This Guy Made This Up -- That's my gut feeling

[Xavier_Onassis]

What states ban add-on GPS units?
And why would they even do that?

The fact is that if a built-in GPS breaks down, it is going to cost bigtime to fix it, and you will probably only be able to get it fixed at the dealer.
It will be obsolete within five years.

If you buy an add-on device, you can simply REPLACE it with a more modern unit for a fraction of the price of fixing the built-in unit.

Not long ago, GM discontinued their old OnStar and replaced it with a newer version., Those who paid extra for this were screwed.

[Amianthus]

What states ban add-on GPS units?
And why would they even do that?

In Minnesota you are not allowed to use suction mounts anywhere in your vehicle. I guess you can have a GPS, but it has to be sitting on the seat next to you or something.

Why? Driver distraction. There are plenty of states that ban use of non-manufacturer-equipped devices.

[Amianthus]

If there's a bug in the program, then surely Wozniak or his peeps could have found it by now, especially if the "problem" occurs under specific conditions that he claims he's been able to reproduce.

Cosmic rays could be at least partially to blame for Toyota's mechanical defects, scientists now say. And the problem could get worse in the future, as the increasing use of tiny computer chips ? replacing mechanical parts ? makes cars more and more vulnerable to space radiation.

More sensitive electronics

Federal regulators were prompted to look into the possible role that cosmic rays played in Toyota's product recall fiasco after an anonymous tipster suggested the design of Toyota's microprocessors, software and memory chips could make them more vulnerable to interference from radiation compared with other automakers. This is because Toyota has led the auto industry in its widespread inclusion of electronic controls in the manufacture of their various car models.

As electronic devices are made to perform more and more functions on smaller circuit chips, the systems become more sensitive and vulnerable to corruption, and thus more prone to interference from radiation, said Ewart Blackmore, a senior researcher at TRIUMF, a cyclotron facility in Vancouver, Canada, that works with companies to test and analyze the effects of radiation on products.

"Radiation is certainly a potential cause of Toyota's problems," Blackmore told LiveScience. "What's not known is what direction Toyota and other automakers are taking in terms of finding and correcting these issues."

...

High-energy particles and electronics

Electronic chips record, store and process information in the form of "bits." High-energy particles that pass through these chips can alter or "flip" a bit, resulting in a Single Event Upset (SEU).

This event can be anything from data loss or altered programming, to much more serious corruptions of circuitry functions.

The risks are especially high for circuits that are "field programmable," explained Lloyd W. Massengill, director of engineering at the Vanderbilt Institute for Space and Defense Electronics at Vanderbilt University. Field-programmable circuits are systems in which the circuit's function can be electrically altered while it is still in use.

"These circuit families store not just data, but their basic function electrically," Massengill said. "In the unfortunate event of a particle flipping just the right bit, a circuit configured to carry out a benign action may be reprogrammed to carry out some unintended action."

Toyota Recall Might Be Caused by Cosmic Rays

[Amianthus]

If there's a bug in the program, then surely Wozniak or his peeps could have found it by now, especially if the "problem" occurs under specific conditions that he claims he's been able to reproduce.

Radiation from space affects airplanes and spacecraft and triggers errors in computer systems, but has received scant attention in the auto industry.

The questions show how deep regulators and automakers may have to dig to solve the mysteries of sudden acceleration. Toyota says it is fixing mechanical problems ? floor mats and sticky pedals ? that explain sudden acceleration in 13 models and 5.6 million vehicles.

But at least half of more than 1,500 recent complaints to regulators involve other models, raising questions about whether Toyota has fixed its problem.

An anonymous tipster whose complaint prompted regulators to look at the issue said the design of Toyota's microprocessors, memory chips and software could make them more vulnerable than those of other automakers.

"I think it could be a real issue with Toyota," said Sung Chung, who runs a California testing firm.

Toyota, which has led the auto industry in using electronic controls, said its engine controls are "robust against this type of interference."

Electronics makers have known for decades about "single-event upsets," computer errors from radiation created when cosmic rays strike the atmosphere.

With more than 3,000 complaints to U.S. regulators of random sudden acceleration problems in Toyota models, several researchers say single-event upsets deserve a close look.

The phenomenon can trigger software crashes that come and go without a trace. Unlike interference from radio waves, there's no way to physically block particles; such errors typically have to be prevented by a combination of software and hardware design. Testing for the problem would involve putting vehicles in front of a particle accelerator and showering them with radiation.

It was first noted in the 1950s that the phenomenon could affect electronics at high altitudes; unlike electromagnetic waves, there are no ways to physically shield circuits from such particles. Airplane and spacecraft makers design their electronics with such radiation in mind through safeguards such as systems that triple-check data.

Are cosmic rays really causing Toyota's woes?

[Xavier_Onassis]

In Minnesota you are not allowed to use suction mounts anywhere in your vehicle. I guess you can have a GPS, but it has to be sitting on the seat next to you or something.
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You just sit it or stick it one the dash.

[Amianthus]

You just sit it or stick it one the dash.

Only old cars have flat dashboards. Most modern cars have sloped, plastic dashboards, so stuff won't sit on them. And if you "stick" it to the dash, it will be pointed up towards the roof - not very useful.

[Xavier_Onassis]

All you have to do is google "GPS dashboard mounts" and you will find something that will work with every vehicle.