I just chatted with a Ford specialist today, 8/7/2023, and they said that the current update for our Sync 3 has a bug(s) that cause itself to "soft" reset itself, prompting these messages at every or almost every ignition cycle. I get the same ones with my Sync 3 on my 2019 F-150 STX. The representative said there will be an update LATE September and to keep a lookout on it. They also confirmed Ford owners WILL NOT receive any sort of notification and to just periodically check for updates in September. Hope this helps everyone experiencing this issue!

 

I appreciate your explanation. So from the top, what must I do to restore my system to normal? I have read about several approaches and am still not certain what to do. Has Ford come out with an official release yet?

Also… How do I upgrade the firmware in my TCU?

 

Don't cloud the issue with facts! It's much sexier to dream us some cockamamie theory involving the Chinese or the Russians...

 

The possibility of enemy assaults do exist and you won’t think it sexy when it happens. That’s the trouble with people these days, they’re so casual and so invincible because everything that they have is taken for granted. Good luck with that.

Now back to the problem and the facts. The conclusion here is that Ford delivered a flawed build. Ford doesn’t have an officially corrected release and here we are with hacks trying to come up with their own remedy. Oh, that’s reassuring.

 

Ford has a new build, but they haven't officially released it yet. They are, however, very consistent with their naming and where they store them, so folks at CyanLabs always find the new builds before they're officially released. They have a tool that will build an update flash drive with whatever Sync version you want. That's probably the cleanest approach right now. It'll probably be a month or two before the new build is officially available on the Ford Owner site.

That's what I would do, except I'm hoping my dealer will order me a new APIM under warranty. Mine's been slower than others (and slower than my last F-150) since the truck was new, so I don't think it's totally healthy even without this bug.

 

What entitles the people at CyanLabs to access a pre-released version of Ford’s new build? This seems like a breech of security and theft. If CyanLabs can help themselves to the build, who else can? Perhaps uploads from anybody are possible to Ford’s server. Wow!

 

Ford uploads their builds to a public server. Anyone could find them. Ford definitely knows and doesn't care, otherwise they'd keep them internal until they're officially released.

For all I know, it's intentional - they know a small subset of folks will find them and install them early and report issues on an open forum. It could be an unofficial unsanctioned beta testing program.

 

Oh, I get it. Ford is after a controlled environment so that it minimizes all risks to the National Highway Transportation System. This way, nobody is to blame for an accident related to blinding illumination from the infotainment screen at night, unreliable connectivity to the cell phone, frustrating unavailability of audio presets, and who knows what else in other peripherals of the vehicle?. Real smart.

 

Unfortunately, you will need to go to dealer. They might give you BS, but with their training, they should have a fix. It just might be as simple, or hard, as a replacement. Good luck to ya buddy!

 

Ford doesn’t have a fix yet. The jailbreak process is the only current fix outside of replacing the APIM.