I replaced my faulty headunit last night with one from eBay and this afternoon my battery's flat. But the battery was flat when I got the car last week, and needed to be charged up, so I'm not sure whether it's my battery, alternator or headunit that's the problem. The car is a 2010/10; the replacement unit is dated March 2011.

PS Hardware is H42, software 2724.

The columbus, especially if it was from ebay could have the wrong firmware installed for the Superb. If the one you have now advertises itself as not suffering from battery drain then it is running a hacked firmware, it could be a hacked firmware anyway. Essentially getting a plain vanilla firmware installed could resolve the problem. 2724 is quiet an old firmware and certainly not the best for running on a 2010 unit.

Beware though, that flashing the firmware is not for the faint hearted. There is always a possibility that the ebay unit you have has been stolen at some point in its life, and if the code has been extracted by soldering onto the eeprom by someone in the past then flashing may result in a dead unit. The Columbus is widely stolen across central europe, and the security is easy to overcome with the right tools.

Thanks, but how do I do that? I've got the SWL-CD downloaded, which I think takes it back to 11-something. Would that work?

You really want to go forward with the firmware versions, there are some in the 4xxx range now. Having not had a Superb for more than 12 months I am a little out of touch with the actual versions now.

http://www.my-gti.co...and-information

Seems to have some info.

There is also a thread here for version 5218.

http://gpsundergroun...are-5218-a.html

More here.

http://gpsunderground.com/forum/volkswagen-seat-skoda/20308-all-available-firmware-rns510.html

I think I've read, though, that only certain models can be updated. I'd rather just try to get my money back than brick it. I've noticed that the hard drive seems to be on all the while, even with no key in. You can hear something buzzing in there, anyway. That doesn't seem right, does it? I've just given the car a run and taken the headunit out out to test whether the battery will discharge anyway.

The HD will run all the time, it starts booting up as soon as you unlock the car. If you don't put the key in the ignition and switch on, it should go back to sleep after about 10-15 mins. Unlock the car, sit inside and do nothing. if the HDD is still spinning after 10 to 15 mins then you have the cause of the flat battery.

Thanks. If the battery's still charged in a couple of days, I'll reinstall it and try that.

Back to the OP, though, can anyone tell me whether the battery drain problem is dependent on (A) the age of the unit or ( the SW version in the unit or © the age of the car? In other words, what cured it, and when?