07-07-2023, 08:04 PM
This a repost from another thread, but I am putting here so when people have this question, they can find the answer right here in FAQ forum:
When you see "Unknown value" for items in the Configurator table in OrBit, you may worry that something is wrong with your car, with the config, or with OrBit. You should not worry, this is expected and normal for Volvo config!
TL;DR This is totally normal, there is no problem.
So you don't believe me and you want to know why ;-) Well...OK then...
There are 2 reasons you see "unknown value" let's deal with the "00 Unknown Value" first:
This configuration we work with in the car "Central Configuration" is a system Volvo has developed over many years. The SPA model introduction updated the system with the idea of "Configuration Logic". The result is what you see in the table, the Config Items in OrBit is the list of configuration from the car. The system is designed to be extensible. It would be an awful lot of work if Volvo needed to re-design their central configuration system to add support for a config item every time they add a new feature or option to their cars. That would be a huge waste of resources. So they don't do that. They designed a config system that can be added to over time without affect the "earlier" car. A car built with a "new" option in 2023 that didn't exist in 2016 can use the same CEM with the same central config system, even the same software being used on the CEM. Other modules that read the central config can use the same software updates in the old car and the new. Auto mfrs really like being able to reduce the number of software "versions" they need to maintain, it probably saves a ton of needless cost.
How do they do that? The config list is a list of pre-defined fields, items 1-504. Not all of them are used, say 350 of them are today, leaving plenty of "empty" items that can be used later. As Volvo adds a "new" item, they define what it is, and add rules to "config logic" to set the item and those CEM software updates are released.
How does Volvo add a config item for a feature without screwing up the earlier cars CEMs when software is updated? The config system is designed, such that a car not "using" a config item, the config is set to "00". That provides backwards compatibility. Any "new" item added, the existing cars will be known to have "00" value for that item. If there is no "rule" for that unused item in the central config logic in the CEM, that item is set to "00"
When you see items set to "00 Unknown value" that is simply a config item that is unused on your car. The description is what OrBit inserts as a placeholder there. Maybe the description could be less worrying, but hey I took that description from Volvo, blame them lol. It's simply an item that your car doesn't use.
Before you ask..a mini FAQ:
But my car is a 2023 surely it uses all the items? I'm oversimplifying things, we don't know all the permutations of config items, abandoned items, planned for the future etc. The point is still the same, it's just a config item not used in your car.
But I have an electronic parking brake/audio system/speakers and my car has "unknown value" for some fo those settings? Slow down there, we don't know what all items are used for what specifically. All we have is the description. Once again, if your car has "00" for a value there, it's not used on your car.
"Unknown Value" when it's not "00"
This is a different case. When there is a value other than "00" and you see "unknown value" this just means that your car has a setting that OrBit doesn't hav a description for in it's config database. This can happen, I've scraped together everything I could for every item from all the sources I hav, but still new values for new settings can be added by Volvo to an item, as we know, the system is extensible. If OrBit doesn't have a description for that item, it inserts the "unknown value" description with the value, so you can see what the value is in the Configurator table even though we have no information, as well as that is used under the covers in OrBit to preserve any settings that we don't already know about, so the functions like "load settings" work from a saved file later, we load the settings in, with the proper value, even if we don't have a description for that item value. I have discovered some of these and added new value and description to the database to define them as an option to set. Frequently we can figure them out from comparing some cars config and variant codes.
This was a really good question, it's come up before, so it's good to give those who want the "full story" the information, from what I have learned about the system. I hope that helps quell any fears that "unknown value" means that is any sort of config problem. It doesn't.
When you see "Unknown value" for items in the Configurator table in OrBit, you may worry that something is wrong with your car, with the config, or with OrBit. You should not worry, this is expected and normal for Volvo config!
TL;DR This is totally normal, there is no problem.
So you don't believe me and you want to know why ;-) Well...OK then...
There are 2 reasons you see "unknown value" let's deal with the "00 Unknown Value" first:
This configuration we work with in the car "Central Configuration" is a system Volvo has developed over many years. The SPA model introduction updated the system with the idea of "Configuration Logic". The result is what you see in the table, the Config Items in OrBit is the list of configuration from the car. The system is designed to be extensible. It would be an awful lot of work if Volvo needed to re-design their central configuration system to add support for a config item every time they add a new feature or option to their cars. That would be a huge waste of resources. So they don't do that. They designed a config system that can be added to over time without affect the "earlier" car. A car built with a "new" option in 2023 that didn't exist in 2016 can use the same CEM with the same central config system, even the same software being used on the CEM. Other modules that read the central config can use the same software updates in the old car and the new. Auto mfrs really like being able to reduce the number of software "versions" they need to maintain, it probably saves a ton of needless cost.
How do they do that? The config list is a list of pre-defined fields, items 1-504. Not all of them are used, say 350 of them are today, leaving plenty of "empty" items that can be used later. As Volvo adds a "new" item, they define what it is, and add rules to "config logic" to set the item and those CEM software updates are released.
How does Volvo add a config item for a feature without screwing up the earlier cars CEMs when software is updated? The config system is designed, such that a car not "using" a config item, the config is set to "00". That provides backwards compatibility. Any "new" item added, the existing cars will be known to have "00" value for that item. If there is no "rule" for that unused item in the central config logic in the CEM, that item is set to "00"
When you see items set to "00 Unknown value" that is simply a config item that is unused on your car. The description is what OrBit inserts as a placeholder there. Maybe the description could be less worrying, but hey I took that description from Volvo, blame them lol. It's simply an item that your car doesn't use.
Before you ask..a mini FAQ:
But my car is a 2023 surely it uses all the items? I'm oversimplifying things, we don't know all the permutations of config items, abandoned items, planned for the future etc. The point is still the same, it's just a config item not used in your car.
But I have an electronic parking brake/audio system/speakers and my car has "unknown value" for some fo those settings? Slow down there, we don't know what all items are used for what specifically. All we have is the description. Once again, if your car has "00" for a value there, it's not used on your car.
"Unknown Value" when it's not "00"
This is a different case. When there is a value other than "00" and you see "unknown value" this just means that your car has a setting that OrBit doesn't hav a description for in it's config database. This can happen, I've scraped together everything I could for every item from all the sources I hav, but still new values for new settings can be added by Volvo to an item, as we know, the system is extensible. If OrBit doesn't have a description for that item, it inserts the "unknown value" description with the value, so you can see what the value is in the Configurator table even though we have no information, as well as that is used under the covers in OrBit to preserve any settings that we don't already know about, so the functions like "load settings" work from a saved file later, we load the settings in, with the proper value, even if we don't have a description for that item value. I have discovered some of these and added new value and description to the database to define them as an option to set. Frequently we can figure them out from comparing some cars config and variant codes.
This was a really good question, it's come up before, so it's good to give those who want the "full story" the information, from what I have learned about the system. I hope that helps quell any fears that "unknown value" means that is any sort of config problem. It doesn't.