Firstly, hello to all of you.

I have just bought a 59 plate Superb elegance. I am happy so far except for the lack of 7 digit postcodes and support for SDHC.

I have a new maps disk but have not taken the plunge to upgrade the firmware (not easy as the wife has the car in Cornwall and I am working in the south east Mon-Fri). I do not know what version the Columbus is but I am sure the firmware hasn't been upgraded.

Apart from potentially bricking the unit, I have one major concern. Does updating the firmware affect any other feature using the head unit. For example, will the parking sensors display still work if I upgrade the firmware?

I am a technical manager and have worked with technology for years but I have to say the whole Columbus versions and firmware upgrade compatibilities etc is somewhat confusing.

Thanks

Paul

Welcome to Briskoda!

No other features will be affected, don't worry. The upgrade will probably wipe your existing maps and any music you currently have on the hard drive, but as you have the map disk, it's a simple re-load after firmware upgrading. Your head unit is going to be a "B" Revision unit, so you need firmware 3810. Let me know if you have any difficulty in obtaining it.

HTH,

Ray

Edited 23 April, 201313 yr by Argee

Welcome.

Have a look at this page on My GTI. It has most of the answers.

I'm running 402x on a factory 'A' revision with no issues.

These three features make it worthwhile going to 402x in my opinion: faster user interface, automatic illumination control and the enhanced destination input.

Thanks guys.

I`m thinking of upgrading my firmware as well but only having bought my Superb less than a week ago its becoming a bit of a minefield. I`ve read and re-read as much info as I can find but I`m still a bit worried.

The car is a November 2010 Combi Elegance. I`ve taken out the Columbus unit to get the details as I can`t use the long press setup button and apparenetly I have:-

HW H42

SW 2742

3TO 035 680A

This apparently is actually a C version not an A but I can`t find any reference to 2742 firmware. I was going to download the 4020 firmware but the links on MyGTi seem to be not working so I went for 3810 after reading of Ray`s experiences. I`ve burnt it to a disc ok but I`m still concerned that I might do some damage and I can`t find 2742 to revert back to just in case.

Any advice would be much appreciated about whether it should be ok and also is there anywhere else I can get 4020 or has it been removed for a reason?

Edited 23 April, 201313 yr by ashfan

... I`ve burnt it to a disc ok but I`m still concerned that I might do some damage and I can`t find 2742 to revert back to just in case.

If you burned it at a low speed onto a good-quality CD or DVD blank, then it should be fine. Any upgrading of firmware carries a risk (I trashed a Samsung laser printer using their own firmware upgrade, but they replaced it). There are firmware recovery downloads you could burn to another disk if you're concerned, but the amount of actual bricked units are very rare. If you're not feeling lucky, see if you can find a dealer able to do it for you.

The actual process is simplicity itself. Do NOT put the ignition key in. Insert the disk, which will switch on the Columbus. Wait until the disk is read. If the disk is good, you'll see a message about having successfully having found a SWF file. Now you'll see a screen which requires you to confirm you wish to proceed with the upgrade - you must press the on-screen button, then you'll be asked again. Now the screen will transfer into a white screen with progress bars, showing the various categories to be updated, together with progress. It will take a little less than one hour to complete. During this time the screen WILL go blank a couple of times - DO NOT PANIC! Eventually, the process will complete and you'll need to eject the disk, reload maps and load any music you want.

If the disk you burned is duff, you'll be told this early on - a "Disk Error" message will appear. If it does, eject the disk - no problem.

Ray

Thanks Ray that seems easy enough. I chose to burn the disc at 2.4 speed that should be ok.

I'm confused by the following line in vRS Carl's table of firmwares in another thread:-

3T0 035 680 A is C revsion LED Screen equivalent.

Is my Columbus some sort of special unit with an LED screen. Do other Columbus units have a different type of screen? Or is that a dumb question?

So whether mine is a C or an A version, 3810 should be ok?

Perhaps worth my posting this again from an old thread:

I have an 09 Superb with the very early part number 3T0035680 (not even an A, B, C or D), running SW/FW 1164. After spending hours and hours on forums trying to work out how to upgrade the firmware and to what version, I just took the plunge and shoved in a 4204 disc which I had acquired.

One tense but happy hour later: a Columbus unit with 4204 firmware successfully loaded and all functions working. Another hour saw my V8 maps disc loaded. 7-digit post-coding here I come!

Message: even early units can be upgraded directly to 4204 without faff, shenanigans or trauma.

Update: still working fine, 8 months on. I'm now on V9 maps on the same firmware.

Thanks Ned that puts my mind at rest a bit. Unfortunately the link to the 4020 firmware on mygti doesn't seem to be working

Is my Columbus some sort of special unit with an LED screen. Do other Columbus units have a different type of screen? Or is that a dumb question?

So whether mine is a C or an A version, 3810 should be ok?

I believe that units later than mine do have an LED backlit screen - I'm sure others will comment on that.

As you say, 3810 will be fine. A while back I did some quite extensive searching/research on firmwares and learned that my "B" head unit was not designed to take v4, but I tried it anyway. It didn't work properly, so I reverted to 3810. This confirmed - to me at least - that there is only so far I could go in upgrading my Columbus, because the hardware wasn't meant for firmware later than 38xx. Others may well have had success with later iterations, but I didn't, so when you asked I answered from my experience, not opinion.

Your unit, being a "C" revision, may well (even should) function with v4xxx, but there have been so many tweaks with a variety of versions of v4 (some allegedly written for "B" units) that I don't choose to trust them.

My unit works perfectly now with v9 maps, 32GB SD cards, 7-digit postcode searches, so I'm happy. I hope you will be once you've upgraded, but I would rather you tried with a known stable version than anything experimental, hence my v3810 suggestion.

Ray

Edited 23 April, 201313 yr by Argee

Thanks Ray that sounds good to me, I'll give it a go tomorrow. I did read the thread where you mentioned your experiences a few times but with being a newbie and tinkering with such an expensive piece of equipment I want to make sure I'm getting it right.

Just one more question, sorry.

I`ve been doing some research over at gpsunderground and found this statement in a thread that lists all possible firmwares

"All factory firmwares delete the settings, partitions and codings.

So if you install a factory firmware you always need to recode the device"

I don`t know what this means. For some firmwares it does warn in big red letters that recoding needs to be done but 3810 isn`t one of them. Then I read the statement above in a post that contradicts this. Did you have to recode your Columbus after updating?

As stated in the warning, the factory firmwares are just that - they completely clear the head unit of settings when applied. Do NOT download anything with such a warning.

Ray

Thanks Ray. I`m not bothered about music, settings or navigation as I don`t have any music on it yet, I can redo the settings and I have a 6.1 navigation disc if I have to use that. Its just the recoding bit I`m not sure of. Did you have to recode yours with Vcds after installing 3810 firmware?

Ignore this. I am being a plum and not reading it thoroughly. I never spotted that 3810 is an upgrade and not a factory firmware. But I am learning, honest, albeit a bit slowly.

I give in, its just not happening. I`ve downloaded the 3810 firmware from two different sources, mygti and gpsunderworld. Burnt the iso to a disc using imgburn twice, then put each disc into the satnav (no ignition) and waited. After the disc spins up for a few seconds it just sits there doing nothing. I waited for about 3 minutes and gave up. Both disc s do the same.

Did you turn the unit on before inserting the disc? (I think you're supposed to [Edit: according to the 'Steps to load firmware' instructions at http://www.my-gti.com/3093/volkswagen-rns-510-firmware-upgrade-to-version-3810-3814-3816-3818].)

Edited 24 April, 201313 yr by Devon Wanderer

I give in, its just not happening. I`ve downloaded the 3810 firmware from two different sources, mygti and gpsunderworld. Burnt the iso to a disc using imgburn twice, then put each disc into the satnav (no ignition) and waited. After the disc spins up for a few seconds it just sits there doing nothing. I waited for about 3 minutes and gave up. Both disc s do the same.

Sounds like an incomplete or dud burn. What software are you using, ashfan?

Ray

I give in, its just not happening. I`ve downloaded the 3810 firmware from two different sources, mygti and gpsunderworld. Burnt the iso to a disc using imgburn twice, then put each disc into the satnav (no ignition) and waited. After the disc spins up for a few seconds it just sits there doing nothing. I waited for about 3 minutes and gave up. Both disc s do the same.

What discs are you using?Try a different brand of disc.

I used 7zip to unrar the files then Imgburn to burn the ISO. Looking at the files on the disc there is no .swf file unless its buried in one of the folders.

My unit won`t turn on from the "on" button unless the key is turned (don`t worry I didn`t do that for the firmware update) but after a couple of attempts it does accept the disc without turning on the unit but after a few minutes the screen is still black.

I managed to get it sorted. It was by trial and error. I turned the ignition on, then turned off the Columbus so that it was only displaying a clock, then took out the ignition key and inserted the disc and hey presto the firmware loaded up and I am now on 3810.

So while my luck was in I decided to install version 7918 map software which was going fine until my battery died for the third time in a week. I`m hoping it will resume as soon as the battery is charged up.

So while my luck was in I decided to install version 7918 map software which was going fine until my battery died for the third time in a week. I`m hoping it will resume as soon as the battery is charged up.

I hope so too....... Software updates do not generally like a mid-way power outage.

I managed to get it sorted. It was by trial and error. I turned the ignition on, then turned off the Columbus so that it was only displaying a clock, then took out the ignition key and inserted the disc and hey presto the firmware loaded up and I am now on 3810.

So while my luck was in I decided to install version 7918 map software which was going fine until my battery died for the third time in a week. I`m hoping it will resume as soon as the battery is charged up.

That's good to hear. Glad you got there in the end. I killed my battery too, playing with the toys. (It doesn't do them much good, I understand.) I installed a 77Ah Varta in the end.

A 77Ah Varta sounds like a great idea. It seems if I don`t use the car for a few days then the battery is flat. Having said that I know of course that playing with the toys doesn`t help

A 77Ah Varta sounds like a great idea. It seems if I don`t use the car for a few days then the battery is flat. Having said that I know of course that playing with the toys doesn`t help

That doesn't sound too good at all. Even though the ECU is monitoring constantly, it shouldn't be draining that quickly. I got my replacement from Tayna (http://www.tayna.co.uk/E44-Varta-Silver-Car-Battery-577400078-P7726.html). Since my general usage is short, infrequent trips, I've also disabled the DRLs and don't use Auto lights.