Speeding up Bolero SD, possible solution

[Spudhoolio]

If it takes the dealer ~45 minutes to put new firmware in the Bolero, do they charge for the time or include it in the service cost?

If they charge I would rather spend the money towards a MDI kit and use my iPod.

[john999boy]

If it takes the dealer ~45 minutes to put new firmware in the Bolero, do they charge for the time or include it in the service cost?

If they charge I would rather spend the money towards a MDI kit and use my iPod.

Of course they'll charge - have you ever known one not to?

However, luckily for you, it will be SUK that picks up the bill.

[PowerMalc]

Of course they'll charge - have you ever known one not to?

However, luckily for you, it will be SUK that picks up the bill.

So this a warranty job, do you have a right for them to update the firmware or does something have to be wrong/broken before they will do it.

Can I just go into my local Skoda dealer and say, 'update my Bolero please'

[john999boy]

So this a warranty job, do you have a right for them to update the firmware or does something have to be wrong/broken before they will do it.

Can I just go into my local Skoda dealer and say, 'update my Bolero please'

As you'll see from previous posts - including one of mine, some dealers will just do a chassis number check to see if there are any updates available and it probably won't show any. If you then press them about the Bolero problem, they will say that they will have to hook the car up to their diagnostics and if nothing shows up then they will bill you. This is just a 'scare' tactic as you know they'll find a problem so you won't be paying anyway.

It does make you wonder what else the car could have wrong that doesn't show on the chassis number check? HTH.

[Spudhoolio]

Got another 9k miles 450 days till my next service.

Think I'll get a MDI kit off ebay.

Edited 20 January, 2011 by Spudhoolio

[PowerMalc]

As you'll see from previous posts - including one of mine, some dealers will just do a chassis number check to see if there are any updates available and it probably won't show any. If you then press them about the Bolero problem, they will say that they will have to hook the car up to their diagnostics and if nothing shows up then they will bill you. This is just a 'scare' tactic as you know they'll find a problem so you won't be paying anyway.

It does make you wonder what else the car could have wrong that doesn't show on the chassis number check? HTH.

John

Thanks for that info

My car was made/built in Dec 2009 and I took delivery in Jan 2010. Is it likely that my Bolero is not the latest firmware and therefore an update is available.

Mine seems to have slowed down recently as I have just put a load more tracks on a 4gb SD card

[lfc958]

Powermalc - Your Bolero should be on the same firmware as mine as my car was built Start of Nov 09, picked up late Dec.

Is your card SD or SDHC ? as the HC cards are a faster read.

[john999boy]

Is your card SD or SDHC ? as the HC cards are a faster read.

Surely it must be an SDHC card as the SD cards only went up to 2GB - didn't they?

The read (+ write) speeds are related to what class the card is so you could still get a class 2 4GB. Powermalc's card will be getting slower as the old firmware will be struggling to keep up with the increased number of files.

[Wardy]

Got another 9k miles 450 days till my next service.

Think I'll get a MDI kit off ebay.

You can take it in without getting it serviced you know! Your car is under warranty, so ask them on that basis. And it's not 45 mins of dealer time, the physical update may take that long - but it doesn't need a technician stood there the whole time. There's a difference

It's probably 5-10 mins of getting it hooked up, checking and kicking the firmware update off.

[malcburt]

You can take it in without getting it serviced you know! Your car is under warranty, so ask them on that basis. And it's not 45 mins of dealer time, the physical update may take that long - but it doesn't need a technician stood there the whole time. There's a difference

It's probably 5-10 mins of getting it hooked up, checking and kicking the firmware update off.

Had my Octy (bought Jan 10) in for a service yesterday and asked for a Bolero firmware upgrade having read this thread - mine has exhibited all the slow loading symptoms described here - and was told that none was available for my unit. They claim that when they plug it in for a diagnostic check it would have automatically shown up if an upgrade was available. All very disappointing and confusing. I'm wondering whether they having me on (they said an upgrade would have been done under warranty if there had been one) or are there really different specs of Bolero units, some of which don't have new firmware? Anybody think it worth my while trying a different dealer.

[john999boy]

Had my Octy (bought Jan 10) in for a service yesterday and asked for a Bolero firmware upgrade having read this thread - mine has exhibited all the slow loading symptoms described here - and was told that none was available for my unit. They claim that when they plug it in for a diagnostic check it would have automatically shown up if an upgrade was available. All very disappointing and confusing. I'm wondering whether they having me on (they said an upgrade would have been done under warranty if there had been one) or are there really different specs of Bolero units, some of which don't have new firmware? Anybody think it worth my while trying a different dealer.

It amazes me that some dealers still don't do update that are blatently available. Maybe they need to dig a bit deeper to find the right files but all the people who have been upgraded can't be wrong can they?

In answer to your last question - yes, try a dealer who knows what they're talking about.

Edit: P.S. Is a post FL Octavia the same as a FL Octavia?

Edited 9 February, 2011 by john999boy

[malcburt]

It amazes me that some dealers still don't do update that are blatently available. Maybe they need to dig a bit deeper to find the right files but all the people who have been upgraded can't be wrong can they?

In answer to your last question - yes, try a dealer who knows what they're talking about.

Edit: P.S. Is a post FL Octavia the same as a FL Octavia?

So what you're saying is that you're 100% certain that there is one available? Maybe there isn't for a post FL Octavia I don't know the kit they plug in but rather assumed it automatically detected upgrades, much like windows live update on your PC so no digging would be required???

[john999boy]

I can be 100% certain as I was the first one to have it done!

[PowerMalc]

I am trying to get my Bolero updated as it is getting slower to load the more I put on the SD card

My local dealer has only just opened so they seem to be on a learning curve.

They did say that they can not find a record of an update but once the car is hooked up there computer it then may show up, car booked in for Feb 16th.

Johnboy. Do you know the version number of your update and did it fix the 'mix' problem

[john999boy]

The only way to see the version number is to look at the casing sticker which involves removing the Bolero. In saying that, they don't put a different one on after updating and I've yet to see it electronically.

Edit: I forgot to mention about the 'mix' problem! Well it doesn't work in the same way as an ipod does but it's never bothered me as much as some people on here - are you listening Warren.

Edited 9 February, 2011 by john999boy

[malcburt]

I can be 100% certain as I was the first one to have it done!

Well you were certainly right. Took the car into SG Smith (Croydon) this morning after emailing a certain John Roberts in the service deparment (who Mobov namechecked on this subject recently). Wasn't optimistic to start with since he'd said he didn't recognise the fault I was describing. However the plugged it into the diagnostic and sure enough found the new firmware. An hour later it was a Bolero transformed, full 16GB SD card loads and navigates between folders in 2 seconds max. Also one surprise for me was that I'd had a problem with ID3 tags not always being displayed correctly, so sometimes the album name would be blank, sometimes the track name would be replaced with the filename. I saw other people had complained about that and it was suggested the problem was with the tags on their files. However all mine are now perfect so clearly was a fault with the old firmware.

There's a lesson here for anybody, if your local service department tries to fob you off by denying there's any update, as was the case with the large Surrey VAG franchise (who I won't name and shame, though it's very tempting) who serviced my car the other day, don't give up. It seems some dealers are much better than others - even though SG Smith have only been a Skoda agent for under a year so might be forgiven for being on the learning curve.

PS: I don't work for them :-)

[Carmudgeon]

This all seems to get murkier. I took my Octavia to Chatham's in Edinburgh for a service in December, and asked for the update. On picking up the car, I asked if it had been done. A very helpful member of staff came out to point out the bit on the service card that said they'd checked it for any updates and that none was available. He even showed me his computer screen which listed all updates for anything issued by Skoda in the last year and although there were a few regarding the Bolero, none appeared in the least bit relevant.

I had even gone to the length before the service of taking off Danish Viking's file structure and putting back a standard one, which resulted in the Bolero spending an hour processing. (At which point it turned itself off.) He agreed that this was not right and asked how long it took if there was only one album on. Of course I didn't know.

On getting home I decided to find out. Lo and behold it took 5 minutes :( . So I decided to reformat the card. One album was now instantaneous. However a card full still took far too long. So I reformatted again, and put back on all my songs using Danish Viking's programme. Response was now very quick, and some may recall I posted here a while back regarding a slower response after I had made changes. Evidently taking off files leaves something that the Bolero spends time on - no doubt those with better knowledge than myself will know why.

Now that I have a quick response time again, I can live with things as they are and can't be bothered taking it further with Skoda. But if anyone knows exactly what the update is called, so I can point the dealer to it next time, I'd love to hear from them . To anyone else getting nowhere with the dealer, I'd suggest a reformat of the SD card which can make a world of difference.

Edited 14 February, 2011 by Carmudgeon

[john999boy]

A very helpful member of staff came out to point out the bit on the service card that said they'd checked it for any updates and that none was available. He even showed me his computer screen which listed all updates for anything issued by Skoda in the last year and although there were a few regarding the Bolero, none appeared in the least bit relevant.

It makes me wonder if the check they did was by just looking on the screen without the car being hooked up. Did they say that if any of the 'irrelevant updates' had been done though?

Your scenario was similar to the first time I enquired about it when they begrudgingly said I would have to pay an inspection charge if nothing was found as "the computer says no"! :S

However, looking at your location, maybe it's because the update hasn't got that far yet as it is all uphill from here?

[Carmudgeon]

I got the impression the car had been hooked up, although I can't remember his exact words. I don't think the "irrelevant" updates had been applied, but whilst I can't recall the detail there either I couldn't at the time see how they could possibly be firmware updates. He did say he was going to send a report to Skoda asking about it.

What I can't understand is that there either is or isn't an update, so if there is, why on Earth would Skoda be so shy about letting everyone know? Is it a "beta" that hasn't been fully tested yet?

[Stevoraith]

Forgive me for being lazy, but this is a veeeerrryy long thread!

Will the Bolero read .m4a files, i.e files copied direct from iTunes?

My car is still awaiting build so it should come complete with the latest firmware version, so no worries there.

All my music is currently in iTunes and I was just wondering what the easiest way of getting it all onto an sd card was.

If it won't read iTunes files, is there a way to convert to a file type that the Bolero can read?

[john999boy]

Forgive me for being lazy, but this is a veeeerrryy long thread!

Will the Bolero read .m4a files, i.e files copied direct from iTunes?

It's only 296 posts so far!

The Bolero only reads unprotected mp3 and wma files so you'll need to convert them first - google will no doubt help out?

[Stevoraith]

Thanks John, a quick google reveals that iTunes can convert m4a's into mp3 pretty easily.

[gav611]

hi im from a dealer and looking to try and carry out this reapir we are a new dealer and would like if anyone can help with contact details from a dealer that has managed to do this many thanks

[john999boy]

Rainworths did mine.

[PowerMalc]

Rainworths did mine.

John, thanks for that. Its my car Gav611 is trying to fix.

Gav. Rainworth Tel No 01623 623400