I have a couple notes that might help clear up some confusion. GM does something similar with its software versions. A high level version (something like 3.2) is used to refer (usually only internally) to a manifest of software versions across all the different systems in the car. There are places where this high level version is encoded but it's not visible to the customer or through the vehicle UIs.
I took this opportunity to browse through the engineering menus on my 2022 etron SUV (with MPR3_US_AU_P3606 aka MIB3 w/ 3606). There are a few interesting things to note in these menus:
- There's no apparent way to update manually since we lack the SD card slot used for MIB2 updates/hacks/etc. However, we might try the ethernet dongle trick (although getting the ssh password may prove difficult, if not impossible). Apparently, you can also access the MIB2 via the vehicle wifi network. I've seen some mentions of using the JTAG pins on the back to flash, not something for the average user
- You can view the update history. Interestingly, updates arrive as packages and can update any number of systems. So far, I've only received map DB and what appear to be speech model updates. However, many of the other modules on the car appear to be available to update, including the MIB3 itself.
- Theoretically, Audi can just release an update pack that targets more systems. For some reason, they haven't yet.
As far as I can tell, we already have OTA updates, Audi just hasn't released one with wider software impact.
I recently brought in my vehicle for it's 10k service and pleaded with the tech to perform software updates after I pointed out all the bugs (blank screen, forgotten favorites, etc). His response was to attach all the TSBs that state there are no software updates and Audi won't pay shops to perform them, for now.
Btw, if the blank screen bugs you, just switch to vehicle nav or home and then back to whatever gave you the blank screen. This is literally the "fix" recommended in the TSB, lol. Surprisingly, it works quite well.
www.audi-mediacenter.com
