I recently bought a three year old Octavia from a main dealer and found that the maps were still the 2013 version. I've finally succeeded in updating to 2016/17 version but it was so difficult to get a straight forward list of instructions on how to do so I thought it worth sharing.

 

Background:

1. Do it on a pc - it just won't work if any stage is done on a mac
2. You have to use the original Skoda SD card

The method that worked for me:

1. Back up the contents of the Skoda SD card to a folder (call it what you like - I named it 2013 version)
2. Go to http://updateportal.skoda-auto.com and download the new version to a new folded (named e.g. 2016 version)
3. Download 7-zip to use when unzipping the download. You must use 7-zip.
4. Wipe the SD card by formatting it. Choose MS-DOS not NTFS. The Skoda instructions here state you should choose NTFS format but I found this led to getting an error message (Please insert a data medium with valid navigation data) when I put the updated SD card back into the car.
5. Read and follow the 7-zip extractor guide here - follow Method 2. Basically 7-zip extracts from the downloaded file and copies onto the SD card.

If for any reason this doesn't work you've always got the back up. I was glad of this as when various other update methods failed I was able revert and also demonstrate that there wasn't a problem with the card itself.

The link for the 7-zip download got lost: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Thanks for this information and advice, I was certainly putting my update off as was unsure and didn't want to mess everything up

I did my update last weekend by following the instructions on the Skoda website. Put your VIN number in the box and a file will shown on the screen containing the update.

 

Before you download this remove the SD card from the car, move the switch on the card to enable it to be formatted and copy the sat nav data to a file or your desk top. Download the file from Skoda when completed it will ask where to unpack the data this way you don't have to use 7-zip or similar.. Select the SD card and the new maps will be installed. When complete lock the switch on the SD card and insert it back into the slot in the car glove box. It really is easy from download to car it took around 2 hours.

Might seem a silly question but after downloading your original copy of your maps to your pc you then need to wipe/format the SD card before you then download the new updates onto it?

Might seem a silly question but after downloading your original copy of your maps to your pc you then need to wipe/format the SD card before you then download the new updates onto it?

 

Last time I updated the nav info I didn't wipe the card and when I went to put the new data on I got a message along the lines of "There's insufficient space on this card" The existing data isn't just updated, yes, you have to wipe the card.

Just a word about doing this upgrade with a Mac onto the sd-card from an Amundsen stereo. You have to copy the new maps to the skoda supplied sd-card,  this is because the Amundsen has been paired to the physical identity of that card, so as a lay user we can't get around that pairing.

 

Just download the zip from skoda, it is massive (about 15GB) and failed several times for me so it had to be un-paused each time, but eventually it does download. Once you have it flip the write tab on the sd-card and put it in your Mac. Now that it can write to it, your Mac will be unhelpfully adding hidden folders that it uses to drive the file manager and the trash can, you can deal with these at the end of the copying process.

 

So now the sd-card will appear as a drive (called NO NAME) on the right hand side of your desktop. Open it up and copy the only folder in it maps to, say, your Documents folder. Do this so you can get back to what you had originally if anything goes wrong. Move the maps folder on the sd-card into the Trash Can.

 

Now the card appears to be empty. Open up the downloaded zip file (using Finder) that will probably be in your Downloads folder. It will will contain a maps folder and signature key file. Copy just the maps folder from here onto the sd-card.

 

After it has been transferred (takes ages) you can tidy the sd-card up. Being a Mac there isn't a straight forward way of doing this. The quickest way is with the Terminal, which you can open from Spotlight and run the following.

 

cd /Volumes/NO\ NAME/

rm -Rf .fseventsd/ ._.Trashes .Trashes/ .Spotlight-V100/ ._maps

exit

 

 

Then whip the sd-card out without ejecting it and return the write protect tab to read only. Test out the new maps on your Amundsen, if everything is ok you can remove the download and empty the Trash Can on you Mac.

 

I wouldn't recommend anyone reformats there sd-card, especially on a Mac, to perform this map upgrade, it is an unnecassary risk. Also if you don't know what Finder or Spotlight is I wouldn't attempt this without a pictorial guide. 

I recently bought a three year old Octavia from a main dealer and found that the maps were still the 2013 version. I've finally succeeded in updating to 2016/17 version but it was so difficult to get a straight forward list of instructions on how to do so I thought it worth sharing.

 

Background:

1. Do it on a pc - it just won't work if any stage is done on a mac
2. You have to use the original Skoda SD card

The method that worked for me:

1. Back up the contents of the Skoda SD card to a folder (call it what you like - I named it 2013 version)
2. Go to http://updateportal.skoda-auto.com and download the new version to a new folded (named e.g. 2016 version)
3. Download 7-zip to use when unzipping the download. You must use 7-zip.
4. Wipe the SD card by formatting it. Choose MS-DOS not NTFS. The Skoda instructions here state you should choose NTFS format but I found this led to getting an error message (Please insert a data medium with valid navigation data) when I put the updated SD card back into the car.
5. Read and follow the 7-zip extractor guide here - follow Method 2. Basically 7-zip extracts from the downloaded file and copies onto the SD card.

If for any reason this doesn't work you've always got the back up. I was glad of this as when various other update methods failed I was able revert and also demonstrate that there wasn't a problem with the card itself.

Surely you need to format the SD card as NTFS not MS-DOS, only NTFS supports file sizes larger than needed, FAT32 only supports 4GB file sizes. If you are updating, you should only need to delete the existing file, no need to format the SD.

The person from Skoda who helped me through the process (and could not possibly have been more helpful) was surprised that NTFS had failed and that MS-DOS had worked. My pc is still running Vista - perhaps that has something to do with it?

 

I guess a footnote to my post should be try NTFS first and if that doesn't work try MS-DOS.

 

Reformatting doesn't take much time - a couple of minutes maybe.

Did mine on. Mac without issue though I do have software installed which cleans the hidden files OSX installs on removable media.

I checked the format of the original card before I started any it was indeed FAT not NTFS so I stuck with that.

Surely you need to format the SD card as NTFS not MS-DOS, only NTFS supports file sizes larger than needed, FAT32 only supports 4GB file sizes. If you are updating, you should only need to delete the existing file, no need to format the SD.

After looking a bit further into the folders and files, I don't think any individual files are over 4GB so FAT32 or MS-DOS may well work.

Did mine on. Mac without issue though I do have software installed which cleans the hidden files OSX installs on removable media.

I checked the format of the original card before I started any it was indeed FAT not NTFS so I stuck with that.

Yo Paul! Might be worth name-checking that software you use, to save future upgraders having to get familiar with the terminal  :no:

Yo Paul! Might be worth name-checking that software you use, to save future upgraders having to get familiar with the terminal :no:

It's BlueHarvest: http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest/

Edited 21 June, 20169 yr by paulb73

Just a word about doing this upgrade with a Mac onto the sd-card from an Amundsen stereo. You have to copy the new maps to the skoda supplied sd-card,  this is because the Amundsen has been paired to the physical identity of that card, so as a lay user we can't get around that pairing.

 

Just download the zip from skoda, it is massive (about 15GB) and failed several times for me so it had to be un-paused each time, but eventually it does download. Once you have it flip the write tab on the sd-card and put it in your Mac. Now that it can write to it, your Mac will be unhelpfully adding hidden folders that it uses to drive the file manager and the trash can, you can deal with these at the end of the copying process.

 

So now the sd-card will appear as a drive (called NO NAME) on the right hand side of your desktop. Open it up and copy the only folder in it maps to, say, your Documents folder. Do this so you can get back to what you had originally if anything goes wrong. Move the maps folder on the sd-card into the Trash Can.

 

Now the card appears to be empty. Open up the downloaded zip file (using Finder) that will probably be in your Downloads folder. It will will contain a maps folder and signature key file. Copy just the maps folder from here onto the sd-card.

 

After it has been transferred (takes ages) you can tidy the sd-card up. Being a Mac there isn't a straight forward way of doing this. The quickest way is with the Terminal, which you can open from Spotlight and run the following.

 

cd /Volumes/NO\ NAME/

rm -Rf .fseventsd/ ._.Trashes .Trashes/ .Spotlight-V100/ ._maps

exit

 

 

Then whip the sd-card out without ejecting it and return the write protect tab to read only. Test out the new maps on your Amundsen, if everything is ok you can remove the download and empty the Trash Can on you Mac.

 

I wouldn't recommend anyone reformats there sd-card, especially on a Mac, to perform this map upgrade, it is an unnecassary risk. Also if you don't know what Finder or Spotlight is I wouldn't attempt this without a pictorial guide.

On a Mac, the process I followed.....

Download file.

Up-zip

Drag folder to sd card

'Destination already contains a folder called Maps, do you want to replace this folder' - yes.

Job done, and all working super well.

On a Mac, the process I followed.....

Download file.

Up-zip

Drag folder to sd card

'Destination already contains a folder called Maps, do you want to replace this folder' - yes.

Job done, and all working super well.

Although there's no going back from this, if you favour the heroic approach, this is certainly the most straight forward, I'll give it a go next year ;-)

In my experience, using a Mac, if you don't get shot of the hidden files, the nav displays blank rectangles instead of major road names/towns, so it works but not perfectly, hence using the terminal or utility to remove the hidden stuff.

Edited 22 June, 20169 yr by Ciderspace

 

 

 Hi all,

 

I updated my Octavia III Amundsen sat nav to the 2016/7 update and now get green / blue / white blocks all over my sat nav that appear and disappear when in use. Otherwise the nav system works fine. any idea how to get rid of these? The skoda site says i don't need to update any other software?

Can anyone help?

Rich

I did mine at the weekend and can confirm there isn't a problem using a Mac - I do have CleanMyDrive2 running on the Mac which automatically strips all spurious files off removable drives.

 

I downloaded the file (took about four hours), it automatically extracted to a folder (I have the Mac set up to do that), I connected the old SD card, backed that up in case of problems with the new maps, flicked the lock/unlock tab on the card, deleted everything off the card (I didn't format it though), then emptied the bin, dragged the contents of the folder created by the zip file earlier onto the SD card, ejected it (CleanMyMDrive makes ejection a little slower, but removes all the dot files), flicked the lock/unlock tab on the card, put it into the car slot and stood back in amazement as it worked!

My version before ece 2016 is 0521. Does this need updating?

My version before ece 2016 is 0521. Does this need updating?

 

Yep, the latest is ECE 2016/17.

Thank you. I'll get it updated later.

I've downloaded the file from the skoda website. I have extracted the files into a new folder. Do i transfer the new folder onto the SD card containing the files, or do i copy the files within it onto the sd card instead? Sorry if i've confused people.

Downloaded file onto desktop,

Extracted the .zip file into a new folder i've called sat nav new.

Sat nav new contains files.

Is it Sat Nav new i copy onto the SD card or just the files within?

 

Thank you

Delete everything on the card; copy the CONTENTS ONLY of Sat Nav New to the card.

 

You could have down loaded the file and extracted it straight to the empty card using Skoda's downloader.

Edited 22 July, 20169 yr by YMe

Thanks! I need to grab the card from the car in the morning as only realise after downloading and reading the instructions that the cars sd was needed.

If you have 2 SD Cards slots and an SD Card in both make sure you use the correct Card and don't delete your music in error. It doesn't matter which slot you put the updated map info Card into.