Hi Everyone. Im looking for some help and advice on the Infotainment system (I believe Amundsen) fitted from new in my 2017 Octavia Estate.

 

I believe that this model was called the Technology Option - however the technology bit isn't working very well. It used to work OK and with not using the car much during lockdown, I cannot say when the problem started, but probably in the last 6 months.

 

What does work is the radio and phone functions. The sat nav works very occasionally, Spotify sometimes and there is no access to other apps most importantly, Google maps at all.

So far I have updated all my apps including G Maps, Android Auto, Skoda Connect Lite and have also replaced the USB cable (twice). I should also say that my phone is a Huawei P20 Lite running Android 9. So I have come to the conclusion that the Infotainment software/firmware needs updating - how to do it??? I have searched several  parts of the Skoda website and have gotten a lot of conflicting information, when I put in the VIN one site decided that the Car was a Czech model  with a Bolero system (its a UK Model and see photos below). One described doing it by removing the SD card from the unit within the glovebox, downloading new software and installing this via the cars infotainment. (there is no card in my SD Drive) In another section I found an article describing doing an upgrade via some Bluetooth module that I would have to buy.  I already have bluetooth for phone functions and when everything was working OK I used a USB cable for all functions anyway. Eventually I rang the Advice Number  in the Skoda Connect app, but they just wanted to book me in at a Service Centre at an unspecified price to fix the problem. Not for me thanks!

 

So I reckon you guys must have come up against this before - any solutions? BTW The cars VIN is : TMBKG7NE8J0050003  if that helps. Below are 2 photos, one showing the system in radio mode and the other shows the screen connected to the phone in "App Mode". When you touch the white disc at the bottom RH side it should bring up the display of available apps - it doesnt, nothing happens.

 

 Any help would be much appreciated  

You are missing the Sat Nav part to make it an Amunsden, so suspect it is a Bolaro.  Both models are similar - one with Sat Nav - one without.

However - if you could press and HOLD Menu button, go to Software/Versions and Versions and put the screenshot onto this page, I suspect it will be a firmware update you will need to fix the issue.

First, thank you for the reply. I did have sat nav via Google Maps working for 2 years. Connection was thru a USB cable connected to my phone as shown in the photos. My wife has a Seat Arona which has sat nav loaded on a SD card, is that what the Amunsden does? I will try the software version tomorrow and report back. Thanks again for your time 

Amunsden sat nav is loaded onto a genuine Skoda SD card. No third party SD card will work.

On 29/04/2021 at 09:28, varaderoguy said:

You are missing the Sat Nav part to make it an Amunsden, so suspect it is a Bolaro.  Both models are similar - one with Sat Nav - one without.

However - if you could press and HOLD Menu button, go to Software/Versions and Versions and put the screenshot onto this page, I suspect it will be a firmware update you will need to fix the issue.

Hi again. Attached are 2 screenshots.

I take it that it is a matter of getting the appropriate firmware update putting it on a memory stick and updating from there. If its more than that and there are step-by-step instructions that would be much appreciated too. Will check back later many thanks 

 

I suggest we bring in @pab567at this point - you will need the latest SOP3x software

Your unit is Bolero, i.e. without OEM NAV. Of course you can use NAV via SmartLink. I will send you the link via PM.

6 hours ago, varaderoguy said:

I suggest we bring in @pab567at this point - you will need the latest SOP3x software

 

Thanks again. Don't know what SOP3x software is. There is a message from pab567. I'll look into that now hopefully there will be 'how to' instructions. Many thanks 

5 hours ago, pab567 said:

Your unit is Bolero, i.e. without OEM NAV. Of course you can use NAV via SmartLink. I will send you the link via PM.

Many thanks, I ll go and look for it  soon 👍

On 30/04/2021 at 12:44, pab567 said:

MST2_EU_SK_ZR_P0367T

 

9 hours ago, pab567 said:

Use SD card. Update process has been described multiple times on briskoda, pls use search,

Updated but doesnt solve my problem

 

5 minutes ago, towserdog said:

Sorry  ..... messed up the message somehow. Anyway I have updated software as you can see in the photo above but doesn't solve my problem. Can only get google Maps Nav working about 1 time in 10, Spotify usually works but the launcher which allows you to move between apps doesn't work. I read in a different post about someone having similar problems caused by a faulty battery. I had the battery changed in this car,under 3 year warranty during lockdown - not sure if this co-incides with the problem starting but on that occasion the breakdown  person started it with a booster, I then drove to the Skoda agent to have the battery replaced FOC. Any other suggestions?

 

Try another phone

You might be right. Works OK on my wife Pixel 3a.when I set it up you can get the launcher and navigate between the apps. 

 

Then l deleted Android Auto and re-installed it on my own phone (Huawei P20 lite - Android 9 - it's newer than my Skoda!). Worked for 10 minutes, launcher worked, then I turned it off/on and back to square one - no launcher. Can't just throw out a good phone either. Really don't know what to do now - SmartLink did work with this phone for more than a year but not now. Still seems like a software thing to me, but what software??? 

Might I suggest that you make sure that Android Auto does NOT have any power saving functions enabled.  It needs to have full non-power saving mode enabled for it to work properly, because what you are showing here is that the phone is restricting power and is causing Android Auto to glitch.

On 02/05/2021 at 18:58, varaderoguy said:

Might I suggest that you make sure that Android Auto does NOT have any power saving functions enabled.  It needs to have full non-power saving mode enabled for it to work properly, because what you are showing here is that the phone is restricting power and is causing Android Auto to glitch.

Thanks, have just seen your message. In the Android Auto app > settings phone screen settings> the "Screen On" setting is set at Always On. Is that what you mean?. The other option are When Charging an Use Device Default. 

 

Pab567 suggested that I try other phones: my wife's Pixel 3a running Android 11 works OK, I have an old Samsung S2 10 inch tablet with Android 7 and it works OK. My phone is a Huawei P20 lite. Last night I disabled several Huawei apps that I thought might be impacting on it, many of these had permissions to display over other apps, and to write system settings. The app launcher did work for a short time, but when I switched the ignition off or changed back to another device I lost the launch function when I went back to the Huawei. So I believe pab 567 is on the right lines, and think it a phone software thing rather than the Infotainment hardware or software. Maybe I'll tru  Huawei forum too. But I m now getting into areas that I'm not comfortable with. Many thanks for your help to date, I will keep checking back soon. 

 

I had previously used a Huawei made Honor phone with Android Auto and it was frankly a pain in the ass, very glitchy and I wasn't always certain that it would work correctly. And on the occasion when it did, it would be incredibly laggy and would often get blank screens. Changing phones resolved most issues I had almost immediately (I'd still get random disconnects with the replacement phone, but that seems to be resolved by a firmware update).

Thanks for that. What irks me is that my P20 did work fairly well prior to lockdown, it's only now that I'm driving more that I'm descovering these problems. No on a Huawei forum trying to get a second opinion and will post again if I get a result 👍

5 hours ago, towserdog said:

Thanks, have just seen your message. In the Android Auto app > settings phone screen settings> the "Screen On" setting is set at Always On. Is that what you mean?. The other option are When Charging an Use Device Default. 

 

Pab567 suggested that I try other phones: my wife's Pixel 3a running Android 11 works OK, I have an old Samsung S2 10 inch tablet with Android 7 and it works OK. My phone is a Huawei P20 lite. Last night I disabled several Huawei apps that I thought might be impacting on it, many of these had permissions to display over other apps, and to write system settings. The app launcher did work for a short time, but when I switched the ignition off or changed back to another device I lost the launch function when I went back to the Huawei. So I believe pab 567 is on the right lines, and think it a phone software thing rather than the Infotainment hardware or software. Maybe I'll tru  Huawei forum too. But I m now getting into areas that I'm not comfortable with. Many thanks for your help to date, I will keep checking back soon. 

 

Arh....no....sorry....it's about the settings on how the phone uses battery power. There is usually a battery saving mode or power mode. This needs to be in normal or non-power saving mode.....but agree that Huawei products are very crippled without Google Services and you might be best looking at a different handset (even a Samsung A Series phone is a good bet these days).

1 hour ago, varaderoguy said:

Arh....no....sorry....it's about the settings on how the phone uses battery power. There is usually a battery saving mode or power mode. This needs to be in normal or non-power saving mode.....but agree that Huawei products are very crippled without Google Services and you might be best looking at a different handset (even a Samsung A Series phone is a good bet these days).

"Huawei products are very crippled without Google Services"..... Sorry I don't understand this bit, please explain 

10 hours ago, towserdog said:

"Huawei products are very crippled without Google Services"..... Sorry I don't understand this bit, please explain 

Huawei products were prevented by the US Government from using Google Play Services.  It means that Huawei cannot by law put Google Play onto their Android Handsets - it means that Huawei have their own eco-system in terms of apps (so you do get apps but they aren't necessarily the latest and greatest) , so it means that apps are outdated and the Android firmware that Huawei run is old and unpatched. 

3 hours ago, varaderoguy said:

Huawei products were prevented by the US Government from using Google Play Services.  It means that Huawei cannot by law put Google Play onto their Android Handsets - it means that Huawei have their own eco-system in terms of apps (so you do get apps but they aren't necessarily the latest and greatest) , so it means that apps are outdated and the Android firmware that Huawei run is old and unpatched. 

 

Good ole Donald - yes I remember a furore about that some time ago. I thought I was OK because I hav and still get updates from Google Play but maybe not. Still I can't let that old ***** force me into buying a new phone. I'm going off to look into a custom ROM instead. Never done anything like that before an still not sure if a custom ROM will allow me to use Google services on a Huawei device. I'll report back in a few days if I have any luck. In the meantime many many thanks for your support on what it seems has not even been a Skoda problem 👍👏☺️

https://forum.xda-developers.com/f/huawei-p20-roms-kernels-recoveries-other-deve.7592/

On 06/05/2021 at 09:53, varaderoguy said:

Huawei products were prevented by the US Government from using Google Play Services.  It means that Huawei cannot by law put Google Play onto their Android Handsets - it means that Huawei have their own eco-system in terms of apps (so you do get apps but they aren't necessarily the latest and greatest) , so it means that apps are outdated and the Android firmware that Huawei run is old and unpatched. 

 

Good ole Donald - yes I remember a furore about that some time ago. I thought I was OK because I hav and still get updates from Google Play but maybe not. Still I can't let that old ***** force me into buying a new phone. I'm going off to look into a custom ROM instead. Never done anything like that before an still not sure if a custom ROM will allow me to use Google services on a Huawei device. I'll report back in a few days if I have any luck. In the meantime many many thanks for your support on what it seems has not even been a Skoda problem 👍👏☺️

 

https://www.lineageos18.com/2021/01/best-custom-rom-for-huawei-p20-lite.html 

think this is the rout I will try, probably after the weekend (in case I ruin the phone) 

On 30/04/2021 at 12:43, pab567 said:

Your unit is Bolero, i.e. without OEM NAV. Of course you can use NAV via SmartLink. I will send you the link via PM.

Hello Pab567,

 

I am new on this forum and I am from London United Kingdom.

 

I have just bought a 2017 Octavia Mk3.

 

Please can you send me a PM with a link for the latest system software update?

 

My current version is MST2_EU_SK_ZR_P0363T (0363)

 

Part Number 5Q0035874B

 

Hardware H31

 

Software 0363

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Kind Regards,

 

Olu.

Download link sent via PM