Just reading this, I had the same thing with a low battery. When I was using my work car, the S8 sat for a couple of weeks. The battery on the S8 went pretty low - just on the cusp of being able to start the car (which it did, just barely) but threw the error on the dash as described above and gearbox in limp mode. All the lights for the gearbox lit up on the dash and it was stuck in one gear.
After charging the battery and restarting, it was fine. Never had it since then and that was over a year ago. I drive the S8 more now anyway which obviously keeps the battery in better condition.
So in conclusion, anyone with a limp mode gearbox, just make sure the battery is fully charged before moving on to all the other processes of elimination (F125 switch, gearbox oil, etc. etc.). It does seem though that this happens only when the battery is ridiculously low - as in just barely able to crank the engine but succeed in doing so and then starting (if that makes sense lol).
I’ve bought a CTEK MXS 7.0 to keep the battery charged/topped up for any prolonged stationary periods. It’s a superb charger btw.
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