GoKawiil
Tech News
A firmware update pushed through Samsung's SmartThings platform this week caused some Bespoke AI four-door refrigerators, mostly 2024-and-later models, to lose power and stop cooling. Owners in Korea reported their fridges went offline mid-update, with displays stuck on an update-checking message, forcing many to throw out spoiled food. Samsung has not responded to questions about the scope of the issue or a fix.
A faulty firmware update caused Samsung's roughly $4,000 Bespoke AI 4-Door refrigerators to shut down across South Korea, according to Star News Korea. Affected units displayed an error message and stopped cooling even after being unplugged and restarted, and the failure hit just before the Chuseok holiday, forcing some owners to discard food. Samsung reportedly told customers the earliest repair appointment was October 1.
Raspberry Pi has confirmed its firmware locks boards to their factory RAM configuration, preventing users from swapping in replacement memory chips even to fix failed components. The restriction surfaced after a user couldn't get a Compute Module 5 to recognize a new 4GB chip, with company engineer PhilE explaining the firmware checks additional memory attributes beyond just capacity. Raspberry Pi says the policy exists to stop resellers from installing unauthorized higher-capacity chips and passing modified boards off as factory models.
Raspberry Pi confirmed that its firmware locks boards to their factory-installed RAM capacity, preventing users from swapping in higher-capacity chips. Engineer and forum moderator PhilE said the restriction, rolled out in firmware updates since late 2024, exists to stop resellers from installing larger RAM chips of dubious quality and passing boards off as higher-spec devices. He told users attempting DIY RAM upgrades or repairs that the effort is futile because the firmware also checks other device attributes beyond chip size.
The default configuration on a consumer router is tuned for setup convenience, not for the years it then spends untouched. A few changes cover most of the gap.
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max ships with a battery-firmware lock that caps capacity below the 20Wh threshold that triggers international shipping restrictions on single-cell batteries. Once a customer activates the phone for the first time, the lock lifts automatically, restoring the battery to its full rated capacity of roughly 21-22Wh depending on the model. A 'Prepare to Ship' setting can reimpose the cap, limiting charging to 80 percent over 14 days, for anyone sending the device in for repair or resale.
Apple confirmed the iPhone 18 Pro Max packs a single-cell battery exceeding 20 watt-hours, triggering extra international shipping regulations for large batteries. To comply, Apple built firmware that caps the battery below 20 Wh during manufacturing and transit, only unlocking full capacity once a user activates the phone. A new 'Prepare to Ship' toggle in Settings lets owners discharge the battery back below that threshold before repairs, trade-ins, resale, or gifting.
Nintendo disclosed a security flaw affecting original Switch consoles that exploits the QR codes used by the Send to Smartphone feature and Super Mario Kart: Home Circuit's wireless pairing. If someone scans the QR code before the owner does, they can connect to the console and run unauthorized code or steal stored account data. Nintendo fixed the issue, tracked as CVE-2026-82079, in firmware update 23.0.0 released September 9.
In May 2003, UW-Madison discovered its public NTP time server was being hit by a massive, sustained flood of hundreds of thousands of packets per second from hundreds of thousands of hosts worldwide. Investigation revealed this wasn't a DDoS attack but a design flaw in a popular vendor's cheap consumer routers, which mistakenly hardcoded UW-Madison's server as a time source and queried it far too aggressively.
Google is highlighting that many persistent Android Auto connectivity problems stem not from the phone but from outdated software running on a car's infotainment system. The company recommends restarting the infotainment unit and, for aftermarket head units like Pioneer or Kenwood, checking the manufacturer's website for firmware updates.
Nintendo has enabled variable refresh rate output for Switch 2's TV mode through a new firmware update, requiring an updated dock to work. The feature was originally promised at launch, then quietly removed, before a job listing hinted Nintendo was still developing it for TV play. The same update also adds a handheld boost toggle, Mii editor changes, and full system transfer between Switch 2 consoles.
Nintendo has released firmware update 23.0.0 for the Switch 2, finally enabling variable refresh rate support when the console is docked and running in TV mode, a feature promised before launch but missing at release. The update also adds a handheld boost mode toggle in quick settings, nostalgic music options in the Mii editor, and full system transfer between two Switch 2 consoles.