My wife's Columbus has gone to German language and has lost her preset stations. This happened the journey after I'd reset the time on the clock (but had not changed anything else). The display in front of the driver is still in English UK, it's just the radio that seems to have lost the plot.

 

What's the solution?

Move to Germany.......?

In the maxi dot under settings you can switch between 20 or so languages I'd check that first.

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Try resetting the Columbus (press <, > and eject at the same time to reboot it).

Check language in Maxidot as above.

Get someone with VCDS to check what language the Columbus is set to use.

You can change the columbus language in the settings, it sounds like yours has reset to the default settings.

Resetting/rebooting by pressing <, > and eject either briefly or for 10 seconds puts up a message in German which never goes away. It doesn't reset or reboot

 

The MFD is set for UK English.

 

The welcome screen on the Columbus is in English.

 

Is it time to disconnect the battery?

Use Google Translate or Babel Fish on a mobile to see what the message says and follow the instructions? 

The welcome screen will be English as it is effectively a picture that appears across the whe screen.

Check the Columbus menu (obviously in German) to see if there is a way of changing the language in there (I can't recall seeing one so can't advise).

There is a setting in the hidden menu to 'Reset to factory defaults'.

Failing that, VCDS should be able to reset the language.

Disconnecting the battery is not much different to resetting the Columbus and you only have to reset steering, electric windows, etc.

Just found this in the Columbus handbook if it helps..

 

Going through the menus using my schoolboy German allows me to get as far as selecting English as language.

 

The message then shown cannot be translated by Babel Fish. It is "Die gewunschte Sprache wird geladen" which I think means "the chosen language is being loaded".

 

All good, except the message never goes away and the language is never loaded.

Firmware is corrupted. Check what is your current firmware and upgrade accordingly.

With what you described, Vagcom, reset, etc is not going to help.

Firmware is corrupted. Check what is your current firmware and upgrade accordingly.

 

How do I check the current firmware and how do I update it?

Press setup and hold. It will go into ver info. If it only show fm and am, then yours is at most ver 2xxx.

U also need to know your Columbus hardware ver. If u have a ! On the top right corner, it's ver A/B, upgrade to 3810A.

If it's a mic logo, then 3970 is better.

Be warn that your hdd will most likely be wipe clean, so standby a copy of map to reload.

Take the Columbus out, look on the white sticker and post the part number (starting 3T0 probably), the HW and SW version and I'll point you to an appropriate firmware download.

Del part number 3T0035680B
HW Version H42
SW Version 3814
SV-SW Version C_EU_10.342_t1
HW Vehicle 0xC801
 

Try this download link to 4020 firmware.

Not the latest firmware available, but I know the file is good and will hopefully overcome your issues.

Actually if you are on 3814, I would recommend 5238. It's stable and apparently the touchscreen responsiveness is faster.

Google for it to download

That is a much newer firmware and should work.

I just put up what I had and know works. I haven't used anything newer. Yet.

We are all here to help

Thanks everyone. I'm not technical but know someone fairly locally who is. I'll pass all this on and arrange to go see him.

A bit late in the day I know but the Columbus system in my 2011 Yeti did this last week, no radio, CD player, phone connectivity etc. & all displays in German. The sat-nav  showed the route on both the map display & maxi-dot screens, but no voice commands. The system wouldn't reset using any of the recommended methods & I was resigned to a large bill to put everything right.

This was confirmed at my local Skoda garage, Lookers in Eccles, Manchester, where a replacement unit would have been £2600 + fitting!!!! However, the technician, Brian, wanted to try something during a routine service & 90 minutes later, after a software update, the system was fully functional again. A big, big thank you to Brian & the staff at Lookers Skoda Eccles then.

Just wondering how many other VAG owners haven't been offered this fix & been charged for a complete new RNS510/Columbus unit.

I get a load of these to repair. In fact sometimes I've even had faulty units sent to me with the dealers software disc stuck inside after they've tried and failed to repair them.