PetrolDave

Just once a day though

That's true but you're not allowed to go for a drive for the sake of it, see:

IIRC the early 2.0TDI had a weakness with the drive to the oil pump, sorted eventually.

I got the impression that OP was asking whether he could update his Columbus with the original Amundsen maps on the SD card - since he made no mention of replacing the maps with the correct Columbus ones? Of course if he quick formats the SD card and downloads the Columbus maps onto it then it should work.

No, the Amundsen uses different maps to the Columbus.

Component Protection can only be cleared by either a VAG dealer or an independent garage which has paid for FAZIT access (online access to the VAG servers to confirm that the item is not listed as stolen). Of course there are people that can hack the firmware...

On several forums it's been said that VAG have made all their cars start in Normal mode to avoid more questions over emissions tweaks.

I tried to update the BIOS in my former PC in 2015 - it ended in tears, even replacing the BIOS EEPROM (it was a fairly old motherboard and the BIOS chip had leads and was in a socket!) didn't recover the motherboard, so it was new PC time.

See Tayna all of these Varta Start/Stop batteries are under £200 inc VAT I've used Tayna for batteries for both my previous 2 cars and been happy with their service.

Not a software update but a coding change to the battery management module - especially as you're planning on fitting a battery with higher Ah rating. I also have a 1.4TSI and when my battery needs replacing I'm going to fit a Varta E39 Silver Dynamic AGM battery (096AGM).

It won't harm the battery but it will confuse the battery management system on the car as it won't know that the battery has been charged.

Are you sure that's the correct thing to do? If you are in the UK then we have right hand DRIVE cars because we drive on the left side of the road and hence have left hand TRAFFIC.

I guess we must have been lucky then as SWMBOs 1.2 Fabia was bought in 2005 and sold in 2016 with no timing chain related issues.

Not sure I believe a word of that 'explanation' - a radio station having to renew a licence with EVERY car manufacturer? I don't think so Do logo updates work on other VAG models based on the same platform e.g Golf 8, and on other manufacturers cars?

Do you mean only the twin charger version? SWMBO had a 2005 Fabia with a 1.2 3-cylinder normally aspirated engine for 11 years and it never missed a beat.

... in order to force owners to go to VAG dealers? If it was just about data protection then VAG would have implemented a means for independent workshops to access SFD - without having to pay the huge costs of ODIS/FAZIT which are uneconomic for many independents.

Do you mean crunching? If so it sounds like a weak synchromesh on 2nd gear. How many miles/kilometres has your Octavia done?

The hydraulic brake is only held on for a few seconds after the vehicle comes to a halt, for TJA to work it needs the EPB to apply the non-hydraulic rear brakes. Yes the Octavia III does NOT have EPB hence TJA is impossible on an Octavia III, but is possible on the Golf 7 & 7.5 and Octavia IV which DO have EPB.

I also think the EPB is necessary for TJA to work. Why? Because when the vehicle is stationary in a traffic jam TJA needs to be able to apply the 'parking' brake otherwise the car will either creep if left in gear with the clutch engaged or will roll if the clutch is disengaged, and hence needs the EPB.

IMHO that's very bad - service history WAS available until they "updated" the app in December 2020, so to not restore a feature that was working for up to a YEAR is IMHO ridiculous. I've also contacted both Skoda UK and Skoda in Czech and had a similar response that "it's been referred back to the developers".

Remember to connect the charger to the battery positive terminal ans IMPORTANTLY NOT the battery negative terminal but the tag on the body where the negative lead from the battery is connected (this is to avoid confusing the battery management system on the car).

This was quite a common problem a few years ago on Audis - the heated rear screen was used as an antenna as well as a heater. To prevent the interference getting into the radio signal Audi fitted an in-line filter that separated power and radio signal - this filter would fail and produce exactly the symptoms OP describes. IMHO worth checking if this combined heater/antenna arrangement is used on the Mk3 Superb and if it is then I would get the filter replaced.

BIOS updates only happen infrequently (unlike Windows updates which can be one than one per month). Unlike a failed Windows update - which can be recovered from by a (painful) reinstall - a failed BIOS update will often brick the computer, so the best advice IMHO is to only do a BIOS update when absolutely necessary. I've only had to do a BIOS update once in nearly 20 years of PC ownership - when the original BIOS wouldn't support more than 2GB of RAM and a BIOS update added support for up to 16GB of RAM.

I had the direct TPMS system on the Audi I had before my Octavia - after 9 years and 6 sets of tyres (it was an RS4 so it needed new tyres every 10k - 15k miles) it was still working perfectly when I sold the car.

The 1.0, 1.4 and 1.5 TSi engines ALL have a timing belt which Skoda UK recommend should be changed at 5 years. The 2.0 TSi engine has a timing chain.