20 A5;;8A070T20 A5","ver": "77CA-0068-121","name": "8A070T20 A5"}],"hwInventory": [{"id": "8A500T20 A5","nodeAddress": "8A500T20 A5","partNumber": "8A500T20 A5","serialNumber": "????????","managementUnit": "????????"}]}}}​

 

[ThunderPigeon]

If it is a single 4.8GB file it won't fit on a FAT32 partition. The max file size for FAT32 is just under 4GB. Try exFAT.

 

[Nanook]

If it is a single 4.8GB file it won't fit on a FAT32 partition. The max file size for FAT32 is just under 4GB. Try exFAT.

FAT32 partition limit was 32Gb for years. Is 2Tb for some editions of Windows now. 4.8Gb file will fit fine. Car requires FAT32.

 

[Nanook]

Windows sucks and bloated Windows sucks even more...After removing the USB drive from the car and inserting on a Windows computer, ignore the scan crap. When you go to usb.honda.com, just select the JSON file (update_by_usb.json) from the USB drive to upload to the site. The "update_by_usb.json" file is small (<1 KB) and contains vehicle specific information. It is used to determine if an update is available for download. If one is available, download and save the ZIP file into the " HondaSoftwareUpdates " folder on the USB drive; the update file is ~4.8 GB. Remove and then reconnect the USB drive to the car to complete installation.

Regarding the 1 KB JSON file, here is an example from my car after installing the update (red question marks added to replace portions of the "deviceID", "timestamp", "inventorySig", "serialNumber" and "managementUnit" sections):

{"deviceData":{"deviceID": "JHMFL5G42RX0?????","manufacturer": "Honda","model": "20 Panasonic DA","locale": "en_US","inventory": {"timestamp": "??????????","inventorySig": "????????????????????????","swInventory": [{"id": "RB_AUTO;;8A500T20 A5;;8A050T20 A5","ver": "77CA-0068-121","name": "8A050T20 A5"},{"id": "RB_AUTO;;8A500T20 A5;;8A070T20 A5","ver": "77CA-0068-121","name": "8A070T20 A5"}],"hwInventory": [{"id": "8A500T20 A5","nodeAddress": "8A500T20 A5","partNumber": "8A500T20 A5","serialNumber": "????????","managementUnit": "????????"}]}}}​

Good to know the size. I was just selecting the update_by_usb.json file. Not sure why the website thought it was corrupt. I will take a look at my file later this morning. Thanks for all the suggestions.

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