Week before last my Columbus head unit stopped working.

Symptom was the Skoda navigation splash screen would appear and then fade to black. This would happen every 40 secs or so whenever the car was on. Mild panic ensued and I came to Briskoda for help.

It would appear that what I had was a firmware issue but despite trying to reset it manually I could not get it to start up cleanly. I contacted Josi through the forum and he gave me some advice about versions of firmware that I could get on the net and attempt to install. However because I didn't know what firmware was originally installed I bit the bullet and contacted Capitol Skoda in Newport. They suggested getting it booked in and a new firmware update should not take more than an hours labour.

Just back from the garage now and I have a fully working Columbus with 7 digit post code search available. Version 2854 of the firmware was installed and I was charged 1hrs labour (£96).

They would even have installed v8 maps but someone has walked off with the disc.

Basically my advice is to anyone who has this problem is don't panic. If you have the ability to install the firmware you can do it but don't be afraid to go to Skoda. Not only is the radio/sat nav fully working again the car has also been cleaned inside and out.

Paul

l just had a similar problem this week with my columbus in 2009 Superb. Basically it keeps re-booting but not actually loading any further than the screen saver. The dealer in Sheffield have condemned it as new firmware would not load. Its 6 months out of warranty and the replacement is £2000 plus vat. Skoda have offered 45% good will but thankfully the lease company are paying the rest as car is on 4 year lease with full maint! Just hoping the new unit comes with full postcode search and map upgrade as currently only have disc with v5 maps. Anyone know if the latest units now have DAB?

I bet it works fine and the dealer are not loading the firmware DVD correctly.

They will be doing the wrong sequence of button presses for the unit to accept the DVD.

But it doesn't matter if a lease company is going to buy a new one. The dealer wins and you get a fresh unit. If that wasn't the case you would be gutted and looking at your options more carefully.

Columbus units are dropping like flies at the moment. Mine went a few months ago. It didn't need a new mother board or hard drive, just a firmware re load.

When fixed it hadn't even lost any of my music or satnav locations!!!

l just had a similar problem this week with my columbus in 2009 Superb. Basically it keeps re-booting but not actually loading any further than the screen saver. The dealer in Sheffield have condemned it as new firmware would not load. Its 6 months out of warranty and the replacement is £2000 plus vat. Skoda have offered 45% good will but thankfully the lease company are paying the rest as car is on 4 year lease with full maint! Just hoping the new unit comes with full postcode search and map upgrade as currently only have disc with v5 maps. Anyone know if the latest units now have DAB?

Dunno about `latest`, but mine is 5 months old and no DAB.

The dealer has - typically - given up far too early, either from a lack of interest, or knowledge, or both.

As gianthotdog says, they probably don't understand that loading firmware differs from map updating. In any event, there are a number of firmware recovery downloads available which will probably sort this out. If you'd like to try further yourself, drop me a PM, although I guess if it's being paid for, there's no incentive to do that?

Ray

DAB is available, but you won't get one as a replacement as it is a different part number

You would also require the DAB antenna

Its amazing how the dealers don't seem to understand how all this modern tech works, about time they started reading these forums! Thanks for all your comments, if I was paying the bill it would be invaluable advice, lets hope private owners benefit from better knowledge!

If anybody is having trouble with Columbus or other VW Group audio/sat nav the guys at HazzyDayz can help http://www.hazzydayztech.com/contact-us-2-w.asp

Well, just got replacement head unit fitted today, had bust up with dealer over firmware and maps. They wanted to install v5 maps from disc originally suplied with car back in 2009. I had thankfully taken disc out of car and pleaded ignorance so they reluctantly loaded v7 with full postcode search firmware. Only problem now is the maxi dot does not recognise the radio or navigation functions, only mfd, phone and set up options display. After almost 4 hours without success, they gave up and have escalated to skoda uk for assistance, can't believe how incompetent the dealer is being over this! No dab by the way, but was not expecting, just hoping!

Well, just got replacement head unit fitted today, had bust up with dealer over firmware and maps. They wanted to install v5 maps from disc originally suplied with car back in 2009. I had thankfully taken disc out of car and pleaded ignorance so they reluctantly loaded v7 with full postcode search firmware. Only problem now is the maxi dot does not recognise the radio or navigation functions, only mfd, phone and set up options display. After almost 4 hours without success, they gave up and have escalated to skoda uk for assistance, can't believe how incompetent the dealer is being over this! No dab by the way, but was not expecting, just hoping!

It may or may not help, but when I had a new Columbus fitted, it failed to recognise all the functions. In my case the problem was solved when the dealer rebooted both the Columbus and the car MFD system by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery. Apparently the two systems had to be booted up at the same time for them to handshake properly.

The issue is down to coding and the lack of understanding of the coding by the dealer

Cheers chaps, i'll see whar they come back with and throw in your comments if necessary

How strange! Switched on this morning and maxi dot has full list of functions back up and running, must have just needed a good sleep, loving the free upgrade courtesy of skoda and the lease co, picture quality seems better and latest firmware has a few extras like speed limits on main roads, still can't get my head round the price though, I think the Kenwood they had in the dealer for a grand looks a better bet if it was my money!