Car radios crashed by station broadcasting images with no file extension
- Reference: 1644454961
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/02/10/mazda_radios_images/
- Source link:
The issue, [1]according to the Seattle Times , has affected 2014-2017 model year Mazdas with infotainment systems that support HD Radio. Tuning to KUOW, which resides at 94.9 on the FM dial, caused some Mazda in-vehicle infotainment systems to fail.
In threads on Reddit, people [2]report that the issue manifests in various ways: some describe a frozen radio display screen, others tell of endless reboot loops. The problem has also resulted in radios being stuck on KUOW, which the public radio station says it's trying to help resolve.
[3]
"KUOW is aware of an apparent issue between our signal and some Mazda infotainment systems, causing radios to reboot when they connect to KUOW’s 94.9 FM signal," the radio broadcaster said in [4]a statement . "We have been in contact with Xperi, the company who owns the technology behind HD Radio, and have given them complete access to our transmitters to investigate what is causing this issue."
[5]
[6]
KUOW said its operations team is trying to get the issue resolved.
And to hear Xperi and Madza tell it, the broadcaster is to blame for transmitting images – which show up on HD Radio display screens – without the required file extension in the file name.
[7]
Xperi attributed the problem to the way KUOW sent its data.
"Our current assessment is that there was a formatting issue with the transmitted data," a company spokesperson told The Register in an email. "We have worked with the station to address it, and we do not believe there are any ongoing issues with car radios in the market."
Mazda too indicated that the transmission killed the radios in its cars.
[8]
"Between 1/24-1/31, a radio station in the Seattle area sent image files with no extension (e.g., missing .jpeg or .gif), which caused an issue on some 2014-2017 Mazda vehicles with older software," the company said. "Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) has distributed service alerts advising dealers of the issue."
"While dealers are currently experiencing parts delays due to shipping constraints, MNAO will support impacted customers with replacement parts. These customers should contact their local Mazda dealer who can submit a goodwill request to the Mazda Warranty department on their behalf, order the parts, and schedule a free repair when the parts arrive."
[9]FYI: You could make Tesla's Autopilot swerve into traffic with a few stickers on the road
[10]Samsung wheels out new silicon that turns cars into 5G-fuelled entertainment hubs
[11]TomTom bill bomb: Why am I being charged for infotainment? I sold my car last year, rages Reg reader
[12]iFixit wants you to be legally able to break software locks to repair gizmos. Unsurprisingly, manufacturers are less keen
According to the Seattle Times, Lorenzo Pieruccioni, service manager at Mazda of Olympia, Washington, said he'd seen several customers come in with radio problems, which he attributed to a corrupt Connectivity Master Unit (CMU).
The CMU moderates the flow of video and audio signals to the infotainment system. It costs $1,500 normally, but it remains scarce due to supply chain issues.
Implicit in Mazda's statement is the admission that older versions of the software in its infotainment system fail to sufficiently validate inputs, thereby allowing malformed data to crash the device.
Mazda and Xperi didn't immediately respond to a request to clarify which software version fixed this issue for more recent vehicles. But if Mazda's answer is a hardware replacement, it would appear that a software update isn't an option.
The [13]99% Invisible podcast in 2019 explored [14]a separate bug related to printf format string handling that affected the infotainment system in a 2016 Mazda sedan. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/thanks-to-a-glitch-some-seattle-mazda-drivers-cant-tune-their-radios-away-from-kuow/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/mazda3/comments/sia9f5/anyone_else_have_their_radio_corrupted_by_a/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YgSb@sDhDY3gXRg7Zog9XwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.kuow.org/stories/we-didn-t-mean-to-ruin-your-mazda-s-stereo
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgSb@sDhDY3gXRg7Zog9XwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YgSb@sDhDY3gXRg7Zog9XwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgSb@sDhDY3gXRg7Zog9XwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YgSb@sDhDY3gXRg7Zog9XwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/02/tencent_tesla_hacking/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/01/samsung_automotive_silicon/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/10/mazda_tomtom_data_retention_billing/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/23/ifixit_software_locks/
[13] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-roman-mars-mazda-virus/
[14] https://github.com/Hamled/mazda-format-string-bug#readme
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Any direction will do
It is rather different for someone to suggest "turn it off, then on again" but only after driving 200 miles away from home first.
Or.. wait. Didn't Dabbs suggest this [1]just last week ?
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/04/something_for_the_weekend/
Buggles
Video killed the radio star
Re: Buggles
Yes, like it says in the byline
GIGO for the goddesses sake!
10% of the blame to KUOW.
90% of the blame who DIDN'T CHECK THEIR INPUTS.
"Garbage In Garbage Out" should be branded on the forehead of each one.
Re: GIGO for the goddesses sake!
0% of the blame to the radio station but perhaps some to the vendor of their broadcast software.
Not sure I would blame a local NPR station for not auditing their software purchase for compliance with RDS standard 3.14159 part II, section 2.718 sub 0
HD radio
To save everyone else looking it up, apparently HD radio is some American thing where a radio station broadcasts its analogue signal and, on the edges of its channel, a digital version of the same content, vaguely kind of like teletext but for radio.
(There was a time when this was a .co.uk site)
Mazda's Infotainment is a pile of garbage
Not mentioned in this article is that the cost of a replacement 'head' for the infotainment system is $1500. We all know that car electronics is wildly inflated in price but this isn't the first time I've seen or been offered custom options at many times the cost of generic. A decent Bluetooth radio is less than $100; you can spend more if you want, but why bother?
Mazda also needs a lesson in software development. I know that Microsoft has never been able to process file extensions properly, their mindset is still very much in the DOS 8.3 days. UNIX never had the file extension -- you could add them but it was just part of the name. You'd never, ever, make decisions about a file content based on the name, that's asking for trouble.
(HD radio's crap anyway, I'm surprised that anyone is still bothering with it. Its our (US) answer DAB. Like DAB "Hybrid Digital" is based on proprietary technology, it places one or more digital subcarriers outside the audio band. The audio you get from it low to mediocre quality, its better than DAB because you can still receive the conventional signal but with certain caveats. For example, FM with HD is likely to be broadcast as medium quality mono and AM with HD tends to be noisy, about the same level of hiss that you'd get from a really cheap cassette recorder. Like DAB HD is a redundant technology - when out and about I can stream audio into my car more reliably than I can receive radio stations.)
Re: Mazda's Infotainment is a pile of garbage
Not mentioned, except for these lines:
According to the Seattle Times, Lorenzo Pieruccioni, service manager at Mazda of Olympia, Washington, said he'd seen several customers come in with radio problems, which he attributed to a corrupt Connectivity Master Unit (CMU).
The CMU moderates the flow of video and audio signals to the infotainment system. It costs $1,500 normally, but it remains scarce due to supply chain issues.
brb I'm off for a drive with my bladerf and some dodgy rds2 signals