Friday, December 28, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
OnStar and General Motors: Analog service ending Jan 1st 2008
For a full explanation of what's happening, see the Edmonds article:
Telematics Digital Transition Hits Speed Bump
All links pop . . .
Summary:
Thanks to an FCC ruling in 2002 made with their endorsement, cellular-communications carriers no longer will be required to support their old analog-technology cellular networks beginning in early 2008. Any analog subscriber who still wants their telematics service to work has to get with the program and obtain the new technology somehow.
OnStar was launched in 1996 using proven analog technology and mainly Verizon Wireless networks, which had the broadest geographic coverage of the cellular-network alternatives at the time. But because Verizon is disabling its analog networks on January 1, 2008, OnStar can't ensure coverage to its subscribers who have analog systems after that date.
If you own a 2002~2005 GM vehicle with analog OnStar, you may or may not be able to get an upgrade to continue OnStar service. Most vehicles older than 2002 cannot be upgraded! Most newer than 2006 are already equipped with digital OnStar service.
If you use analog Onstar your service will stop on January 1, 2008 - worse it will devalue your used vehicle even if you don't personally subscribe to OnStar.
Details, helpful links to determine if your vehicle can be upgraded, and the dirt on the fine print.
1) Analog OnStar service will stop January 1st, 2008.
2) If your GM vehicle is newer than 2002 and is not already fitted with Digital OnStar service you might be eligible for an upgrade. Some vehicles were made up through 2004 that are not upgradable. Go write down your VIN and enter it on this secured (https) site to find out if your car can be upgraded:
https://www.myonstar.com/adt.os
3) Onstar Upgrade Information:
- OnStar Analog to Digital Transition and Upgrade Offer Among other things, you may have to subscribe for one additional year at $199/year plus a $15 fee for the upgrade. If you did not subscribe to OnStar in the last year and you get this upgrade, you will also be charged a $100 activation fee in addition to the subscription and upgrade fee.
- GM and OnStar FAQ.
4) However -- GM may be requiring upgraders to subscribe to three more years! I can't find confirmation beyond this leaked internal article: HTML Version, PDF Original. They may also be refusing to upgrade some cars that OnStar states are eligible . . .
5) Your OnStar phone number WILL change when you upgrade from analog to digital service.
6) This is for US only, Canada is not yet switching.
7) The upgrade may only be done at a GM dealership. You must pay your dealership all related fee's at the time of service.
8) The new digital service has a shorter effective range from any given cell tower to your car than the older analog service. It also has a smaller overall service area. This means that if your car breaks down, or you have an accident, in urban or remote areas that your OnStar service might not work. Subscribers within most metro areas and along most interstates should be okay.
9) Owners of older GM OnStar equipped cars may be out of luck both in terms of receiving service and because their used vehicle will be further devalued. GM's offer to give OnStar subscribers with older cars small credits towards newer vehicles is laughable. There is a lawsuit that is attempting to achieve class-action status. No idea of what that might accomplish, if anything . . . time will tell. The GM offers may well be better than the individual rewards from the lawsuit. Trouble is, there is no set guideline from GM to it's dealers on what offer to make - it will depend largely on your dealer and perhaps on what new car you buy.
Telematics Digital Transition Hits Speed Bump
All links pop . . .
Summary:
Thanks to an FCC ruling in 2002 made with their endorsement, cellular-communications carriers no longer will be required to support their old analog-technology cellular networks beginning in early 2008. Any analog subscriber who still wants their telematics service to work has to get with the program and obtain the new technology somehow.
OnStar was launched in 1996 using proven analog technology and mainly Verizon Wireless networks, which had the broadest geographic coverage of the cellular-network alternatives at the time. But because Verizon is disabling its analog networks on January 1, 2008, OnStar can't ensure coverage to its subscribers who have analog systems after that date.
If you own a 2002~2005 GM vehicle with analog OnStar, you may or may not be able to get an upgrade to continue OnStar service. Most vehicles older than 2002 cannot be upgraded! Most newer than 2006 are already equipped with digital OnStar service.
If you use analog Onstar your service will stop on January 1, 2008 - worse it will devalue your used vehicle even if you don't personally subscribe to OnStar.
Details, helpful links to determine if your vehicle can be upgraded, and the dirt on the fine print.
1) Analog OnStar service will stop January 1st, 2008.
2) If your GM vehicle is newer than 2002 and is not already fitted with Digital OnStar service you might be eligible for an upgrade. Some vehicles were made up through 2004 that are not upgradable. Go write down your VIN and enter it on this secured (https) site to find out if your car can be upgraded:
https://www.myonstar.com/adt.os
3) Onstar Upgrade Information:
- OnStar Analog to Digital Transition and Upgrade Offer Among other things, you may have to subscribe for one additional year at $199/year plus a $15 fee for the upgrade. If you did not subscribe to OnStar in the last year and you get this upgrade, you will also be charged a $100 activation fee in addition to the subscription and upgrade fee.
- GM and OnStar FAQ.
4) However -- GM may be requiring upgraders to subscribe to three more years! I can't find confirmation beyond this leaked internal article: HTML Version, PDF Original. They may also be refusing to upgrade some cars that OnStar states are eligible . . .
5) Your OnStar phone number WILL change when you upgrade from analog to digital service.
6) This is for US only, Canada is not yet switching.
7) The upgrade may only be done at a GM dealership. You must pay your dealership all related fee's at the time of service.
8) The new digital service has a shorter effective range from any given cell tower to your car than the older analog service. It also has a smaller overall service area. This means that if your car breaks down, or you have an accident, in urban or remote areas that your OnStar service might not work. Subscribers within most metro areas and along most interstates should be okay.
9) Owners of older GM OnStar equipped cars may be out of luck both in terms of receiving service and because their used vehicle will be further devalued. GM's offer to give OnStar subscribers with older cars small credits towards newer vehicles is laughable. There is a lawsuit that is attempting to achieve class-action status. No idea of what that might accomplish, if anything . . . time will tell. The GM offers may well be better than the individual rewards from the lawsuit. Trouble is, there is no set guideline from GM to it's dealers on what offer to make - it will depend largely on your dealer and perhaps on what new car you buy.
Friday, December 7, 2007
If you play Eve Online - an important announcement
If you don't play Eve Online . . .
News today says that a recent update for Eve Online, the so-called Trinity patch, contains a very serious mistake/bug . . . it deletes a system critical file named BOOT.INI in the root directory of your system drive IF your boot drive is NOT on the default drive C: . . . (this is not as uncommon as some might think.)
If you have not yet rebooted since applying the Eve Online patch - DON'T reboot until after you verify that you don't have the issue, or until after you fix the problem! If you reboot without the missing file, and you don't have an alternate boot disk handy, you may be well and truly - using the correct technical jargon - f*cked.
If you meet all three of these criteria:
1) You started downloading the Eve Online upgrade from Trinity Classic Graphics Content to Premium Graphics Content BEFORE 04:00 GMT on Dec 6 2007
2) You do NOT use Vista for Eve Online (only Windows XP, Windows 2000, etc are impacted)
3) You have at least 2 hard disks or logical partitions and the OS into which Eve Online is installed resides on the second drive, NOT on drive C:
. . . Then you might need to repair your system.
Check to see if the file BOOT.INI still exists on your system drive. This is typically Drive C:, and if you meet criteria 3 above I expect you to already understand the difference between the boot drive and the system drive.
If your BOOT.INI file is missing, here are Eve's support recommendations to restore your system. http://www.eve-online.com/updates/bootinifix.asp
Good luck!
News today says that a recent update for Eve Online, the so-called Trinity patch, contains a very serious mistake/bug . . . it deletes a system critical file named BOOT.INI in the root directory of your system drive IF your boot drive is NOT on the default drive C: . . . (this is not as uncommon as some might think.)
If you have not yet rebooted since applying the Eve Online patch - DON'T reboot until after you verify that you don't have the issue, or until after you fix the problem! If you reboot without the missing file, and you don't have an alternate boot disk handy, you may be well and truly - using the correct technical jargon - f*cked.
If you meet all three of these criteria:
1) You started downloading the Eve Online upgrade from Trinity Classic Graphics Content to Premium Graphics Content BEFORE 04:00 GMT on Dec 6 2007
2) You do NOT use Vista for Eve Online (only Windows XP, Windows 2000, etc are impacted)
3) You have at least 2 hard disks or logical partitions and the OS into which Eve Online is installed resides on the second drive, NOT on drive C:
. . . Then you might need to repair your system.
Check to see if the file BOOT.INI still exists on your system drive. This is typically Drive C:, and if you meet criteria 3 above I expect you to already understand the difference between the boot drive and the system drive.
If your BOOT.INI file is missing, here are Eve's support recommendations to restore your system. http://www.eve-online.com/updates/bootinifix.asp
Good luck!
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