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My Ford Touch Thread

2M views 4K replies 396 participants last post by  Teamlosi23 
#1 ·
A member mentioned about having a sticky for the MFT sytem and I thought it was a good idea. Here's the thread for owners to discuss the MFT system, talk about and share issues they are having and to even share solutions. I know there are several MFT threads already out there, but we gotta start somewhere. Please keep this clean as it's going to be for everyone's benefit.

For everyone's information:
http://owner.ford.com/servlet/Conte...wnerGuidePage&year=2012&make=Ford&model=Focus

Enjoy.
 
#3,042 ·
Yes, that is my question. I'm doubtful.
 
#3,049 ·
IS there any way you can add some of the Garmin add ons to the Sync Nav? Like the speed limit icons and actual road speed?

Can you change the pointer icon like on the Garmin Nav units?
 
#3,054 ·
OK, I tinkered with this a bit this morning. View mode toggle makes no difference and neither does zoom. No destination needs to be entered either. Speed limit data only seems to appear for the roads that show in a color on the map, not the tertiary type roads in grey.

See photos below. Photos suck because it turns out it is kinds difficult (and probably dangerous) to drive and take photos at the same time.



 
#3,057 ·
Gee, this thread is getting pretty slow. Is everybody else giving up hope on their FoFo's MFT ever working even reasonably well?

I'm about to give up hope. I only drive it once or twice a week and MFT makes me crazy just about every time I drive it. My wife, it's her daily driver, has pretty much gone to leaving it off and using her ipod and, yikes, ear buds. That's pretty pathetic for the top line audio system in a car that rolled out the door for north of $26k only sixteen months ago. We'd lose big bucks dumping the car, but I'm starting to ponder it seriously. The car's other "teething problems" like bad steering rack and engine/trans driveability have pretty much been sorted. Three updates of MFT later and it's maybe only a little better overall. And each update has broken different things that worked before. Ford claimed each time, essentially, this is the update that fixes what ails MFT. And each time they've lied through their teeth. I'm saddened to say that I've lost confidence in Ford's ability to write and test the code and, perhaps more importantly, recognize if it works or not. Shocking. As I said, it makes me crazy. And it's sad, because when it does work, it works and sounds almost as good as it should always.

Anybody else ready to abandon hope for MFT?

Some of my MFT issues:

- random hangs of the UI
- random crashes of the whole thing--"performing system maintenance"
- sometimes the hangs that don't lead to crashes eventually unhang--but display can be out of sync with what's really going on, say active audio input or station tuned, for minutes
- doesn't remember what it was playing when you left it when get back in it (input, station, playlist, etc.) -- this one really makes me nuts: be listening to a baseball game when you stop to fill it up. Get back in, start it up, and it's on A/V In. Be listening to a specific genre, all albums, random when you get out tonight, tomorrow morning it starts playing all music on the device. Or it comes up on AM AST. Who knows? Change from playing a media device playlist to the baseball game long enough to find out the score, change back to the media device and now it plays all media not your playlist...
- backup guidance settings change "just because"
- random odd behaviors like turning itself on when off--that one was really odd.
- decides to re-index USB device quite frequently even though the same stick has been in it for over a year without being removed
- voice recognition is still pitifully inaccurate; our 2004 Acura was better and never updated. Our 2007 Honda is better and never updated. Our 2009 BMW is better--OK, BMW updates code all over the car every time they plug it in. My Android phones and tablets are better at voice recognition. My phone at work is better at voice recognition. Can't think of anything I use voice recognition with that's worse.
- (why doesn't voice recognition have a way to get back to four panel? doesn't that seem like an incredibly obvious capability it should have?)
- non-numeric WiFi keys can't be entered after 3.5.1
and on and on
 
#3,058 ·
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Some of my MFT issues:

- random hangs of the UI
- random crashes of the whole thing--"performing system maintenance"
- sometimes the hangs that don't lead to crashes eventually unhang--but display can be out of sync with what's really going on, say active audio input or station tuned, for minutes
- doesn't remember what it was playing when you left it when get back in it (input, station, playlist, etc.) -- this one really makes me nuts: be listening to a baseball game when you stop to fill it up. Get back in, start it up, and it's on A/V In. Be listening to a specific genre, all albums, random when you get out tonight, tomorrow morning it starts playing all music on the device. Or it comes up on AM AST. Who knows? Change from playing a media device playlist to the baseball game long enough to find out the score, change back to the media device and now it plays all media not your playlist...
- backup guidance settings change "just because"
- random odd behaviors like turning itself on when off--that one was really odd.
- decides to re-index USB device quite frequently even though the same stick has been in it for over a year without being removed
- voice recognition is still pitifully inaccurate; our 2004 Acura was better and never updated. Our 2007 Honda is better and never updated. Our 2009 BMW is better--OK, BMW updates code all over the car every time they plug it in. My Android phones and tablets are better at voice recognition. My phone at work is better at voice recognition. Can't think of anything I use voice recognition with that's worse.
- (why doesn't voice recognition have a way to get back to four panel? doesn't that seem like an incredibly obvious capability it should have?)
- non-numeric WiFi keys can't be entered after 3.5.1
and on and on
Sometimes when I call services the only way to get what I want is to hang up and dial again, I think the microphone sucks, which is probably half, if not all, of the voice recognition problems.

Mine will occasionally turn itself on when the car is off. I've decided to give up on that and let it play, it seems to shut itself off after a bit.

I would bet money that they didn't ground everything correctly, my Sport Trac was like that from the factory, after I grounded the radio myself all my problems with it were solved.
 
#3,059 ·
- doesn't remember what it was playing when you left it when get back in it (input, station, playlist, etc.) -- this one really makes me nuts: be listening to a baseball game when you stop to fill it up. Get back in, start it up, and it's on A/V In. Be listening to a specific genre, all albums, random when you get out tonight, tomorrow morning it starts playing all music on the device. Or it comes up on AM AST. Who knows? Change from playing a media device playlist to the baseball game long enough to find out the score, change back to the media device and now it plays all media not your playlist...

TSB 12-10-15 may address this issue.

- sometimes the hangs that don't lead to crashes eventually unhang--but display can be out of sync with what's really going on, say active audio input or station tuned, for minutes

I've seen this after turning off the car and continuing to listen to radio then restarting car. It takes a minutes or so for MFT to catch up to any button presses after restart. I just manually turn radio off and back on and it fixes itself.
 
#3,075 ·
- doesn't remember what it was playing when you left it when get back in it (input, station, playlist, etc.) -- this one really makes me nuts...

TSB 12-10-15 may address this issue.
I had the car in to the dealer shortly after this one was posted here. I asked about the problem and mentioned the TSB. They said "oh no, yours is all up to date".

I bet they get really tired of hearing MFT complaints they have ZERO way to solve.
 
#3,061 ·
Honestly I tried hard when I bought the car to not care about the radio, and since it was the top of the line radio I figured I wouldn't have to care. Now I wish I had the option available to get the stock radio and replace it with my own, like I have done in every car I've owned until now.
 
#3,072 ·
Mine has started manifesting a new failure mode in recent weeks. About one time in every three or four when I switch to Bluetooth audio (or resume after a stop while streaming) it will start playing audio on my phone, but with the sound muffled in my pocket from the phone's speaker instead of streaming over the Bluetooth link. The screen updates with the song or podcast title, and the pause/play button will stop and start playing, but it won't stream until I do the now-too-familiar stop and open the door and start over sequence. And of course none of the usual remedial measures (delayed reboot, master reset, power-cycle the phone, re-pairing, etc.) helped at all.

I can't help wondering how much fuel I've wasted since the v3 debacle with all of these forced restarts.
 
#3,085 ·
Mine has started manifesting a new failure mode in recent weeks. About one time in every three or four when I switch to Bluetooth audio (or resume after a stop while streaming) it will start playing audio on my phone, but with the sound muffled in my pocket from the phone's speaker instead of streaming over the Bluetooth link. The screen updates with the song or podcast title, and the pause/play button will stop and start playing, but it won't stream until I do the now-too-familiar stop and open the door and start over sequence. And of course none of the usual remedial measures (delayed reboot, master reset, power-cycle the phone, re-pairing, etc.) helped at all.
Mine does that often, too. Connects, acts as though it's on BT audio, but phone starts playing over its speaker.

I've also found that on v3.5.1 the car never acts like BT is connected - literally every time I go to the Entertainment screen "BT Audio" is displayed instead of my phone. If I push the button, it immediately 'connects' and starts playing. If I use voice commands to switch, it gives me "No Bluetooth Stereo device connected, Sync is currently trying to connect to a prev..." message and then cuts off partway through since it's re-connected. But if I check on my phone, it clearly shows both phone/audio connected via BT.

Never had any of these issues on older versions. Plenty of other issues, of course, but not this specific one.
 
#3,083 ·
A question about working with MFT (3.5.1) via the voice commands:

How do I change to different screens without actually performing an action? For example, if I'm staring at any particular screen, I can say "navigation map" and it will act as if I pressed the upper-right corner of the screen and switch to the nav map screen.

How do I do that for the "entertainment", "climate" or "phone" screens? (I know I can just press the respective corner of the screen, but I'm trying to learn how to use this with just voice commands.)

Thanks
Gary
 
#3,084 ·
Speaking of things MFT does that make me crazy: get in wife's FoFo, start it up, put seat belt on, drive away. One block later, it's disconnected from wife's phone (back at home). Does it try to see if it can connect to my phone? Nope, that'd be too hard.

I understand connecting to the default phone when the car is in the driveway. I don't understand not trying to connect to anything else until the next time the car is turned off and turned back on. This is another thing that worked better in both the 8 year older Acura and three year older BMW no name audio systems. Who would have thought the 2012 top-of-the-line state-of-the-art MFT Powered by Microsoft Sync would have been so lame as to not do this correctly?
 
#3,087 ·
Yep, 3.5.1 bas been two steps backward for me. I had almost no problems with the previous versions. I really think that the very act of updating the software is corrupting things and that Ford has not figured out how to do an update reliably.

I wish there was a way to reformat the storage then flash it with the new software.


Brian


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
 
#3,091 ·
Yep, 3.5.1 bas been two steps backward for me. I had almost no problems with the previous versions. I really think that the very act of updating the software is corrupting things and that Ford has not figured out how to do an update reliably.

I wish there was a way to reformat the storage then flash it with the new software.


Brian


Sent from my HTC One using FF Mobile
I wonder about this as well.
 
#3,088 ·
My first experience with sync's tech support (Ford sync tech support?)

I really only called to get them to confirm that certain specific MFT issues exist and are known. The two I brought up were the "one hour off" issue (which seems to relate to DST) and the one I've posted about elsewhere where MFT will see a phone can do text messaging as long as you use the touch interface, but if you try to say "messages" to the voice response, it says you aren't supported.

My first call, I had someone tell me that they don't see those issues with their simulator. (with a simulated phone and simulated GPS signal?) They promised that a supervisor would call me back. That lady lied, as when I called back in a couple days, there was no record of my call at all.

On my second call, they also said someone would call me back, and this time I got a case number. Today, I got that callback....

I explained the two issues, and even explained to the person who called me back that I've seen many others having identical issues... in fact that I haven't seen anyone who has either of these things actually work properly. I also told him that all I'd really like is an acknowledgement that these issues are "known" to the developers of the system (so that there's some hope of them being fixed.)

What did I get? Basically, the person I spoke with insisted that, for a car I just bought brand new less than one week ago, I have to take time off work to bring the car to a service department. That I might have to wait several hours or even leave my car there overnight. He wouldn't or couldn't talk to me for any problems until I've lost time from work doing this. He DID tell me, however, that these two things are not issues for which he has a known solution for (which only reassured me that I'd be wasting my time at a service center.) Either he doesn't have (or wouldn't reveal) a list of known MFT issues for which there isn't already a solution.

I was willing to be patient and wait for firmware update before now. All I wanted was someone from Ford to say "Yes, we're working on it." Instead, I'm being told that my time is worthless, and that now that I've paid for a car, Ford is going to spit in my face.

Here's my response: The car was advertised as being able to access text messaging on my phone via voice commands. This is a SAFETY issue, and it's even been codified into PA state law that using hands/fingers to access text messages is a safety issue. If I have to waste my time with a service visit, and then Ford is unable to make this advertised feature functional within 3 visits to that service center, or I'm unable to use my vehicle safely for 30 days, I will enact my state lemon law. As well, I'll be referring this situation to the PA State Attorney General due to false advertisements, known safety issues and the disregard Ford has shown in resolving the issue. If it gets that far, it is my hope that the state AG will also refer the case to the NTSB for safety concerns.

While I'm at it, I might as well make a big stink in newspapers, consumer protection websites, etc.

I'm hoping that my EU friends will also bring these issues to their own authorities in order to further pressure Ford into resolving the issues. (It seems that Europe has better consumer protections than the US.)

Take care
Gary
 
#3,092 ·
Gary - not that I don't generally agree with your sentiment, but I have never seen the Galaxy note 2 on Ford's compatibility list as officially supporting text messaging.
Perhaps I'm lucky in that I have access to a few other phones (and some are both on that list AND listed as supported): galaxy SII and the original galaxy note. Neither work properly with the voice prompt.

(The NoteII is my daily use phone. The SGS3 is my wife's phone. The rest are either used purely for development or borrowed for debugging.)

I've also taken the time to debug the issue from the android side of things on a few nexus devices (galaxy nexus, nexus 4, and an older nexus S), and there aren't any queries being made by MFT which aren't being properly answered by android in the code I've tested. I've VERY familiar with SMS bluetooth protocols used in android - both the newer MAP profile and the older "gsm-based" mechanism using AT commands over the handsfree profile.

While pure AOSP doesn't support either mechanism for SMS over bluetooth, cyanogenmod and AOKP support both.

(I've been heavily involved in the development of these with AOSP based firmwares...)
 
#3,090 ·
I agree with Gary, Android phones that support voice texting SHOULD work with the MFT system, if it were designed and engineered correctly, which we ALL know that it was not seeing the deluge of problems people are having with it. So I say press on Gary and make a stink of it, that way Ford won't be able to say in public, or in court proceedings, that they were NOT aware of the problems with their system.
 
#3,095 ·
I think MFT is trying to kill me...

Last night I was driving 65 MPH (speed limit) on an interstate with nav going and music playing from my ipod into MFT's USB. I issued the voice command "Play Funky New Year" (which is an Eagle's song on my ipod.) MFT seemed to hesitate, and then did nothing. The voice paddle became non-functional and the touch-screen was non-responsive. (I later realized that the navigation was frozen as revealed by the "distance to turn" indicator on the 4.2" TFT not updating.)

After I tapped the screen a few times, the system started blaring a loud, high-pitched static like whine (that sounded similar to AM static.) The noise varied in pitch and volume, but I didn't identify what it might have been related to. It wasn't alternator whine, nor was it noise consistent with RF and poor grounding.

During this time, the front mounted physical power and volume controls did absolutely nothing.

I had to drive like this for about 10 minutes before I was able to find a safe location to pull over, stop the car engine and get out. A few minutes after I got out of the vehicle, the noise stopped, the 8 inch screen went black, and then I got what appeared to be MFT rebooting (it claimed to be updating the software.)

After that reboot, I was able to restart the car and things seemed normal again.

I've read about spontaneous reboots of MFT, but never of this noise issue - is it typical, or does HAL.. er.. MFT somehow know that I'm unhappy with Ford (and is trying to kill me?)

Thanks
Gary
 
#3,097 ·
Weird coincidence mine did something similar yesterday and has never done it before. While backing up, the rear camera image froze, then the screen went green, then totally black. A few minutes later I got the MFT rebooting screen. After all that it was OK again (well OK by MFT standards).

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.
 
#3,096 ·
Some more (and amusing) information...

I called Ford about this issue (previous post) and apparently I caused this issue by having my ipod attached to the USB port as documented in the owners manual. Even though the documentation CLEARLY states that the system is compatible with the 5th generation ipod classic, I was just informed that actually leaving it attached can cause problems. As well, having only 5000 songs on it might also cause this to happen. (I asked just how many songs I'm allowed to have, but he didn't know. I suspect anything over "zero" might be blamed. The 80GB drive could easily hold over 10,000 high bit-rate songs.)

REALLY?! Is THIS what FoMoCo is all about these days?

I remember a few years ago... we'd joke around about what cars would be like if they were built by Microsoft. The joke was comparing the unreliable (at that time) Windows OS's to cars which were, for the most part, 100% reliable. We joked that we'd have to reboot the cars once a day, that having the car suddenly stop running would be normal, etc.

Guess what? I have 3 Win7 machines I haven't booted in 2-3 weeks (and then not because of an error) and a linux box that hasn't been rebooted in months. My car... well, I had to reboot that last night.

Ford... WTF?!
 
#3,114 ·
Bwahaha! I'm quite familiar with the joke... the thing is it can't be pejorative if it's true. MFT has crashed on me twice while driving. The message says, "scheduled maintenace" -- whatever.

The first time it crashed, the voice command wouldn't work anymore. It required a master reset to get that to function again. I paid $1000 extra for this aggravation.

That said, the car actually drives really well. Also those summer tires are terrific, it's like they're glued to the asphalt. But all of that enjoyment is marred by Microsoft.

I wonder if someone will soon create an opensource Linux distro for that system.
 
#3,100 ·
I'm just glad my name isn't "Dave." I can see myself trying to turn down the volume and MFT/Sync suddenly saying "I'm sorry Dave, but I'm afraid I can't do that."

I'll be bringing my (less than a week old) Focus in for service Friday... I'm can just see the tech going to disconnect the battery and SYNC saying "Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal."

Under normal circumstances, I'd think this post was silly. However, considering that SYNC/MFT tried to kill me last night after I posted that lemon law threat, I'm not sure if it's silly, paranoid, or just prudent.

edit: I just realized that many people reading this post wouldn't notice the reference to 2001: Space Odyssey...
 
#3,102 ·
#3,106 ·
For what it's worth, I get around the irritating Bluetooth disconnect glitch by simply turning Bluetooth off and then back on with my iPhone. After that, I just tap on the Bluetooth button on MFT, and it reconnects. This usually works about 99% of the time, but I have had to do it a few times in a row before (YMMV). Hopefully Ford will eventually work all of these annoying bugs out of their "infotainment" system, but I'm not going to hold my breath on it.
 
#3,111 ·
Which phone do you have? I have a Droid Razr HD with Verizon. The phone connects quickly once getting in the car and stays connected. Never (yet) lost connection. Long as BT is on phone BEFORE turning on the vehicle. If I wait till vehicle is on, then turn BT on phone it usually takes a little bit to connect.
I know some phones ask during the pairing process to "always allow" connection and you press a check box on phone and say yes. This popup only shows briefly on phone. If you don't do it, it slows down each subsequent pairing.
 
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