Friend of mine had exactly the same on his Superb (2009 I think) with factory fitted Columbus following a bodged firmware upgrade to 3xxx (from the factory installed 2xxx).

After a quick panic, he went straight to 4xxx on a disc that I had given him and lo and behold, he then had a working Columbus with 4xxx firmware and three partitions. And then installed v9 maps to get the full post code functionality.

The moral: try a different firmware on a different type of disc burnt at a different speed.

I've got an A revision working happily with full functionality on firmware 4020. You have to hunt down the version specifically written for earlier A and B revisions but it works fine if you do it by the book, ie good media, slow burn etc..

Adam

I am really sorry to bother eveyone with the whole sat nav update debate....however.....at the risk of going over old ground...here goes.

I picked up my Superb last weeekend and the sat nav had changed markedly from when i test drove the car. When i test drove it i had a play (as you do) and i could put in 7 digit postcodes....great, i thought.

Having picked up the car though, i now find i can only put in 5 digit postcodes and my firmware revision is on version 1xxx. I have a feeling that when the dealer did a factory reset on the satnav to remove the previous owners music etc that the Columbus unit has really gone back to factory settings.

Obviously i am reluctant to update myself in case it all goes wrong, although i am confident in updating electronics. I have looked at the mygti website for firmware updates etc but none of the links for the software are working.

If my dealer tries to charge me for the updates then i will be forced into doing it myself, i am not about to pay extra for something that was on the car i bought...if you know what i mean.

So my question is, does the firmware need to be updated in stages or can i go from 1xxx to 4xxx in one go,and where can i get the folders from. Secondly where could i get a copy of at least ver 7 maps from to compliment my new firmware, without paying £000's for a disc from Skoda (if this is poossible).

Thanks everyone

Gaz

Edited 23 January, 201312 yr by jinxgj

Sorry I don't know the answers to your questions, but personally I would be back at the dealer telling them the sat-nav has been changed since you test drove and you want it restoring to the latest maps and firmware. You can truthfully say you checked it took full post codes when you test drove and now it does not.

I suspect you are right and they reset it in some way and probably don't even realise it has gone backwards.

+1 with last poster. But it even sounds like they either reinstalled older firmware and/or older map version, because I doubt a factory reset would achieve what you said has happened.

To answer yr question you need more info, you can move to newer firmware in one go but it will depend on the revision of your unit. Pressing and holding setup for 30 seconds MAY tell you all this, but if not a vcds scan will. The firmware for the relevant revision can then be found on the internet with a bit of googling.

The maps are harder to source legally, I got my v7 maps from an eBay seller getting rid of bankrupt stock but have since sold them after I got a free v8 upgrade from a dealer.

Adam

Gaz

I agree with spencem. Not sure whether you bought it from a dealer (guessing so as you think they reloaded the firmware) but they should do this as some sort of warranty fix. I had a firmware issue and the reload only took an hour to do at Skoda Newport - although i had to pay for the labour charge as my issue was the firmware fell over as per the previous post from CVANTER above. You could also get them to uplift the maps as well at the same time.

That would be my first option before getting the firmware and loading it yourself. It would be a shame to spoil your shiny new toy.

Paul

Thanks for the replies guys,

You are all corerct and i thoroughly agree with you.

I have spoken to the dealer (Underwoods Colchester) and the car is booked in on Saturday for a twindoor fault and i mentioned the sat nav details when i booked it in.

I will let you all know how i get on.

There are many stories of Skoda dealers updating the maps but not the firmware.

Without a firmware upgrade you won't get 7 -digit postcodes back again.

I believe it has something to do with them scanning your car and it not registering as an update being available for the Columbus firmware.

Even if you tell them there is, they seem largely ignorant to the fact that the info and necessary files are freely and legally available on the Internet.

Good luck with that one, but I would certainly not be happy in your position and would insist that they update firmware to 4xxx and maps to v.9 (they will probably deny that v.9 is available - but VW have it and it works on the Columbus).

+1 on the good luck wishes! Some dealers don't know the difference between software and firmware, let alone what the various iterations of firmware add to the Columbus. I suppose the reason is that they're not enthusiasts, simply wage-earners, so if there's nothing in it for them to take an interest, then there's nothing in it for you either.

Perhaps this sort of attitude doesn't affect all dealers, but unless you can find someone who's as keen as you are to get the best out of the car, then you really will need good luck. My dealership has a very good service manager who is always ready to listen. When I added voice control to my '58 plate model, she was most interested in seeing the results for herself, as she could see the possibility of enhancing such used models for sale. IME, that's rare, but I'm afraid that the firmware position is going to remain the same until more realise that VW versions actually work on Skodas!

The current "download and DIY" situation with firmware upgrades is laughable, but we won't improve things if we don't "encourage" dealers to improve.

Ray

As promised an update.

Skoda have no idea about firmware for the most part it seems, as evidenced by the blank looks I got and abject inaction from the garage on Saturday. So, forced somewhat into a corner with my 1xxx firmware and v3 maps I decided to have go myself and cross my fingers, toes and eyes that everything will work out fine.

So I downloaded FW 3xxx from the Internet, burn't the image to a disc, prayed and put the disc in the Columbus and prayed some more! 55 minutes later, as Borat would say...great success!! But then i pressed the map button........aaaarrrggghhhh...no maps!

My mate down the road picked up a new Yeti a couple of months ago and I suddenly had a brainwave that he has got a map disc with his new car.....Borat struck again and in no time v8 ( about an hour actually ) maps were uploaded onto my HDD and I now have a fully updated system.

There is just one teeny weeny itsy bitsy problem which I am thoroughly prepared to ignore! When you go to the Nav screen and go to enter a new destination then click postcode, there is a blue cross with a couple of white numbers above it just above the OK button. I have looked at videos of other Columbus systems and the blue cross on mine is a blank space on everyone else's. Like i say I am giving it a thorough ignoring since this is the only place it appears and it must be a minor error in the code somewhere and I have not found that it affects any of the operation of any system.

So the next thing is to upgrade my bluetooth module to something that will speak any other language then Nokian!.......but probably more questions from me on the relevant thread for that one...so many part numbers to choose from...so many opportunities to get it wrong.

Thanks everyone once again, and I would say to anyone contemplating this change.....if you have some fairly good computer know how...give it a try and see, but I will deny ever saying that if yours goes all wrong!

I had a couple of strange characters like you describe on mine with 381x firmware installed, which then disappeared when I upgraded to 402x.

But it wiped my maps and music as the version of 402x I found reformatted the hard drive again.

Adam

Ditto adamal.

Mine disappeared with 42xx firmware.

Ditto adamal.

Mine disappeared with 42xx firmware.

42xx firmware??? That new then?? I was only aware of 412x.

Adam

It's a new version based upon 412x. Details as below.

Start up time is reduced by 250%;

Key press input speed up 120%;

Voice control activated without external microphone;

NEW Wifi hotspot mode;

NEW Self updating maps;

NEW Ability to rip MP3's direct from CD.

Sorry. Was actually a typo while trying to do two jobs (badly) at the same time.

I meant 41xx (more accurately 412x).

Thanks. Hmmm might have to do some digging to see whether it cam be used on an A revision. The startup speed sounds promising, although other things sound like they might need newer hardware.....

Thanks. Hmmm might have to do some digging to see whether it cam be used on an A revision. The startup speed sounds promising, although other things sound like they might need newer hardware.....

IIRC it's 'Q' revisions onwards...

Q??? That's high, it was only on E when I last looked!! Things have moved on!

Sure is...

It's a new version based upon 412x. Details as below.

Start up time is reduced by 250%;

Key press input speed up 120%;

Voice control activated without external microphone;

NEW Wifi hotspot mode;

NEW Self updating maps;

NEW Ability to rip MP3's direct from CD.

I'd love to know your source for this info, because nothing I've seen about 412x includes the above.

Ray

412x is the current latest.

The rest was all typographical errors and dreaming.

412x is the current latest.

The rest was all typographical errors and dreaming.

Do you mean that you made the errors and made up the content? :think:

Ray

so is kbphoto saying he just made all that up, i hope not i spent most of the day trying to find this upgrade to put on my columbus.

bill

Do you mean that you made the errors and made up the content? :think:

Yes.

Sorry

Should have saved it until April 1st...

Thought the 'Q' revision might have been a clue ('Q' plates for kit cars / 'F' revision being the latest available).

That's SO disappointing. It was apparent to me that there was no "Q" revision, but that might not apply to the majority of forum members. In my research in trying to negate your claim, I entered "RNS510 Firmware 4120" into Google. Most of the links were in either German or Italian, but one of the leading entries (which Google made an attempt to translate for me) resulted in a download for a "Test CD" allegedly from a Skoda factory. When I looked a little bit further into that option, it turned out that the CD did indeed upgrade the firmware to 1420, but reset the entire head unit so that VCDS was required to make it work properly. Finally, to claim "typographical error" when what you really meant was "lying" is not only NOT HELPFUL, but could have affected several members who were prepared to accept your word (which, AFAICR, has been reliable in the past) and downloaded the first link they found.

I thought we were trying to help other members on here. Unbelieveable! :(

Ray

Ray, I had to read it twice but it did jump straight out at me as a joke. Perhaps you missed the bottom line of his post which when read in context with the rest of it makes it quite obvious.

Hope your Columbus didn't end up screwed as a result mate