Y2K Bug Found in Smart Refrigerator Firmware Posted by CmdrGrits on Monday October 18, @09:42AM EDT from the it's-the-y2k-dept dept. frostbyte writes "Owners of the Kelvinator-Plus NetChill 2000, the fridge that e-mails you when you're out of milk, have discovered that it thinks January 1st 2000 is January 1st 1900. Since milk bought in 1999 will then be 99 years in the future, the fridge has decided all of it has expired and is scheduling a self-defrost. The vendor says a patch will ship on floppy disk 'well before the holidays.'" Nothing says the future like a refrigerator that needs a firmware upgrade. I'm keeping my milk in a cooler. The NetChill 2000 runs an embedded 8-bit controller and stores the year in two BCD digits, according to a reader who dumped the EEPROM with a homemade programmer and a lot of patience. The good news: the fridge does not actually control the compressor from the clock. The bad news: it controls the ice maker, the door alarm, and the e-mail notification feature, which will inform you once per minute that your 1999 butter is a century old. Kelvinator-Plus says customers can call a toll-free number to request the update floppy, which requires a PC with a serial port and "approximately one weekend" to apply. Y2K Bug Found in Smart Refrigerator Firmware | Login/Create an Account | Top | 24 comments | Search Discussion Threshold: -1: 24 comments 0: 23 comments 1: 20 comments 2: 13 comments 3: 6 comments 4: 3 comments 5: 1 comments NestedFlatThreadedNo Comments Oldest FirstNewest FirstHighest Scores First The fine print: the following comments belong to whoever typed them. Dashdot takes no responsibility for them, and frankly, neither do most of the people who typed them. Two-digit years in 1999? by NavNerd on Monday October 18, @09:48AM EDT (#1) (User Info) Who on earth designs a product in 1998 with two-digit years? This isn't a COBOL payroll system from 1971, it's a refrigerator that was designed while people were already on TV talking about Y2K every night. [ Reply to This ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by q_bert on Monday October 18, @09:49AM EDT (#2) (User Info) I tried that and it set my monitor on fire. Thanks a lot. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by BioBob on Monday October 18, @10:00AM EDT (#3) (User Info) Hey, at least it's not Portals. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by CmdrGrits on Monday October 18, @10:20AM EDT (#5) (User Info) Mod parent down! Flamebait. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @10:55AM EDT (#8) I work in this field, and the parent is basically right, although the details are a bit more complicated than one comment can cover. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @11:57AM EDT (#14) Thanks for posting this. I learned something today, which is rare for a comment section. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by q_bert on Monday October 18, @10:06AM EDT (#4) (User Info) I think you're missing the point. Nobody is arguing it's perfect, just that it's better than what we had. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by Linixdvd on Monday October 18, @11:26AM EDT (#10) (User Info) Agreed. Couldn't have said it better myself. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Two-digit years in 1999? by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @11:06AM EDT (#9) Whoosh. That was the sound of the joke going over your head. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re: the e-mail feature by ClamshellCarl on Monday October 18, @10:28AM EDT (#6) (User Info) So the fridge is going to spam me once a minute on New Year's Day. Finally, my refrigerator and my inbox will have something in common. [ Reply to This ] Beowulf by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @10:37AM EDT (#7) Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these. [ Reply to This ] Mirror by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @11:28AM EDT (#11) Mirror here, while it lasts: it's on my cable modem so be gentle. [ Reply to This ] Why does a fridge need e-mail? by sysadmin_steve on Monday October 18, @11:41AM EDT (#12) (User Info) Serious question. My fridge from 1974 still works, keeps things cold, and has never once needed a patch. The only firmware it has is the little light. [ Reply to This ] Embedded systems are the real Y2K risk by JavaJunkie on Monday October 18, @11:53AM EDT (#13) (User Info) Everyone worries about mainframes, but those have teams of people fixing them. The scary stuff is the millions of little 8-bit controllers in buildings, elevators and appliances that nobody remembers are there. Most will be fine, because most don't care about the date. The ones that do are a needle in a haystack the size of Ohio. [ Reply to This ] Re:Embedded systems are the real Y2K risk by LowEarthLarry on Monday October 18, @12:13PM EDT (#16) (User Info) Citation needed. Where are you getting these numbers? [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Embedded systems are the real Y2K risk by LowEarthLarry on Monday October 18, @12:43PM EDT (#18) (User Info) This. A thousand times this. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Embedded systems are the real Y2K risk by CmdrGrits on Monday October 18, @01:47PM EDT (#24) (User Info) Don't feed the trolls. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Does it run Linix? by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @12:09PM EDT (#15) Seriously, could you port Linix to the NetChill? I'd love a fridge with a 2.2 kernel. uptime: 'up 413 days, eggs low'. [ Reply to This ] Re:Does it run Linix? by CmdrGrits on Monday October 18, @12:25PM EDT (#17) (User Info) Source? My brother-in-law says otherwise, and he has a Pentode. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Does it run Linix? by FidoFan on Monday October 18, @01:15PM EDT (#20) (User Info) Did you even read the parent post? He said the opposite. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Does it run Linix? by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @01:23PM EDT (#21) Wait until you see the next version. It's going to be worse. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Moderators on crack by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @12:56PM EDT (#19) Why was my last post moderated down as Offtopic? It was totally on topic. Moderators must be on crack today. [ Reply to This ] Correction by JavaJunkie on Monday October 18, @01:28PM EDT (#22) (User Info) Small correction to the story: it's not the first time this has been done. A university group demonstrated something very similar in 1996. The difference is that this one actually ships. [ Reply to This ] Re:Correction by Speculatron on Monday October 18, @01:36PM EDT (#23) (User Info) Says the guy posting at 3am on a Tuesday. [ Reply to This | Parent ]

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