OTA Power Up Updates FIX!! [Triggering an OTA Update]

[rugedraw]

Add me to the list of (skeptical) people who set their parking brake and set lights to OFF and had an OTA install within an hour. My truck sat for a week until today as I was out of town. I drove it to the gym - a 10 minute drive - remembered this thread and for the first time ever set the parking brake and set lights to off and boom, got 4.2.1

Maybe the Ford OTA Help desk phone fluffers aren't so full of shit after all

They are aggressively pushing out these updates now. My truck just got 4.2.3 sent to it 40 minutes ago. Parking brake off, headlights on auto, keys locked inside the vehicle using the keypad. I have gotten 3 OTA's sent to me this way in the past week alone. The update would have been sent to you either way.

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[Snakebitten]

Add me to the list of (skeptical) people who set their parking brake and set lights to OFF and had an OTA install within an hour. My truck sat for a week until today as I was out of town. I drove it to the gym - a 10 minute drive - remembered this thread and for the first time ever set the parking brake and set lights to off and boom, got 4.2.1

Maybe the Ford OTA Help desk phone fluffers aren't so full of shit after all

I don't even WANT the next OTA available for my truck. 4.2.3 I think it would be.

But I can't resist the voodoo

I walked out and set the brake and turned the headlight dial to off.

I can't believe I admitted it publicly though.

 

[arlowe13]

Just tried this and it immediately installed 4.2.1.

 

[rugedraw]

lol Whatever helps you guys sleep at night. Personally, I think there is more of a chance that Santa Claus is real than any of this. I have checked hundreds of trucks and seen hundreds of OTA failures. Not once did I see the error code in PTS read "update failed because the parking brake was off", but I digress.

 

[Snakebitten]

 

[arlowe13]

I wouldn't have believed it if it didn't just work for me honestly. The update had no reason to not install 20 minutes before I tried it, but when I stopped to get gas I turned the lights off, set the parking brake and set the update timer to 5 minutes later, and when I got back into the truck it was installed. If it was truly coincidental, that's pretty crazy.

 

[rugedraw]

I wouldn't have believed it if it didn't just work for me honestly. The update had no reason to not install 20 minutes before I tried it, but when I stopped to get gas I turned the lights off, set the parking brake and set the update timer to 5 minutes later, and when I got back into the truck it was installed. If it was truly coincidental, that's pretty crazy.

It is not coincidental that you got that OTA. Ford has been pushing these particular updates out like crazy lately. If no one was getting updates, and all of a sudden you did that and you got the update and nobody else did, that would be a different story. But you getting this update sent to you now just goes in line with everybody else who has gotten the 4.2.x updates as of late.

I don't want to beat a dead horse, as the saying goes. The truth his, none of the tips in this thread or the youtube video that tells you to send feedback to Ford hurt your chances of getting an OTA, so if you want to make a conscious effort to set your parking brake and turn off your headlight every time you park your truck, go ahead and do it.

 

[Orlando150]

I wouldn't have believed it if it didn't just work for me honestly. The update had no reason to not install 20 minutes before I tried it, but when I stopped to get gas I turned the lights off, set the parking brake and set the update timer to 5 minutes later, and when I got back into the truck it was installed. If it was truly coincidental, that's pretty crazy.

The fact is that the vehicle isn't checking for updates constantly. It's only "phoning home" when it wakes up. AKA when you open the doors to set the brake and turn off the lights. Or when haven't driven it for a week and then go get gas.

You would have the same result just turning it on for a second and then off. If there is an update queued it will find it and start installing.

This is the same reason there have been so many reports of "it never installs an update at home, only when I go out". People assumed it was crappy internet or cell at home but it's really just going for a drive is the most common thing you do when you get in the car and wake it up.

 

[arlowe13]

The fact is that the vehicle isn't checking for updates constantly. It's only "phoning home" when it wakes up. AKA when you open the doors to set the brake and turn off the lights. Or when haven't driven it for a week and then go get gas.

You would have the same result just turning it on for a second and then off. If there is an update queued it will find it and start installing.

This is the same reason there have been so many reports of "it never installs an update at home, only when I got out". People assumed it was crappy internet or cell at home but it's really just going for a drive is the most common thing you do when you get in the car and wake it up.

I drive 20 miles to work each day and park in an open air lot with full service of AT&T 5G. I left that lot this afternoon, drove 10 miles to a gas station, did the thing, and it installed. Coincidence or not, I'm happy.

 

[Orlando150]

I drive 20 miles to work each day and park in an open air lot with full service of AT&T 5G. I left that lot this afternoon, drove 10 miles to a gas station, did the thing, and it installed. Coincidence or not, I'm happy.

The truck doesn't have a 5G antenna but that's not important.

If we could see your history it would probably show the update "campaign" released for your truck during that workday. Then when you turned it on to leave work the truck phoned home, saw the update for the first time, and started installing on your way to the gas station.

 

[rugedraw]

I am in a unique position to test this right now. Just checked my own truck. 4.2.3 has been sitting in my queue for 1.5 hours now and it has not downloaded any of the files. I am going to walk to my truck, start it and let it run for a minute to trigger the OTA to install, and turn it off with the parking brake off and the headlights on auto. I bet within minutes of me doing that, the OTA will install.

 

[arlowe13]

The truck doesn't have a 5G antenna but that's not important.

If we could see your history it would probably show the update "campaign" released for your truck during that workday. Then when you turned it on to leave work the truck phoned home, saw the update for the first time, and started installing on your way to the gas station.

Yeah, "probably"...

 

[m_bt54]

I was just a victim of 4.2.1 while my truck was at work with almost no gas, unlocked, headlights set to auto, both sets of keys inside, and no parking break on. Oh, I also didn’t dink around with my update schedule.

 

[rugedraw]

Started my truck and let it run for 3 minutes, turned it off and locked it with the keypad and left the key inside and walked away. Soon as I did that, it started downloading the files. 3 minutes later, the files are downloaded and ready to install. 3 minutes later, the update installed and I am officially on 4.2.3 with my headlights on auto, the parking brake off, 1/4 tank of gas, not driving the vehicle, no battery charger, no sending feedback to Ford, and most importantly, no hopping on one leg while patting my head and rubbing my beer belly in a counterclockwise motion while singing kumbaya.

 

[Snakebitten]

You're such a partypooping killjoy.

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