path_cobbler

This was my experience unfortunately. I followed the steps earlier in this thread (I found the instructions at https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/516103-volume-keeps-turning-up/page/2/#findComment-5948038 and https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/516103-volume-keeps-turning-up/page/3/#findComment-5962405 to be the most helpful). My stereo had been switching itself off an on incessantly, though never the volume going up and down I don't think. I first disconnected the cable from the touch-bar to the stereo and reinstalled everything to make sure the touch-bar was the problem. This removed the problem for weeks. Afterward I tried cleaning the reverse of the bar and reconnecting it, but after that I found the volume was turning itself down all the time. It didn't do this straight away - it waited until I'd put it all back together and driven a fair few miles first! So I've decided just to disconect the touch-bar again: I don't think I know enough about what I ought to be cleaning, and I don't want to spend more of my weekends connecting and disconnecting it. I'd rather it was all connected, but it's not a problem at all not having the touch strip working and it's solved the problem.

I'm hoping to first try just disconnecting the volume and on/off slider: my hope from other threads is that at least confirms what the problem is, gives me back things like Climate Control in the short term, and then I can look into getting a replacement. When you say "easy to swap" though... I'm not sure where to get started. Does the screen unit pop out of the dash with a bit prising, or does the whole dash/trim need to get removed first? Any tools you'd recommend? So far I've found photos of the screen when it's removed, but I can't really see steps to get it out in the first place. Thanks.

If it helps at all, here’s the System Information window. At about the same time I got a video of the radio turning itself off and on when the car was empty and locked from the outside ☹️

I Thanks again. So does a TPI have any effect on the blame/cost of a repair (ie it’s a known fault, so Skoda will fix it) or is it just to do with them diagnosing it more easily? I forgot to mention too that when the radio is on, it will sometimes mute/unmute itself. I’m not sure if that points to Telematics or the screen again as the culprit.

Thanks. And out of interest, how did you know what needed done? Did the garage suggest it, or did you have to instruct them what to do? My only experience in dealing with a garage on these sorts of issues before was a slightly pushy receptionist telling me that they couldn't do anything until they booked it in for diagnostics. And that makes sense, but I'm also a bit worried about getting a pretty long, drawn-out runaround.

I've been experiencing a number of the same issues as described on this thread - and others - though now the restarting has got a lot worse over the past few days. I've read through this thread in the past, and others, and to be honest I'm starting to forget who mentioned what and where, but I had a few questions. First, my symptoms: For info, my car is a Mk 4, 2020 plate, which I bought second-hand in 2023. And, thanks to threads on this forum, I updated the software in the summer to 1985. Stereo goes pop pop I would say I've had this since the start, or close to the start, and foolishly never investigated during warranty. I would say that on most drives, after a few minutes, there's a loud pop pop from the stereo. The middle speaker then seems to drop out of the mix for a wee while, and I tend to get a few pings of "SOS Deactivated" and "SOS Activated". Screen switches itself off an on repeatedly I'd say that in the 1st year, this maybe happened once or twice. Then in the 2nd year, I experienced it a bit more often. I'd started to subscribe to it being a heat-related issue, because it was mostly in the summer: we returned from holiday in July to find the car battery was dead in the airport car park, presumably having run itself down because of this. But this week, it's started happening constantly. I live in Glasgow, and it's definitely not warm here in Oct/Nov. This is happening when I'm in the car, but also I've observed it happening when I've left the car, ignition off, and locked the doors. I took a video of it at the weekend whilst I was waiting to pick up the kids. If you unmute the video, you can hear the constant clicking, as though the button is actually being pressed on and off repeatedly. https://vimeo.com/1133484856 So I suppose I'm looking for a bit of advice/knowledge if anyone has it. Are these two issues related? Or is one completely separate to the other? Is it likely that I will need a new screen for the 2nd issue at least? And does anyone know how much that's likely to cost? I've not had the car long enough to have developed any sort of relationship with a good garage, so I'd likely be taking it to the Skoda approved dealer & service place in town. I've heard people variously mention screens, modules, MIBs and something else (Control Panels, maybe?). Is that all different terms for the same thing? I probably have lots more questions, but don't want to bombard the thread any more than I already have. Feeling very despondent about it: I'm worried the cost is going to be crazy, and for some reason I'd feel a lot better if it was for something important in the car itself, rather than just the bloody radio screen.

Thanks to everyone for their comments - it's been really helpful. I popped into my local authorised Skoda service centre to chat about the problem. I wouldn't say they were too helpful -- it was a case of "we can't say anything until you're booked in", which I understand but it would have been nice to chat to someone. Although I think they maybe did take pity on me -- I walked out to the car (locked, ignition off) and the radio was still on, so they suggested a reset which only seemed to involve holding the stereo power button down for 10 seconds. Not sure if that's real, or just a wee placebo to get rid of me. Anyway, they've advised £115 just for an initial diagnostic, followed by any additional work. The chap suggested software updates might be 1-4 hours, and might be anywhere from £150 to £500. I wondered if those seem reasonable? Or, given I'm not under warranty, is there any real advantage to me going to an authorised Skoda garage, or would I be better at an independent? I'm in Glasgow if anyone has any recommendations, but I'll probably phone around next week and see if anyone sounds at all knowledgeable about the problem and can take me in a little earlier than next month.

Hello. I'm a long-time reader of this thread as I had some of the same issues, but first-time poster as the problem now seems to have gone absolutely bananas! I got my Skoda Octavia last summer - it's a '70 plate (in the UK) so about 3 years old then, and 4 years old now. Since that time, I've mostly just had one intermittent problem. Sometimes (not always) whilst driving, I'd get the loud Pop-Pop, the central speaker would seem to go off/quiet for a bit, and I might get an error flash up on the dashboard. I have had some other issues (I sometimes find that if I have to turn the car off, jump out of it for just a minute, then get back in, the radio/media centre either doesn't come on or takes an age to come on) but mostly it was that one. It was annoying but sad to say I'd learned to live with it. Then I think exactly two weeks ago last Monday (23rd Sep) I got the new problem people are describing. About 90 minutes into a 2 hour drive, the screen just started going off. Then on. Then off. And so on. It had an audible "click" noise, as though I'd pressed the standby button on the volume bar, and was just off/on-ing every 5-30 seconds. I'd never seen this before, and it certainly made trying to navigate country roads pretty difficult with Google Maps turning off and on constantly. I've since had the issue on and off every time i drive. Sometimes it will be fine, or fine for a while, then it just starts again. I thought it might be due to Apple Carplay -- I've always had a hunch that most of my issues are fine with the radio on, but when I have media from my phone the Pop-Pop etc. seem more likely. So the other day I turned off wifi on the car and made it forget all saved phones, and have only run the phone into it via a USB cable, but I'm still occasionally getting the issue. I'm also 99% certain I've experienced the issue of the screen/audio not going off when I turn the car off and leave, but this doesn't happen all the time. Suffice to say the radio and navigation issue are very annoying, disappointing, and more than a little embarrassing. I guess I have a few questions. 1. What the hell!?!? But then... 2. My software is 1896. In the 12 months since I've had the car, it's never had a big firmware upgrade over wireless. I'm not even sure how that would work -- do I need to have signed up to a data plan for the car? Is it worth me trying to do an upgrade myself? Will that fix _anything_? And will it invalidate _anything_? 3. Should this be going to a garage to get looked at? What's that going to cost? I'm afraid that this is my first "grown up" car. I've had cheap bangers and hand-me-downs before, and I'm really not too used to dealing with garages, or knowing what should be getting fixed out of the kindness of their hearts (my guess: nothing) and what's going to cost me a fortune. I had hoped that by spending a decent chunk of change on an almost-new (to me) car I wouldn't be dealing with this sort of stuff at all. Really thankful for any help or advice.