Woodentop19

We have an Amundsen which despite an update a few days ago has not changed - it still will not let you start an update whilst driving.

I opted for the £44 touch - Infotainment only. Why would I want to remotely flash the headlights and sound the horn? I may be a tad over 70 but I can still find the car in a supermarket car park!

We bought an ex demo Karoq diesel at the end of February this year. It is a MY22 version and was first registered on 29th September last year. I have this evening received an email from Skoda to say that the Skoda Connect service is about to expire. I was under the impression that it would last at least for the first year of ownership or maybe even as long as the original three-year warranty lasts. I will contact the dealer in the morning but does anyone have any thoughts of what I will loose if I don't renew assuming I have misunderstood where I stand contractually? Specifically:- Does the map system (Amundsen) stop updating? Will I still get the active display of the road situation ahead (works, accident, delays etc?) Does the eSim emergency system and breakdown call continue to work? I don't require any remote monitoring of the car although my Skoda ID account seems to show that it is being monitored. I don't want extra on-screen icons using the link system, all I want is the ability to listen to the radio or play music from a memory stick both of which I can do, and I use Bluetooth for normal phone calls. Woody Harrogate

No TP is only FM. If there is a TP bulletin coming up the DAB data stream will carry the information and force the radio to check the FM station to see if it can be received and if so if the signal is strong enough to use. If both criteria are met it forces a change to FM (irrespective of what your screen display may indicate) for the duration of the bulletin whence it reverts to DAB (always assuming the station remembers to switch the TP flag off when complete!!)

The idea of RDS originally was that radios using it should have two tuners so that one plays whilst the other searches - but of course that costs too much. In practice if you are listening to an FM station that has RDS it will stay on that station until the signal gets down to a level that makes the radio start searching. It looks for a station in its alternative frequencies table with a stronger signal and when it finds one it does a quick sniff (takes about 7mS so should not interrupt the current station) to see if the signal is strong and stable enough to warrant a change. If it is it will then take a long sniff of the station to get the station identity and if it is the same station transmitting the same programme it will change. This longer sniff can take up to 300mS and may cause a dropout, but usually it is only a few tens of milliseconds so causes no break. If none of these parameters are met it will continue searching. RDS radios used to have an option to listen to the full found station code or just part of it. IIRC BBCR2 is C2C2 for example. If the option is <not> set to full code read then any local station in the signal area will be considered to be the same. For example BBC Radio Leeds (which was our local station) has about five sites, Radio York has 2, Radio Humberside has 1 and Radio Sheffield has 3. If the full check was not set the radio would consider ALL of these stations to be the same and would just switch to the strongest signal it could find. If the fill check was set then it would search for the full code and stay with the same station as it started from. Any reader please ask if you want to know why this seemingly stupid system was used.

In case any of you haven't noticed, once you have pressed the Yes/OK soft button, the unit displays how many items it has to download by removing the Bluetooth symbol at the top of the screen and replacing it with a white circle containing a number - usually 1 although I think I have seen 4 and 9! That will give you an idea of how long it takes. Skoda Connect and the roof buttons use the Vodafone infrastructure.

Satnav can be a nightmare. I once had to meet a colleague at M1 J30 to hand over some kit. From there I was dropping something off to my sister at Eckington just north of J30, then going to Rotherham Fire Station. When leaving Eckington I entered the address of the FS (in detail) and asked for the most economical route. It took me backto J30, up the M1 onto the M18 to J1 and then on some main roads into the town - 19 miles total. I asked the same question but with shortest route and that came up 11 miles - so I followed it. Agghhhh!!!!! At one point where the A618 did some bends round a couple of housing estates, it took me off the A618 and through the estate to join the.....A618! It took me about 40 minutes to do 11 miles, whereas the motorway would have taken about 25 tops Nowadays I know the main roads and just use the satnav as a street map at the end!

Silicone oil (£2.99 a can from Lidl when available) or Waxoyl (Halfords) sprayed or brushed on will stop any rubber squeaking. Waxoyl is especially effective. In return can anyone tell me what to lubricate to stop the driver door stay squeaking as the door is opened and closed. I have tried silicone oil into the slot but it has no effect.

We tow a caravan and I don't like the idea of using a tyre repaired with foam, plus of course the foam ruins the tyre so an (expensive) replacement is required. We have a 2L 150TDi Sportline MY22 which comes with the foam kit held in a polystyrene tray fitted into the space saver wheel well. I got a wheel (5x112) with a new Continental tyre on it for about £60 on eBay. I pumped it up to 60psi (recommended) and it fitted into the well no problem. I had to get a screw holder and fitment to hold it down (also from eBay) but it was too long and lifted the floor board. I happened to be in a Skoda dealer a few days later so I asked Parts about the clamp and not only did they have the correct unit in stock but it was cheaper than anything similar on the web. I had a suitable scissor jack and opened up slightly this sits nicely inside the wheel. I know that it is limited to 50mph (I think 35mph if towing but it must be on the rear) but I would rather have it than a problem!

I have asked about this elsewhere - including Skoda CZ tech support but they just shrug their shoulders. We live in Harrogate and on our last three vehicles - all Passat Estates and the last (2018) had the Discovery Media which is very similar to the Amundsen - it worked perfectly whether we were listening to DAB (mostly) or FM. Now we get TP from Greatest Hits North, and on our way with our caravan to visit daughter in Bath where we stay near Devizes or near Frome, we hear BBC Wilts and BBC Somerset reports. On one return trip on the Kenilworth by-pass we got BBC C&W. When they are going to broadcast TP on BBC it is incumbent upon the station operator to press a button which sends a signal to London that causes a TP data flag to be set on appropriate transmitter sites. If you are within range of a station radiating that flag your radio will change. I contacted BBC Reception who knew nothing about it - allegedly - but suddenly thereafter we started getting TP around here, mainly from BBC York which has a local transmitter. On previous vehicles whether FM or DAB we got Leeds, York, Tees, and often but not always Sheffield and Humberside. We got some of these for a week or two but it has now slipped away to nothing other than GHR North. Ergo I don't thing it is necessarily the Infotainment (how I hate that name!) system or the aerials that are the cause, but rather a failure of the provider in many cases. One thing I find annoying with the Amundsen is the inability to fix it to stay on the FM version of any station, it always (sometimes eventually) swings back to DAB. Has anyone found a solution to this habit?

Oops! 🤐

The OP shouldn't worry about it. With fully synth oil as long as it doesn't get into the high 120's its nothing to worry about. When towing we often get to 113-116C but it soon cools down quickly enough, albeit running temp even then is around 106-108C. Our previous two cars were Passat Estates (140 and 150 TDi) and they exhibited the same effects when towing. Even with the Karoq solo the oil often sits in the mid 90's.

The VW was not a MIB3, as I said it was a Discovery Media. It was 18 plate so things may have changed since then, but from what I have gathered the MIB2 had SD card slots so likely it could have had the ability to handle logos, especially as the Skoda file for the MIB2 is dated 2020!

Not only that, but you can add them to VW and Seat as well, although I think Audi can only be done by a dealer. It is annoying in the most that they both use .png formats for the logos - essentially pictures - and the file format for MIB2 was/is also .png! (png = Portable Network Graphic) D'oh!

I did try that but it still roams all over the place - come to think of it (possibly) always upwards from my preferred 200ft to 1000ft or 2000ft. Unfortunately our MY22 doesn't have a LCD dash as it was made in or about 11/21 (mistake in my original post) but wasn't registered until 29/09/22 so has the original dial instruments!

Our last car, a Passat Estate 150TDI GT, had the capability of importing radio station logos for the Discovery Media Infotainment unit from a USB stick (plugged in inside the armrest) or an SD card plugged in to the radio unit in the top of the glovebox. On our MY22 Karoq Sportline diesel there doesn't appear to be any way of doing it, which is annoying as it doesn't have logos for the likes of BBC R4EX, ClassicFM or Smooth to name but three. I wouldn't mind if it were a 'new' station, but Classic has been in business since the '90's. Even moreso as the file size for the Amundsen contains 678 files and is dated 2020, where the VW version has 729 logos and is dated 2018!! Digging around reveals that the logo support is provided by a (German) outside company to whom you have to aim queries - which I have done twice and never even received an acknowledgement let alone an update. I have tried putting the logo file on a USB-C stick and plugging it in but the Amundsen seemingly ignores it. Has anyone out there had the same problem and/or come up with a solution? Skoda CZ tech support are useless in this area, they just direct you to the outside company.

Our last two cars (before the Karoq) were a (15) Passat Executive Style estate, and a (18) Passat 2L 150TDi GT and neither had nearside mirror dimming.

The presence of the USB on the heading depends upon manufacture date. Mine is a MY22 but was actually built in Nov 21 so does not have that outlet plus it has dial instruments. Get one built in 22 and it will have the socket and an LCD dash.

We have an ex-demo MY22 Sportline 2L diesel first registered end 9/22, we bought it 31 Jan 2023. Does anyone know how to make the awful* Infotainment unit stop changing the map scale? It was only by accident that I found I didn't have to keep doing a double finger split on the screen to change the scale - just turn the front panel right knob. However it doesn't stop the scale changing every time you go round a corner or accelerate! On our previous car (see below) once you set the scale (I used 75yds) it stayed there until it was manually changed. (Also who was the bright spark that put the speed sign roundal so that it covers the (almost invisible) compass directional symbol? Oh, and whilst I'm at it, can I get rid of that stupid 'target' screen that comes on every time the unit starts up?) Pity, because in most other instances the vehicle is superb. I don't know if it is the new EVO version engine or remapping of the ECU, but 60+mpg on medium runs is worth shouting about, isn't it? * The Discovery Media in out last car (2018 Passat Estate 150 TDi GT) did everything the Amundsen does and much more and was considerably more user friendly. TIA.

The only issue is the way that USB is designed to work. I find with mine (MY22 72 plate Sportline diesel) that the only <very> sure way to get the unit to see the USB stick is to plug it in after the Infotainment unit (how I hate that word!) is up and running. You also have to be careful how you 'find' it on screen. If you do it the wrong way the Amundsen will probably complain that it cannot find any files, or it will (by default) start playing the tracks by alphabetical order of track name. If you go the other way (through My Music?) it will play them in whatever order they are on the stick. The good bit is that the Amundsen supports many different files formats - wav, mp3, m4a, flac and I think ogg as well, and it will support several (4?) layers of directory structure. I got a Verbatim double sided 64GB stick (about £13) that has a USB-C plug on one end and a USB-A plug on the other so you can plug it into your desktop to load it and the other end into the car. However someone suggested a right-angle adapter so that you can close the phonebox cover. Doesn't always work as the adapters vary in size. You are better to get one of these or even two. In fact you can then use a conventional USB-A memory stick, you don't need anything special!

Entering the VIN on the appropriate website page it tells me my MY22 car needs a November 21 handbook (they don't provide printed handbooks any more) which I guess is slightly different to yours. I admit it does explain the items I commented upon, but it is not (IMO) well written or on those page numbers. AIUI once Kessy has been disabled the only way to unlock is with the fob button - it makes no difference if the key is asleep elsewhere or not, bad people are thwarted!

If your car has KESSY there are a number of actions that you can/sometimes should do. If you lock the car with your thumb it can be opened by bad people and some electronics. If you lock the car with your thumb and then within 5 secs thumb again it will turn off the alarm and remove the deadlock. If you lock the car with the key it can still be opened by bad people and electronics If you use the key twice when locking it turns off the alarm and removes the deadlock as above. Useful if you are on a ferry to stop the alarm sounding erroneously. Here's the good one: if you lock once with the key and then thumb it within five seconds it turns KESSY off so making bad person entry impossible. If you are quick you can do a double key and single thumb within the 5 second window. They don't tell you about that in the handbook though!

For the above two messages, once you get to MY22 with USB-C connectors you cannot update either maps or station logos from a memory stick - it just reports 'No readable files.' You will get the same(ish) effect if you try to play music from a stick until the Amundsen has been active for a while, then when you go into My Media and select Music you will get a list of selections, i.e. Artist, Album, Genre etc of which Album is the best bet. If you select Artist you get the tracks listed alphabetically by artist but in no relationship to tsource.disk. I have however made a discovery which I admit baffles me. If you get a USB-C plug to USB-A socket adapter (short cable, Amazon sell 'em) and plug your USB-A stick into the socket your stick will appear as a separate item after Music, Video, or Podcast on the My Media menu. When you select that you will get all of the albums in the order that you wrote them to the stick, and all the tracks in the original source order. The downside is that because the USB-C sockets are permanently live the Amundsen will not find them if you shut the vehicle down and then start up again later. You have to unplug the cable, start up, and plug it in again - then it finds the contents! If you want a USB-C/USB-A memory stick Rymans and WHS sell the Verbatim variety. D'oh!

Go dig in Skoda Connect. I think you will find that maps and radio station logo updates are free of charge for 10 years and if they are like the Karoq they are done over air through Skoda Connect.. You <cannot> update them by hand. Having said that they only get updated if you go to an area that has updates pending that have not been applied to your unit. Our last car was a Passat which had the VW Discovery Media Infotainment unit which you could update manually by downloading the file from their web site, writing it onto the old maps SD card and plugging it in. The DM also had a second SD slot for music, a USB-A socket in the armrest also for music, and a CD player with the SD slots inside the glove box. I have to admit I think it was a much better unit than the Amundsen that our Karoq has. For example you could download radio station icons from the VW site or the station web site - they are all a very common file format called png: the latest VW version I had was 2018 and had 739 logos on it. The file for my Karoq (which I cannot manually load) is dated 2020 and has 679 icons! It does not have - for example - an icon for Smooth UK which has been operative since 2010 (or thereabouts) or even for Classic FM which has been on the go since 1992! If you have an Apple phone of iOS12 or higher, or an Android 11 or higher you can use Android Auto (or the Apple equivalent) and have eight icons from your phone on the Infotainment screen. It does give you one advantage - you can use Google Maps instead of the quirky and idiosyncratic system Skoda use. As for music on a memory stick, you can buy a Verbatim 32GB dual-ended memory stick from Rymans or WHS with USB-C plug on one end and a USB-A plug on the other. Stick the USB-C plug into the socket in the car and, if you are lucky, it will eventually read the stick and display the index*. However it will sort them by Artist no matter where that Artist appears in the music, or by Album, or by Genre etc etc - its really weird. If you use a straight USB-C plug-ended cable you cannot close the cover (formerly the ashtray), but get a 90deg plug-cable from the Skoda Shop and the cover closes - except that Skoda no longer sell the cable version, just a solid stick adapter so you have the same problem. Fortunately you can get such a cable from Amazon and the cover closes. Our dealer gave me one of these adapter cables - 90deg USB-C plug on one end and USB-A socket on the other. Plug my music memory stick into <that> cable and it appears on the media selection as an extra item. Select it and there is all you music in the order that you wrote it to the stick with the tracks in the correct order as well - and its almost instant. [*Our Karoq was an ex demo. When I tried a memory stick in the sockets the car persistently said it couldn't find any readable files. I have a USB-A test plug unit that shows the incoming voltage and the total outgoing current of the to sockets on it. Using an adapter this showed the right socket was dead whichever way round the plug was inserted (USB-C can be plugged in either way round.) I later found this was intermittent by waggling the inserted plug around. In the left socket the tester also showed the circuit was dead one way round, but plug in the other way round and all was well. After a bit of pushing the dealer fetched the socket board out of another vehicle, removed the faulty one in my car and fitted the new and all was well.]

Ah, therein lines an answer. If I open the album and artist columns its does show up the album title and the organist. Now I wonder how come it is that the Amundsen picks that up. Aghh! Metadata strikes again - at least you solved it Chris! The music is mostly rips of our own CDs using Freemp3 although I have the paid-for version. The thing that puzzled me (but does no longer) is that said info came up even on multi-artist discs or compilations if you like. At least it makes sense now. Many thanks. Woody