Monday's update for SIRIUS (Mazda owners)

Tankerman, as strange as this may sound, that's very similar to what I did when mine started working on Monday, I remember flipping it to FM/AM, then back and it worked, though I don't think I let it sit 5 minutes before doing that. I was talking on my cell at the time and don't recall the timing correctly. Though it's strange, I did a lot of flipping back and forth over the 2 weeks and got no results.

Edit: Also I got a phone call from them today explaining those steps you listed and said to visit the sirius site to get a written copy of the instructions.
 
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Looks Like It's For Real!!

The new email:

Dear SIRIUS Satellite Radio Subscriber:

If you're one of the customers affected by the recent interruption in
SIRIUS radio service, we thank you again for your patience while we've
worked to resolve this issue.

This email includes important information you will need in order to get
your SIRIUS service back to normal operation.

As a reminder, the problem is not with the SIRIUS broadcast, but is a
software issue related to radios in the following vehicles:

MAZDA3
MAZDA5
Mazda MX-5
Mazda CX-7

Mazda and SIRIUS engineers have identified a way to temporarily restore
your service by sending a special update signal to your radio. This
signal will commence tomorrow morning, and your radio will receive it the
first time you turn it on after 5:00 AM, Eastern Daylight Time, on
Wednesday, October 11th.

Once we send this update signal, you will need to reset your radio in
order to restore your SIRIUS service. This can be done any time after
5:00 AM EDT, October 11th, by following the simple instructions below.

RESTORING YOUR SIRIUS SERVICE
-----------------------------
STEP 1: Make sure your vehicle is parked and has a full view of the
open sky, with no leaves, trees or other overhead blockage, so the
satellite signal can reach your radio.

STEP 2: Turn on your ignition and turn on your radio.

STEP 3: Switch your radio to SAT mode.

STEP 4: You will see the words "UPDATING" or "CH184" or "INVALID
CHANNEL" on your radio display and there will be no sound.

STEP 5: Wait 5 minutes. While you are waiting, your radio will continue
to display one of these messages. Do not change channels or switch
modes while the update is in progress.

STEP 6: Switch from SAT mode to FM for 30 seconds.

STEP 7: Switch your radio back to SAT mode. You may see the word
"UPDATING" for a few moments, but then your radio sound and satellite service
should be restored to normal operation.

If this process fails to work, turn off your radio and repeat all the
steps in order. If you continue to have difficulty, please call our
Mazda customer help line at 1-866-528-6040.


YOUR SATISFACTION IS IMPORTANT TO US
------------------------------------
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have been caused
while we worked to identify and resolve this issue. Mazda and SIRIUS are
working together on a permanent solution to this problem which will be
communicated to you shortly.

In addition, Mazda and SIRIUS want to assure you that we value your
satisfaction, and we pledge to appropriately address your concerns
regarding any loss of service you may have experienced.

If you have additional questions, please call the Mazda Customer Help
Line at 1-866-528-6040.

Thank you again for your patience.

Sincerely,

Michael Moore
Vice President, SIRIUS Customer Care
 
Tankerman....

I hate to say I told you so but as I mentioned to you before..."A temporary fix". I was told that after the temporary fix the units would have to be replaced. Let's hope this temporary fix at least works. I'm going out now to give it a try.
 
Worked on my '06 Mazda 3. Bittersweet being this is a "Temporary Fix." But to re-iterate, this proves the point that this IS a Sirius issue. Glad they stepped to the plate 2+ weeks later.
 
Sirius now working

Finally got the signal back in my CX-7. Probably will work until they update again. This time, I won't cut it off when it flashes "update". I'll be patient and let it go. It only takes about a minute on my add-on receiver in my other car. I think the problem began when the update happened and people changed to FM or turned it off not wanting to wait. Since this "updating freeze" didn't happen to everyone, that's my guess.
 
How often does this happen? I'm a big fan of Sirius, but a current XM subscriber, and I've never seen my receiver 'update' before. It just works.
 
mecro said:
How often does this happen? I'm a big fan of Sirius, but a current XM subscriber, and I've never seen my receiver 'update' before. It just works.

XM does updates too, they just last 6 seconds or so. I've had one go bad on my builtin FORD XM radio addon, that required a reset by the dealer.

Rule of thumb. Do NOT switch to FM or turn the car off if the sound on your sat radio goes blank and it does NOT say something like 'Acquiring signal'

I think they are sneaking fm updates in and turning off the recvr can be bad for your health.
 
This temporary fix got your Mazda problem fixed, but do you guys got all the updated channels. It had to be a system wide update cause my sportser also updated again with no adverse problems. It probably took so long because they had to figure out how to fix the Mazda problem without messing everyone else up. I think Sirius and The Mazda radio manufacturers are going to have to work together in the future so this don't happen again, or just replace the units.
 
acesaroundagain said:
Finally got the signal back in my CX-7. Probably will work until they update again. This time, I won't cut it off when it flashes "update". I'll be patient and let it go. It only takes about a minute on my add-on receiver in my other car. I think the problem began when the update happened and people changed to FM or turned it off not wanting to wait. Since this "updating freeze" didn't happen to everyone, that's my guess.
This isn't what caused the problem. It affected just about all Mazda OEM receivers. I didn't switch anything while it was updating. Don't feel as if YOU did something wrong. Sirius sent out something which crashed our receivers.

I'm just glad it's working right now. I hear some of the Canandien channels aren't working properly though. Thankfully, I don't listen to them but I feel for people who do.

I know my problem was more with how they handled this problem rather than the problem itself. No communication to us (until pushed HARD). No communication to the customer service reps so we didn't know what was going on. Better communication would have gone a long way into keeping many of us calmer.

I just hope they have learned from this fiasco.

The Rickster
 
Sirius problem cause

I'm glad to know it wasn't my fault. I have to agree, the Sirius customer service was very disappointing. Thanks to everyone who badgered them into submission!! I have to send out some cudos to Whitten Mazda in Richmond, Va. they kept in touch with me and did all the footwork so I didn't have to. They also told me that Mazda told them not to install anymore Sirius receivers in cars. I don't know if that's for good or just temparily (like their fix!) Way to go Sirius, you are a groundbreaking company that's casting off not only single customers, but big ones like Mazda. Real smart. A little sympathy towards our blight would have gone a long way. IMHO
 
Just got around to checking the Mazda.

It took the update. All is well here.:) :) :)

I agree that this was a systemwide "update".
The unit in my truck took an update for about 15 seconds this morning.
And the unit on our tug boat also took the "update".

Thanks for everyone's help.
 
limmylo said:
I hate to say I told you so but as I mentioned to you before..."A temporary fix". I was told that after the temporary fix the units would have to be replaced. Let's hope this temporary fix at least works. I'm going out now to give it a try.

Ok ok. I'll take that hit. Ya told me so.

On the same note, it was software, I told ya so...

None of that matters anymore.
Our radios are working.
 
Just drove from Raleigh to Atlanta 96.5 hours); listened all the way to Sirius. I was thrilled when I got in the car this morning and tried SAT button for ? time and it worked. 10 pages worth of correspondence; thanks for all your comments

SIDD
 
Guys - I'm going to share with you some info I shared with others already.

My Sirius was down just like the rest of you guys. What was a downer for me, is that it happened right before a two week long road trip I had planned. As you can imagine, I was furious! I called Siriius and got the same canned answer. After I came back from my trip, I was determined to get to the bottom of this. I know someone that used to work for Sanyo. I also spent a lot of time at my dealer wanting them to fix the problem. I won't bore you with all the details, but here is some stuff we should know. It is true Sanyo makes the receiver. They actually make the hardware and the software for the receiver (apparently Sirius does not make any software or hardware for Mazda). However, I learned that Mazda has several radio suppliers that connect to the Sanyo receiver. Apparently all the other radios that connect to the Sanyo receiver worked fine. I didn't believe it so I called my cousin who owns a CX7 with a navigation radio. He didn't even know there was a problem at all and said his was always working. I actually removed my radio at one point to try to unlpug the connector and reconnect it hoping it would reset itself somehow. I noticed that on the top of my radio it said that it was made by Clarion. After many trips to my dealer, he finally told me that there would be some kind of fix for my radio. When I asked why mine was down and the CX7 works, he told me that all radios made by Clarion had the problem. Radios made by other companies were fine. I'm guessing Sirius was able to figure out somekind of magic pill that was able to make the Clarion radios work again. When I asked the dealer how do I know this won't happen again in the future, this is when he told me that there is a fix coming from Mazda to make sure this won't happen again.

As for my trip, I ended up buying a aftermarket window mount to get me thru. I didn't have any problems with it at all while my Mazda radio only said updating until recently. I'm thinking instead of blasting Sirius, we should blast Mazda to get rid of Clarion. If all other radios worked fine, then there must have been somekind of quality problem with Clarion. I bought a Mazda hoping for better quality over my previous vehicles. I don't want Mazda to think I will stand for poor quality. As for Sirius, I was upset as you guys. But now I know the whole picture, it makes more sense. They did give me a month free after I told them my trip was ruined. However, I'm not upset with Sirius anymore. I own my own food shipping service. I remember a time where one of my vendors shipped some bad product that was everntually delivered to my customers. Initially, I had no idea that the vendor was shipping substandard foods. I had to track it down with many customers and isolated it to a particular vendor. I had them removed immediately and forced them to pay for all of the compensation that I gave to my customers. I think Mazda and Sirius should do the same thing.

Does anyone else know if their radio is made by Clarion? If so, it all makes sense.
 

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