2020 Ateca - Loss of All Dash Display

[Loadmaster748]

Afternoon all - strange one this and whilst the dealers aren't open until Monday, I was wondering if anyone can provide any thoughts on this issue that's just popped up on my Ateca.

On starting up earlier this afternoon, the dash was completely blank with absolutely nothing showing with the exception of the red exclamation warning triangle situated upper centre. Looking in the book, it suggests that the warning will be accompanied by additional info - but there's nothing, just the warning.

The car starts and drives fine, but of course we can't use it now as for a start there no speedo or fuel indications - nowt, blank.

A bit disappointed to say the least - less than a year old and barely over 4000 miles!

Will call the dealer on Monday, but in the meantime any thoughts on this would be welcome!

Cheers.

 

[Tell]

The dash is fed from the infotainment unit, you could try the old faithfull reboot of the infotainment system, long press on the on / off button of the infotainment system till it reboots with the Seat logo. If it's got anything to do with the firmware in there playing up in memory then it would clear it. Other than that you would read the error codes in VCDS / Obdeleven to see if they illuded to something, but by then suspect its a dealer job.

Keep us up-to-date for the next time.

 

[Loadmaster748]

The dash is fed from the infotainment unit, you could try the old faithfull reboot of the infotainment system, long press on the on / off button of the infotainment system till it reboots with the Seat logo. If it's got anything to do with the firmware in there playing up in memory then it would clear it. Other than that you would read the error codes in VCDS / Obdeleven to see if they illuded to something, but by then suspect its a dealer job.

Keep us up-to-date for the next time.

Thanks Tell. Strangely enough it all came back yesterday evening without me doing anything!

However, going to give the dealer a call first thing tomorrow morning to see if I can bring the car in to be read.

Will update as and when.

 

[Tell]

Thanks Tell. Strangely enough it all came back yesterday evening without me doing anything!

However, going to give the dealer a call first thing tomorrow morning to see if I can bring the car in to be read.

Will update as and when.

You think about plugs and sockets getting hot in the summer.

The car does a complete power down after 20 minutes so perhaps that did the trick if it was left standing. I'm sure there will be an incident report logged. Possible you might be able to read something on the car menu about events but doesn't mean that it displays it there. The one where I see "couldn't operate start / stop" (I've fiddled with it to stop it)... it might not have text to say what it was or perhaps doesn't tell you, but it will be in diagnostic error codes I'd say if you got an exclamation mark (bet it says something about bus communications failure).

 

[Loadmaster748]

Yes maybe so. I didn't realise it took 20 minutes to fully power down.

Will let you know what, if anything was logged. Hopefully they can spare some time tomorrow to read any faults logged. The car is needed for a long journey soon up to North Yorkshire, so we'd prefer of course to have full confidence in it for that.

 

[Tell]

If it was just an issue talking to the infotainment unit then the fix is that long hold on the on / off from wthehen infotainment unit is running, to it going blank, then the logo, then take your finger off the on / off when you see the Seat logo reappear, keep it on till you see the reboot.

Hopefully just a wobble in the software talking to the component parts of the car. You could get them to put you on the 515 infotainment firmware if you are not on that already if they mutter infotainment (I believe yours is a standard mib2 from memory).

 

[Loadmaster748]

If it was just an issue talking to the infotainment unit then the fix is that long hold on the on / off from wthehen infotainment unit is running, to it going blank, then the logo, then take your finger off the on / off when you see the Seat logo reappear, keep it on till you see the reboot.

Hopefully just a wobble in the software talking to the component parts of the car. You could get them to put you on the 515 infotainment firmware if you are not on that already if they mutter infotainment (I believe yours is a standard mib2 from memory).

Thanks, I'll bear the 515 in mind as the first annual service is on 5th July. I was hoping for a while-u-wait service but I was told a "couple of hours" potentially as there are updates to action.

Can you please clarify......

If it was just an issue talking to the infotainment unit then the fix is that long hold on the on / off from wthehen infotainment unit is running, to it going blank, then the logo, then take your finger off the on / off when you see the Seat logo reappear, ....... is this bit next, it acknowledges that it's rebooted?....keep it on till you see the reboot......??

 

[Tell]

Thanks, I'll bear the 515 in mind as the first annual service is on 5th July. I was hoping for a while-u-wait service but I was told a "couple of hours" potentially as there are updates to action.

Can you please clarify......

If it was just an issue talking to the infotainment unit then the fix is that long hold on the on / off from wthehen infotainment unit is running, to it going blank, then the logo, then take your finger off the on / off when you see the Seat logo reappear, ....... is this bit next, it acknowledges that it's rebooted?....keep it on till you see the reboot......??

Yes the reboot is forced by hanging onto the on/off button when it's turned on, it will reboot eventually with the Seat screen logo. That's a reboot. Thats what use to be called a hot boot, but in the unit its the same as a cold boot. Old computer terms .

I might regret this

What is the Difference Between Cold and Warm Booting - Pediaa.Com

The main difference between cold and warm booting is that the cold booting the process of starting up the computer that is turned off while the warm booting is the process of restarting the computer without interrupting power.

pediaa.com

 

[Loadmaster748]

Yes the reboot is forced by hanging onto the on/off button when it's turned on, it will reboot eventually with the Seat screen logo. That's a reboot. Thats what use to be called a hot boot, but in the unit its the same as a cold boot. Old computer terms .

I might regret this

What is the Difference Between Cold and Warm Booting - Pediaa.Com

The main difference between cold and warm booting is that the cold booting the process of starting up the computer that is turned off while the warm booting is the process of restarting the computer without interrupting power.

pediaa.com

Well I called my local SEAT dealer, not the one I bought the car from in Aldershot, and they can't do any investigation until early July - not even 30 mins to plug in for codes. Didn't sound very interested at all or suggest any fixes or reasons why - main dealers eh?

At least it's all back to normal and I have my Ace card for rebooting if I need to so I'm not that fussed. It'll have to wait until first week of July when it's in for its first service.

Thanks for your assistance and guidance Tell.

 

[Sly870]

That's a bit....concerning.

I don't think it's got anything to do with heat, in South Africa cars with the same level of technology are fine.

I would love to know if something went "corrupt" and a restart fixed it. You got any dashcams wired into the fuse box that may interfere or anything of that nature?

 

[Loadmaster748]

Well I called my local SEAT dealer, not the one I bought the car from in Aldershot, and they can't do any investigation until early July - not even 30 mins to plug in for codes. Didn't sound very interested at all or suggest any fixes or reasons why - main dealers eh?

At least it's all back to normal and I have my Ace card for rebooting if I need to so I'm not that fussed. It'll have to wait until first week of July when it's in for its first service.

Thanks for your assistance and guidance Tell.

Yeah, agree with the heat comment. These cars are sold in far hotter countries than the UK!

No, nothing extra wired in and all is still back to normal. Hopefully I'll find out more when it goes in for its first service first week of July.

 

[Tell]

Suspect just a bus error where part of the car isnt talking to another part across the bus. I do get bus errors but generally about central locking. Oh have I got to post up the dealers training manual again . If you got VCDS / Obdeleven you see the error codes come up. The discreet control units identified by VCDS chatter to each other. No chatter and you get an error. It's an early version of distributed computing. Each control units behaviour is controlled by a long string and the sticky tape is the bus. Failure to communicate correctly is a bus error.

On connections sometimes during build they don't clip them into home . I had that with my heated wing mirror. It does happen. Early Ateca's the control boxes used to drop down with a clunk behind the dash. I had that once. Reported on German Ateca boards of things dropping down behind the dash. Probably sticky taped stuff.

Anyhow number 2 I reckon from the company trying to sell consultancy on the subject (use to be in degree computer science syllabus in the early 70s distibuted control units ):

Distributed Vs Centralized Controls For Mobile Vehicles - CrossCo

Distributed vs Centralized Controls for Mobile Vehicles - CrossCo : Helping Customers Address Their Most Challenging Applications Since 1954

www.crossco.com

It's your Can bus... every time it says it in the diagrams below. Virtual cockpit is driven from the infotainment unit via one of the buses hence a reboot of the infotainment unit (that long 10 second hold on on/off till the Seat logo reappears) can be helpful so a restart of the communications is triggered going out from the unit.

As said after 20 minutes of the ignition being off in these vehicles the systems power down automatically. Why it's adviced after doing any Obdeleven programming with the engine running to stop and restart after with the dongle out, in case any of the control units is left powered up consuming battery power. That is what it is said on that one atleast.

Putting buses to one side if a known bug is known in the software in one of the control units, it might be a simple case of the dealer updating the firmware in one of the units to get everything up to scratch. A simple bug in the start up of the system may have led to the problem. That's where reading the error codes is handy.

 

[Loadmaster748]

Suspect just a bus error where part of the car isnt talking to another part across the bus. I do get bus errors but generally about central locking. Oh have I got to post up the dealers training manual again . If you got VCDS / Obdeleven you see the error codes come up. The discreet control units identified by VCDS chatter to each other. No chatter and you get an error. It's an early version of distributed computing. Each control units behaviour is controlled by a long string and the sticky tape is the bus. Failure to communicate correctly is a bus error.

On connections sometimes during build they don't clip them into home . I had that with my heated wing mirror. It does happen. Early Ateca's the control boxes used to drop down with a clunk behind the dash. I had that once. Reported on German Ateca boards of things dropping down behind the dash. Probably sticky taped stuff.

Anyhow number 2 I reckon from the company trying to sell consultancy on the subject (use to be in degree computer science syllabus in the early 70s distibuted control units ):

Distributed Vs Centralized Controls For Mobile Vehicles - CrossCo

Distributed vs Centralized Controls for Mobile Vehicles - CrossCo : Helping Customers Address Their Most Challenging Applications Since 1954

www.crossco.com

It's your Can bus... every time it says it in the diagrams below. Virtual cockpit is driven from the infotainment unit via one of the buses hence a reboot of the infotainment unit (that long 10 second hold on on/off till the Seat logo reappears) can be helpful so a restart of the communications is triggered going out from the unit.

As said after 20 minutes of the ignition being off in these vehicles the systems power down automatically. Why it's adviced after doing any Obdeleven programming with the engine running to stop and restart after with the dongle out, in case any of the control units is left powered up consuming battery power. That is what it is said on that one atleast.

Putting buses to one side if a known bug is known in the software in one of the control units, it might be a simple case of the dealer updating the firmware in one of the units to get everything up to scratch. A simple bug in the start up of the system may have led to the problem. That's where reading the error codes is handy.
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Hey Tell, thanks for all this...!

Great and informative stuff but waaayy above my level of understanding or interest in this sort of subject - very much appreciated though.

From what you've said, are you suggesting that because of the nature of the glitch there won't be any errors thrown up for it on the service next month?

All currently good, it's not happened again since.

 

[Tell]

Hey Tell, thanks for all this...!

Great and informative stuff but waaayy above my level of understanding or interest in this sort of subject - very much appreciated though.

From what you've said, are you suggesting that because of the nature of the glitch there won't be any errors thrown up for it on the service next month?

All currently good, it's not happened again since.

No they should see errors, dated and number of occurances.

(How I know I need a new battery by winter since some of the systems are telling me that, February, lock down etc, 5 year old battery)

 

[Loadmaster748]

Well, the first service was carried out yesterday at exactly one year old.

All good, as I would expect, but no errors logged regarding the digital cockpit failure a couple of weeks back.

Odd one eh?

 

[Tell]

Well it should have logged something. Perhaps they preferred not to tell you. Hidden hands etc.

 

[Loadmaster748]

Well it should have logged something. Perhaps they preferred not to tell you. Hidden hands etc.

That was my thought about something being logged, but I'd hope that they didn't conceal anything.

They did say that if it happens again bring the car back for "further investigation" - it obviously wasn't important enough to delve deeper on the first occurrence!

 

[Tell]

That was my thought about something being logged, but I'd hope that they didn't conceal anything.

They did say that if it happens again bring the car back for "further investigation" - it obviously wasn't important enough to delve deeper on the first occurrence!

May be they didn't know what it was so said it was nothing... .

It's worth having OBDEleven or VCDS just to keep an eye on the error messages.

 

[ads_uk]

It seems I've had a similar issue today. Came back out to the car after a visit to the DIY and my display was completely blank with just a red warning triangle. Very disconcerting to drive without instrumentation. Lights, car and indicators seem to work (although no audible noise from them when indicating). I've tried leaving it for an hour or so and the infotainment reboot but still no display. Will ring the dealer in the morning as it's due a service soon. Any other troubleshooting advice appreciated.

thanks.

 

[Tell]

A quick read of the thread the one above fixed itself. Have to see whether yours does. The infotainment systems in these units freeze up you can do the on / off hold till the Seat / Cupra logo comes up but as said 20 minutes power down with the car locked or sitting inside but not touching the infotainment is the same result.

Shaky Linux programming leads to the program getting into memory it shouldn't be in which gives the odd results. If it doesnt fix itself or the reboot doesn't work then it will be bust.