Embedded systems

This is the part of Y2038 that does not get fixed by an app store update. A 32-bit SoC in a PLC, RTU, meter, ECU or imaging device may still be on the wall in 2038 because that was the purchase specification.

Why embedded is different

Service life is specified in decades, not product seasons.
Update channels are slow, signed, and sometimes contractually frozen.
Time may come from an RTC chip, a GPS module, or an NTP client — three different rollover stories.
Logging, certificate checks and scheduled maintenance are exactly the features that use future dates.

National Instruments / NI Linux RT

NI Linux Real-Time is a real example of a long-life 32-bit-era Linux image in industrial I/O. Users have reported kernel messages that an ext4 mount “supports timestamps until 2038 (0x7fffffff)” on cRIO hardware. That is an on-disk inode limit, not a rumour. It does not automatically mean LabVIEW timestamps in application code are 32-bit — those are a separate audit. Treat each layer on its own.

What a buyer should demand

Written statement of time representation: 32-bit signed, 32-bit unsigned, or 64-bit.
Behaviour of the RTC and of any NTP/GPS client across 2036 and 2038.
Whether filesystem timestamps survive 2038.
A firmware path that will still be signed in 2035.

Then put the stated service life into the calculator.