Freewire-01 (Harley) WRONG FIRMWARE. TWICE!
Recently purchased 2 Freewire-01 (Harley variant) units for my new TriGlide,
One works very well…the other has been a quality control train wreck.
On connection with the Sena BT Manager (yes. latest version) ONE indicated this black & orange unit HAS GOLD WING FIRMWARE IN IT.
The box, label, color and cables are all correct for a Harley FW-01…but wrong firmware.
Opened a case with Support, I had done everything correctly, included screenshots and box/label pics…they said ship it in under xxxxx RMA.
Did that…they promptly shipped a replacement Harley Freewire-01 complete unit…COMPLETE WITH THE SAME $@%# GOLD WING FIRMWARE!!!
I have asked for case escalation and that a Tech Support or Customer Service Manager call me immediately to give me a resolution to this problem.
Needless to say I am EXTREMELY disappointed…we have a long ride in 10 days and I doubt if the intercom system will have 2 Freewires installed at this rate.
They even had me try to flash the unit to the HD variant firmware…it won’t change.
I find it hard to believe there is not a firmware flashing tool or workaround (i.e. sequence of button pushes) that will allow me to re-flash this unit in the field.
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To add insult to injury I purchased a pair of 5S intercoms to use with these Freewires, as our old, reliable SMH10s are not compatible (they are BT 3.x; Freewire requires BT4.x or higher).
Now without that second Freewire unit this is a continuing problem…and I opened the case regarding the firmware problem with Tech Support on July 30th…
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UPDATE:
During a conversation with one of the Sena Tech support supervisors today, it became apparent to both of us that this is a manufacturing problem that likely occurred at the factory in a batch of Freewire units that were manufactured in early 2021.
They are currently investigating this but if you buy a Freewire for a Harley and on the back of the unit has a sticker with the letters “FSCA” (it’s their date coding) it may be part of this batch.
More to follow.
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Kenny from the RMA team contacted me last week; the development team at the factory has provided him with the firmware tools to re-flash units back to the correct firmware. This is something you cannot do with Bluetooth device manager.
Flashed a new module they had in stock, and it is on the way to me via FedEx. I should receive it by Monday and will confirm it works, then they want me to return the one I have under an RMA they issued.
Many thanks to Kenny for his continued efforts on this. If you buy a Freewire for Harley and it comes up with Goldwing Firmware this is now a known issue. Reach out to the Sena Tech Support group.
It just makes me wonder how many of these units are in distributors hands…
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Kenny from the RMA team sent me the re-flashed unit and it appears to be working fine now…thanks, Kenny!
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I have a new freewire code GSCE and my 2023 Harley doesn't see the microphone to turn on car play. I have it paired with a Sena 50S. I hear the audio fine and I hear an echo when I speak into the mic. I have been trying to contact Sena for 2 months with no luck. I wasted $700 on Sena products. They have no phone number and the chat on their web site does nothing.
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