A9120732026390_7

91 MMI3G+ Bluetooth: MMI freezes, streaming music skips, or voice recognition inoperable due to
phonebook
91 20 73 2026390/7 June 3, 2020. Supersedes Technical Service Bulletin Group 91 number 15-88 dated May 19,
2015 for reasons listed below.
Model(s)
Year
VIN Range
Vehicle-Specific Equipment
A5, A5
Cabriolet,
S5, RS5,
RS5
Cabriolet
2010 -2018
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
A5
Sportback,
S5
Sportback
2018
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
A6, S6
2009 - 2015
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
A7
2012 - 2015
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
A8. S8
2011 - 2018
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
Q3
2015 - 2018
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
Q5
2009 - 2017
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
A4, S4, A4
allroad, Q7
2010 - 2016
All
MMI3G or MMI3G+
Condition
REVISION HISTORY
Revision
Date
Purpose
7
-
Revised title
Revised header (Added model years)
6
05/19/2015
Revised header (Added model years)
Revised Service (Added information about a script for troubleshooting)
5
07/30/2013
Revised header (Added model years)
Revised Technical Background (Added list of applications/factors that
affect system performance)
Revised Service (Added second step)
Page 1 of 6
© 2020 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written permission of the
publisher.
Customer states:
 When a phonebook with a large number of contacts is being downloaded, the MMI screen freezes in one of
the following scenarios:
 Briefly, after the initial Bluetooth connection (shortly after the phone is bonded to the vehicle).
 After the ignition is switched on (shortly after the phone automatically reconnects with the vehicle).
 After the phonebook has downloaded.
 When the voice recognition system is used, a message appears in the MMI screen stating that the phone
book is too large and that the voice recognition system cannot be used.
 When music is streamed to the MMI system with the Bluetooth A2DP connection, the music intermittently
pauses or seems to skip. The condition goes away once the phonebook transfer is completed.
Tip: The command “Call ” is a global MMI command that is available in the
telephone menu and main menu screens. If either menu is displayed, the message can appear when the voice
recognition button (push to talk) on the steering wheel is pressed.
Technical Background
The MMI uses a limited portion of the total memory to convert the name and phone number fields of downloaded
contacts into a voice command (text to speech). Extensive processing takes place if too many letters are used in
the first and last name fields or if numbers or special characters are entered. The remaining memory is
dynamically assigned to different applications, which can also affect the capacity of the voice command
processing.
The following applications/factors may access the memory at the same time, which affects the system
performance:
 Saved routes/tours in the navigation (long and complicated routes need more space than short and simple
routes).
 Known Bluetooth devices, their phonebooks, and their recent call history (even if they are not actively
connected via Bluetooth, they are stored on the MMI hard drive). Certain smartphones, such as Apple iPhone,
for example, send more data than other phones. The call history issue is especially real for customers who
never clear out their phone’s call history. Hundreds of entries in the recent call history can cause music
playback issues during the phonebook sync to the MMI.
 Stored music on the Jukebox.
 The cache that stores the mode of the MMI system before the ignition being switched off.
The MMI does not respond until the process is completed, or it may freeze if the phonebook fields are too large or
do not follow typical formatting. Also, the text-to-speech capacity is exceeded, and the voice recognition system is
rendered inactive.
Page 2 of 6
© 2020 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written permission of the
publisher.
Production Solution
Not applicable.
Service
1. Ensure that the customer’s phone is compatible with the vehicle model and model year and that the
phonebook entries follow the guidelines listed below:
Name field:
 Only letters can be used in the first and last
names. Numbers, brackets, addresses, and
URLs cannot be used in the name field
(Figure 1 and Figure 2).
 A maximum of 40 letters can be used for
the first name, and a maximum of 40 letters
can be used for the last name.
Figure 1. Example of an incorrectly saved name field that
exceeds 40 letters and contains numbers and a URL.
Page 3 of 6
© 2020 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written permission of the
publisher.
Figure 2. Example of an incorrectly saved name field that
contains incorrect characters.
Tip: With regards to voice recognition issues, the specified 40 letters are only a reference point, as the
spoken and written length differs. For example:
 “Sch” is three letters, but only one syllable.
 “W” is one letter, but it is three syllables.
 With special characters and numbers, the difference between spoken length and written length is much
greater, such as in “1234”, which is four characters, but nine syllables (one thousand two hundred thirtyfour).
Phone number field:
 Only numbers and the characters +, #, and * can be used in the phone number field. Letters, brackets,
and URLs cannot be used in the phone number field.
A maximum of 63 numbers can be used for the phone number.
Tip: When using desktop software or apps to transfer contacts (e.g., iTunes, Outlook, or Facebook),
ensure that the transferred contacts meet these guidelines.
Page 4 of 6
© 2020 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written permission of the
publisher.
Tip: For MMI3G+, A script for troubleshooting the MMI is available for download on the ServiceNet
website at ServiceNet >> Technician References >> Audi MMI Scripts >> MMI3G+ Phonebook
Troubleshooting Script.
This script will allow the customer or technician to find invalid entries automatically. If no invalid entries are
found, it can be safely assumed the contacts are not the source of the concern, assuming the max limit has
not been reached.
To use the script:
 Download the script and extract the three
files to the root directory of the SD
card. The files are labeled “audicc,”
“copie_scr.sh”, and “graphics” (Figure 3).
The script will not work if the files are not
placed in the root directory of the SD card.
Figure 3. Three files required for the script.
 Allow the MMI system to initialize and bond with the customer’s mobile phone fully.
 Allow the phonebook transfer to complete from the phone to the MMI (the phonebook transfer icon in the
lower right-hand corner of MMI will disappear), which can take up to 5 minutes depending on the number
of contacts and recent call history logs stored in the phone.
 Insert the SD card into one of the MMI main unit SD card slots. Allow the script to execute (30–60
seconds).
 Once the script completes, a green or red
popup message will appear:
 Green indicates that no invalid contacts
were found in the phonebook (Figure
4).
 Red indicates invalid entries were found
in the phonebook (Figure 5). A plain
text log file will be stored on the SD card
indicating which contacts were
problematic. The file can be viewed with
a text viewer (such as Notepad,
Wordpad, or Word) on a computer.
Figure 4. No issues were detected with the phonebook
contact entries.
Page 5 of 6
© 2020 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written permission of the
publisher.
Figure 5. Specific issues were detected with the phonebook
contact entries.
3. Ask the customer to correct the entries in the phone and also to correct the entries in the source information
from which the entries were obtained. If the phone is synchronized with other smartphone apps, with
Outlook, or with Gmail, changing the information only on the phone may not fix the issue permanently.
4. Inform the customer that saved routes/tours in the navigation, phonebooks, and recent call history lists,
stored Jukebox music, and the cache affect the available memory of the voice recognition system, which will
be deactivated when capacity is exceeded. The available memory for phonebook text to speech conversion
can be increased with the following steps:
 Delete historical call lists (dialed, received, and missed calls). On iOS devices, they are labeled “Recents”
under the native phone app.
 Delete saved navigation routes/tours that are no longer needed.
Warranty
This TSB is informational only and not applicable to any Audi Warranty.
Additional Information
All part and service references provided in this TSB (2026390) are subject to change and/or removal. Always
check with your Parts Department and/or ETKA for the latest information and parts bulletins. Please check the
Repair Manual for fasteners, bolts, nuts, and screws that require replacement during the repair.
©2020 Audi of America, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained in this document is based on the
latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property
rights of Audi of America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes
at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may
these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written permission of the
publisher.
Page 6 of 6
© 2020 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written permission of the
publisher.