Columbus Sales & Repair.

[Rumbeard]

I know it's not english but I've queued up the load process.  Right two buttons and setup held down with power on until it reboots to the firmware loader https://youtu.be/Cyn-Xu57J4g?t=322

[pab567]

Burn 6276 on CD-R, not on DVD, and try to reflash

[LostShepherd]

Cheers yes my first disc was just a plain CD, the second I tried was a DVD, neither worked for me.

 

I'm not sure if the burning methods makes a difference ? I used cdburnerxp in both cases and for the DVD I used the track at once option rather than leaving it on the autoselect.

[varooom]

1 hour ago, LostShepherd said:

Cheers yes my first disc was just a plain CD, the second I tried was a DVD, neither worked for me.

 

I'm not sure if the burning methods makes a difference ? I used cdburnerxp in both cases and for the DVD I used the track at once option rather than leaving it on the autoselect.

I used ImgBurn a free tool, and then write file to disc, touching nothing special.

[LostShepherd]

On 24/03/2023 at 03:22, Rumbeard said:

Once you put the optical media in you do have to do the three finger salute while powering on and it stops trying to go to the hard drive.  It should load the firmware as a running image and then only then offer to flash your internal media.

Ah I get you now the 3 fingered salute is holding the top cd eject, microphone and setup buttons?

[LostShepherd]

Result!

 

Well I don't quite know how but it's working again! I used the 3 finger salute this time and it gave me

• Two red highlighted lines top an botton
  • The system is not able to startup
  • please insert swl-cd
• I inserted the dvd then it gave me the white pop up rectangle 'SETUP SOFTWARE LOADING APPLICATION'
• It completed that then after a minute or so, popped up a msg in the middle of the screen 
  • SWL Initialisation in progress..please wait

this msg disappeared abruptly and after point at that point nothing else happened the screen stayed blank and no more msgs popped up, I listened and the cd/dvd was not spinning or anything just seemed to have stalled totally. I left it like that for about 5 minutes then turned it off and back on as it seemed totally dead.

 

When I turned it on again the Skoda Navigation image appeared on the screen and I got the system starting msg, it was slow to start but all the functions appear to be work DAB \ Radio \ Bluetooth etc. The software was still in the drive so it did eventually pop up that it had found a SWL-CD and would restart to load it, but I removed the disc and let it restart and it came back up as the normal system.

 

So, to my eyes,  it never really loaded the software but whatever it did seemed to have cleared the boot loop it was stuck in. I did find it interesting that the Skoda Navigation display appeared first when it restarted, I'd never seen that logo on the unit before and this was what it was stuck on the whole time.

 

I wanted to access the menu that allows you to reinstall the same or lower version of software but couldn't get to it, I held the setup button and it gave me AM/FM/VERSION but even after holding a further min or it showed  nothing else? is this menu available in all cases? I just wanted to set that option when its working again so its done if I even need to try and install the software again. Pics attached of current version info.

 

At any rate, thanks all for the great advice on here, I am sure you have saved me a substantial lump of cash. I'll keep you posted on whether it lasts or this is just a temporary reprieve,

 

Cheers,

LS

 

 

[RMR]

Mr Rusty Nuts,

I’m keen to swop my non dab columbus to one of your super duper dab kits, with some financial incentive from me,

Will it be a plug and play job, as I am not very technical.

Keen to get ball rolling.

Richard.

[LostShepherd]

I don’t think he’s doing repairs etc anymore 🙁

[RMR]

Does anyone else know who still does columbus repairs.

Thanks in advance 

Richard 

[CamMiles]

Dear Rustynuts,

I've been reading through these threads whilst trying to find the right upgrade for the Columbus in my 2012 Superb - I've run into a bit of a brick wall.  The Unit serial is 3T0035680E - but that code gets a "none found" on the mib-helper.com  site which otherwise looks to be exactly where I'd hope to find information.

Skoda online portal does not help with my VIN - too old a model for online upgrades.    Dealer says the most recent available map is 2019...  and on DVD for a "high" price of course.

I'd be willing to pay for an update, ideally on an SD card, but first I need to confirm what will work.    It seems that you are the guru on this question, so having run out of luck elsewhere can I ask you which versions of SW and Maps I can safely upgrade to?

Current HW ver is H61

Current SW Ver is 3984  (dealer says this was 2019 but I am not sure of this info)

Map ver is Navteq 7690

 

Any information much appreciated.  If you can supply an update SD Card, what would that cost? 

 

regards,

Miles

(Cambridge)

[varooom]

@CamMiles I am not sure if Rustynuts is responding on the forum (last seen October '22)

Are you having issues, or just wanting to load up new firmware/maps?

 

Firmware updates are about and need loading by CD-R

Maps, AFAIK the last version is "v17" 8557 and probably updates by DVD

[CamMiles]

Dear Varoom, very kind of you to reply and to share those details.  I am finding it hard to credit that these somewhat dated files are not now provided by Skoda FoC, if they are not the latest version.  They want £250 for this info even so.

with your answers, at least I will be able to check which of the many second hand ones on ebay are the correct version for my unit.  

 

I am not having any issues except for the maps being old - they don't show any of the new A14 near here, for example.   We just default to phones and Google maps now, but the integrated one would be nicer sometimes (less advert clutter!!)

 

regards,

 

Miles

[varooom]

18 minutes ago, CamMiles said:

Dear Varoom, very kind of you to reply and to share those details.  I am finding it hard to credit that these somewhat dated files are not now provided by Skoda FoC, if they are not the latest version.  They want £250 for this info even so.

with your answers, at least I will be able to check which of the many second hand ones on ebay are the correct version for my unit.  

 

I am not having any issues except for the maps being old - they don't show any of the new A14 near here, for example.   We just default to phones and Google maps now, but the integrated one would be nicer sometimes (less advert clutter!!)

 

regards,

 

Miles

But they are provided FoC by me or @pab567, I am not sure if @Rainesh has these firmwares (probably)

 

So please don't pay for firmware or maps, if you can burn a CD and a DVD, you can have the files and DIY this at home (or buy a cheap enough external DVD-R)

[pab567]

Unforztunately, since couple of year there are no more maps for your unit available as support for these units has been abandoned after 5 years since manufacturing of them was stopped. If you plan to use this car for next couple of years I recommend retrofitiing with MIB STD2 PQ unit.

[Rumbeard]

I bought V10 in like 2020 and it took a year and a half to get to me but it's official at least in AU/NZ

[CamMiles]

Dear Pab567,  i'm guessing that you are connected to the MIB_helper channel on YT and the MIb software tools?  If so, thanks for making these resources.   I tried my unit's serial number at what the MIB site, but it was not recognised - perhaps because it is too old.

 

I'm going away for a couple of weeks, but I would be interested to research what "modern" nav units can be fitted instead of the Columbus.  It's not bad, considering the age, but it's not as well integrated with a modern iPhone as it could be and for sure there could be lots of nice features i don't even think of having now, by installing something new.

 

many thanks to everyone for comments, very helpful and much appreciated.  Nice to be able to keep my car running well!

 

cheers

Miles

[DougT]

Dear Rustynuts. Do you have any of the DAB antenna kits at the moment?

If so, do they replace my existing FM antenna (shark fin) or is it possible for me to add to what’s there?

 

I have a screen one I could install but I’d prefer not to if I can get away with it. 
 

Cheers

[tomwoods]

hi my unit as started to show the seasrching for swl  on the screen, can you fix this?

[tomwoods]

On 25/03/2023 at 13:10, LostShepherd said:

Result!

 

Well I don't quite know how but it's working again! I used the 3 finger salute this time and it gave me

• Two red highlighted lines top an botton
  • The system is not able to startup
  • please insert swl-cd
• I inserted the dvd then it gave me the white pop up rectangle 'SETUP SOFTWARE LOADING APPLICATION'
• It completed that then after a minute or so, popped up a msg in the middle of the screen 
  • SWL Initialisation in progress..please wait

this msg disappeared abruptly and after point at that point nothing else happened the screen stayed blank and no more msgs popped up, I listened and the cd/dvd was not spinning or anything just seemed to have stalled totally. I left it like that for about 5 minutes then turned it off and back on as it seemed totally dead.

 

When I turned it on again the Skoda Navigation image appeared on the screen and I got the system starting msg, it was slow to start but all the functions appear to be work DAB \ Radio \ Bluetooth etc. The software was still in the drive so it did eventually pop up that it had found a SWL-CD and would restart to load it, but I removed the disc and let it restart and it came back up as the normal system.

 

So, to my eyes,  it never really loaded the software but whatever it did seemed to have cleared the boot loop it was stuck in. I did find it interesting that the Skoda Navigation display appeared first when it restarted, I'd never seen that logo on the unit before and this was what it was stuck on the whole time.

 

I wanted to access the menu that allows you to reinstall the same or lower version of software but couldn't get to it, I held the setup button and it gave me AM/FM/VERSION but even after holding a further min or it showed  nothing else? is this menu available in all cases? I just wanted to set that option when its working again so its done if I even need to try and install the software again. Pics attached of current version info.

 

At any rate, thanks all for the great advice on here, I am sure you have saved me a substantial lump of cash. I'll keep you posted on whether it lasts or this is just a temporary reprieve,

 

Cheers,

LS

 

 

would you make a copy of the disc please?

[Celt01]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the forum and new to Skoda and I notice you all seem to be very knowledgable.   

We recently aquired a MY15 Octavia Scout Premium.  Love the car but I'm very frustrated with a couple of things.

 

Firstly the Navigation maps are very out of date and I don't seem to be able to find an update that works for Australia.  Skoda Australia don't seem to have a solution although there are ROW maps available on the Skoda Portal.  When I try to install these my unit simply responds with "Error: no data available ....". 

 

I'm using a 64gb exFAT SD card, files extracted with Windows 10, files are in the root directory.  I've made many update attempts but no success and I've considering getting an Android head unit from AliExpress but I assume it would need to be coded into the car.  Coding it into the car would be additional complication so I don't know what to do.

 

 

Pretty sure it's Columbus MIB2.  

 

My other problem is that I want some additional head lights, a small light bar but I can't find a high beam signal wire to trigger an electronic relay, canbus is very annoying in this situation.  I've been told a canbus module is needed, so again coding this would be a problem since I don't have a VCDS tool or understand how these tools and modules connect and work.

 

Any advice would be very welcome as I'm feeling like I may have made a bad decision buying the car.

 

Thanks in anticipation

 

[WaveyDavey]

My Columbus has just started having issues booting up when first starting the car. It's random and can take anywhere between 2 and 10 reboots/loops before it finally starts up so I'm thinking that there has been some corruption of the firmware on the SSD?

 

As per the images below my HU is running firmware version 6276. @varooom  @pab567  Do either of you guys have this firmware available for me to burn to disc at my end?

 

 

Also are there instructions when just replacing the existing firmware with the same version rather than updating it to a newer version? I'm also assuming re-installation of this firmware won't result in the loss of my maps?

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 November, 2023 by WaveyDavey

[pab567]

I can send you the firmware but it will require loading new maps

[WaveyDavey]

5 hours ago, pab567 said:

I can send you the firmware but it will require loading new maps

Thanks for the reply.  Is there any way around this at all as I don’t have a map disc and was hoping a reinstall of the firmware wouldn’t result in losing the maps. 

[pab567]

Well, I can prepare such firmware over the weekend.

[WaveyDavey]

6 hours ago, pab567 said:

Well, I can prepare such firmware over the weekend.

That would be very much appreciated.  The unit itself is one of Rustynuts' units I bought from him a few years ago. (Hence it being a late unit in a 2011 spec car) I'm assuming it's a standard version of firmware on it but I'm not sure if Rustynuts installed anything modified firmware though? (Can you tell if it's standard or a modded firmware?)

 

I'm planning on replacing the car next year so not having to try and source a map disc would be perfect.