GM N25-250336 update

[leres]

When I stopped to fill up, returning from a mini-road-trip, I was offered the N25-250336 update. When I got home I tried to install it. It estimates 15 minutes but fails with 13 minutes to go. I've tried several more times with the same results. In other threads I see people say to take the car off of wifi networks so I removed my home network -- no help. I also tried rebooting (hold phone hangup steering wheel control for ~20 seconds -- until screen goes blank) before an attempt -- no help. I also tried putting my iphone into airplane mode to prevent it from connecting via bluetooth or wifi.

My take is that it has already downloaded the update in the "background" because it says it's verifying the update. I suppose it could be checking a checksum/signature against an internet server that is overloaded/down.

I dunno, this all seems pretty weak to me. (Hopefully the update contains fixes for the updating process!)

 

[rdollie]

If you can leave your car outside overnight, the update should complete it's download if it's not complete already.

 

[leres]

If you can leave your car outside overnight, the update should complete it's download if it's not complete already.

There's nothing but sky above the tar and gravel roof over my garage. It gets a decent cell signal. Also, I don't think it would be offering to update if it hadn't already finished downloading.

 

[TheCorman]

I had the exact same problem installing the update. It failed at 13 minutes left every time. I've also tried everything mentioned by others to get it to install with no luck.

Now the option is grayed out and it just says it failed and to contact the dealer. I can't seem to get the car to prompt me to install it now.

 

[leres]

I had the update grayed out for a day or two and then it re-offered it. Still N/G. Most recently it claims there is no update.

Since then Dustin told me the update will always fail of the battery is not fully charged. Apparently they ended up with lots of lyrics with dead batteries in the factory parking lots because there were lots of ota updates.

I believe the car makes a guess as to the battery state of charge from the voltage. 100% is 12.78V, 85% is 12.65, etc. I also believe that the approach choreography and the way it uses the headlights is not ideal for keeping the battery fully charged so I've turned it off, at least until I can get this stupid update to install. I'm also trying to keep it on a battery tender maintenance charger when parked in the garage.

 

[AdamUCF]

I believe the car makes a guess as to the battery state of charge from the voltage. 100% is 12.78V, 85% is 12.65, etc.

A tender should do it. This is actually how you tell the SoC for all batteries (at least commonly) -- even EVs do this. Though in LFP batteries the voltage barely changes in the middle so they have to try to track how much energy has been used to figure it out and need to be full charged regularly to calibrate.

I'm wondering if this is the "36" (previous was 33 supposedly so I guess this is 36?) update that is already on the 2026 MY cars. If you really want to install it (very much at your own risk) you could probably do it via USB. General Motors Google Built-In - Tinkering

 

[leres]

I'm wondering if this is the "36" (previous was 33 supposedly so I guess this is 36?) update that is already on the 2026 MY cars. If you really want to install it (very much at your own risk) you could probably do it via USB. General Motors Google Built-In - Tinkering

My 2025 says it has the android security patch level September 5, 2024. I have no idea how to map the date to the version...

 

[AdamUCF]

My 2025 says it ha the android security patch level September 5, 2024. I have no idea how to map the date to the version...

I'm not totally sure either. What does yours say for the build number? I think it's the last bit, mine says 36 and I'm assuming cars with the 33 update say 33 there.

I quite like the AAOS that GM uses but they still don't totally "get" software. Clear versioning with detailed release notes would do wonders but alas.

 

[leres]

I'm not totally sure either. What does yours say for the build number? I think it's the last bit, mine says 36 and I'm assuming cars with the 33 update say 33 there.

Mine says "build number burmese_orange-user 12 W23E-178.1.2-M174-SQBR6-93.3 93"

 

[ngoni]

My 2025 says it has the android security patch level September 5, 2024. I have no idea how to map the date to the version...

So great you have an Internet connected vehicle that's already a year behind in security patches. It'll only get worse. Where's that thread that shows how to disconnect OnStar?

 

[Z28]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a65577744/over-the-air-software-update-problem-gm-warranty-details/

 

[CB34]

I had the car in for the rear diff fluid change and told them to upload the radio firmware to the latest. This is the latest version, has a date of August 5, 2025. It looks like it's Version 36 which is what I think the 26's are running from the factory.

System seems to be much smoother. My WiFI hotspot issue is gone and wireless carplay works again. PDR/Dash Cam still seems to very laggy. I formatted the SD card to see if it would help. I noticed that there's a separate software package for that which I didn't realize. Guess I'm going to have to tell them to update that next time I'm there.

 

[leres]

Mine says "build number burmese_orange-user 12 W23E-178.1.2-M174-SQBR6-93.3 93"

I used SPS2 to install the update last night. Over an hour in total. It took awhile to download (and I have at&t fiber), awhile to "verify", awhile to write the usb, and about 30 minutes to install the update.

I ended up with the expected version: burmese_orange-user 12 W36E-179.1.2-M174-SQBR6-151.2 36

I looked at the files on the usb drive one is a zip file, a couple are linux ext2 filesystems, and one is named gm_usb_ignore_battery which turns up in this tsb: PIT6047A Radio USB Update Battery Ignore File

I sure wish they'd reveal what the battery voltage is where the update refuses to run...

I did find a reference to something called a "programming support tool", which looks like a power supply with a fan on it.



I guess when the dealer does the update they hook one of these up to keep the voltage up.

 

[CB34]

I used SPS2 to install the update last night. Over an hour in total. It took awhile to download (and I have at&t fiber), awhile to "verify", awhile to write the usb, and about 30 minutes to install the update.

I ended up with the expected version: burmese_orange-user 12 W36E-179.1.2-M174-SQBR6-151.2 36

I looked at the files on the usb drive one is a zip file, a couple are linux ext2 filesystems, and one is named gm_usb_ignore_battery which turns up in this tsb: PIT6047A Radio USB Update Battery Ignore File

I sure wish they'd reveal what the battery voltage is where the update refuses to run...

I did find a reference to something called a "programming support tool", which looks like a power supply with a fan on it.

View attachment 31583

I guess when the dealer does the update the hook one of these up to prevent keep the voltage up.

Based on the data I can see from when my car was at the dealership getting updated and the fact that my mpg went from 20 down to 4, I think they left it running the entire time….or just doing copious burnouts.

 

[AdamUCF]

I used SPS2 to install the update last night. Over an hour in total. It took awhile to download (and I have at&t fiber), awhile to "verify", awhile to write the usb, and about 30 minutes to install the update.

I ended up with the expected version: burmese_orange-user 12 W36E-179.1.2-M174-SQBR6-151.2 36

I looked at the files on the usb drive one is a zip file, a couple are linux ext2 filesystems, and one is named gm_usb_ignore_battery which turns up in this tsb: PIT6047A Radio USB Update Battery Ignore File

I sure wish they'd reveal what the battery voltage is where the update refuses to run...

I did find a reference to something called a "programming support tool", which looks like a power supply with a fan on it.

View attachment 31583

I guess when the dealer does the update they hook one of these up to keep the voltage up.

Would you be able to upload the USB content somewhere so I could download and compare to mine? I'm really curious if the data is the exact same, which I'm pretty sure it is. Or I uploaded mine here and you could do a binary compare against mine. 7.42 GB file on MEGA

If they are exactly the same, there's no reason folks couldn't just download it, toss it on a thumb drive, and do the update themselves.

There's a bunch of info over on XDA Developers about the updates. It is mostly just Linux (android) filesystem partitions but they're signed so they can't be tampered with. You can extract the filesystem and decompile the builtin APKs.

The programming support tool is indeed just a fancy 12v power supply. It's meant to run all the electronics and take the load off the battery. I think it's more important for big programming jobs than just an infotainment update but clearly GM needs to figure out their 12v management better. This seems to be a common issue across multiple OEMs, even the EV startups (Tesla long ago and Rivian relatively recently) have had 12v management issues. Hyundai/Kia even added a dumb flashing light in the cabin to indicate that the HV battery was charging the 12v.

 

[nordique14]

My car has been hooked up to a battery tender for days and the update still failed. So the battery may be one of the causes, but it probably is not the only one.

 

[leres]

The programming support tool is indeed just a fancy 12v power supply. It's meant to run all the electronics and take the load off the battery. I think it's more important for big programming jobs than just an infotainment update but clearly GM needs to figure out their 12v management better. This seems to be a common issue across multiple OEMs, even the EV startups (Tesla long ago and Rivian relatively recently) have had 12v management issues. Hyundai/Kia even added a dumb flashing light in the cabin to indicate that the HV battery was charging the 12v.

It looks like there are two versions: PSC-550S (13.6V @ 55A) and PSC-700S (14.4V @ 70A).

 

[leres]

My car has been hooked up to a battery tender for days and the update still failed. So the battery may be one of the causes, but it probably is not the only one.

I had a 6A charger hooked up when I started the usb update process and the battery still got down to < 12.2V before it was done. According to some "agm percentage" charges that indicates less than 60% charged. I suspect they got burned so badly by the lyric fiasco that they went too conservative!