Columbus Voice Control

[Noddy90]

Hi, chaps,

Voice control works fine with the phone, so I know the microphones are connected, but it does not work with any other function.

I press the button in the top-right of the unit and then get a menu of possible voice controls. I shout "navigation", "radio" or whatever and the bloke reminds me of my options. I shout again and then the man says "cancel".

I've read somewhere that I need an additional wiring harness - is this correct? Those that I've looked at tend to come with a microphone supplied, but I've already got a functioning one: aren't those kits for people who don't have bluetooth at all?

I have 4024 firmware and have tried to sort this through VCDS. In CAN Gateway, there is an option to activate voice control, but the unit will not accept the coding: Error 31 (out of range). Is this because I don't have the extra harness?

Help appreciated.

Thanks.

[mannyo]

What year is the car, voice control is a very recent feature and earlier cars were not wired for voice control to function.

[adamal]

I think it is the firmware that dictates whether voice control works. My guess is the wiring behind Columbus. One configuration allows exactly this to happen, can't remember off top of my head, but I think your mic should be clipped into back of Columbus, but its probably into back of Bluetooth box. It's easily switched by changing connections behind the Columbus, but access is an issue on the Octavia, not sure about the Superb.

Adam

[Noddy90]

What year is the car, voice control is a very recent feature and earlier cars were not wired for voice control to function.

Hi,

It's June, 2009.

[Noddy90]

I think it is the firmware that dictates whether voice control works. My guess is the wiring behind Columbus. One configuration allows exactly this to happen, can't remember off top of my head, but I think your mic should be clipped into back of Columbus, but its probably into back of Bluetooth box. It's easily switched by changing connections behind the Columbus, but access is an issue on the Octavia, not sure about the Superb.

Adam

Hi,

Thanks for this. If I switched the connection, would I lose the voice activation of the phone?

[KBPhoto]

This page may be useful for the coding;

This one for the voice commands themselves (in case any one doesn't know);

And this one for how to wire it up for voice control & bluetooth (also includes most of the coding in the first link).

According to this thread (post #2 and my basic French) it looks like option 2 in the previous link is the way to go for voice control and bluetooth. Otherwise it looks like bluetooth only.

[Noddy90]

That's fantastically helpful, Karl. Unfortunately, wiring diagrams and talk of connections, terminals and the like brings me out in a rash. Unless I can get it done by a local specialist, I think I'm going to leave it alone. Thanks, anyway!

[KBPhoto]

Is your BT factory fitted? I seem to remember your Columbus was, but not sure on the BT.

If it was retro fitted, there may well be two plugs and it may just need the mic swapping to the other plug!

[mannyo]

I think it is the firmware that dictates whether voice control works. My guess is the wiring behind Columbus. One configuration allows exactly this to happen, can't remember off top of my head, but I think your mic should be clipped into back of Columbus, but its probably into back of Bluetooth box. It's easily switched by changing connections behind the Columbus, but access is an issue on the Octavia, not sure about the Superb.

Adam

From the factory, early cars had the factory mic connected only to the bluetooth module and there was no audio input to the Columbus. Later cars have the microphone connected to the Columbus first and then onto the BT module. My September 2008 Superb2 did not support voice operation even with the latest firmware and voice control enabled as the wiring was not present to the columbus.

The guide below shows how to wire it up for early cars.

http://www.my-gti.com/1234/volkswagen-rns-510-microphone-connection-for-voice-control

[Noddy90]

Is your BT factory fitted? I seem to remember your Columbus was, but not sure on the BT.

If it was retro fitted, there may well be two plugs and it may just need the mic swapping to the other plug!

Can't guarantee it was factory fitted, but it was certainly fitted when it came to me. I've never touched it, and I don't think the previous owner was much of a modder.

[adamal]

From the factory, early cars had the factory mic connected only to the bluetooth module and there was no audio input to the Columbus. Later cars have the microphone connected to the Columbus first and then onto the BT module. My September 2008 Superb2 did not support voice operation even with the latest firmware and voice control enabled as the wiring was not present to the columbus.

The guide below shows how to wire it up for early cars.

http://www.my-gti.com/1234/volkswagen-rns-510-microphone-connection-for-voice-control

Fair enough, mines a mid 2008 car with a unit A revision and it does have the voice control wiring. And I'm pretty sure its the original as it is consistent with the manual dated similarly. So perhaps around mid 2008 is the time the wiring came in.

[adamal]

Is your BT factory fitted? I seem to remember your Columbus was, but not sure on the BT.

If it was retro fitted, there may well be two plugs and it may just need the mic swapping to the other plug!

+1, this is what I was getting at.

[wokwon]

The mic is supposed to go into the RNS-510, then come out again and go off to your bluetooth unit.

[KBPhoto]

It might be worth Ned popping his Columbus out and having a look at the loom to see if there are any other connectors for the mic already there! If there is a 'pass through' loom, it will be quite obvious.

[mannyo]

It might be worth Ned popping his Columbus out and having a look at the loom to see if there are any other connectors for the mic already there! If there is a 'pass through' loom, it will be quite obvious.

if you look at the quadlock connector, you should see wires on the pins highlighted below from the mygti website. if there are no wires present then voice control will not work.

[Departed]

I have a 58-plate Superb II which had no Columbus voice control either. Following an excellent thread on here, I was able to order the required (VW) parts for the upgrade. This involved removing the Columbus unit (easy), the overhead light unit (not too bad), taking the microphone lead from the overhead unit and making up an extended pair of wires long enough to reach the Columbus and back again (so 4-core wiring or two pairs). Getting the connections soldered was fairly difficult due to the fineness of the wiring involved, but the major issue was routing the wiring from the roof to the Columbus - removing the nearside pillar trim and partly lowering the roof lining, etc. The connections to the Columbus itself were not too difficult, once I realised how the locking pins in the terminal block worked. The irony is that - now I've done it - I hardly ever use it!

All-in-all, not impossible, easier to do a second time, but I don't think it's for the faint-hearted!

Ray

[Noddy90]

Thanks, Ray; you've convinced me to leave it alone!

[Noddy90]

Hi, chaps,

I'm actually coming back to this, if I may. Following Karl's advice, I whipped out the unit and took a few photographs. Unfortunately I know NOTHING (zip; nada; nussink) about electrics and so I haven't the faintest idea what I'm looking at. I can't even match it to the circuit diagram on the unit - that's how clueless I am!

Could someone please have a look at these photos and tell me what my options are to:

• Have Columbus voice control AND phone/bluetooth working.
  
• Switch from phone/bluetooth to Columbus and just have that working instead.
  

Remember, I cannot solder, route wires, reconfigure etc. I can switch block connectors, but that's about it.

Hoping for some wisdom from ya'.

[KBPhoto]

I'm confused by those pictures as the wiring to the green block seems to be wrong!

Assuming that Ned has the mic wired to the BT module (hence no voice control), where are the connection linking the HU to the BT module so the mic can work for calls? Shouldn't they be in pins 4 & 9 on the green block?

Why are only pins 6 & 12 occupied? Surely 5,11 & 12 should also be in use with this configuration of microphone?

Can anyone shed some light on this?

I suspect that it would not be too much of an onerous task to change the mic pins around and get voice control working...

[KBPhoto]

Ned,

This looks like what you have got fitted: Bluetooth only;

If you get one of these fitted, it should be the solution to your problem.

Most of the terminals plug straight in to the connector block and a couple need crimping (by the looks of the picture, but I cannot be certain). Your existing mic cable then plugs in to the white block in the picture and the terminals push into the existing green block in your head unit loom.

Trim removal and running the wire to the correct places will be a pain, but not too difficult as long as you are careful. I think I can supply instructions on removing the trim on your car.

[Noddy90]

Hi, Karl,

Many thanks for the research! I notice that the first link is for an RNS-315 - is that the same as the RNS-510? The second one does look promising - does the wiring have to run to the bluetooth module under the front seat, or are you talking about up to the microphone/s in the overhead unit?

I'm OK with trim removal - I once stripped out a Mini to inject every cavity with Waxoyl (those were the days!) and I installed sound-proofing in a Carlton once; it's electrics that baffle me. If I can get exactly to the nub of the problem, I have an excellent auto-electrician near to me who can probably do this in a jiffy.

I must confess I'm a bit baffled as to why the hardware is there for full voice control but not the wiring, straight out of the factory. For most of the time I've had the car, the button in the top right-hand corner of Columbus (a speaker icon with an i next to it) has merely repeated the previous instruction of the sat-nav; no suggestion of voice control functionality at all. Recently, however, it switched to offering me voice control options; it's obvious, however, that the little man simply can't hear what I shout. Tonight I did a re-boot and the button switched back to sat-nav instructions; I re-booted again and it went back to voice control! I have changed some settings with VCDS, but instantly changed them back as nothing seemed to help the problem - I don't think this is a result of my messing with VCDS.

Weird, what?

[KBPhoto]

If I can get exactly to the nub of the problem, I have an excellent auto-electrician near to me who can probably do this in a jiffy.

In which case get him to require it according to the instructions on the My GTI website and all will be good for the sake of two bits of wire and a few beer tokens for his time.

I think I've already posted a link to the page you'll need. See third link in post no. 6

[a.spillane]

Is your BT factory fitted? I seem to remember your Columbus was, but not sure on the BT.

If it was retro fitted, there may well be two plugs and it may just need the mic swapping to the other plug!

 

 

I have now recieved my retrofit Bluetooth Kit from car-systems.com and have a question reagrding voice control.

 

Presently I have a Bolero headunit fitted, and may upgrade to Columbus at a later date.

 

On wiring loom for the new bluetooth, the cable that is feed up the A pillar, across the roof lining toward the sunglasses holder in the roofling where the mircophone will be connected there a a white block connecter which connects the microphone. Also on the wiring loom that goes into the rear of the headunit there are two other white block connecters with short wires.

 

On the car-systems.com site there is a picture with tends to suggest if I connect the microphone to the shorter cables then I would get voice control ?? Is this correct ??

 

Can you get voice control on bolero or is it simply columbus only ?

 

If its just a case of changing over the connecters, is it worth doing now or if/when I upgrade to columbus.

 

I can post a picture of the wiring loom if this helps with advice.

 

Edited 29 July, 2013 by a.spillane

[KBPhoto]

Here's the link explaining the two connectors and their options: http://www.my-gti.com/1234/volkswagen-rns-510-microphone-connection-for-voice-control

It's for the RNS-510 / Columbus but no reason why it should be different on the Bolero as all the recent VAG HU's have the same pin outs.

[tubbytommy]

just to add some info to this thread.

i bought a bluetooth unit and sat nav and the later wiring loom for bluetooth units has voice control pre wired.

there is a choice on the loom of where to connect the mic.

one goes to bt and the other to columbus voice control.

if you wire it to bt the mic only works on phone, if you choose the other connection both voice control and phone work.